My gorgeous wife
Chapter 204 - 182: Lin Yi’s Cellphone

Chapter 204: Chapter 182: Lin Yi’s Cellphone

Feeling anxious, Li Chen immediately called Tingting, Lin Yi’s secretary.

"Did President Lin work overtime at the company tonight?"

Li Chen got straight to the point without any small talk.

"He did, but he left work an hour ago," Tingting replied from the other end.

Li Chen’s heart sank. If Lin Yi had left work an hour ago, he should have returned to the villa by then. That left only one possibility: Lin Yi had run into trouble again.

Li Chen hurriedly dialed Lin Yi’s number. Though the ringback tone could be heard, no one answered the call.

Li Chen tried again, still no answer.

What had happened to Lin Yi?

Li Chen furrowed his brow but couldn’t figure it out. It didn’t make sense; Lin Yi hadn’t offended anyone recently. Who would have taken such drastic action against him?

He hadn’t made any enemies in business, and since Lin Yi had been driving his own car, it seemed that someone had abducted him along with the vehicle, which was rare without a serious grudge.

Li Chen’s thoughts raced. He considered the Yanjing Li Family, but with Second Grandfather’s recent involvement, that matter should have been settled, and the Li Family wouldn’t dare make a move. So who could it be?

Unable to come up with any leads after racking his brain, Li Chen let out a sigh. The priority now was to find Lin Yi.

At that moment, Lin Xiaoxiao came downstairs and, seeing Li Chen pacing with a frown in the hall, asked, "Brother-in-law, what’s wrong?"

"Lin Yi hasn’t come back."

Lin Xiaoxiao was startled, "My sister hasn’t returned."

By then, Aunt Wang had also grown worried, "Could the young mistress have encountered trouble again?"

Li Chen nodded solemnly, "Possibly. What we need to do now is to bring Lin Yi back."

"Linchuan is so vast, where do we even start looking?" Lin Xiaoxiao was getting frantic.

"Let’s start by checking outside," Li Chen said, his mood heavy. Finding someone in Linchuan without any clues was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Damn it, why didn’t he have any leads?

"Son-in-law, don’t worry; we will find the young mistress," Aunt Wang comforted him.

"We should go look for my sister first," Lin Xiaoxiao quickly went to change her clothes.

All three were in a state of urgent anxiety, with Li Chen feeling an unprecedented panic. Lin Yi, you can’t be in trouble. If something has happened to you, I’ll turn Linchuan upside down if I have to, to make sure those responsible pay with their lives!

Having reached the bridge and entered the city, Aunt Wang and Lin Xiaoxiao were clueless about where to start looking.

Li Chen thought for a moment, "Let’s follow the usual route to work and see if we find anything."

So, the trio followed the route towards Lin’s Group but came up empty-handed. Meanwhile, Li Chen constantly dialed Lin Yi’s phone, not giving up even though it never connected.

After over ten minutes, they arrived at a road near Lin’s Group, still without any discoveries. Aunt Wang and Lin Xiaoxiao were beside themselves with anxiety.

Li Chen’s heart also sank, but he couldn’t give up hope. Just then, his phone call finally went through.

His sunken heart suddenly lifted with hope, and he quickly put the phone to his ear.

"Where are you?"

However, a burp from a drunken man came through instead, his heart sank once more.

"You, who are you?" slurred the voice on the other end, speaking with difficulty and a thick tongue.

"I’m Li Chen, I’m looking for Lin Yi!" Li Chen said urgently, "Who are you? Why do you have Lin Yi’s phone? Where is Lin Yi now?"

Aunt Wang and Lin Xiaoxiao also gathered around Li Chen, but at that moment, the other person abruptly hung up the call.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The line went dead, and Li Chen was crestfallen.

"Brother-in-law, it’s okay; let’s head to the company. Maybe sister is still there," Lin Xiaoxiao said, trying to deceive herself, panic evident in her eyes.

And just then, at the turn ahead, a group of seven or eight drunken men staggered past. They were clearly very drunk, wobbling on the road as if they might collapse at any moment.

Passersby dodged the oncoming drunks quickly, wanting to avoid any interaction with them.

"Xue, Xue Ding, you, burp... what were you doing just now?" one drunk man asked another with slurred speech.

The drunk man giggled, interspersed with several burps, "Nothing, nothing at all."

The group of drunks shuffled past Li Chen, who paid them no mind, but then one of the drunks said, "I, I just found, burp~, a phone, and then, some idiot, called me, hung up on him."

The drunks erupted in laughter, "You, you could pick up a phone?"

Xue Ding blushed and retorted with a thick tongue, "Why, why can’t I? Isn’t the phone, phone in my hand? Burp~~~ Also, that guy was called... called Li Chen."

Li Chen, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head and strode to the inebriated man, lifting him up in one swift movement.

"What did you say?" Li Chen’s eyes bore into the drunk, and he noticed a pink-cased phone in his hand.

This phone, Li Chen would never mistake it—it was the same one Lin Yi had been using, and it was none other than this drunk who had just called him!

"What, what do you want to do?" The drunk sprayed alcohol breath, retaining a shred of sanity. He extended his hand, trying to push Li Chen’s hand away, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the other drunks had also started to crowd around Li Chen.

"Kid, you’re, you’re looking for death?"

Those drunks held their bottles, forming a circle around Li Chen. Passersby who saw this kept a wide berth, thinking anyone who messed with drunks must be crazy.

At that moment, all Li Chen could think about was Lin Yi’s news, and he was filled with rage, "I won’t repeat myself, where did you get that phone from?"

However, a chorus of laughter erupted from the surrounding drunks.

"Burp~~~ Kid, you’re, you’re so arrogant. We, why should, we tell you anything?"

"If you’re smart, just get lost quickly, don’t interfere with our drinking, or else you’re going to regret it later!"

A drunkard turned his bottle upside down, spilling all the contents on the ground, before holding the empty bottle with a menacing glint in his drunken eyes.

The rest showed signs of aggression, and all of a sudden, one of the drunks from behind tried to smash the bottle over Li Chen’s head.

"You’re, too arrogant, burp~~"

The onlookers gasped in shock. This man was done for, and the smarter ones were already dialing emergency services.

But what followed was unexpected. The bottle didn’t hit Li Chen. He dodged lithely to the side and then, with a swift motion of his right hand, he grabbed the assailant’s wrist and threw him violently.

The drunkard was hurled through the air, landing head first on the ground.

This set off the other drunks, who now lunged at Li Chen, hurling their bottles at him.

"Go to hell, you....."

The drunk couldn’t finish his sentence before Li Chen’s elbow smashed into his chest, sending him stumbling backwards to the ground, where he passed out.

Another drunk rushed at Li Chen with a lifted bottle, but Li Chen kicked out, sending the man and his bottle skidding across the street.

Li Chen then pounced like a tiger descending a mountain, rapidly dealing with the group of drunks. Within moments, all but the one with the phone lay sprawled on the ground.

The onlookers’ jaws nearly dropped at the display. This guy was fierce.

Li Chen’s face was icy. He was still in a state of fury, and if not for needing information, he would have knocked out the remaining drunk as well.

Seeing Li Chen approaching, the drunk stood petrified, then belched.

"What do you want to do now?"

The drunk sensed that the situation was turning dire, but Li Chen, without a word, grabbed his head and smashed it to the side, causing him to moan in pain.

"Where did you find this phone?"

Li Chen’s expression remained cold.

"I, I..." The drunk struggled to speak but couldn’t finish.

Li Chen struck him again, "Clear-headed yet?"

The bystanders, wanting to intervene at first, were deterred by Li Chen’s godlike and slightly murderous demeanor, hesitating to approach.

"Stop, stop hitting me." The drunk pleaded.

"Where did you pick up the phone?" Li Chen repeated coldly.

"In, in the alley over there," the drunk managed to say with difficulty.

Li Chen snatched Lin Yi’s phone back and immediately rushed to the adjacent street.

Aunt Wang and the others hurriedly followed, as Li Chen entered the alley to start his search.

If Lin Yi’s phone had indeed been picked up here, Lin Yi must have passed through this area, and perhaps other items had been dropped that could provide clues.

After searching for a while with no success, Li Chen started to feel dejected, as if the trail had gone cold again.

But then, a giggling sound arose from behind him.

Li Chen turned around to see a plump, knee-high Ginseng Doll emerging from the ground.

How did it get here?

Li Chen was momentarily taken aback but then saw the Ginseng Doll come out of the ground, jump in front of him, and start gesticulating with its hands, although Li Chen couldn’t understand any of it.

By this time, Aunt Wang and Lin Xiaoxiao had caught up to see the suddenly appeared Ginseng Doll, both equally startled.

At that moment, as Li Chen observed the frenzied gestures and babbling of the Ginseng Doll, a light bulb went off in his head, "Do you know where Lin Yi went?"