Contract Marriage: The Tycoon's Pampered Wife-Chapter 91 - 0: The cat at home is anxious, go and soothe it (1 update)

Chapter 91: 091: The cat at home is anxious, go and soothe it (1 update)

Lai Yang was truly worried. She had chatted with Zhang Ziyan for just a short while the night before, then Zhang Ziyan left. Lai Yang waited and waited for Ning Guiwan to return but didn’t give it much thought. She wasn’t a child, after all; how could she be lost?

After eating, she wandered around looking for the person she wanted to meet, searching every high-class leisure facility on the cruise ship. The man she remembered dressed in vintage, meticulous clothing. He was like someone who had stepped out of a painting—a well-off young master who had returned from overseas during the China period. Surely, he wouldn’t be found in ordinary places.

But the result was disappointing.

To be honest, after such a long time, she had begun to forget the man’s facial features.

But she was sure that when she saw him again, she would definitely recognize him at first sight.

When she returned to the first-class cabin, it was already midnight.

After taking a bath and lying in bed waiting for Ning Guiwan, she felt tired and accidentally fell asleep. She woke up again at nearly three o’clock the next morning.

Ning Guiwan still hadn’t returned.

Lai Yang truly panicked then. She didn’t even take the time to dress properly before putting on a jacket and rushing out to search.

The cruise ship at three in the morning was as quiet as an uninhabited island.

Mobile phones had no signal at sea, so Lai Yang couldn’t contact Ning Guiwan, and she had no idea where she was. She went to the staff to check the surveillance, but they said the captain’s approval was needed. The captain wasn’t someone you could just meet whenever you wished. She had to go through the proper channels, and it wasn’t until the sun rose from the sea that Lai Yang was finally allowed to see the internal surveillance.

Throughout the long wait, she had imagined countless scenarios where Ning Guiwan was abducted by villains, never considering that the villain would be someone from her own family.

She couldn’t wait another moment and ran up to the seventh floor from the lower decks in one go.

"I even lost my slippers several times."

Lai Yang cried tears of joy, grabbing Ning Guiwan’s hand. "Why didn’t you tell me sooner about you and Second Cousin?"

Ning Guiwan was slightly taken aback. "You know about it? Did he tell you?"

"Yes, I know everything." Lai Yang gripped Ning Guiwan’s hand even tighter. The panic, self-blame, and worry in her eyes were slowly replaced by surprise and emotion.

"It really wasn’t easy for you and Second Cousin to get together. Don’t worry, I’ll help you both."

With Lai Yang’s expression and these words, it seemed as though Ning Guiwan and Quan Yu were star-crossed lovers who had endured incredible difficulties to be together. Ning Guiwan felt a pain in her temple. After a while, she asked, "What exactly did Second Cousin tell you?"

Lai Yang said, "He told me everything, so don’t try to hide it from me. I’m not Great-aunt; I won’t oppose you two."

As she spoke, her gaze fixed on Ning Guiwan. "You’re really not being fair, keeping me in the dark. We’re together every day, and I didn’t even notice that you and Second Cousin were already an item. You two certainly kept it a secret..."

Ning Guiwan maintained a slight smile on her lips.

Her gaze shifted to the doorway where a man’s light grey cotton slippers were placed. A vision of Quan Yu’s black suit trousers against the opening of the slippers appeared before her, and she felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest.

What exactly did that man want?

She had been prepared for Lai Yang to learn the truth, but with the current situation... it was actually harder for her to say anything.

Lai Yang hadn’t slept much the night before. After eating something with Ning Guiwan, she returned to her room to take a bath and catch up on sleep.

Ning Guiwan waited until Lai Yang was asleep before heading out. Closing the door behind her, she found a bodyguard waiting outside.

He had been left by Quan Yu when he departed.

Ning Guiwan was silent for a moment, memories surfacing from the past.

Four years ago, on the night Quan Yu rescued her.

The phone call en route had not only woken Quan Yu but also Ning Guiwan. She knew when he left. She was also aware that he had left a bodyguard for her at the door.

With Quan Yu’s bodyguard there, she should have been perfectly safe when she left the club hotel the next morning.

But he was Quan Yu’s man. Ning Guiwan, in a fit of anger over her drunken misconduct, had driven him away. As a result, she was left utterly alone and panicked when reporters besieged her at the entrance of the clubhouse.

That bodyguard was Xu Ruogu. Ning Guiwan remembered his name because he had sought her out later to apologize for his dereliction of duty that morning.

At that time, scandals about Ning Guiwan’s impropriety were rife. Newspapers and internet articles about her were taken down not long after they appeared, but such gossip, once spread, cannot be effectively contained.

Rumor alone can kill.

Ning Guiwan was so overwhelmed by public disdain that she could barely breathe. She wanted to see no one, especially not Quan Yu.

So when Xu Ruogu came to apologize and seek her forgiveness, she didn’t meet with him, leaving him to stand in the pouring rain for several days and nights.

Now, upon reflection, what fault could a bodyguard have?

Ning Guiwan pulled her thoughts back and looked at the bodyguard in the white shirt and black suit. "Xu Ruogu?"

"I am Xu Ruohuai." The bodyguard bowed his head respectfully. "Ruogu is no longer with Sir."

Ning Guiwan was somewhat surprised. She knew that Quan Yu’s bodyguards had been with him for many years, from Canada to China, and were fiercely loyal.

"Why?" she asked.

An unusual expression flashed across Xu Ruohuai’s face. "He made a mistake."

Ning Guiwan was momentarily surprised, her mind inevitably revisiting Xu Ruogu’s apology.

But seeing Xu Ruohuai’s reluctance to elaborate, she didn’t press further and brought up another matter. "I have something to discuss with your Sir. Do you know where he is?"

Quan Yu had gone to meet with several business associates.

When Quan Yu received Ning Guiwan’s call, Han Tai was sitting opposite him. Han Tai had one arm around Zhang Ziyan’s waist and held a glass in his other hand, pompously reciting pretentious literary phrases, "...nothing is better than a drink in hand; a lifetime seldom sees a full moon above. The older one gets, the more time seems insufficient."

"Director Han is enjoying the company of a beauty; a pity the spring night is so short, eh? Haha..." someone teased.

The crowd followed with laughter.

Zhang Ziyan lowered her head, her face blushing. It was a blend of sensuality and innocence, with some contrived actions—exactly the kind men fell for. The gazes on her heated up.

Quan Yu remained expressionless, sipping from his glass, as if an invisible wall shielded him from the frivolous atmosphere.

Chi Zhengjun, however, seemed rather interested and joked along, a playful smile on his face.

A server whispered something in Quan Yu’s ear. He set down his glass, stood up, and silently headed towards the bar.

There was no signal at sea. Calls could only be made using the satellite phone provided by the cruise ship.

"Why did you speak to Lai Yang like that?" Ning Guiwan’s cool voice came through the receiver.

It was merely a transaction, yet he had said it was mutual affection.

Quan Yu stood at the service counter, one hand in his pocket, his posture relaxed. His commanding presence made a few female staff members nearby blush.

"How did I speak?" the man asked calmly in return.

Ning Guiwan paused for two seconds and then hung up.

Hearing the busy signal, the corners of Quan Yu’s mouth lifted slightly. He returned to the private room, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank it. "I have a little issue to attend to," he said. "Please excuse me."

"What matter?" Han Tai, so engaged in the conversation, blurted out without thinking.

After asking, he realized his mistake. When was it his place to pry into the affairs of Ruiyin’s Director Quan?

Just as he was about to say something to remedy the situation, he saw Quan Yu, seemingly in a good mood, smile casually. "My cat at home is getting restless," Quan Yu said. "I need to go soothe it."