Go to him, right now.

"Hello, Uncle, it's Lin Xi."

When her uncle received Lin Xi's call, he was still at the company.

"Xixi," her uncle walked to a secluded spot and put the phone back to his ear. "I'm free tomorrow. Shall we grab a meal together?"

He had too many matters to attend to at the company these past two days, and he was currently away on other business; otherwise, he would have gone to see Lin Xi yesterday.

"Okay, I'm available anytime," Lin Xi replied at a very fast pace. "Uncle, could you help me check if flights at the airport have been grounded?"

"Why? What's going on over there?"

"The weather isn't very good here right now, but Qin Yu's flight was scheduled for half an hour ago. I'm not sure if he took off."

"Can't you reach him?"

"Right, both he and his assistant. Their phones are just ringing with no answer. Right now, I..." Lin Xi looked around, "I'm trapped here too."

"The hail is quite heavy here, so I can't leave for the time being."

"All right, all right, I'll go make some inquiries. Stay put and don't wander around, it's too dangerous."

"Okay," Lin Xi acknowledged. She paused and added, "Could you please hurry?"

Her voice was somewhat unsteady, and her uncle naturally understood her frame of mind at the moment. "Don't panic, I'll make the call right now. I'm hanging up first."

During the wait for the return call, Lin Xi didn't know where she should go.

She stood by the entrance for a while longer, but the weather showed no signs of improving. Engineer Li and Engineer Wang were deeply worried about her, so they quickly turned back to look for her.

"Engineer Lin, let's go back inside to make your call. The rain is getting heavier, and you'll get soaked standing out here."

A wind had picked up now, and the slanted streaks of rain were beating directly against Lin Xi.

Lin Xi looked at the gloomy sky, finally tightened her grip on her phone, and turned to go back inside with them.

Sitting down in a chair, Lin Xi stared blankly at the phone in her hand.

Seeing that she was waiting for a call, Engineer Li didn't dare to disturb her. Along with Engineer Wang, he pretended as if nothing was wrong, walked over to the side, and chatted idly with the others.

Dou Yangyang brought back some dessert and was just about to deliver it to Lin Xi when Engineer Wang quick-wittedly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

Spinning around on her heels, Dou Yangyang looked at Engineer Wang in utter confusion. "?"

"She's busy right now. Go find her later."

Dou Yangyang followed his gaze and saw Lin Xi sitting in the innermost spot, holding her phone and staring blankly into space.

She didn't look particularly busy.

Seeming to sense her doubt, Engineer Wang offered a rare, sympathetic explanation. "She's waiting for a very important call. She won't pay attention to you even if you talk to her."

That was no lie. Engineer Li also nodded. "Just now, when we spoke to Engineer Lin, she was completely zoned out. Better not to disturb her for now."

"Did something happen?" Dou Yangyang asked, feeling rather worried.

They both made it sound quite serious, and besides, she had never seen Engineer Lin in this state before.

Engineer Wang crossed his arms and offered a detached critique: "Look at the way she is. It's not quite normal."

"Is... that so?"

Dou Yangyang scratched her head, failing to see it.

Lin Xi currently looked no different from usual; her face was expressionless, still as calm as still water.

"You clearly don't know her well," Engineer Wang scoffed.

The corners of Engineer Li's twitched. "What kind of remark is that? It's not like you and Engineer Lin are on such familiar terms either."

Usually, Engineer Wang and Lin Xi didn't cross paths much—mostly just bumping into each other in meetings or at the cafeteria, with little interaction.

After all, because of that incident last time, the two of them hadn't parted on particularly pleasant terms.

"...Fine, I suppose I'm not exceptionally close to her either. But I'm not blind."

Engineer Wang raised his chin. "Look at her fingers. She keeps rubbing the back cover of her phone over and over. It's a clear sign of anxiety. Combined with the way she was spacing out earlier, something is definitely up."

"She looks calm on the surface, but it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. If you look closely, you can still tell something's off."

"She's never like this on ordinary days."

Dou Yangyang: "Huh?"

Engineer Wang looked at her with utter disdain. "On ordinary days, Engineer Lin always carries an air of supreme arrogance. She never panics when facing troubles—steady as a rock."

Engineer Li: "You certainly know her well."

He, her "direct colleague," didn't seem to understand her half as much as this guy did.

"Nonsense," Engineer Wang clicked his tongue. "She wasn't even this panicked the last time she beat me up."

Engineer Li: "..."

---

The period of waiting for the call was far more agonizing than Lin Xi had imagined.

Yet, from start to finish, only about seven or eight minutes had actually passed.

Her uncle called back quite quickly, but Lin Xi didn't hear what she most wanted to hear.

"What I found out is that all flights during this time slot have been grounded. But whether Qin Yu's flight is among them is currently being checked. We'll have to wait a little longer."

"Alright, thank you, Uncle. I understand." Lin Xi took a deep breath, but still couldn't let down her guard.

"Rest assured," her uncle comforted her. "Flights definitely won't take off given the weather conditions. He's probably just busy. Try calling him again a bit later."

Lin Xi gave a soft acknowledgment. After a few seconds, still feeling somewhat reluctant to give up, she asked, "How long before the airport gives a definitive reply?"

"Hard to say. I've contacted their person in charge, and they are verifying it right now. Within half an hour, I suppose."

After hanging up, Lin Xi leaned back in her chair.

After calming herself for a moment, she dialed Qin Yu's number once more. Unsurprisingly, it still went unanswered.

A headache began to throb behind Lin Xi's temples. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, initially intending to rest.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.

Go find him.

Right now.

---

Dou Yangyang was in the middle of eating when she suddenly saw Lin Xi sling her backpack over her shoulder and walk out. Fearing she'd choke, she hastily swallowed the food in her mouth.

"E-Engineer Lin, are you heading out?"

"Mn." Lin Xi looked toward Engineer Li not far away and signaled for him to come over with a nod.

"I'm heading out now. If the weather clears up, you all go back to the hotel. If the weather stays like this, wait for me here."

"..." Engineer Li was dumbfounded. "Then what about you? Where are you going?"

"I have an urgent matter. We'll talk when I get back."

"Wait, outside..."

Engineer Li tried to dissuade her, but Lin Xi shook her head. "I could hear the sound overhead wasn't as loud anymore; it should be fine now. I'll take the subway, don't worry."

With those words, Lin Xi put on her coat and hurried toward the main entrance.

Right at the doorway, she bumped into Levi, who was just coming back from outside.

"Senior Brother."

Levi nodded. "I'm so pissed, my car got a huge dent from the hail."

"Oh, are you heading out?"

"Mn. Is it still hailing outside?"

"A little bit, not as heavy as when it started."

Levi looked at her. "Where are you going? Do you want me to give you a lift?"

Lin Xi stared at the car keys in his hand for a few seconds. "Senior Brother, could you drive me to the subway station? The nearest one will do."

"Of course." Levi didn't ask what she was up to; he just smiled, tilted his head, and gestured, "Let's go. I'm already paying to fix one dent, another one won't make a difference. One more doesn't matter."