What are you doing, Mr. President? I'm just an extra!

"There's still a huge mess to clean up at the Su family's place."

Lu Li took a half step back, maintaining a safe social distance, afraid that Su Feiyan might be watching from the shadows. "Big star Gu, focus on rehearsals. Not even a mosquito can fly into the venue these days."

Gu Qingcheng wasn't angry at his deliberate attempts to avoid suspicion.

She suddenly stepped forward, her warm breath almost brushing against Lu Li's chin, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: "See you at the Jianghai victory celebration banquet. Then... you won't be able to hide anymore."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the dressing room, leaving Lu Li with a cold and resolute back view.

……

At 6 p.m., in front of the Hilton Hotel.

The convoy for the return journey has been assembled.

Due to the previous explosions and attacks, the Su family's original bulletproof vehicles were sealed and seized by the Municipal Bureau for evidence collection. Old Zhou temporarily transferred a luxury mid-sized business reception vehicle from the branch company.

Before getting into the car, Su Feiyan shoved Lu Li's phone back into his hand and coldly said, "I've seen all the messages. There's nothing you need to hide from me."

Lu Li took the phone, and there were more than a dozen unread messages on the screen—from Gu Qingcheng, Shen Weilan, Uncle Wang, and even a sixty-second message from Bai Xiaolu who somehow learned to send voice messages.

He wisely refrained from opening it on the spot.

"Assistant Lu, get in the car."

Old Zhou opened the middle door of the van and made a gesture of invitation without any expression on his face.

Lu Li yawned, put one hand in his pocket, and stepped onto the car door sill.

The next second, he froze at the car door as if someone had pressed the pause button.

The interior of this temporarily deployed commercial vehicle has been modified.

Instead of rows of individual seats, there is a large, U-shaped circular leather sofa.

At this moment, the sofa was already full of people.

Su Feiyan, Ji Hanyue, Yang Ningbing, and Shen Weilan, the four women, sat together in the carriage.

The moment Lu Li stepped onto the pedal, four pairs of eyes simultaneously focused on him.

The air in the carriage seemed to have been sucked out, and the air pressure was so low that it was suffocating.

A silent battle of wits, more terrifying than facing assassins just moments before, unfolded wildly in this space of less than ten square meters.

In the very center seat, Su Feiyan wore a newly changed black haute couture business suit, her legs crossed, her slender calves encased in black stockings outlining a fatal curve.

Her cold, beautiful phoenix eyes swept over Lu Li, and her fair fingers gently patted the large empty leather seat next to her.

He didn't say anything, but his domineering desire to "try sitting next to someone else" was already overflowing from the roof of the car.

At the curved corner on the left, Shen Weilan took off her shoes, her legs, clad in white over-the-knee socks, curled up on the sofa.

She was hugging a soft, plush pillow, blinking her innocent and pure big eyes, and patting the empty seat next to her with her little hands.

"Brother-in-law, I have a charging cable here. Isn't your phone almost out of battery?"

Shen Weilan's voice was sickeningly sweet, and the aroma of tea was overwhelming.

On the right, in a separate position, Ji Hanyue, dressed in a moon-white dress, placed her hands on her knees with her hands folded, closed her eyes to rest, seemingly indifferent to everything around her.

But less than half an inch from her side, there was an unopened food box.

The food box lid was half-open, and the aroma of steaming osmanthus cakes was wafting out.

That's the most famous time-honored brand in the neighboring city; Lu Li had casually mentioned wanting to eat there that afternoon.

—Bare-handed straight-hook fishing.

In the front single seat closest to the car door, Yang Ningbing was wearing a dark trench coat and gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

She was looking down, holding a pen in her hand, seemingly engrossed in reviewing city government documents.

But her sitting posture was subtle—her long legs were slightly splayed outwards, almost blocking most of the aisle leading to the back sofa.

Those clear eyes hidden behind the glasses were glancing at Lu Li's knees out of the corner of their eye.

If Lu Li dares to take a step back, he will definitely bump into her leg.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, with no chance of survival.

Lu Li stood at the car door, cold sweat instantly pouring down his forehead.

He frantically calculated his survival rate in his mind: if he sat next to Fei Yan, he would be torn to pieces by the glares of the other three women; if he sat next to Wei Lan, Fei Yan would throw him off the highway on the spot; if he sat next to Ji Hanyue, this ice-cold sect leader had just suppressed her cold aura, and if her emotions fluctuated again, he would be frozen into an icicle; as for Yang Ningbing... she was the mayor, and he would have to report to her even if he passed by.

[What a terrible thing! Did I blow up a nursing home or kick down a widow's door in my past life?!]

Lu Li roared inwardly, his facial muscles twitching slightly.

Even the donkeys in the production team have it worse than me! Driving back on this highway will shorten my lifespan by ten years!

This heartfelt cry of grief and indignation resonated simultaneously in the minds of the four women.

The footage inside the train carriage paused eerily.

Su Feiyan's fingers, which were tapping the chair, stiffened slightly, and a dangerous sneer curled at the corner of her mouth; Shen Weilan's hand, which was holding the cushion, tightened suddenly, and she almost couldn't help but laugh out loud; Ji Hanyue's closed eyelids trembled slightly, and the osmanthus cake in the food box seemed to smell even better; Yang Ningbing's pen drew a heavy black line on the document, and a suspicious blush appeared on her ears.

At this critical moment, Lu Li caught a glimpse of an extra seat in the corner to the left of the car door.

Bai Xiaolu was huddled in that cramped folding chair, holding a family bucket bigger than her face in her arms, munching on fried chicken with oil dripping from her mouth, completely unaware of the chaotic scene unfolding in the carriage.

"Oh dear, Senior Sister, your hands are all greasy from eating! There's not even anyone to get you some tissues!"

Lu Li seemed to see a savior. He jumped into the car and squeezed into the cramped extra seat next to Bai Xiaolu without hesitation, while pulling a pack of wet wipes out of his pocket.

"Here, come on, I'll hand you a chicken leg, you can eat it without worry!"

Lu Li spoke with righteous indignation, his face full of care for the next generation of the Supreme Palace of Forgetfulness.

Bai Xiaolu blinked her big, bewildered eyes and handed over a golden-fried chicken wing: "Meal ticket, do you want some?"

"I'm not hungry, you eat, you eat more."

Lu Li pressed against the car door, his eyes downcast and his mind focused.

The four women in the carriage watched Lu Li's slippery demeanor—preferring to share the cold seat with Bai Xiaolu rather than offend either side—and their anger and resentment were inexplicably dispelled by a sense of helplessness.

Su Feiyan snorted and withdrew her leg; Shen Weilan pouted and threw the cushion aside; Ji Hanyue closed her eyes again and simply pushed the food box towards Lu Li; Yang Ningbing calmly withdrew her leg from the aisle and continued reading the documents.

A delicate and fragile balance was maintained by a fried chicken leg.

"Old Zhou, drive."

Su Feiyan coldly gave the order.

The minivan smoothly drove onto the highway.

The sky outside the window darkened, and the lights inside the carriage were adjusted to a soft, warm orange hue.

The car was traveling at a very steady speed.

After eating and drinking her fill, Bai Xiaolu leaned against Lu Li's shoulder and began to snore softly.

In this confined space, the tense, potentially explosive atmosphere gradually subsided and transformed into a strange tranquility.

Su Feiyan leaned back in her chair, watching Lu Li's comical posture as he stiffly served as a human pillow for Bai Xiaolu, a barely perceptible tenderness flashing in her eyes.

Yang Ningbing put down the documents in her hand, took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, but her eyes remained fixed on Lu Li's calm profile.

Having gone through this life-or-death struggle, the four women, with their distinct identities and personalities, felt a strange resonance deep within them—as long as the man was still alive and sitting in the car, all other games of strategy seemed to be temporarily put aside.

Two hours later.

The luxury van slowed down and smoothly passed through the Jianghai City expressway toll station.

The familiar bustling night scene came into view like a dazzling galaxy.

The neon lights of Jianghai City shone through the car window onto Lu Li's face, finally allowing his tense nerves to relax slightly.

I'm finally back alive... Tonight I'll have to ask Uncle Wang to get me two big kidneys to help me recover from this shock.

Lu Li just breathed a sigh of relief.