WWY Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Candlelight Dinner – This Kind of Acting Showcase…

The entire rural police station, along with several detectives from the city’s criminal investigation division, a total of over thirty people, were searching for clues in the cold sea breeze with flashlights.

There’s a long, treacherous cliff near Renchao Village. The uneven, yellowish-brown rocks face the sea without any buffer.

Visibility was poor at night. Xia Shengbo stumbled over the rocks, scraping his hands, and was about to give up.

“Seriously, Ling, is Yingying Zou really going to come here? If you fall from this place, there’s definitely no hope of recovering the body, right?”

“Maybe she just wants to disappear without a trace? How many bullied children have committed suicide these years?”

Xia Shengbo clicked his tongue and stopped complaining.

The police conducted a thorough search. So many days had passed, and they all knew that the chances were slim, but their duty as police officers prevented them from giving up.

Chief Sun couldn’t help but sigh, telling Tuxi Ling, “Yingying was a good kid, just too introverted. She didn’t like asking adults for help when she encountered problems. It’s truly a tragedy!”

Suddenly, a shout came from a distance: “Chief, we’ve found something!”

Behind a rock on the cliff’s edge, in a sheltered spot, lay a beige backpack. A faded pink doll pendant hung on the backpack, and Zou Yingying’s name was neatly written on the notebook inside.

“Ling, it’s Zou Yingying’s backpack. She really was here!” Xia Shengbo nervously called out.

Tuxi Ling took the notebook, subconsciously looking around, and remained silent.

Below the cliff, the black seawater relentlessly crashed against the sharp reefs. A few pale lights on the sea’s surface resembled ghost fires, those were two temporarily requisitioned jet skis and two small fishing boats, their searchlights cutting through the darkness as they approached the base of the cliff.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Tuxi Ling handed the notebook to Xia Shengbo with some frustration, sighing as he thought about a young life lost due to adolescent impulses and the malice of others.

“After Zou Yingying left, Qin Man and his accomplice happened to pass by Renchao Village. They saw the house with its door open, but the lights were off, so they temporarily entered the house to avoid the wind. Perhaps this also gave them an idea, like, finding an uninhabited house in the city to occupy.”

“Oh, impressive! They have a skilled hacker who probably checked the homeowner’s travel information in Purple Jade Sea View through the ticketing system and chose that house!”

“Right, right. That way, they could accurately know when they would leave and when they would return. They might have even checked their personal information, specifically choosing a young couple from out of town to ensure that no one would come to the house during that period.”

“High-IQ crime!”

Tuxi Ling silently watched Xia Shengbo and Wu Li analyze the situation, speechless.

After they finished, he questioned, “Wouldn’t it be easier for them to directly find an empty house in the city? There are plenty of those, right?”

The two immediately froze.

Tuxi Ling asked Wu Li, “Why are you here? Is Qin Man’s phone examination complete?”

Wu Li instinctively straightened up: “Data analysis is in progress, no results yet.”

“Are there any unusual apps on the phone? Like, gambling platforms, uncommon game platforms?”

“There’s a game platform, the one we found, but it’s not logged in. There are no records on the phone. The suspect should have carefully cleared everything. Little Xu said they’re worried about trojan horses or monitoring programs, so they want to back up the entire contents of the phone. It will take time!”

Tuxi Ling nodded, he could only wait.

–

Hetian is located near Global City. The restaurant is high-end, a popular choice for banquets among the upper class.

Lan He was visiting for the first time. After getting out of the car, he looked up at the luxurious forty-one-story building, loosened the collar of his casual suit, and quickly walked inside. As he passed a small decorative fountain in the front hall, he noticed someone in the corner filming him with a phone.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave the approaching waiter Gu Ya’s name.

The waiter’s smile became even more exaggerated: “Ah, Mr. He, welcome. Deputy Gu is in the revolving restaurant on the forty-first floor, please come with me!”

The revolving restaurant’s decoration was a simplified Baroque style. Huge bubble crystal chandeliers were connected to miniature landscape ponds. The overall tone was a warm yellow. Each table was separated by a similarly styled screen. The volume of conversations was kept low to avoid disturbing others.

Lan He entered the restaurant to the sound of crisp piano music, following the waiter’s guidance, and saw Gu Ya waiting for him in a corner of the restaurant.

The window seats on the top floor of Hetian offered the most beautiful views of the city. Gu Ya rested her chin on her hand, looking at the clear blue sky outside. An exquisite rose vase sat in front of her, and the auxiliary light at the corner of the table illuminated her face.

Seeing Lan He, she smiled and greeted him, naturally taking his wrist: “Honey, I heard there was a bit of traffic on the way, you arrived pretty quickly!”

Lan He smiled, pulling his wrist back as he walked to his seat: “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay, it’s rare to have the opportunity to admire such a beautiful view!” Gu Ya gave the waiter a signal to start, and only sat down after Lan He was seated.

Lan He felt that this woman was being deliberately funny. He had rarely made public appearances, but Gu Ya was a household name in this city, especially in a place like Hetian, she probably knew everyone there.

“This place has a good environment, not too crowded, it meets your requirements, right?”

“Indeed, not bad.”

“Is there anything else I can do at home? Or, how about I arrange an assistant for you?”

“It’s okay, even if there is something, Si’nian He will arrange it.”

Hearing Si’nian He’s name, a subtle hint of annoyance flashed in Gu Ya’s eyes. She joked, “Honey, from now on, we’re family. I believe I can take care of you better than CEO He!”

Lan He nodded: “Of course, Si’nian He wouldn’t be willing to hire a family doctor for me at 100,000 a month.”

Gu Ya smiled, a little proud.

Suddenly, the surroundings darkened, and the bright windows turned dark. Lan He was stunned, only to see a few candlelights approaching. A waiter walked over, carrying a silver Baroque candlestick.

Lan He looked away: “President Gu, thank you for your trouble.”

A girlish shyness appeared on Gu Ya’s face. She leaned forward and gently pressed his hand with both hands: “Honey, why are you still being so formal? Call me Gu Ya!”

Lan He nodded.

This kind of acting showcase really made it easy to get pictures!

Lan He didn’t know if Gu Ya had some misunderstanding about his tastes, but today’s meal was on the bland side. He looked at the nearly vegetarian dishes on the table, feeling a little depressed, and because of his depression, he started to become impatient early.

After the waiter left, he tugged at the collar of his white turtleneck sweater. The words “Gu Ya” got stuck in his throat for a long time, and when he finally spoke, they turned into: “Gu Ya, let’s talk about the wedding.”

Gu Ya’s eyes lit up, and she happily asked, “When are you planning to have it?”

“I don’t like formalistic things like weddings.”

Gu Ya was stunned, almost unable to maintain the smile on her face: “What?”

“It’s too much trouble, and my health isn’t good, I can’t overexert myself.” Lan He said with a smile, “I don’t think it necessarily has to be in the form of a wedding. The news of our marriage hasn’t been officially announced yet, and many tabloids are spreading rumors about us. Last time you said we should give the public an explanation as soon as possible, wasn’t it because you were worried about these rumors being detrimental to both companies? Actually, I think as long as we hold a press conference and jointly announce that we are already married, the goal will be achieved.”

Gu Ya’s face gradually turned red.

“Lan He, you…”

“Mind your manners, so many people are taking pictures around us, don’t let them catch you looking bad, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

Suddenly reprimanded, Gu Ya’s expression instantly became a little awkward. She thought that the reporters she had hired were hiding very well, but she didn’t expect him to have noticed them.

Lan He said, “Then let’s do that, let’s discuss the date of the press conference.”

Gu Ya nodded, picked up the butter knife, and then stopped in mid-air: “No matter what happened before, Lan He, I really want to have a good life with you now!”

“I know.”

“But you won’t even give me a wedding!”

Lan He’s tone was tinged with a calm mixed with anger: “My father’s seventh-day memorial hasn’t even passed yet, is it too early for you to talk about this with me? President Gu, although not many people in the upper circles know me, I represent the He family, and I also need to save face! At least I won’t agree to hold a wedding within a year, please don’t mention it again.”

Gu Ya paused, feeling annoyed in her heart, but her expression softened: “I understand, sorry, I didn’t think it through.”

This seemingly harmless, easy-to-manipulate soft persimmon suddenly became unfamiliar. He exuded a kind of world-weary aura, as if he had seen through life and death after experiencing countless hardships.

If he could take his own life and death lightly, he wouldn’t care about the life and death of others. Gu Ya was very rational and understood that a person who looked down on life and death was not to be provoked.

As for the matter of cohabitation, she didn’t dare to mention it again.

–

Apart from the initial unpleasantness, the whole atmosphere was good.

Lan He had decided to play along with Gu Ya to the end, but he didn’t expect her to receive an emergency call and ask to leave first.

They didn’t ask the waiter to do it for them, but instead took the elevator together directly to the underground parking lot. He accompanied her to her car on the B1 level and watched her leave before sending a message to Jiu Ya.

[Lan: Where are you?]

[Jiu: Is Young Master Lan in the lobby? Jiu Ya will pick you up.]

[Lan: No, I’m already in the underground parking lot, give me your location.]

[Jiu: B3 level, Zone K 047.]

[Lan: /OK wait for me.]

It was lunchtime, and there were a lot of people. The elevator would take a long time to wait, and the underground parking lot had a total of three floors, connected by separate fire escape stairs. Lan He planned to take this shortcut down.

The lighting was dim, and the narrow space was filled with the lingering smell of oil. The ventilation pipes overhead and the air conditioning compressors one wall away rumbled loudly.

He slowly went down one flight of stairs, looked up at the sign, B2, and was about to continue down when suddenly, a dark figure jumped out from a gap where fire equipment was stored and pounced on him.

A dark, slender shadow suddenly appeared on the ground. Lan He twisted his body with extreme speed, but because of the cramped space, he directly bumped into the person.

The person was tall and strong. Lan He was pinned against the wall by him. In the struggle, he propped his elbow against the person’s body to prevent him from getting closer, and gave him a punch, but was then tightly restrained by him with one hand.

Completely unable to fight back.

With this punch, the person’s mask strap broke, and the scar on his face turned slightly red, making him look even more hideous. His eyes were extremely sinister, and a cruel smile appeared on his lips: “A Lan, you can’t always hit the same spot when you hit someone, right?”

He backed away, pulled off the drooping mask and stuffed it into his pocket, revealing a Middle Eastern face with deep features and a stubble.