Ou Mucen had been searching for two whole days. For two days and nights, without any sleep or rest, he led a team tirelessly on the hunt, almost as if driven mad. He had stirred up the entire Ou family, the entire A City, into chaos.
Bai Tingfang was frightened. With New Year’s Eve just a day away, he still hadn’t returned home and was out there looking for someone like a madman. Finding no other solution, she had no choice but to inform Ji Chengzhi.
Ji Chengzhi was there when the incident unfolded; however, these two days were the New Year’s celebration, and he was busy with his family and the hospital, and couldn’t keep up. Now, hearing what his aunt had said, he too set out to look for him.
Fortunately, the commotion caused by the madman’s search was significant. Shortly after he left, he found him.
"Ou Mucen, snap out of it. You won’t achieve anything by continuing to search !"
Having cornered him, Ji Chengzhi saw the man in the car, unshaven and scruffy, barely resembling his former self, and felt a surge of pity.
Yet, the man sitting in the car, with eyes bloodshot from staring ahead, seemed as if he hadn’t heard a word,"You two, go check Xicheng District again. Also, ask at the airport and the stations—has there been any word?"
In his voice was a frantic tension, the kind that suggested he might truly break down mentally at any moment.
He had truly gone mad, just like his mother said!
Upon seeing the darkening night sky, Ji Chengzhi finally decided to ignore everything else, pulled open his car door, and climbed inside,"Alright, if you want to search, I’ll search with you. However long you want to keep this up, we’ll keep it up."
After speaking, he took out a cigarette and lit it inside the car.
Ou Mucen, who had been on the phone, finally turned to look at him, noticing that he was seated beside him, wearing a thick cotton jacket, with a scarf wrapped around his neck—clearly, he had come specifically for him.
Then, he finally asked,"Who told you to come here?"
Ji Chengzhi exhaled a ring of smoke,"Your mom, of course. She feared you’d go nuts and die on this street, so she sent me to check on you."
Ji Chengzhi was indeed as blunt as they come!
Ou Mucen fell silent again, glanced at the twilight that was darkening further, at the red lanterns and colorful lights slowly appearing on both sides of the street, and at the sound of firecrackers beginning to ring in his ears non-stop. Finally, he too sat there and took out a cigarette to light.
It was a feeling asm if his heart was being scorched in fire; in front of him was the joyous atmosphere of a New Year’s celebration and family reunions. But where was his woman? Where had his woman gone?
Had she encountered some danger? And was she possibly suffering at this moment?
He couldn’t bear to continue the thought, for every time he did, he became overwhelmed with fear, panic, and heartache, a suffocating feeling that made him unable to stop.
Because if he stopped, he would feel less than human, indifferent to her safety, careless about her life and death. Therefore, he had to keep searching non-stop, keep asking questions, regardless of whether there were any results—anything was better than just sitting there waiting.
The man’s face became even paler as he tried to light the cigarette, but after several attempts, he realized his fingers were trembling so much that he couldn’t even strike a light—a sight that could sour anyone’s mood.
Ji Chengzhi eventually lost all composure, leaned over, took the cigarette from his hand, and lit it for him before passing it back.