As usual, Gu Bai went to pick up his wife after class. Both their classes ended at the same time. Usually, when he arrived, his wife was already waiting for him downstairs. Occasionally, his wife was temporarily occupied or was on a high floor and had to wait for a long time for the elevator, so he was able to arrive a little earlier than him.
He stopped at the place where he often waited and turned to look at the main building. Right now, it happened to be the time when most classes ended. People streamed through the door of the main building. He lowered the window and concentrated on looking for his wife. After searching for a while, he pulled out his cellphone to make a call, only to find that the other party's phone was turned off. He paused slightly. Did the battery run out?
He waited for a while but until the crowd had subsided, he still didn't see his wife. Instead, he saw Ning Xiao. Normally, Ning Xiao left directly after class and wouldn't greet him at all. But today, he suddenly came over and quickly arrived. He raised his eyebrow slightly. “What's up?”
Ning Xiao had finally confessed to Qi Le. He originally wanted to hear his thoughts but was interrupted by a phone call. He didn’t see him even until class was over and his phone was also turned off. This made him feel as if a certain someone was running away. He sat in the classroom after class and waited but still didn’t see Qi Le return. Only then did he go downstairs. He handed Qi Le's books to Gu Bai. “They're his.”
Gu Bai took them and was somewhat surprised. “Where is he?”
Ning Xiao froze. He thought the man was here to pick up Qi Le's books, but he wasn’t. That's to say that Qi Le didn’t go looking for him after he left. Where would he go then? Did he go looking for a place to be alone? He thought for a moment and felt it was unlikely. He knew clearly how Qi Le treated him. He was still self-aware. “He didn’t contact you?”
“No.” Gu Bai frowned. “He’s not here?”
“Mmm, he left before class.” Ning Xiao narrated the matter again, including his confession. Although he knew that this was unlikely to be the main reason for Qi Le's departure, he still held onto a little hope. Even if it wasn't so, it wouldn't be that bad to annoy Gu Bai. Besides, he wasn't going to take a step back in this matter. It was better to show his attitude from the get go.
Gu Bai listened to him, his frown deepening. He temporarily ignored the confession and asked, “Who called him?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t follow him.”
Gu Bai thought for a moment and felt that it there were only those few people who often looked for his wife. He was just about to take his cellphone when it started to ring. He took it out and looked at the words “Lu Yanbin” that appeared on the screen. His heart thumped, a bad feeling suddenly overwhelming him. He pressed the answer button. “You better not tell me that your wife is missing.”
There was a moment of silence before Lu Yanbin’s voice sounded. “I really can’t find him. His cell phone is turned off. Where’s your wife?”
Gu Bai's gaze sank as he tried his best not to think of the worst. he thought, “His phone is off too. I can’t reach him right now.”
Lu Yanbin remained silent for a longer time and said softly, “I mentioned the inflatable doll with Xiao Hang today. I think he may have gone to look for your wife to take it back. I'm downstairs of your apartment now. I've been pressing the bell for a long time and no one answered."
“I’ll be right there.” Gu Bai hung up, his gaze sinking deeper. Yi Hang might turn off his cellphone because he wanted to escape Lu Yanbin, but Xiao Le would never do so. Even if his cellphone had run out of battery, he would try to contact him. However, there was no news from him even now….
Ning Xiao looked at him and was keenly aware of the problem. “What’s going on?”
Gu Bai snapped out of it, dropped a sentence that nothing was wrong and drove away. Ning Xiao was left standing in place. He thought about it and couldn't help but dial Qi Le's number. Finding that his phone was off, he called Ye Shuichuan and others, but no one knew where he was. He immediately frowned.
Gu Bai quickly returned to the apartment and saw Lu Yanbin waiting for him. He took out his key to open the electronic door downstairs and quickly went upstairs to open the door. At a glance, he saw the box under the tea table. He closed his eyes and sat down on the sofa. “It's still there so they didn’t come back to get it.” He froze. “Who's the one following Yi Hang?”
“They’re not legitimate folks.” Lu Yanbin shut the door. “Those people withdrew the moment they saw that things weren't right in the company. They wanted to purchase information through Xiao Hang but they didn't know each other very well, so the matter is probably not related to them. However, Xiao Hang was also involved with people from the mafia at the time. It seems that the move of company funds was related to them. The funds were eventually taken away by Xiao Hang but he was injured and admitted to the hospital right after taking it. Until now, the funds haven't been recovered yet.”
Gu Bai's heart sank suddenly. If it was really the mafia… Then they might do anything. He took a deep breath and asked, “Is it possible for Yi Hang to go elsewhere?”
“No, he has been playing games recently and almost reached the highest level, so his attention had been focused on it. If it weren’t for his goddess, he wouldn’t even go downstairs. Besides, even if we don't agree about his goddess, he doesn’t need to turn his phone off.”
Mmm, especially since Xiao Le’s cellphone was turned off too… Gu Bai asked in a low voice, “Have you investigated those people from the mafia?”
“I have,” said Lu Yanbin. “Xiao Hang had a good friend in junior high school. He wasn't good at his studies and dropped out of school in junior high and fooled around outside. Later, he was pretty well-known and had many people under him. He was said to have murdered people before. I don’t know what agreement Xiao Hang had with him at the beginning, what he wanted to do with Xiao Hang, or if he'll call me to discuss terms. I have asked my friends to contact those people. I'm waiting for their call now.”
~~~
P.S. Will update the other half of the chapter tmr. Sorry about the delay. It’s the holidays but I have an extra heavy workload right now. I hope you guys had a great Christmas or whatever holiday is it that you celebrate!