As soon as school started, Yan Jun had to resume his exhausting daily routine. After making steamed buns, he went straight to school, so sleepy he could barely open his eyes.
In the past, he would simply fall asleep during morning self-study and wouldn’t wake up until the third period. Today, the head teacher was patrolling the classroom, and Yuan Siqi habitually wanted to provide cover for the boss, only to see his two eyes wide open and shining, his vision drifting, looking absent-minded and distracted.
“Boss,” Yuan Siqi asked him curiously, “what guilty conscience are you hiding?”
Yan Jun glared at him fiercely, but didn’t say anything, obviously hit right in the bullseye.
Lin He saw him fish out his mobile phone, place it on his lap, and secretly flip through it, as if waiting for some information. His eyebrows twitched, and he smiled: “Did you hit on some girl and now she’s chasing you down to take responsibility?”
Yan Jun still remained silent, only biting his lip with worry, and shoved his phone back into his pocket with a backhand motion.
Enduring the entire morning in this fidgety state, the moment noon class ended, Yan Jun stood up, walked out of the classroom, and leaned over the corridor railing to look down.
Yuan Siqi and Lin He crowded to his left and right, peering down as well: “Boss, what are you looking at?”
Yan Jun’s brow furrowed tightly: “Help me find Ren Yandong.”
“What are you looking for him for?” Lin He paused, his lips twitching uncomprehendingly.
“…Something to discuss.” Yan Jun was a man of few words. Soon, spotting that tall and sturdy figure, his eyes lit up, and he immediately sprinted downstairs, catching up to Ren Yandong in less than ten seconds:
“Ren Yandong!” The cool and aloof boy who never initiated invitations was completely out of character today, nervously grabbing the other person and urging anxiously, “This afternoon after school, we have a basketball game scheduled. Are you coming?”
Ren Yandong was also a bit abnormal today; his expression was rather unpleasant, and his smile appeared somewhat strained: “Sure, let’s play.”
“Mhm,” Yan Jun swallowed bitterly, his light brown pupils almost shrinking to a pinpoint, appearing extremely nervous about the question he was about to ask: “Didn’t you say before that that Qin Yize is really good at playing? Call him to come along, and we can play five-on-five.”
“Qin Yize…” The gloom at the bottom of Ren Yandong’s eyes finally showed its true form as he lowered his head and sighed: “He should have gone abroad; he didn’t come today.”
“Oh, really?” Yan Jun watched him fixedly, the fists clenched tightly behind his back quietly loosening a bit, and his steps became lighter: “Then it’ll just be the few of us! Come find us at the playground after school.”
With that, he trotted toward the school bicycle shed like an anxious little leopard. He crossed paths with Yuan Siqi, who was coming down the stairs, leaving the latter spreading his hands in confusion: “What the heck? The boss doesn’t even go home at noon, what’s going on today? …So weird!”
It was at this exact moment that Qin Yize’s father, Qin Yaodong, walked into the head teacher’s office.
At first glance, Teacher Zhong confirmed the newcomer’s identity: their brows and eyes were too similar, and their builds were also tall, though slightly gaining weight, with an aura much more oppressive than Qin Yize’s.
A female secretary followed behind him, and the two walked straight toward Teacher Zhong the moment they entered the door, as if they had already seen his face: “Hello, Teacher Zhong.”
“Ah, hello, hello!” Feeling inexplicably nervous, Zhong Jiahe shook hands with him, brought over two stools, and invited the two to sit: “What tea would you two like to drink? I only have Longjing here.”
“No need.” Qin Yaodong politely twitched his lips, without a smile in his eyes, “Let’s talk business directly.”
“Oh, sure.” Teacher Zhong hurried to sit down and recalled: “The last time I saw Qin Yize was on July 6th, the day we got our report cards. Around ten-something in the morning, he walked out of the school gates with his desk-mate and hailed a taxi on the street to go home. Ever since then, I haven’t seen him once, and he hasn’t posted in the class group chat either. Mr. Qin, when was the last time you contacted him?”
Qin Yaodong’s expression was calm and composed: “June 29th.”
Zhong Jiahe: “…”
Not contacting his underage son for a whole month! Is this a qualified father? Teacher Zhong restrained his expression and gave a light cough: “Does he… live with his mother?”
“No. His mother is very busy and basically not in this city.”
“Then…” Teacher Zhong suddenly didn’t know how to continue, his throat feeling hoarsely awkward. Instead, Qin Yaodong looked calmly toward the direction of the classroom and asked flatly: “Is Yize very close to his desk-mate?”
“Not bad. He hangs out relatively more with his desk-mate and the person sitting behind him, and they often study together.”
“Can I talk to them?”
“Yes, I’ll call them over. Please wait here for a moment.”
Walking to the classroom, Zhong Jiahe scanned the room and only saw You Xinyao. He walked inside, knocked on her desk, and asked, “Where is Ren Yandong?”
“He went to eat.” You Xinyao was engrossed in playing with a Switch and couldn’t even bear to look at him. Teacher Zhong said helplessly, “I know you’ve been granted early admission, but don’t play games in the classroom! Everyone else is reviewing, and you doing this is really bad for morale, you know?”
“Oh.” You Xinyao calmly paused the game and looked up at him innocently: “Teacher, what do you need me for?”
“Qin Yize’s father is here and wants to ask you some things. Come with me for a bit… Hey, bring your phone!”
“Oh.” You Xinyao dug a pink mobile phone covered in trinkets out of her desk drawer and lazily followed him away.
Led by Zhong Jiahe to stand before Qin Yaodong, You Xinyao looked at the middle-aged man in front of her who looked extremely similar to her good friend, her expression blank like an out-of-touch rabbit.
Qin Yaodong also looked her up and down, but instead of asking about Qin Yize right away, he said, “You’re You Xinyao, the top student in the grade, right?”
“Mhm.” You Xinyao nodded.
Observing her somewhat short stature, Qin Yaodong smiled inexplicably, looked away, and finally returned to the main point: “Hasn’t Yize contacted you at all this entire summer vacation?”
“No. I sent him messages, and he didn’t reply.”
“No.” You Xinyao shrugged, “We confirmed it with each other; he didn’t respond to anyone.”
Teacher Zhong’s complexion grew paler the more he listened, and he couldn’t help asking Qin Yaodong: “Mr. Qin, have you checked your home? Are there any surveillance cameras at home?”
“What about his bank card expenses?”
“Still investigating…”
You Xinyao listened boredly for a while from the side and said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”
“Hey, wait!” Zhong Jiahe grabbed her reluctantly, “Give me your phone, I want to see your chat history.”
“Oh.” You Xinyao unlocked her phone indifferently, opened WeChat, and handed it to him. Zhong Jiahe found the chat window annotated with “Qin Yize,” opened it, and saw the latest chat history stopped at seven days ago: “My mom said you didn’t do your summer homework? …Did you really transfer schools?”
His eyes bulged in shock as he pointed at the screen and asked: “Your mom said…? What does that mean?”
“Oh, my mom saw him at the hospital that day and chatted with him for a bit.”
“He went to the hospital seven days ago?” Qin Yaodong and Zhong Jiahe asked in unison, shouting in shock, “Then why didn’t you mention it just now?!”
You Xinyao shrugged incomprehensibly: “You guys didn’t ask either!”
Qin Yaodong immediately stood up and resolutely stated, “Classmate You, please introduce me to your mother. I want to check the surveillance footage.”
You Xinyao looked at Teacher Zhong: “Teacher, then the afternoon classes…”
“Just go with Mr. Qin! Anyway, you’ve already been admitted early, so whether you attend these classes or not makes no difference.” Teacher Zhong waved his hand helplessly.
“Oh.” Tucking her phone into her oversized uniform pants pockets, You Xinyao swayed her ponytail and led Qin Yaodong and his secretary away.
At twenty past twelve, Yan Jun rode his bicycle back to Jinghe Street, tossed the bike by the entrance, but didn’t see Qin Yize’s figure in the storefront. His heart instantly rose to his throat, and he anxiously asked Granny: “Granny, where is Xiao Shu?”
“Xiao Shu?” Granny pointed randomly outside the window, “He went to play with Xiao Hui and the others.”
Went to play?
Yan Jun suspiciously followed the street all the way to look for them, and finally found them under the Jinghe Bridge at the end of the street.
Those kids were squatting eagerly on the bank, screaming, “Here, here! They swam over here!” Qin Yize was standing in knee-deep river water, using a landing net to chase and intercept small fish and shrimp, and his basketball shorts were already wet in a large patch.
Yan Jun let out a sigh of relief, and his heart finally settled.
The fake kid was so fully immersed in playing that he didn’t notice him at all, only focusing on steadily, accurately, and ruthlessly scooping fish and shrimp into a small bucket. After a while, he walked up behind Xiao Hui and glared at this straight-A student who had forgotten all about returning home: “Xiao Shu, stop playing and come home with me to eat.”
Qin Yize then raised his head, his face showing pleasant surprise: “Brother! …There are a lot of small fish and many shrimp in this river. Xiao Hui said they can be stir-fried to eat. Why didn’t you bring me here before?”
“When would I have time? Making buns is exhausting to death, and I barely have enough time to catch up on sleep.”
Chives were definitely available; he had just gone out to buy them this morning. Yan Jun looked disdainfully at those tiny river shrimp, thinking they weren’t even enough to stick between one’s teeth… Stir-frying them for him to have some fun would have to do. Otherwise, with the way this guy kept dwelling on it, he might start nagging about it again until the middle of the night.
Opening the refrigerator to get the chives, Yan Jun noticed the plastic lunch box in the corner, which held the eight buns Qin Yize had made. This kid had practiced making buns with plasticine every day, and finally, hard work paid off—this morning, he made standard 18-pleat large buns.
He was extremely satisfied, supporting these buns to look at them again and again, and even asked: “Can buns like this be sold for Granny?”
Yan Jun critically scrutinized them for a few moments: “Hmm, not bad, they can be sold.”
Qin Yize was very happy then: “Then I want to freeze them and eat them slowly! After all, in the future, my buns are going to be sold out, and I won’t get to eat them myself~”
…Thinking of what this fake kid said this morning, Yan Jun smiled unconsciously. But the moment he raised his eyes, that layer of dark clouds welled up uncontrollably once more. He couldn’t help walking over to the stairway and shouting upwards to the loft: “Xiao Shu, don’t run around this afternoon, you hear me?”
“Why?” Qin Yize was changing clothes, sticking his head and half of his bare shoulders out from the railing, his handsome face looking bewildered.
Yan Jun was at a loss for words for a few seconds, a surge of frustration blocking his chest not knowing how to explain, so he just rudely brushed it off: “Anyway, just don’t run around! In case a bad guy kidnaps you, you’ll never see me again…”
Mutinously grumbling, he went back to the kitchen.
You Xinyao’s mother, Wang Ruoxing, was the head of the neurosurgery department at the Municipal People’s Hospital. She had a surgery today, so when her daughter brought Qin Yaodong to the hospital to check the surveillance footage, she wasn’t able to meet them right away.
At 1:40 PM, when the surgery ended, Qin Yaodong had already been waiting in her office for quite some time.
“Mom.” You Xinyao put down her Switch and made a brief introduction for both sides: “This is my mom, and this is Qin Yize’s father.”
Director Wang’s gaze swept over Qin Yaodong’s face and she nodded: “I can tell. What brings Mr. Qin to see me?”
“My son is missing.” Qin Yaodong stated concisely, raising his chin, “Classmate You said you saw him seven days ago, so I came to understand the situation from you and check the surveillance footage by the way.”
“Oh, so that’s what this is about!” A smile instantly bloomed on Director Wang’s face. She poured a cup of tea for Qin Yaodong, then sat down unhurriedly, folding her hands, “Seven days ago… it should have been close to noon, right? I saw him sitting in the payment waiting area of our department’s floor. I went over to talk to him, and he greeted me as well…”
Before she could finish, Qin Yaodong interrupted: “How did he look? Was his attire neat?”
“Can you take us to check the surveillance footage?” Qin Yaodong stood up, “It’s more straightforward to just look at the cameras.”
“…Follow me then.” Casually pulling her daughter along, Director Wang led them to the hospital’s security monitoring center. The security guard thought a theft had occurred, or perhaps an escaped criminal had appeared in the hospital, and checked the footage with exceptional dedication.
When Qin Yize’s figure appeared on the screen, Qin Yaodong’s indifferent eyes finally showed a trace of fluctuation: “…Yize.”
He leaned close to the screen, watching his son’s smile while talking with Director Wang, and muttered softly: “Fine and well, what did you come to the hospital for?”
You Xinyao and her mother exchanged glances, simultaneously revealing expressions of implicit disgust.
A few seconds later, the conversation between the two on screen ended. Qin Yize stood up and trotted toward the payment counter, joining two male youths. Qin Yaodong frowned in disbelief and turned to look at Director Wang: “Someone was with him?!”
“Yeah.” Director Wang shrugged.
“Then why didn’t you mention it just now?”
“Because you interrupted me!” Director Wang twitched her lips with a smile that wasn’t a smile.
Qin Yaodong was left speechless, having no choice but to rein in his thoughts and keep watching. When the group of three walked into the lobby, the camera finally captured the full faces of the two young men. You Xinyao let out an “oh?” and pointed at the young man in the middle: “Isn’t this our classmate?”
“He’s from your school?” Qin Yaodong and Director Wang asked in simultaneous shock.
“Yeah!” You Xinyao recalled the guy’s name, regretting to find she didn’t quite know him well, “I don’t remember his name, but I’ve seen this person. He’s from a regular class in the same grade, a sports student, who often plays basketball with Ren Yandong.”
“Meaning, he definitely knows Qin Yize.” Qin Yaodong thought deeply, “…Is he friends with Yize?”
You Xinyao honestly shook her head: “Doesn’t seem like it, I’ve never seen them talk.”
“Never talked…” Qin Yaodong pondered for a few seconds, raising his eyelids: “Do you know where he lives?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then we’ll have to go to the school…” Straightening up, the suit-clad middle-aged man showed a hint of impatience on his face.
At that moment, his phone rang in his pocket. He answered in a deep voice: “Hello?” On the other end was the bodyguard he left behind at home to review surveillance: “Boss, we found out the young master came back once two weeks ago! There is another young man beside him…”
“Is it a rather tall guy with very pale skin, upturned eye tails, and a somewhat arrogant look?” Qin Yaodong gazed at the hard-to-approach face on the screen.
“Huh? Yes, that’s him.”
“Heh.” With a light chuckle, he hung up the phone, turned around, and instructed his secretary in a low voice: “Have someone check the traffic department’s surveillance to see where that guy took Yize.”
Watching his stride away briskly, You Xinyao blinked and couldn’t help looking at her mother: “I thought he would call the police.”
“Call the police for what,” Director Wang put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders as they walked out of the monitoring room, “Rich people hate dealing with the police the most. Strange to say, Qin Yize is quite polite, why is his dad so annoying…”
Since the “key figure” had been found, You Xinyao considered the matter resolved and returned to school by herself after having lunch with her mom.
It was precisely ten past three in the afternoon, just as the first class had ended. Teacher Zhong was packing up his test papers and preparing to walk out of the classroom when he saw her biting on a popsicle as she walked in. His eyelid twitched, and he hurriedly stopped her: “Well? Did you find the surveillance footage?”
“Found it.” You Xinyao held the popsicle and pointed it lightly in the air, “Qin’s dad is out looking for people right now.”
“Looking for people?” Zhong Jiahe’s spirits surged, “Did you find the hideout where he ran away from home?”
“Huh?” Ren Yandong looked blank, “Cheng Yusong? Yan Jun? Zhao Zhifeng?”
“…Yan Jun!” You Xinyao finally matched the name, “Right, Yan Jun. Qin Yize went to the hospital with him.”
Teacher Zhong was completely stunned: “Yan Jun…? How could he be together with Yan Jun?”
“I don’t know.” You Xinyao shrugged and walked toward her seat. Ren Yandong anxiously leaned over his desk, grabbing the back of her chair as he whispered: “What’s going on, why did Yan Jun get dragged into this?…”
Baffled and unable to figure it out, Zhong Jiahe took his test papers and water cup back to the head teacher’s office, running right into Class 7’s head teacher, Luo Siyin, who was walking back carrying her lesson plan.
He took a sip of tea and said with a half-smile to Teacher Luo: “Old Luo, I really didn’t expect this—Yan Jun from your class actually has ties with Qin Yize! Did you ever notice before?”
Luo Siyin looked at him strangely: “What are you talking about, how could the two of them have ties?”
“Did you see it clearly? Was it really Yan Jun?” Luo Siyin was full of suspicion.
“Do you want me to call You Xinyao over to tell you?” Teacher Zhong wore a teasing expression.
Annoyed, Luo Siyin shot him a side-glance. Before her stool had even grown warm, she stood up and walked out.
The short female teacher was fired up and hurried along with rapid steps. Yuan Siqi, who was chatting idly in the corridor, caught sight of her figure from afar, got scared, and rushed back into the classroom, gasping: “The Chihuahua is coming! Looking super fierce, wonder who she’s going after!”
Yan Jun had cooked lunch at home and hadn’t slept well, so he was feeling sleepy right now. Lin He laughed from the side: “What are you feeling guilty for? Did you do something wrong?”
“What guilty conscience could I have! No matter who she’s going after, she always throws a jab at me along the way; I call this emergency self-preservation!”
In his daze, Yan Jun felt his phone vibrate once, seemingly a WeChat message. The next second, Luo Siyin’s patter of footsteps (“tap, tap, tap”) reached his side, and then his shoulder was tapped: “Yan Jun, come out with me.”
…What on earth is going on?
Dazedly opening his eyes, Yan Jun straightened up, only seeing Old Luo’s short figure walking outward. Amidst Yuan Siqi’s sympathetic look of “pray for your own blessings,” Yan Jun rubbed his eyes and walked out of the classroom. Luo Siyin was standing by the corridor railing with her arms crossed, her expression somewhat frighteningly serious.
At that moment, Yan Jun’s heart dropped with a “thud,” and he inexplicably straightened his posture.
“What is going on between you and Qin Yize?” Luo Siyin asked straight to the point, “He didn’t come this morning, and Teacher Zhong from Class 1 said that you went to the hospital with him a few days ago? …What did you go to the hospital for? Did one of you get sick, and why isn’t he coming to school?”
The brightly flashing dagger hanging over his heart finally fell down, landing stably, accurately, and ruthlessly. Yan Jun felt his two arms turn chilly, his fingers unable to clasp tightly, and he could only slightly and tremblingly twitch them together: “He… he wasn’t feeling well, so, he can’t come for now…”
His guilty gaze fell to his toes, his expression evasive. This rare demeanor made Luo Siyin even more suspicious:
“Why wasn’t he feeling well? If he’s asking for sick leave, why didn’t he contact the teachers? Even his parents didn’t know about this situation and barged into the school at noon demanding to find him! …Yan Jun, although you usually don’t like to submit to discipline, I’ve always thought you were someone who knew what was important and urgent! Such a big matter, why didn’t you tell the teacher?”
Her heart involuntarily rose to her throat, her voice fluttering: “You… you honestly tell me, what on earth is going on here? Make it clear, so that when Qin Yize’s parents come to hold us accountable, I’ll know how to cover for you!”
“Qin Yize’s father found out too?” Yan Jun asked such an irrelevant question instead.
“Otherwise what!” Luo Siyin only felt it was completely inexplicable.
At that instant, Yan Jun’s face turned pale blue, his pupils shrinking as if he had thought of some crucial matter. With a low roar of “Shit,” he clenched his teeth and turned to run.
“Hey, Yan Jun, where are you going?!” Luo Siyin shouted in disbelief, prompting many students from Class 7 to poke their heads out of the windows, watching curiously and discussing animatedly.