Chapter 36

Seeing Zhao Tongtong return, Wei Xuan awkwardly waved at her and whispered, “Tongtong, you’re not really planning to let her live here permanently, are you? It’s really inconvenient here. We only have 80 square meters total— we’ll be seeing each other constantly, which would be super awkward, and it would mess up our couple’s world.”

Zhao Tongtong slapped away Wei Xuan’s outstretched hand and glared at him. “What’s so awkward about it? Zhirou is my best friend, and now that she’s in trouble, I can’t just ignore her. If you think it’s not okay, then you can move out.”

“I’m trying to talk to you seriously, so what kind of talk is that?” Wei Xuan’s tone turned cold as well.

“Human talk. You’re a grown man— is your tolerance really that small? My friend is just staying for a few days. This is still my house. If it were yours, would you kick both of us out onto the street?” Zhao Tongtong’s temper flared up too.

“What the hell is this? I’m not arguing with you.” Wei Xuan simply turned his back to Zhao Tongtong and went to sleep.

Zhao Tongtong ignored him. She usually thought Wei Xuan was pretty gentlemanly— how could he nitpick over such a trivial matter?

~~~

By the time Lu Yao woke up, it was already 4 a.m. It was still dark outside, and the house was quiet. She stretched her arms and moved around a bit, only to realize her left arm had gone numb from sleeping on it. Lu Yao rubbed her arm as she walked out.

At this hour, Shen Zhirou’s anger should have mostly subsided, right? She might even be asleep by now. Lu Yao figured she could go cuddle up with her, then act cute and coquettish in the morning. Today’s incident would blow over quickly that way— Shen Zhirou could never stay mad at her when she did that.

A faint smile curved Lu Yao’s lips. That line about “leaving if she wants to” had just slipped out in the heat of the moment; she hadn’t really meant it.

Worried about disturbing Shen Zhirou, Lu Yao gently pushed open the door to the master bedroom, only to find the bed empty. Her heart sank. She hurriedly checked the other guest rooms and study one after another, but Shen Zhirou was nowhere to be seen. Starting to panic, she returned to the master bedroom and flung open the closet in a flurry, discovering that most of Shen Zhirou’s clothes were gone.

Lu Yao swallowed hard and pulled out her phone to call Shen Zhirou, but it had been turned off. In a panic, she rushed to the living room, where she spotted Shen Zhirou’s house keys and car keys on the coffee table, along with a note beside them. Trembling, Lu Yao snatched up the note.

“I’m leaving first. I’ve left the house keys and car keys here. Have the cleaning lady throw out whatever things of mine are left.”

Lu Yao’s heart plummeted. She hastily slipped on a pair of flat leather shoes, grabbed the car keys, and rushed out the door. It was so late— where could Shen Zhirou possibly have gone?

Lu Yao pressed the elevator button for the underground garage while her mind raced through possible places Shen Zhirou might be. But she realized they’d been living together for a while now, and she knew so little about Shen Zhirou’s life. She had never even asked, and once when Shen Zhirou had wanted to introduce her to her sister, Lu Yao had refused.

Lu Yao didn’t even know where to begin looking. She drove along the roads near the neighborhood, wondering if Shen Zhirou might be by the roadside, but that seemed unlikely— she’d woken up too late for that.

Pulling over to the side of the road, Lu Yao wanted to call Shen Zhirou’s mother to ask, but she realized the last time she’d spoken to her had been from the front desk phone. Her brain whirred as she remembered that the blind date had been arranged by her mother, so her mother must have Shen Zhirou’s family’s contact info. Without caring that it was 4 a.m., Lu Yao called her mother.

Zhang Huichun had been sleeping soundly when the phone jolted her awake. She turned on the bedside lamp and saw it was her daughter calling, so she quickly picked up.

“What’s wrong, Yaoyao? Calling me so late— did something happen to you? Don’t scare me.” Fearing something had happened to her daughter, Zhang Huichun asked hurriedly.

“It’s not me. Shen Zhirou left, Mom. Do you have her family’s contact info? I need to ask if Zhirou went back to her mom’s.” Lu Yao’s voice trembled as she spoke, her urgency plain to hear.

Zhang Huichun had initially feared her own daughter was in trouble, so hearing it was Shen Zhirou made her heave a sigh of relief— only for her waking temper to surge right back up. “This Shen Zhirou really can’t stay out of trouble for a single day, pulling a vanishing act in the middle of the night. Has she lost her mind? I’m telling you, why bother looking for her? Just break up with her already…”

Sitting in her car, Lu Yao listened to her mother’s nagging, her face growing even paler. “I told you I chose her myself. I’m not breaking up with her. Give me her mother’s number— if not, fine, I’ll drive along the roads inch by inch until I find her.”

Zhang Huichun cut herself off mid-sentence. She had caught a hint of a sob in her daughter’s voice and immediately worried that something had happened to her. Picking up on Lu Yao’s urgency, she said, “Don’t panic, sweetie. Mom’s finding it for you right now. Just stay calm—it’s only four in the morning, and you shouldn’t be out there searching alone. What would your dad and I do if something happened to you?”

Zhang Huichun switched the call to speakerphone while scrolling for Ning Jianfang’s number. She screenshotted the contact and sent it straight to Lu Yao on WeChat.

“Don’t worry, I’ve sent you the number. Stay safe now—don’t let anything happen to you while you’re trying to make sure Shen Zhirou is okay.” Zhang Huichun still wasn’t entirely reassured about her daughter.

“I’m fine,” Lu Yao said quickly before hanging up. Ignoring the ungodly hour, she dialed Ning Jianfang without a second thought.

Ning Jianfang’s temper flared the moment the phone jolted her awake in the dead of night. Assuming it was a spam call, she hung up—but it rang again almost immediately. With no choice, she snatched it up irritably. “Everything okay? It’s the middle of the night—why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Auntie, it’s Lu Yao. Is Zhirou with you?” Lu Yao’s knuckles were turning white from gripping the phone so tightly.

Ning Jianfang’s tone softened the instant she recognized the voice. “Lu Yao? No, Zhirou hasn’t come home. What’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?”

“Something like that. If she’s not there, I’ll let you go.” Lu Yao’s voice carried her disappointment.

“Hey, don’t hang up yet. Once you and Zhirou both have some time off, have her bring you over so you can get the lay of the land. You’ve been together this long, but you still haven’t visited me…”

Ning Jianfang prattled on, clearly unconcerned about Shen Zhirou’s unexplained absence. Lu Yao ended the call without waiting to hear more and resumed her search along the highway.

Kang Defa had been roused by the ringing phone and mumbled groggily, “Who the hell calls in the middle of the night? I swear I heard someone say Zhirou’s name.”

“It was Lu Yao,” Ning Jianfang replied. “She said they fought, and Zhirou’s gone AWOL. Wanted to know if she was here. You know, that Lu Yao really cares about her—calling this late just to track her down. We ought to have Zhirou play her cards right. Not only does Ning Lei have a job lined up, but when Yunheng graduates, Lu Yao could pull some strings for him too.” There was a note of amusement in her voice.

Kang Defa stared at Ning Jianfang in disbelief. “The girl’s missing, and you’re scheming about that?”

“She’s not a child anymore. No one’s ever kept tabs on her, and she’s made it this far just fine. It’s probably just a lovers’ quarrel—nothing to lose sleep over.” Ning Jianfang brushed it off without a care.

“Why are you getting dressed so fast?”

“I’ll head out and help look for her. What if something really did happen?” Kang Defa snatched his car keys and made for the door.

“Are you out of your mind? Why play the good Samaritan?” Ning Jianfang shot him a glare, her tone sharp.

“If it were Ning Lei who vanished, you’d be climbing the walls in seconds. Talk about a Brother-Supporting Devil.” Kang Defa muttered under his breath as he headed out.

“What was that? Hey, speak up!”

Kang Defa didn’t respond. He stepped outside while dialing Shen Zhirou’s number.

Shen Zhirou slept soundly until seven in the morning. After freshening up, she found Zhao Tongtong had already prepared breakfast and was waving her over.

“Come on, eat up. Then we can head to work together.” Zhao Tongtong said with a smile.

“Coming right now.” Shen Zhirou powered on her phone for a quick check. There were a bunch of missed calls—some from her mother, a few from Kang Defa, and the most from Lu Yao, easily over twenty. WeChat showed a dozen new messages from her too.

Shen Zhirou’s pale fingertips brushed lightly over the pinned chat window, her eyes growing misty. She had finally gotten the messages from Lu Yao she’d been waiting for… but she no longer needed them.

She called Kang Defa first to let him know she was fine and staying with a friend. After a moment’s thought, she sent Lu Yao a WeChat message—she wasn’t ready to pick up any calls just yet.

Shen Zhirou: No need to look for me. I’m at a friend’s.

With that sent, she silenced her phone, joined Zhao Tongtong for breakfast, and headed off to the Company.

~~~

Jiang Chen’s eyes widened in surprise when Lu Yao arrived at the Company. She was always impeccably punctual, clocking in before eight-thirty without fail, and her outfits never repeated from one day to the next—always perfectly put together.

However, Lu Yao was unusually late today. The Project Team had a very important meeting scheduled for 9:05, but she didn’t step into their lobby until nine o’clock sharp—and her clothes were wrinkled and rumpled, clearly the same outfit from yesterday. She hadn’t bothered to change.

Jiang Chen stole a careful glance at Lu Yao, resolving to be even more cautious and precise in everything he said and did today. “CEO Lu, all the materials for the meeting are prepared. Should we push the start time back a little?”

“No need. Tell everyone in the Project Team to head to the conference room.” Lu Yao’s face was icy as she issued the order to Jiang Chen. She tossed her bag into her office, grabbed a notebook, and strode off to the conference room.

The instant Lu Yao was gone, the Project Team members in the lobby began murmuring among themselves.

“What’s going on with CEO Lu? Her face looks terrible. We need to tread carefully when we report our work later.”

“Yeah, exactly. And this is so out of character for her—it’s already nine, and she just showed up. That’s not like her at all.”

“Did you notice? CEO Lu’s clothes look like she hasn’t changed them. She probably didn’t go home last night.”

“Keep your voices down. We’re all going to need some divine intervention today.”