Qin Jiao said calmly, "Mom, just be careful on your way. Call home if anything happens. If they want to blame me, then let them."

Those relatives didn’t care about her anyway, so why should she care what they said?

’If you were always worried about what other people think, how they see you, wouldn’t every step be a struggle? How could you get anything done?’

In truth, Qin Jiao was very grateful to her mother. Her mother understood and supported her.

That was enough.

However, after her mom, her aunt, and Xiao Shi left in her uncle Sun Jianhua’s car, Qin Jiao was the only one left at home.

Qin Jiao frowned, a vague sense of unease settling in her heart.

She vaguely remembered that in this life, her grandfather wasn’t supposed to have died so early. Despite his smoking and drinking, the old man was actually quite robust and had lived to be over eighty.

But her grandfather now was not even seventy.

’How could something have suddenly gone wrong?’

Full from lunch, Qin Jiao walked around the courtyard to let her food settle. Once she felt she had digested enough, she grabbed her Walkman, sat in the rocking chair, and listened to an English audio exercise.

She had wanted to use headphones, but she was worried she wouldn’t hear the phone, so she had to play it aloud.

Qin Jiao closed her eyes and listened for a while, but suddenly felt that something was off. When she raised her head, she found Shen Yi standing on his second-floor balcony, hands resting on the railing, leisurely gazing down at her.

The light of the setting sun gilded the handsome young man in gold. The scene was already a feast for the eyes, but on top of it all, a faint smile played on his lips.

Qin Jiao had to admit, Shen Yi was blessed with strikingly good looks. If not for his gloomy and ruthless temperament, he would instantly be a total heartthrob.

In fact, over the past year, quite a few girls at school had taken a liking to Shen Yi. Handsome, rich, and a good student to boot—gosh, where could you find a male classmate that perfect?

As it turned out, even though they had found such a perfect classmate, he rejected every single girl who showed interest in him.

His reasons were rather hurtful.

It was either, "You’re not good-looking enough," or "Your grades aren’t good enough."

Later, Xun Li from Year 3, Class 1, who was consistently in the top ten of their grade, even came and gave Shen Yi a love letter. Xun Li was beautiful, and her parents both worked in town—one at Central Hospital and the other in the education department. She herself was gorgeous and had an elegant air about her, and most importantly, her grades were also excellent. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

And what was Shen Yi’s response? "Your grades aren’t as good as mine."

And it was true. The monthly exam results had just been posted, and Shen Yi’s rank was one place higher than Xun Li’s. How infuriating is that?

After that, all the girls in the school were furious. They said, "Shen Yi, by your logic, does that mean no girl in this entire school is good enough for you?"

At the time, Shen Yi had simply smiled without a word.

Qin Jiao looked at the lounging figure on the balcony and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing." Shen Yi had no intention of telling Qin Jiao he was enjoying the sight of a beauty listening to English. He glanced around and asked, "Are you home alone?"

’What a question,’ she thought. ’It sounds like he’s up to no good.’

Just as Qin Jiao was about to say something, the phone suddenly rang. Ever since her mom and the others had left, her eyelid had been twitching, giving her the constant feeling that something bad was about to happen.

So, the moment she heard the phone ring, Qin Jiao immediately dropped her Walkman and rushed inside.

More than two hours had passed since her mom’s group had left. By all rights, they should have reached Three Families Village by now.

But as soon as the call connected, Qin Jiao heard her mother, Su Yun, crying on the other end. "Xiao Jiao, hurry to the police station and file a report! Xiao Shi... Xiao Shi is missing!"

"What?!"