Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 556 - 404. Love arises for no reason, yet grows deeper because of Nian (Part 2).
That night he drove home and it was already early morning. He lay down, half-awake and half-asleep, dreaming of fragments from those past events, fleeting and overwhelming.
Because of his family, there was always no shortage of aristocratic children around him from a young age. These kids would often have some frivolous tendencies, and so he inevitably got dragged into attending some social gatherings.
He met many beautiful girls, with all kinds of figures and mixed bloodlines from East and West, all imaginable types. Aside from their looks, they had all sorts of personalities: composed and courteous socialites, gentle and charming girls-next-door, and even wild and rebellious princesses. Of course, the most common were those girls at social events who didn’t have to take responsibility.
Yet, none caught his eye, and even less so his heart. Even the words he spoke and his ways of thinking, none could keep up with.
At that time, he had already graduated from college and was facing the choice of his future career. The family split into two camps; his father’s side naturally hoped he would join the legal profession. Since Tang Yanxi had already inherited dad’s legal legacy, the family hoped he would join the police force.
But his mother knew he disliked being constrained, so she wished he would inherit the Tangsen Group.
However, he was uninterested in both. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to work, but that his heart hadn’t been moved. If the heart remains unmoved, then there are no intentions, so he hadn’t made up his mind yet.
It was during that period, during those times of playful disregard, that he met that girl online.
Girl, yes, even though across the internet, across the illusion created by language, he saw through almost on the first encounter that she was a girl. Her choice of words, her tone, her pattern of thinking, all gave him the answer.
Some people used to believe that in the world of reasoning, women should step aside. He once thought so too.
But this unexpected girl amazed him.
She didn’t talk much, mostly just hung out on the BBS as a spectator. Sometimes, seeing someone discussing something brilliantly, she couldn’t help but post a comment, mostly subtle expressions, without saying much.
Only sometimes, when there were overly biased posts, she couldn’t help but comment. However, her words were always very concise, stating her point directly, unlike other girls who often used verbose and emotionally charged sentences.
Her uniqueness drew him to gaze intently.
Gradually, they started chatting, and he didn’t know from when, after going online daily, he subconsciously searched to see if she was there. If she was, he would stay on the BBS longer, sometimes not even wanting to talk, but just felt that hanging around, if she came, she would see... this feeling was quite comforting.
And more often, both stayed online without speaking, just observing each other’s names light up, feeling a myriad of emotions inside. Many times, he couldn’t help but break the silence to post and talk, not because he was interested in the main post, but because he wanted to draw her out this way, to see her speak. Even if she wasn’t speaking directly to him, at least seeing her speak, he would feel the evening was worthwhile, not wasted.
The time difference between China and M Country meant their encounters were always out of sync day and night. After three years of acquaintance, he started fantasizing constantly about her appearance.
Across the screen, how did she smile when she was happy? What arc her lips would form, and would there be small dimples at the corners of her mouth?
How would she express anger when she was upset, and would her cheeks puff up like a little goldfish?
Too many fantasies gradually filled his more and more time, with his mind unable to empty or stop. He worried he was falling into a syndrome of wild imagination, and finally, he slammed the wall with his fist.
Rather than indulge in fantasies, why not see her in person?
Although this would go against his usual principles, he couldn’t help himself.
So he found an excuse, saying that since he was at a crossroads in life, he might as well return to China to find his roots. A person shouldn’t live without roots, and perhaps through this trip, he would figure out what he wanted to do.
His family naturally supported such an ideal, but worried his identity traveling between two countries would be inconvenient. Thus, with the convenience Tang Mingxiang had in the police community, they made him a fake identity.
A fake identity made by the police obviously looked real from the papers themselves.
In those papers, he was called Yan Qi, surname Yan, given name Qi. Overseas Chinese could have names a hundred times quirkier, like "Oxytetracycline" or "Sweet and Sour Meatballs," so his name seemed trivial by comparison.
Then...
Then that event happened.
Then a long-awaited meeting after three years, crossing the seas for her, turned into the subsequent tragedy.
In the dream, he held her hand, unable to speak, and could only write over and over in her palm, "I’d rather be hated by you than forgotten."
The day quietly dawned, cruelly pulling him from his dream. He opened his eyes, letting out a wistful sigh.
Because of that dream, time was a little late. He originally wanted to get up early and go to her house before work to take a look, even if just from a distance, to see how her morning spirit was.
But time had already slipped away, forcing him to change plans and go straight to work from home.
Upon arriving at work, he inexplicably felt restless. Jia Tianzi brewed coffee for him and brought it over, and as he reached out to take the cup, he missed, causing the cup to crash to the ground, spilling coffee all over.
The aroma of the coffee spread through the entire office. Everyone laughed, saying it was like an air freshener, a perfect wake-up scent in the morning. Yet, his heart inexplicably felt tied in knots.
Amid the chaos, he quickly took out his phone to call Shi Nian’s mobile.
The call went through, but no one answered.
In desperation, he dialed Shi Nian’s landline at home. Still, for a long time, there was no answer.
Anxiety gripped him inexplicably, prompting him to request a leave from the police superintendent to head directly to Shi Nian’s house. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Even before entering, he noticed the eerie silence of the house. Clearly, it was a weekday, yet the curtains were drawn as if immersed in the laziness of a holiday.
He stood stunned for a moment, then dashed inside.
The whole house was silent, devoid of any sound, with sunlight blocked by curtains, making the inside quite dark.
No one was downstairs, no sounds whatsoever. He ran up to the second floor.
Considering the upstairs mainly housed the ladies, he cautiously opened the study door. That room served as his temporary bedroom, where Shi Nian sometimes worked on drafts at night, afraid of disturbing Rosa. Even if he didn’t sleep over, Shi Nian would occasionally rest in that room alone.
He pushed the door open, indeed finding the folding bed set up with bedding. The bedding was half-covered, with traces suggesting it had been slept in.
Lowering his eyes to take a closer look, he noticed a few strands of her long hair on the pillow; bringing his nose closer, the pillow and blanket carried her scent, confirming she slept there last night.
Yet, no sign of her was apparent throughout the house.
He went on to knock and call for Rosa, Ye He, and Xiao Mai. Only then did he realize these three were still asleep, having not woken up. Seeing their unusual state, he called for an ambulance to take them to the hospital.
The doctor provided an answer; the three had been subjected to external anesthetics, causing their forced slumber. Judging by their startled expressions upon medical revival, they were wholly unaware that Shi Nian was missing!
All three unanimously and astonishingly exclaimed, "Wasn’t she in the study? Last night, she was upset and insisted on sleeping alone in the study."
Faced with this, he had to acknowledge that something had indeed happened to her.
All conventional search methods were employed, like checking at Deep Valley to see if she was with Xu Xinzhen or had simply wandered off for peace of mind.
Jia Tianzi personally led a team in the conventional search efforts, while he sat in the study, shaking his head incessantly.
He knew the bed was warm, and from the state of the wrinkles, there was no way she had gotten up and left on her own accord. Given her temperament, she would have neatly made her bed before leaving. The only answer was that someone had taken her.
Once confirmed, he calmed himself and immediately headed to Huangfu Huazhang.
At the time, it was thought that if she couldn’t be found anywhere she might go, it was possible that she could have been taken by Huangfu Huazhang.
However, when Huangfu Huazhang spoke, Tang Yanqing was carefully observing him, and at the moment, Huangfu Huazhang claimed he planned to call her later that day.
While Huangfu was speaking, Tang Yanqing scrutinized him closely and decided he wasn’t lying. So the direction was shifted to another possibility.
Then, Guan Liang personally retrieved footage records from almost every surveillance camera that might be connected to where Shi Nian resided. Vaguely, amidst all the review, they saw the silhouette of one person in the records.
George.
