Chapter 94

The night was dim, and the beam of the flashlight fell on Shi Yao’s contorted face.

Qin Qingzhuo leaned against the door, silently watching as Jiang Ji’s fists and knees landed on Shi Yao.

Watching Jiang Ji beat someone up gave a satisfying sense of catharsis, with no unnecessary movements, each strike carried a decisive force.

At one point, Shi Yao tried to fight back, but Jiang Ji grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the desk, completely depriving him of the chance to retaliate.

It was time to teach Shi Yao a lesson, Qin Qingzhuo thought. Otherwise, with his domineering and manipulative behavior, he would only continue to act recklessly.

Thinking of Asperatus being eliminated after singing “Endless Night,” the twenty-year contract that was essentially selling her soul, the ridicule and insults faced by Jiang Ji with his scarred past being exposed, and now Jiang Bei’s disappearance, Qin Qingzhuo felt more and more that Shi Yao deserved it.

Taking his gaze away from Shi Yao, Qin Qingzhuo slightly shifted the direction of the flashlight’s beam and looked towards Shi Yao’s desk.

He walked over and picked up Shi Yao’s phone from the desk.

Pressing the screen with his thumb, the facial recognition interface appeared. Qin Qingzhuo walked over to Jiang Ji and lifted the phone, aiming it at Shi Yao’s face. Jiang Ji understood his intention with a glance and forced Shi Yao to face the phone screen by gripping his chin.

The screen unlocked, and Qin Qingzhuo took a step back, leaning against the desk to examine the contents of the phone.

While Jiang Ji continued to beat Shi Yao and interrogate him about Jiang Bei’s whereabouts, Qin Qingzhuo opened Shi Yao’s WeChat interface, clicking into each chat one by one to browse.

Shi Yao probably never thought that one day his phone would fall into Qin Qingzhuo’s hands, so all his chat records were intact in the phone.

The fourth chat box involved the post, where the person sent the link to Shi Yao, followed by a message: “Director Shi, the post has been sent out.”

Below were several voice messages sent by Shi Yao. Qin Qingzhuo clicked on the messages and placed the receiver close to his ear: “This post is well done. When leaking information later, pay attention to the rhythm and don’t release everything at once. Drip-feed it to keep people’s interest. Also, arrange a few accounts to guide public opinion and make sure the marketing accounts are ready to follow up and repost at any time.”

There was another chat box, obviously a conversation between a paparazzo and Shi Yao, as the person had sent Shi Yao numerous covertly taken photos.

In addition to the dozens of photos taken that night on Honglu Xie Street, there were also many photos taken around Jiang Ji’s rehearsal room—photos of Qin Qingzhuo and Jiang Ji walking out of the rehearsal room together, of the two of them sitting on a motorcycle together, and more recently, quite a few photos related to Jiang Bei.

Further up, about a month ago, Shi Yao had received several photos of Qin Qingzhuo leaving the Puji Hospital.

Qin Qingzhuo recorded all these chat interfaces and voice messages, reaching a conclusion.

He never liked to maliciously speculate about people’s intentions. When Shi Yao claimed that the accident on the live stage was his “unintentional mistake,” Qin Qingzhuo didn’t take it too seriously. But now, seeing these photos, he truly understood how sinister Shi Yao was.

The so-called “unintentional mistake” was clearly a deliberate and malicious plot. It seemed that Shi Yao had already concluded beforehand that he wouldn’t be able to sing on stage, so he arranged the impromptu collaboration between the band and the mentors during the live broadcast to embarrass himself publicly, heat up the show, and vent his personal grievances at the same time…

“If you don’t want to continue getting beaten, speak up. Where is my sister?” Jiang Ji once again bent his knee and thrust towards Shi Yao’s abdomen.

“I really don’t know,” probably scared by Jiang Ji’s beating, Shi Yao’s tone noticeably weakened, carrying a hint of pleading, “How could I hide your sister? That’s against the law…”

“You don’t know? The spies you arranged around my rehearsal room also don’t know?”

“I…” Watching Jiang Ji’s fist rising again, a trace of fear mixed into Shi Yao’s face. He hurriedly said, “I’ll ask for you. I’ll ask right now. Just release me, quickly, give me the phone…”

Qin Qingzhuo saved the screen recording and walked over to hand the phone to Jiang Ji.

Holding the phone, Jiang Ji looked down at Shi Yao, opened a chat interface, and initiated a voice call.

“Turn on the speaker,” he said coldly.

Shi Yao turned on the speaker, and after a few seconds of ringing, the call was answered on the other end, “Director Shi, what’s the matter?”

Taking a deep breath, Shi Yao forced himself to regain his usual tone, “Do you know where that little girl went?”

The person on the other end seemed confused, “What little girl?”

“Jiang Ji’s sister.”

“Oh,” the person realized, “Aren’t you asking me to take a few photos of her stealing things? I saw her run out in the afternoon, followed her for a while, but never caught her stealing anything, so I didn’t continue following her.”

Unable to hide his intentions any longer, Shi Yao’s face also revealed a trace of uneasiness, “Where did you follow her to?”

“Just to a nearby bus stop. I saw her board a bus, so I didn’t follow her further.”

“Which bus route?” This time, without waiting for Shi Yao to speak, Jiang Ji asked directly.

“I didn’t get a clear look at the route… It seemed to have a number 7, but I’m not sure, just glanced quickly…”

Jiang Bei got on a bus… Where could she be going? Jiang Ji frowned, not continuing the questioning. He addressed Shi Yao’s phone, “Don’t lurk around my rehearsal room like a dog, got it?”

The person on the other end realized the change in the caller and stammered, “You, you are…”

Ignoring him, Jiang Ji tightened his grip on Shi Yao’s collar, “And you, whether you want to report to the police or expose anything, think about the consequences before doing it.”

With that said, he threw the phone onto Shi Yao’s face and, holding Qin Qingzhuo’s hand, walked out of Shi Yao’s office.

The entire eighth floor was still without power, and the corridor was dim. Most of the staff were busy in the studio and control room downstairs, unaware of the sudden power outage on the upper floor.

The elevator and the floor were not on the same power circuit, so it continued to operate unaffected.

Qin Qingzhuo sent a message to Xia Qi: “I’m done here. Thanks, Xia Qi.”

Xia Qi quickly replied: “That’s good. The surveillance didn’t capture anything.”

Qin Qingzhuo was about to put away his phone when Xia Qi sent another message: “Besides, I don’t think Shi Yao will dare to call the police. If Jiang Ji, the strong contender for the championship, is sent in, the finals won’t be able to proceed, and Shi Yao won’t dare to offend the sponsors.”

Qin Qingzhuo typed a “Hmm” and sent it back.

The message from Xia Qi confirmed his thoughts, and because he had already determined on the way here that Shi Yao wouldn’t dare to call the police, he hadn’t planned to stop Jiang Ji from the beginning.

The two of them entered the elevator, and Jiang Ji leaned against the wall behind him, tightly holding Qin Qingzhuo’s hand.

Qin Qingzhuo could feel Jiang Ji’s restlessness. He turned his head to look at Jiang Ji. “Let’s first confirm the bus routes, and then I’ll ask a few friends to help us search along the route.”

Jiang Ji nodded, pressing his lips against his hand where it touched Qin Qingzhuo’s. After a moment, he spoke, “Shi Yao’s phone must have a lot of information, right?”

“Yeah,” Qin Qingzhuo said, “I recorded everything.”

“How do you plan to handle it?”

“No rush, we’ll decide after finding Jiang Bei.”

Jiang Ji nodded and remained silent.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, the two of them quickly walked out, taking large steps.

They rode the motorcycle back to the bus stop near the rehearsal room. After getting off the bike, they stood in front of the bus stop sign, browsing through all the routes.

There were three bus routes with the number “7” – Route 117, Route 377, and Route 817.

Each route passed through dozens of stops. Searching one by one would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

“Where is Jiang Bei most likely to go by bus?” Qin Qingzhuo asked Jiang Ji, looking at the bus stop sign.

At first, Jiang Ji didn’t speak. His gaze swept rapidly over the three bus routes and paused when it fell on the last stop of Route 377. His expression changed slightly, and he murmured softly, “The train station.”

Qin Qingzhuo also looked at that stop. “Do you think Jiang Bei might have gone to the train station?”

Jiang Ji nodded and took out his phone from his pocket, tapping on the screen to open the railway ticket booking app.

He had a strong premonition that Jiang Bei was planning to leave the city and never come back.

This premonition came inexplicably but he believed in it without a doubt, causing a slight panic in his chest. But he quickly calmed himself down and focused on the app interface.

Route 377 led to an old train station that only operated green trains. Since the high-speed rail had been introduced, the number of trains at this station had decreased day by day, and now it was facing the fate of being renovated.

Jiang Ji opened the station information, browsing through today’s schedule, quickly calculating the time.

Jiang Bei left the area near the rehearsal room around 4 p.m. It would take about an hour to reach the train station by bus, and after 5 p.m., there were three trains departing from the station.

Two of the trains have already departed, and one is scheduled to depart in half an hour.

In other words, if Jiang Bei has indeed gone to the train station, either she’s already boarded a train and left, or she’s still waiting to catch the last train.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Ji held Qin Qingzhuo’s wrist, “to the train station.”

On the way, Jiang Ji rode the motorcycle with Qin Qingzhuo, speeding up the bike.

Qin Qingzhuo held onto his waist, and suddenly he was reminded of the time after the first program recording ended, when Jiang Ji had carried him on the bike, weaving through traffic, leaving all kinds of congestion behind.

At a red light intersection, Jiang Ji stopped the bike, and Qin Qingzhuo finally asked, “Why would Jiang Bei go to the train station?”

With the motorcycle engine roaring, Jiang Ji fell silent for a moment before speaking, his voice hidden within, “She probably intends to leave Yancheng.”

“Where is she going?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will the train station sell her a ticket?”

“She’ll sneak into the station without a ticket.”

Jiang Bei had entered this city by sneaking onto a train, a fact she had inadvertently revealed while chatting with Jiang Ji.

When the light turned green, Qin Qingzhuo didn’t ask anything more, and Jiang Ji rode the motorcycle back onto the road.

Speeding all the way, they arrived at the train station with only five minutes left until the last train departed.

The waiting hall was nearly empty, passengers had already checked in and boarded, leaving only a few companions walking towards the exit.

The two of them ran all the way to the ticket check gate, where the overhead display screen indicated “Ticket Check Closed”, and the staff responsible for ticket checking had relaxed, pulling down the barrier at the gate, ready to end their day’s work.

Seeing the two hurriedly running over, the ticket checker hesitated, “Sorry, ticket checking has stopped…”

“A little girl may have sneaked onto the train,” Jiang Ji spoke rapidly, “We want to get on and search. Can we?”

“A little girl?” The ticket checker seemed puzzled, glanced at the time on the screen, “There are only two minutes left until departure, even if I let you in, you won’t make it.”

“It’s okay,” Jiang Ji said, “I run fast.”

“Please be lenient,” Qin Qingzhuo took out his ID from his pocket and handed it to her, “I’ll leave my ID with you. If there’s any problem, I’ll come and explain. Is that okay?”

Seeing the urgency in their voices and expressions, the ticket checker hesitated, but eventually relented, “Alright… I’ll accompany you down.”

She reached out to undo the barrier and let the two in.

Jiang Ji quickly passed through the ticket gate, and Qin Qingzhuo followed closely behind.

After entering the ticket gate, they still needed to walk a distance and then take the down escalator to reach the train platform downstairs.

Jiang Ji rushed onto the elevator, grabbed the handrail beside him, and quickly stepped down the slowly descending elevator.

Perhaps it was the effect of this anxious mood, but Jiang Ji strongly felt that Jiang Bei was on this train waiting to depart at this moment.

There was still time, as long as they could catch the train before it left…

However, as they rushed down the elevator and were less than ten meters away from the departing train, the train sounded its horn, and then clanged along the tracks, moving forward.

They had been running too fast. Even though they saw the train had already left, Jiang Ji couldn’t stop his steps immediately.

He only stopped when he reached the warning line, the noisy sound of the train passing over the tracks reaching his ears, and the staff nearby shouting loudly for him to step back.

Jiang Ji didn’t move, standing there, stunned, watching the train pass by section by section in front of him.

Qin Qingzhuo hurriedly caught up, grabbing his arm and pulling him back a step.

Normally, Jiang Ji was very strong, and no one could pull him, but now he seemed weak, stepping back a step with Qin Qingzhuo’s action.

Standing still for a few seconds, watching the train move forward, Jiang Ji slowly squatted down, lowered his head, and reached up to grab a handful of his own hair.

The last train had departed, meaning that the possibility of Jiang Bei staying in Yancheng no longer existed.

There were numerous times in the past when the thought of “just disappear completely, so we don’t have to search like this anymore” crossed Jiang Ji’s mind. Now that he realized Jiang Bei was truly gone, Jiang Ji suddenly felt lost and helpless.

She should be considered family, right? Although she caused him a lot of trouble, after his mother’s suicide, it was because of Jiang Bei that he didn’t feel so lonely. And now, this last person he considered family had also disappeared.

Jiang Ji held Qin Qingzhuo’s hand, pressed his forehead against the back of Qin Qingzhuo’s hand, and let out a long sigh.

Qin Qingzhuo bent down to look at him, not knowing what to say. At times like this, it seemed that anything said would be of no use.

The last train roared past, and in the distant sound of the departing train’s horn, mingled with the voices of people on the opposite side—

“Where are your parents? How did you get on the train?”

“You’re so young and already learned to run away from home. Did your parents offend you?”

“Don’t stay silent all the time, little girl!”

Qin Qingzhuo subconsciously followed the sound, and after a moment of shock, he reached out and patted Jiang Ji’s shoulder.

“Jiang Ji, look up.”

Following his gaze, Jiang Ji was also inexplicably stunned—

The little girl being questioned by the staff on the opposite side… was Jiang Bei.