Chapter 16: The Answer He Received Was Very Unsatisfactory

The phone in his ear was still transmitting Song Lianzhou’s “hello, hello” like an old deaf man. Xu Huai strode into the room. After hearing Xie Jing close the door of the patient room, making a click sound, he continued:

“Are there any other people at the branch?”

Song Lianzhou: “It’s almost the end of the month, and everyone who hasn’t met their quota has gone out on assignments.”

Xu Huai: “How many people have met their quota?”

There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone: “Zero.”

Xu Huai supported his forehead. He knew it.

Xu Huai: “Are the police still looking?”

Song Lianzhou: “Yes, Li Fang is making a scene at the police station, saying that you’re going to kill her daughter, and that she won’t be able to live if anything happens to her.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit contradictory?” Xu Huai tilted his head, “If she cherishes her daughter so much, why did she let her daughter go home alone at night?”

Only the small lamp on the head of the bed was lit in the patient’s room. Xie Jing leaned quietly in the shadows by the door, watching Xu Huai, who was wrapped in the warm yellow light by the bedside.

The answer he received from the phone seemed very unsatisfactory. The man’s light-colored thin lips pressed down a little, and he looked a little serious.

Xie Jing’s naturally drooping fingers gently rubbed together, suppressing the strange shadows that wanted to move from under his feet to Xu Huai’s side, wrapping and enveloping Xu Huai.

–Because business at the night market is good in the evening and the night market is popular, she doesn’t have time to pick up her daughter.

“…”

“Okay.” Xu Huai hummed softly, indicating that he understood, “There’s one more thing. The last time I went to their house, I asked Li Fang for her daughter’s Bazi^[1]t/n: Bazi, also known as the Four Pillars of Destiny or the Eight Characters, is a form of Chinese astrology that analyzes a person’s birth year, month, day, and hour using a system of Heavenly … Continue reading.”

“Li Fang said that a girl’s Bazi is very important and can’t be given casually, so she didn’t tell me. At that time, I thought that if I didn’t have the Bazi, it would be the same to go to the scene and take a look. Now, I don’t have the Bazi or any personal belongings, so I can’t just find someone out of thin air.”

Xu Huai remembered the lights on the emergency building that he had seen go out earlier: “If she sincerely wants to find her daughter, she has to hurry.”

“Yeah, I have a bad feeling.”

The phone hung up. After the voices disappeared from the room, the sound of the rain outside the window became clearer. Xu Huai let out a breath and turned his head to look at his employer, who stood by the door without saying a word, as composed as a figurine.

Xie Jing: “Are you going to handle a new commission?”

His tone was already full of unconcealed disappointment. Xu Huai met Xie Jing’s pair of black eyes and immediately felt a pang in his heart.

No, dude.

He didn’t say he wasn’t going to take care of you, so why are you looking at him with that expression of being abandoned, aggrieved, and accusatory, as if he’s a scumbag?

“…No.” Xu Huai shook his head, “It’s not a new commission. It’s that the previous employer caused trouble herself and blamed it on me. I’m still considering whether to help or not.”

According to Song Lianzhou’s brief description on the phone, the current situation was entirely caused by Li Fang herself.

He had already been to Li Fang’s house before, and at that time, nothing was bothering Li Fang’s daughter.

Li Fang should bear the consequences of her actions, and he didn’t need to get involved, especially since the former employer had a terrible attitude and wanted to extort money from him.

Moreover, he had already accepted Xie Jing’s commission, and it would be irresponsible of him to manage other people’s affairs halfway.

Xie Jing: “Did that person encounter the same situation as me?”

Not necessarily. Where would there be so many fierce ghosts? Ghost-related injury incidents of Xie Jing’s level only happened once or twice a year.

He just thought about it, and Xu Huai couldn’t honestly tell Xie Jing: Dude, you won the lottery. Most people aren’t that miserable.

Xu Huai: “No. It’s a child who disappeared in a surveillance blind spot on the way home from school, and now her family can’t find her.”

Xie Jing: “I see.”

After a while, Xie Jing thoughtfully said, “Is finding people also within your scope of business?”

Xu Huai didn’t expect Xie Jing to ask that, and he was stunned for a moment before nodding: “Sort of, it’s a hidden business.”

Xu Huai: “What’s wrong? Do you have something you’re looking for? If it’s some small objects or something, I can take a look for you for free.”

“…” Xie Jing was silent for a moment and lowered his eyes, “No, never mind.”

Xie Jing was already standing in the shadows behind the door, and now that he lowered his head, Xu Huai couldn’t see his expression even more clearly.

“I did have someone I wanted to find before.” Xie Jing said, “But now, I’ve found him.”

Despite his words, there was no sense of joy in Xie Jing’s tone at finding someone or in the reunion.

Xu Huai was curious and guessed: “A friend?”

A friend?

Xie Jing repeated Xu Huai’s words, saying the two words in a low voice, and then said: “…Not really.”

Xu Huai unexpectedly saw some tangled expression on Xie Jing’s face, and he secretly wondered what kind of person could make his rich and handsome employer show that kind of hesitant expression.

Could it be some unrequited love, someone he had secretly loved for many years?

He had helped Xie Jing read his palm before, and he could see that Xie Jing himself was a calm and restrained person. There were exceptions to everything, and when the water was full, it would overflow. It was hard to say when his restraint would explode.

He didn’t know how much it would explode… If it was accompanied by some loss of control after being pent up for too long, then the person Xie Jing had secretly loved for many years might experience something difficult to articulate.

The other person couldn’t stand it and ran away.

He ran, he chased!

Xu Huai’s imagination ran wild and became increasingly uncontrollable.

Maybe it was influenced by the plot of the TV series he had been watching recently, but Xu Huai thought it was more and more reasonable…

Xie Jing came back to his senses from his thoughts and saw Xu Huai frowning, his face devoid of expression, yet his eyes bore an indescribably strange look as he stared at him.

Xie Jing: “?”

Intuition told Xie Jing that he couldn’t let that strange look continue.

Xie Jing stared straight into Xu Huai’s eyes, his eyes unusually black: “What are you thinking about?”

Xu Huai’s heart skipped a beat as if he had been caught, and he guiltily avoided the other person’s gaze: “Nothing.”

Xie Jing’s gaze became a bit probing. Xu Huai pretended not to feel the other person’s gaze and pretended to stare at the pattern on the bed sheet.

No one spoke, and the patient room became quiet again.

It was quite impolite to speculate on other people’s emotional states so readily, but thinking of the somewhat sad look that Xie Jing had shown earlier, Xu Huai couldn’t help but say:

“If you have a conflict with him, you should talk it out.”

Xie Jing was destined to marry late in life, and if he made a fuss, his precarious marriage would probably be entangled for a long time.

After saying this, Xu Huai saw a somewhat surprised look on Xie Jing’s face. Based on this reaction alone, Xu Huai couldn’t judge whether his guess was right or wrong.

Xie Jing: “We didn’t have a conflict.”

Xu Huai: “Huh?”

Xie Jing: “He just… simply forgot some promises.”

Ah, that person is quite forgetful.

Xu Huai thought this, and then suddenly froze.

…It seemed that his memory wasn’t very good either.

But.

Xu Huai: “Just remind him.”

It’s not a big deal.

Xu Huai said this without feeling any pain.

As soon as Xu Huai finished speaking, before Xie Jing could say anything, Xu Huai’s phone started vibrating.

Xu Huai looked at the screen, and it was an unknown number. After answering the phone, Li Fang’s voice came from the other end. This time, Li Fang’s voice was a bit tearful:

“Mr. Xu, my daughter was taken away by a ghost! You must save her!”

“She’s been missing for more than ten hours, and the police haven’t found any news. Please help me!”

“Only you can save her!”

The voice coming from the phone was loud, and Xie Jing naturally heard it too.

After listening to Li Fang’s words, Xu Huai moved his gaze away from the screen and looked at Xie Jing.

Xie Jing, who was standing in the shadows, also took a few steps forward. The light from the bedside lamp allowed Xu Huai to see Xie Jing’s lip shape at this time:

Help her first.

Xu Huai didn’t speak, but raised his hand and pointed to his arm.

The meaning was: You still have the traces left by that ghost on your body, are you sure? You’re quite selfless.

He had been looking at him with those aggrieved eyes of being abandoned, but now he was asking him to take on other people’s commissions. He changed his face pretty quickly.

Xie Jing understood Xu Huai’s meaning and nodded again.

Xu Huai: “…”

Okay, the employer had nodded and asked him to help.

Xu Huai put away his previous expression and replied to the phone in a cold tone: “Where are you?”

Li Fang: “I’m at the Wangjiaba Police Station, which is closest to our house!”

Xu Huai looked at the time. It was almost four thirty now.

If he took Xie Jing out now, it would be six o’clock at the earliest when they got there.

Xu Huai: “I understand. I’ll discuss the specifics when I arrive. It’s a bit far from here, I’ll get there as soon as possible.”

The phone was hung up.

Seeing Xu Huai put down the phone, Xie Jing said: “Her situation seems to be more urgent. You should help her find someone first. My side can be put on hold for a while.”

“If I go with you, I trust you won’t let that thing clinging to me harm me.”

Hearing this, Xu Huai’s fingers trembled. Xie Jing trusted him too much.

Honestly, he had no confidence whatsoever.

Based on the earlier meeting outside the window, Xu Huai realized he couldn’t directly confront the ghost entangling Xie Jing on his own.

He would have to rummage through the pile of treasures left by Zhang Daoquan and use some tools to do so.

But Xu Huai still responded without changing his expression: “Okay.”

Xie Jing smiled: “It’s very safe to be with you.”

Xu Huai: “…”

Okay, okay, stop talking, I’ll feel guilty if you say any more.

Xu Huai quickly changed the subject: “It seems like there’s nothing to pack. I’ll take care of the discharge procedures first. We’ll leave after you change your clothes.”

Xu Huai glanced out the window: “It’s still raining outside. We’ll go straight out from the underground garage later.”

Xie Jing naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.

“Okay.”

“I’ll listen to the boss.”