After staying at the siheyuan for two days, Qin Xi drove them back to the university after dinner on Sunday, then had to leave for other business.
Qin Xi was feeling rather restless. On Saturday morning, news ca from Su Yan’s side that Shen Yuehong had gone missing.
After two days without any news, Qin Xi was sowhat concerned. Not for Shen Yuehong’s safety; he was worried that if Shen Yuehong was captured by soone with ill intentions and interrogated about his dreams, it would be troubleso. What if soone truly believed those dreams and exploited them?
By the next day’s classes, neither Qin Xi nor Su Yan’s associates had found Shen Yuehong. Even the people left by Li Huan had been mobilized, but still no trace. It was unthinkable that a living person could just vanish into thin air.
anwhile, Iro called them on Monday noon to check in and let them know that she had inford her elder brother about her current location and plans.
Lu Anna felt helpless about Iro’s recklessness; a woman could do anything for love, and she understood Iro’s feelings.
Iro’s family background was different from the Lu Family. They hoped to climb the social ladder. The family’s eldest son had already been arranged in a marriage, and there was nothing more to say for Iro, as even Ai Xin had been settled with a marriage set for New Year’s Day.
While Li Xianglu was marvelling at Iro’s boldness, a call ca from ho, from Su Yan.
The news conveyed was so shocking that Li Xianglu was at a loss for words for quite a while.
It was Li Jianqing who had called ho. Since Li Xianglu was surely not there, Li Jianqing didn’t have the ti to wait and thus relayed the entire situation to Su Yan to pass onto Li Xianglu.
The so-called boyfriend Iro was seeking turned out to be Li Jianqing.
However, the ssage from Li Jianqing wasn’t about that. Despite his explicit rejections, she kept writing him letters, sending items, mailing watches he never wore once, scarves, and so on.
He had thought that by ignoring her, Iro would gradually let go, but to his knowledge, she had actually co looking for him.
When Li Jianqing called, Iro had already been accommodated in the university’s guesthouse. He felt complex emotions as a girl had travelled thousands of miles to find him, crying about her family forcing her to marry soone else, but she loved him.
Li Jianqing did have so affection for Iro; otherwise, he wouldn’t have foolishly injured his own leg trying to save her.
Li Jianqing’s intention was to bring Iro back to the capital to et her parents. He wanted to give it one more try—if they still disagreed, then he would let it be.
In general, taking a week off from university required the approval of the departnt head. And to travel to and from the capital would take three days, so at least ten days off was necessary.
Li Xianglu relayed the whole story to Anna, who was so surprised that her mouth hung open wide enough to fit a large apple.
It took a while before she uttered in a murmur, "So Iro has always liked Brother Ai?"
Li Xianglu sighed and recounted to Anna the incident at the Overseas Chinese Store where they encountered Iro buying a watch.
Upon hearing this, Anna was utterly stunned. So, Iro had already started pursuing Li Jianqing at that ti. No wonder, she thought, it was strange that Brother Ai had a new watch—why the need to gift it? It was ant for her beloved.
However, the most pressing matter was to get a leave of absence for Li Jianqing so he could co back without affecting his studies.
Anna blinked and chuckled, suggesting, "Why not ask Qin Zhen to co back too? It’s almost New Year’s."
Li Xianglu rolled her eyes at the ceiling. It was only mid-December, still half a month until New Year’s, and with exams in mid-January, they would see each other soon enough.
Anna called Lu Xun to explain the situation and asked him for help in getting a leave of absence from the university. The second son of the Lu Family was studying there, and he had good relations with the faculty, so him putting in a word would make getting leave a breeze.
By the afternoon, Anna inford Li Xianglu that the leave had been arranged.
Li Xianglu calculated that if she could catch a train that evening, she could arrive by Friday morning. She had to start preparing imdiately.
She first called ho to give an update and then found ti to go with Anna to the Overseas Chinese Store to buy so cigarettes and liquor.
However, Anna didn’t look favorably on these developnts. Iro’s mother was a rather ambitious person; how could she agree to let Iro marry a poor boy?
Even if Li Jianqing had promising prospects, his background was far too different from that of the Ai Family. In the future, he would likely need the aid of the Ais to achieve a certain status, far from the kind of family that could help the Ai Family from the start.
Therefore, Iro’s mother would definitely not agree.
Feeling sowhat vexed, Li Xianglu asked, "What about Iro’s father?"
After so thought, Anna replied, "Iro’s father is actually a good man, very honest, but he’s the type to fear his wife." So that was it, no need to say more—everything at ho was decided by Iro’s mother.
The week crept by exceedingly slowly, feeling like an eternity. By Thursday, Li Xianglu impatiently counted the days. Li Jianqing would return tomorrow morning, but their wait was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a large group of police officers.
First, they inspected the female student dormitories, then began interrogating anyone who was well-acquainted or had disputes with Shen Yuehong.
The focus was on Qin Xi, Li Xianglu, and Anna. After verifying with the guards at the north gate that the three had talked and then driven away, they were finally released.
Li Xianglu looked to Qin Xi for answers, and so did Anna, complaining about their stroke of bad luck. What atrocity had Shen Yuehong committed that even they were dragged into questioning?
At the entrance of the female dormitories, Qin Xi inford them that Shen Yuehong was dead, drowned, found at Nandaihe. He had signs of torture and rape before his death.
Ah, both were stunned, speechless.
Qin Xi felt the sa, not so much out of sympathy, but worried about who had kidnapped Shen Yuehong, why they did it, and what they could have learned from him.
There was only one class on Friday morning. Qin Xi skipped his afternoon classes, drove Li Xianglu ho directly.
As soon as she entered, she jumped out of the car and rushed to the front yard. Pushing open the living room door, she saw Li Jianqing and Iro, weary from travel, eating noodles at the dining table.
Seeing his younger sister coming in, Li Jianqing joyously stood up, "Little sister!"
Following her in, Qin Xi carried bags of cigarettes, liquor, and a bag of fruits placed on the counter.
Li Xianglu waved her hand and said, "Brother, you keep eating. We’ll talk later."
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