Chapter 1218: I Want to Make You Stay (96)
“There are hardly any children like her. If all children were like her, it’d be terrifying.”
“Confirm with the farm-keepers if those snakes are really non-venomous and harmless. Make sure it’s a hundred percent safe.”
“Yes.”
“Wait a minute.” An Xiaoning got out of bed and continued, “Stay here with No. 8 and wait for s.h.i.+ Bao’er to come back in the afternoon or evening. Let her stay with those things for a night. This time, I shall see if she’s going to repent. I won’t be coming back tonight. Call me if something happens.”
“Sis, are you going back to the city?”
“Yes, I’ll be returning tomorrow morning.” An Xiaoning was still worried about Jin Qingyan and she wanted to stay by his side whenever possible. Nothing mattered more to her than him.
“Alright, Sis, rest a.s.sured. Leave everything here to me and No. 8.”
“Okay, thanks.”
An Xiaoning grabbed two books and her car keys before leaving.
She drove all the way to Wei Ni Estate. Before she even reached the gate, she caught sight of Long Tianze dancing in a goofy manner outside the door.
His dance moves were exaggerated beyond limits.
He seemed just like a mentally-unsound patient who had escaped from the asylum.
However, she could tell that he was doing it on purpose.
“Mr. Long, what are you doing under the blazing sun?”
“I lost a bet against your sister.”
An Xiaoning turned her steering wheel and drove through the gate. As soon as she entered, she wound down the window and asked Xiao Huang, “Is your Young Sir at home?”
“He’s at home. He didn’t leave after coming home this morning.”
“Got it,” said An Xiaoning, thinking to herself that Jin Qingyan was rather obedient to have stayed home like she had instructed. She drove the car into the garage and began sprinting toward the mansion.
An Xiaoning changed into her slippers and headed upstairs. She then tiptoed toward the door of the bedroom.
She reached out to knock on the door.
She initially thought that he would ask her who she was. However, there was no sound.
She knocked again, but there was still no noise.
Unable to tolerate it any further, she immediately pressed the pa.s.sword to unlock the door.
There was no one inside the room at all.
An Xiaoning called, “Qingyan?”
There really wasn’t anyone at all. She zoomed downstairs again. When she b.u.mped into Auntie Chen, she asked, “Where did Qingyan go?”
“Isn’t Young Sir upstairs?”
“There’s no one in the room.”
“Huh? I saw Young Sir going upstairs. Is he not there?” Auntie Chen asked in bewilderment.
An Xiaoning headed upstairs again and searched the entire bedroom to find that he was really not inside. She had no choice but to call him.
Yet, he did not answer.
An Xiaoning immediately went to the surveillance camera monitor room and asked to view the footages.
It showed that he had gone to the cellar half an hour before she arrived home.
The cellar…
An Xiaoning ran to the cellar to call him again. However, there was still no response. An Xiaoning thought to herself that he must have sneaked out via the secret pa.s.sageway.
She could not help but feel a little angry. I told him not to go out and yet he took the secret pa.s.sageway.
I’m going to teach him a lesson when I get home.
She immediately instructed Xiao Bai to track his whereabouts using the GPS system and report to her on the spot.
None of the bodyguards and servants dared to defy her orders because they all knew that even Jin Qingyan would give way to her. Hence, they had no other option but to adhere to her instructions.
Xiao Bai would report to her in ten-minute intervals. Thus, she was crystal clear about Jin Qingyan’s whereabouts for she would receive live updates while she was reading her book at home.
By the afternoon, he still did not show any signs of coming home. Neither did he pick up her calls. After having her lunch, An Xiaoning drove out of the estate to look for her.
She simply could not figure out why he had headed to a remote village instead of the office.
However, the GPS system could not give her a specific location in the village, and she could only obtain a generic address near the village.
An Xiaoning drove for forty minutes before alighting from the car in front of the village.
She walked toward a few middle-aged women who were chatting with each other and asked with a smile, “May I ask if you’ve seen this person here?”
She showed them a small photo of Jin Qingyan that she kept inside her wallet. The bevy of women had been crowding around the spot for the entire afternoon, ever since breakfast. After taking a look at the photo, one of them immediately said, “Yeah, he alighted here and asked us for directions too. He has gone to the Li family home.”
“Where is the Li family home?”
Pointing in the direction of the East, the middle-aged woman said, “There. Walk along this path and turn right, then continue walking straight. It’s the third house that faces the West and has a red door.”
“Alright, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
An Xiaoning returned inside her car and continued driving according to the directions given by the middle-aged woman.
The roads in the village had already been repaired, thus allowing for a smooth car ride.
Less than two minutes later, she pulled over at the doorstep of the house that the middle-aged woman had described. There was also a red taxi not too far away from her.
The third house with the red door that was facing the West.
She could not figure out his reason for coming to such a place.
He even refused to answer her calls.
An Xiaoning alighted and stared at the red door in front of her. Instead of entering straight away, she called Xiao Huang and asked, “Are you sure that he’s still at the place that you had mentioned?”
“Yes, Young Madam.”
“Got it.” An Xiaoning placed her mobile phone inside her bag and entered.
As soon as she reached the door, a black dog charged out of the gate and began barking at her furiously.
Not long after, a middle-aged woman, who appeared to be in her late forties, walked out of the door with an ap.r.o.n around her waist. She seemed to be in the midst of cooking.
She asked in astonishment, “Ms. An, what brings you here?”
Surprised to hear how she had addressed her, An Xiaoning asked, “You can recognize me?”
“Of course. We all know that you’re Mr. Jin’s ex-wife.”
An Xiaoning put on a courteous smile and asked, “Is he inside?”
“Yes, please come in,” the woman answered, smiling.
“Alright.” An Xiaoning followed her into the house.
It was rather small, and there were two rooms and a kitchen.
An Xiaoning could already hear Jin Qingyan before she even reached the door. “He’s inside. You may enter. I’ll have to watch the dumplings in the stove.”
“Go ahead.” An Xiaoning entered and walked toward the living room.
She immediately caught sight of Jin Qingyan, who was sitting on the couch, a middle-aged man, and a young woman.
An Xiaoning could tell that the middle-aged man was the young woman’s father, judging from their appearance.
“Qingyan. You didn’t answer my calls so I came to take a look,” said An Xiaoning.
He patted the spot beside her and said with a tender smile, “Come and sit here.”
An Xiaoning proceeded accordingly and asked, “Why are you here? Is anything wrong?”
“I’m here for some private issues.”
An Xiaoning did not probe any further, thinking to herself that it would be inappropriate for him to explain to her when there were so many outsiders around. Hence, she decided to wait until they were home.
The middle-aged woman yelled from the kitchen, “The dumplings are ready!”