Fang Langkai drove over.

He called Zhao Pingjin: “Where are you?”

Zhao Pingjin looked around at the high-rise buildings, the clusters of neon signs swaying before his eyes. The familiar Beijing streets now seemed unrecognizable to him. He had circled several subway entrances on Jianwai Avenue: “Somewhere around the middle section of East Third Ring Road.”

Fang Langkai said: “Your mother called me. I happen to be nearby. She wants me to come and persuade you, but I know you better. Let me come help you find her.”

Zhao Pingjin answered briefly: “Alright.”

Fang Langkai said: “Let’s search separately. Don’t worry. She knows how to keep herself safe.”

These reassurances did not affect whatsoever on Zhao Pingjin. He parked his car by the roadside and called Xi Tang’s assistant, Xiao Ning. Xiao Ning answered: “She hasn’t come back.”

Zhao Pingjin threw down his phone and tightly gripped the steering wheel, his face growing even more gloomy.

Zhao Pingjin and Fang Langkai drove separately along the main east-west roads, then circled back several times. Zhao Pingjin got out of his car and walked along the sidewalks, checking restaurants, bars, and shops one by one.

After running through several streets, he encountered Fang Langkai on a small road in Yong’an East Village.

Fang Langkai hadn’t seen her either.

It was past two in the morning. Cold winds howled, blowing down their necks. The snow had gradually stopped. The streets in the small alleys were silent and empty. Not far away on the road, young men and women leaving nightclubs passed by with boisterous laughter. A small noodle shop at the street corner was listlessly closing. The neon signs on distant high-rises looked like flickering ghost fires. The city remained brightly lit, yet between heaven and earth, there seemed to remain only desolation.

Zhao Pingjin wore an overcoat, a thin layer of snow covering his black short hair. Having been running all along, his shirt underneath was soaked with sweat and melted snow.

His emotions were too tense; his stomach began to ache faintly.

Zhao Pingjin had no choice but to call Ni Kailun.

Ni Kailun had accompanied Xi Tang to the commercial event in the afternoon and had just returned to Shanghai on an evening flight. She was still having dinner when she heard the news and was shocked: “What’s going on? As soon as I leave, she starts causing trouble!”

Zhao Pingjin pleaded: “Can you try to contact her?”

Ni Kailun fired questions rapidly on the other end.

Zhao Pingjin’s brows were tightly furrowed, answering each of her questions.

“She didn’t bring anything.”

“Her phone is in the pocket of my coat.”

“We just went out for a walk. She didn’t bring her bag.”

After listening, Ni Kailun responded coldly and mercilessly: “Don’t bother about her. She’ll go back on her own.”

With Ni Kailun’s words, the slight hope in Zhao Pingjin’s heart vanished completely. In his urgency, he shouted at Ni Kailun: “You’re her manager. She’s a public figure who’s recently become popular. The roads are slippery, the snow is heavy…”

There was a sudden two-second pause from Ni Kailun’s end, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut. Then her voice suddenly rose, screeching angrily: “So you know it’s not safe outside? How did you look after her? With her by your side, how did she manage to run away? I think she might as well die out there!”

Zhao Pingjin dared not speak.

It would have been better if Zhao Pingjin hadn’t provoked her. Having done so, Ni Kailun exploded like a disturbed wasp nest.

“I don’t even need to ask. Did your mother come looking for her?”

“Or did you two fight again?”

“Fighting every day, why don’t you just break up?”

“Huang Xi Tang is truly stupid.”

“You two are completely unsuited to be together. Your family doesn’t like her at all. Why do you keep clinging to her? Hasn’t she suffered enough humiliation? I’ve been against you two being in this ambiguous relationship all along, but she stubbornly refuses to listen to my advice. Let me tell you, Zhao Pingjin, if she dies out there tonight, it’s her fault! The company has nothing to do with it!”

Zhao Pingjin couldn’t reply. Everything she said was true. What could he say? He heard every word in his heart, silently suffering in guilt. Ni Kailun’s words lashed at his heart one after another.

He just lowered his head silently, letting her scold him.

Fang Langkai stood not far away. It had been many years since he’d been out in the middle of the night like this. He too had been running around all night and was quite exhausted. At first, seeing Zhao Pingjin on the phone, he sat down on some steps by the roadside to rest. Before he had smoked half a cigarette, he looked up and suddenly saw Zhao Pingjin standing with his back to him at the edge of the road, one hand holding the phone, the other hand clutching his abdomen. Then the man slowly began to bend over. Fang Langkai sensed something was wrong and stood up, calling out: “Zhou-zi?”

Before Fang Langkai’s words had landed, he saw Zhao Pingjin’s body sway, then the entire person crouched down.

Fang Langkai immediately tossed his cigarette, jumped down the steps, and rushed over in one stride to support his body: “Zhouzou!”

Zhao Pingjin was covered in cold sweat. The pain had hit so severely that his entire body was trembling. He was almost fainting from the pain, swaying backward.

Fang Langkai supported his body, dragging him toward the roadside. Zhao Pingjin gritted his teeth and managed to walk a few steps, but felt the world spinning. A mist rose before his eyes. His legs weakened, and he knelt on the steps of a roadside shop. Fang Langkai quickly held him, and turned his body over for a look—Zhao Pingjin was gritting his teeth tightly but had lost consciousness.

Fang Langkai laid him flat, forcefully patted his face, and loudly called his name. Zhao Pingjin had already lost consciousness.

Fang Langkai also panicked for a moment. He quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around him, then took out his phone to call his driver.

The driver came with the car and took him to the hospital.

Zhao Pingjin woke up in the hospital.

He saw Shen Min sitting beside the emergency room bed.

Shen Min saw him open his eyes: “Brother Langkai has gone back.”

Zhao Pingjin moved his body but had no strength at all: “How did you come back?”

Shen Min pressed him down: “I came back on business. Yesterday you weren’t at the company, so I handed over the work to Director Li. I didn’t feel right troubling you. I originally planned to go back tomorrow morning.”

Zhao Pingjin glanced at him.

Shen Min knew what was on his mind: “I just spoke with her assistant and manager on the phone. Still no news.”

Zhao Pingjin frowned painfully.

Shen Min said: “Driver Liu is waiting to check the building’s surveillance footage. I’ve also asked two other drivers to drive around looking for her. We’re also checking nearby hotels and 24-hour restaurants. We’ve already alerted the Chaoyang District Police Station. We’ll know immediately if there’s any news.”

Zhao Pingjin asked weakly: “Can I go out?”

Shen Min shook his head and said: “You should rest for a while.”

Shen Min always handled his affairs reliably: “Mrs. Zhou just called. I answered and told her you had gone home to rest.”

Zhao Pingjin’s expression was blank as he stared at the ceiling, merely nodding in response.

Shen Min systematically reported to him: “There are no hospital beds available at the moment. The nurse has arranged for you to stay here temporarily. I didn’t dare alert the hospital administration for fear of alarming your family. Rest here for now, and we’ll transfer you to another hospital when morning comes.”

Zhao Pingjin had awakened but hadn’t slept since, lying motionless in the emergency room.

Shen Min saw that his face was desolate and ashen, his hand still pressing against his stomach. The maximum dose of painkillers had already been administered. Shen Min couldn’t help but remind him softly: “You should sleep for a while. I’ll wake you if there’s any news.”

Zhao Pingjin lowered his eyes without speaking.

After a long while, Zhao Pingjin gazed at the snow-white ceiling above and suddenly said weakly: “Xiao Min, do you think I’m a terrible person?”

Shen Min didn’t dare answer, only advising: “She’s probably just sitting somewhere. Don’t worry too much.”

Zhao Pingjin said quietly: “Mrs. Zhou has never liked her. Tonight even Yingzi saw her. With her not by my side, I’m really afraid…”

His voice trembled slightly, but he quickly controlled it.

Neither of them could sleep, lying awake waiting.

Shortly after three in the morning, Ni Kailun called: “She’s returned to the company hotel.”

“Don’t know where she went before. She took a taxi back.”

“Don’t know if anything happened. She didn’t say. She seems to be fine.”

Zhao Pingjin’s suspended heart slowly settled down. He struggled to say a few words to Ni Kailun. With stabbing pains in his stomach, he couldn’t hold the phone steady and was about to end the call.

“Zhao Pingjin,” Ni Kailun called out to him.

Zhao Pingjin had to support his arm: “Anything else?”

Ni Kailun said from the other end: “I’ll be in Beijing tomorrow. Arrange for Mr. Shen to come over and clear up the external contract between you and Xi Tang.”

Zhao Pingjin’s heart began to beat uneasily again. He took a shallow breath: “I don’t agree.”

Ni Kailun’s attitude was very firm: “Whether you agree or not, you must agree. Tonight was just luck. If something like this happens again, can you guarantee nothing will go wrong?”

Zhao Pingjin couldn’t speak and gradually couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end. His vision blurred. Unable to care about anything else, he barely managed to end the call, then curled his body and pressed his hand against his stomach.

Shen Min looked in from outside the ward, and walked in, concerned: “Boss?”

Zhao Pingjin was silent.

Shen Min held his shoulder and, worried about disturbing his rest, asked softly: “Brother, are you in pain?”

Zhao Pingjin lay on his side, his arm across his upper abdomen, his entire body taut like a string stretched to its limit. The hand with the IV drip had blood flowing back through it.

“Zhouzou?” Shen Min turned his body. His eyes were tightly closed, his face frighteningly pale, and his forehead covered in cold sweat. To the touch, his entire back was ice cold.

Shen Min rushed to press the bell: “Nurse!”

Around four in the afternoon, the apartment hotel was quiet. It was a hotel with some years behind it, but still maintained the standards of a star-rated hotel. The carpet in the corridor was clean and soft, and the radiator at the end made a sizzling water sound.

Zhao Pingjin walked through the corridor to Huang Xi Tang’s hotel door and heard familiar voices from inside.

The hotel style was rather old, with poor soundproofing. The voices of Ni Kailun and Huang Xi Tang could be heard from inside.

Zhao Pingjin raised his hand to knock but found that the people inside were speaking at quite a high volume. The two were probably arguing inside.

His raised hand stopped.

He heard Ni Kailun complaining inside: “What? You go through my phone and think you’re in the right?”

Huang Xi Tang’s tone was also unhappy: “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ni Kailun inside was in a bad mood. She had rushed by plane early in the morning, wanting to quickly resolve the matter between Xi Tang and Zhao Pingjin. Unexpectedly, Huang Xi Tang had taken her phone to report her safety to her mother and somehow stumbled upon the call log. Seeing her university professor’s incoming call, she immediately exploded. Ignoring the important matter at hand, she first brought up these trivial things. Ni Kailun couldn’t help but explode: “Contacting work is the manager’s job, what business is it of yours?”

Yet Huang Xi Tang remained unyielding: “I don’t mind if others try to find me, but this is my specialized course teacher!”

Ni Kailun impatiently shouted: “Anyway, this job can’t be accepted. What difference does it make whether I told you or not!”

Huang Xi Tang shouted angrily: “Whether I take this job or not is up for discussion, but you can’t hide things from me!”

Ni Kailun crossed her arms over her chest, looked at Huang Xi Tang, and couldn’t help but laugh coldly: “Huang Xi Tang, stop pretending with me. What’s all this about repaying teacher-student gratitude? Don’t I know you? You just want to stay in Beijing, right? What’s wrong? Are you still pretending to be in the dark? Then let me make it clear to you—more than two weeks ago when I went out for dinner, the news was already spreading in Beijing circles that the Zhao family had started sending out wedding invitations!”

At that moment, Xi Tang’s face flushed red. Like a scalded cat, she screamed: “What does that have to do with me!”

Seeing that she had hit a sore spot, Ni Kailun curled her lips into a smile, returning to her usual caustic tone: “It has nothing to do with you. It’s good that you remember this. Don’t always think about staying in Beijing. Let me tell you, go back to Hengdian, and earn as much money as you can while you’re still early. Only work can give you security!”

Huang Xi Tang immediately came to her senses: “Ni Kailun, don’t push me into a pit. What does the work you’ve hidden from me have to do with whether I stay in Beijing or not? Fine, get me a job in Shanghai. I want to perform in theater!”

Ni Kailun was instantly fuming again: “Fine if you have the ability! I won’t represent you, go find another manager to help you perform in the theater!”

Huang Xi Tang stubbornly replied: “I’ll manage myself.”

Ni Kailun coldly responded: “That’s best. Your wings have hardened. Such great ability.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ni Kailun immediately picked up her bag and turned to open the door. The troublemaker was standing right outside.

As soon as Ni Kailun saw Zhao Pingjin, she pointed at his nose and scolded: “What are you doing here? Since you can’t have a future with her, you should let her get over you early! I must have had terrible luck in eight previous lifetimes to end up with such an unsuccessful, penniless artist!”

Zhao Pingjin’s face remained calm. He didn’t respond, just moved aside slightly.

Ni Kailun stormed off angrily.

Zhao Pingjin walked in and closed the door behind him. Huang Xi Tang stood dazed in the middle of the room.

She heard movement in the room and vaguely looked up at him, with a pool of tears in her big eyes.

Zhao Pingjin put down her bag that had been left at Park Hyatt, then turned and helped her sit on the sofa.

Xi Tang cried.

Zhao Pingjin reached out to hold her, letting her sit on his lap and lean into his arms.

Huang Xi Tang must have suffered too much over these years. Yet in her daily life, she was always so quiet. Zhao Pingjin had gradually observed that she showed completely different faces to her closest people compared to outsiders. Her mother, or Ni Kailun, was her true emotional outlet.

He said gently: “Don’t worry. When she calms down, give her a call.”

Xi Tang lay on his shoulder, silently shedding tears.

Zhao Pingjin’s phone rang in his pocket. He took it out, pressed to silence it, and tossed it on the sofa. His phone kept flashing.

Xi Tang moved, sitting up from his lap, her face showing a bone-deep calmness: “You go ahead with your business.”