After leaving Xu Zhiwei’s place, Rong Qian went back to the station to ask Chen Jia to help her look someone up.

“Sister Rong, why do you keep having me look up people from decades ago lately?”

Chen Jia took the black-and-white photo Rong Qian handed her—cut out from a newspaper—and felt quite puzzled.

She was starting to wonder whether she was working at an “antiques” bureau instead of a police station.

“Don’t ask too many questions, just look him up first.” Rong Qian was anxious for results.

Chen Jia studied the photo. The man was wearing a business suit, with refined features carrying a touch of meticulousness, and a very serious expression—at a glance, you could tell he was the conscientious type.

This type of man was quite to Chen Jia’s taste. Resting her chin on her hand, she asked, “What’s his name?”

“Xu Mo.”

“Besides his name, is there any information about where he currently lives?” Chen Jia asked while starting to search on the computer.

Rong Qian told her, “All I know is that after he resigned, he went back to his hometown. I need you to find out where his hometown is—I need to go find him.”

“Let me run the photo through the database first for a match—it might take a bit of time. Do you want to wait here, or should I send the results to your phone once they’re ready?”

Rong Qian thought it over for a moment, then said decisively, “I’ll wait here!”

Rong Qian didn’t want to waste any time—the moment the results came in, she would set off immediately.

“Alright, I’ll get it for you as soon as possible.” Chen Jia was quite loyal about it, putting Rong Qian’s matter first.

Rong Qian poured herself a cup of water from the water dispenser. Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was a call from Xu Yang.

Rong Qian answered the call. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Xu Yang.”

“I know. What’s up?”

“I’m outside the police station. I’d like to have a word with you.”

Rong Qian raised an eyebrow. Something that could be said over the phone, and he’d specifically come all this way to see her in person?

Since she didn’t have anything else going on right now, Rong Qian went over to meet him. From a distance, she could see Xu Yang standing at the entrance of the station, dressed sharply in a suit, glancing at his watch from time to time—he honestly looked rather like a boyfriend waiting to pick up his girlfriend after work.

“What did you want to see me about?” Rong Qian asked him directly as she walked over.

Xu Yang walked up to her and said, “I heard you went to see my great-uncle again.”

“Yeah. You’re quite well-informed.”

Xu Yang smiled and said, “Because I’m quite curious about your relationship with my great-uncle, so I had someone keep an eye on it.”

“You’re certainly being honest about it.” Rong Qian started to grow distracted, glancing down at her watch from time to time as well, wondering whether Chen Jia had found Xu Mo’s hometown address yet.

Xu Yang had been watching her closely the whole time. Noticing the considerably valuable antique watch on her wrist, he forced a smile. “I’ve been wanting to ask since last time—who gave you this watch?”

He was rather calculating—at the auction last time, he had specifically kept the contact information of the watch collector and asked him to give a detailed account of the price of Rong Qian’s watch.

As it turned out, the watch really was one of a kind, custom-made for a private order, and extremely expensive—not something an ordinary person could afford to give as a gift.

“A friend gave it to me.” Rong Qian didn’t want to reveal too much to him.

But Xu Yang was very curious. “A male friend, I take it?”

“You already know, and you’re still asking?” Rong Qian couldn’t help snapping at him, but then realized that wasn’t very polite, so she added a bit awkwardly, “Sorry, I’ve got something urgent going on, so I’m a bit short with my words.”

“It’s fine, I was the one being intrusive.” Xu Yang was tactful enough to know when to stop pressing on a subject.

Rong Qian looked at him. She hadn’t originally wanted to bring this up, but after thinking it over, she decided to say it anyway. “Actually, in situations like this from now on, you can just call me directly—there’s no need to come all the way here in person.”

“It’s because I wanted to see you.” Xu Yang stopped beating around the bush.

Rong Qian sighed, then said, “What a shame—it’s exactly the opposite for me. I don’t want to see you.”

The words were a bit harsh, but that was just how Rong Qian was. If something was impossible, then she wouldn’t leave the other person any false hope. Stringing someone along, treating them as a backup option—that wasn’t something she was capable of doing.

Xu Yang gave a bitter smile. “It seems I’ve already been rejected by you twice now.”

“Don’t be so sentimental, bro. Stay strong.” Rong Qian patted his shoulder to comfort him, just like a good buddy would, then made an excuse about having something to deal with and headed off first.

Xu Yang watched her retreating figure for a long while before reluctantly looking away.

But just as he looked away, Xu Yang suddenly noticed something and abruptly raised his head again!

Then, rubbing his eyes, Xu Yang looked utterly confused. What was going on? Had he seen wrong?

He thought he had just seen—just a shadow, flashing past in an instant!

It was a man in a white shirt, walking right behind Rong Qian, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a serene air about his brow as if untouched by the troubles of time. He looked quite mature, probably around his thirties.

He was as handsome as a statue of an ancient Greek god. When he smiled slightly, everything around him seemed to dim in comparison.

Xu Yang stood frozen in place. Although it had been just a fleeting glimpse, and the figure had vanished in an instant, the man’s appearance had been deeply etched into his mind, lingering there for a long, long time.

“Did… did I just see an angel?”

Xu Yang muttered to himself. Actually, his first reaction had been that he’d seen a ghost—but then he thought, surely no ghost could look that good-looking?

Legend had it that kind people were always watched over by guardian angels. That man—maybe he was her angel.

“Wait, what am I even saying?”

Xu Yang shook his head, trying to bring his mind back to reality. Stop thinking nonsense.

In the end, Xu Yang chalked up the “paranormal event” he had just experienced to “his eyes playing tricks on him”!

Chen Jia’s efficiency really was fast—before long, she had the results for Rong Qian.

Xu Mo’s hometown was in Shaanxi. Though it was quite far, Rong Qian didn’t hesitate—she went home, quickly packed some clothes, and set off.

That very afternoon, Rong Qian arrived in Shaanxi.

After spending the whole afternoon on the plane, Rong Qian didn’t even think about finding somewhere to rest—the moment she got off the plane, she continued straight on her way.

The rural areas of Shaanxi were still covered in loess plateau terrain, the environment was relatively harsh, and the roads were steep.

Rong Qian caught a ride on a cargo tricycle. As it happened, the old man driving it knew exactly which household she was looking for, so he gave her a ride straight there.

Squeezed in among a load of potatoes, Rong Qian bumped along the road until they finally arrived at the entrance of a house. After thanking the old man, Rong Qian hopped down from the tricycle.

The local dwellings here in Shaanxi were cave houses dug into the loess. Several strings of red chili peppers hung on the brick wall by the doorway, pumpkins sat on the windowsill, the courtyard was covered with corn left out to dry, and an old man was feeding the chickens.

Rong Qian went up to greet the old man, explained the reason for her visit, and showed him the photo of Xu Mo that she had cut out from the newspaper.

The moment the old man saw it, his eyes immediately welled up with tears, and he said in a choked voice, “This is my second brother.”

Rong Qian understood the situation at a glance. She said gently, “Has he… passed away?”

The old man wiped away his tears and said, “My second brother never came back home after he left—he must have died somewhere, who knows where, a long time ago.”

“Grandpa, you’re saying he never came back?” Rong Qian found this strange. She said, “Didn’t he resign from his job and head back to his hometown?”

“About thirty-some years ago, we really did receive a letter from him saying he was coming back. But we waited and waited, and he never showed up. In the end we couldn’t wait any longer and gave up. All I know is that winter, everyone was having a hard time, feeling miserable.” The old man kept shaking his head and sighing.

Rong Qian looked at the photo of Xu Mo—around thirty-something years old, probably not too short in height. And it was the winter of thirty years ago…

Rong Qian suddenly thought of something. Her eyes widened abruptly, and goosebumps rose all over her skin.

Could it be—that the skeleton that had been buried for over thirty years was Xu Mo?!

He hadn’t failed to come back—he had run into a mudslide on his way home, and that was why he could never make it the rest of the way home…

And so, more than thirty years later, that old car buried underground had been dug up, and the deceased had finally come back into the light of day.

After that, she had begun being carried back to the era when Shen Yi was still alive.

The truth had begun to slowly surface…