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墨書 Inktalez
On the day of the holiday, there were noticeably more school buses than usual. After finding a parking spot near the dormitory, Shen Du continued to call Yao Nian. Since morning, her calls had gone unanswered. Thinking that the young girl might have overslept, he had arrived at school half an hour early to wait for her.
Shen Du glanced at the time; many students were already coming out of the dorms with their luggage. As Lin Mo just brought her suitcase to the dorm entrance, she spotted the man leaning against a car.
"Lawyer Shen?" She released her suitcase and walked a couple of steps toward him. "Are you waiting for Yao Nian?"
Shen Du looked up, remembering that this girl was Yao Nian's roommate. It was she who had called him when Yao Nian twisted her ankle.
He glanced behind them. "Is Yao Nian not with you?"
"She went back to Huaibei yesterday," Lin Mo replied, puzzled. "Did she not tell you?"
"Yesterday?" Shen Du was taken aback.
"It was supposed to be today," Lin Mo explained. "After our exam yesterday, she received a call and hurriedly packed her things and left. She seemed quite anxious."
Shen Du furrowed his brow. "Did she say why?"
Lin Mo shook her head. "She didn't look well, so we didn't dare to ask too much."
After a moment of silence, Shen Du said, "Alright, I understand."
Back in his car, he thought for a moment and then called Yao Zhantong.
"I'm sorry, the number you dialed is not in service."
Listening to the busy tone on his phone, Shen Du's frown deepened.
A day had passed, and there was still no news from Yao Zhantong. Typically, the police would release someone within twenty-four hours of questioning; if it exceeded that time frame, it likely meant detention.
Early in the morning, Yao Nian had gone to the detention center. Besides receiving a detention notice, family members were not allowed direct visitation, and the officers refused to disclose any details about the case or the amount involved. She didn’t even know what exactly her father had been accused of.
Driver Cheng Bo was waiting for her at the entrance of the police station.
As soon as Yao Nian got into the car, she immediately asked, "Cheng Uncle, what exactly did my dad do? Don’t you know anything since you’re with him every day?"
Cheng Bo sighed. "Mr. Yao has been traveling frequently for business lately and hasn't really returned to Huaibei. I’m not entirely sure about the specifics, but I often hear him mention something about difficulties with land approvals during his calls."
Yao Zhandong was involved in a real estate project, and under normal circumstances, issues with land approval weren't a big deal; it just meant running a few more errands. However, Yao said it was illegal fundraising.
She took out her phone to check something, but after pressing the screen a few times without it lighting up, she realized it had run out of battery at some point.
Oh right, Cheng Bo seemed to remember something. Last month, Yao had asked him to come back and retrieve several property certificates for him.
Yao Nian paused: Was he selling a house?
That didn’t seem likely. He had asked her to deliver them directly to the bank, probably for a mortgage loan.
Yao Nian fell silent, her fingers gripping the seatbelt tightly as she stared ahead without moving.
During this time, she had sensed that Yao Zhandong was acting strangely. She hadn’t thought much of it at first; after all, he had been away from home for years and hardly ever discussed the company with her.
Thinking back carefully, Yao Zhandong didn’t have a heavy smoking habit; he usually avoided smoking around her. Yet in the days leading up to the start of school, he had been cooped up in his study smoking constantly.
And on the day he dropped her off at school, he had inexplicably said a lot of sentimental things that were completely out of character for him.
Then there was that card—Yao Nian’s heart skipped a beat.
Yao Zhandong always transferred money directly to her; when had he started using a card?
She glanced out the window and quickly called out, “Cheng Bo, let me off in front of the Agricultural Bank.”
He hit the brakes: “I’ll wait for you at the intersection.”
“No need, I’ll head back on my own.” With that, she got out of the car without looking back.
Yao Nian managed her daily expenses and spending with her own card. She wasn’t extravagant with her money; over the years, Yao Zhandong and Qiao Shuzhen had given her quite a bit, and with the additional red envelopes during holidays, her balance was still quite substantial.
So after a semester passed, she hadn’t touched that other card Yao Zhandong had given her.
She had slipped it into her phone case without thinking much about it at the time. Now she took out the phone case and inserted the card into the device.
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