Chapter 639 She's Very Well-Behaved (Sixty-Eight)

Shen Fanxing quickly stopped her: "Mom, calm down first. You can't go alone."

Jiang Zhizhi thought for a moment and said, "I'll have your uncle arrange for a few bodyguards to go over there. Even if Pei Yanli is seriously injured, I can save him."

Shen Fanxing thought for a moment and said, "That works too. How about I go with you? That way we can look out for each other if anything happens."

Jiang Zhizhi quickly stopped her, saying, "Let's not. You should stay home. You're pregnant. What would I do if something happened to you? I'll call you if anything happens while you're at home."

Shen Fanxing thought about it and agreed: "I'll get you something to take with you."

Jiang Zhizhi was used to Shen Fanxing's rambling, mainly because it was very accurate, and smiled as she agreed, "Okay."

Unfortunately, she underestimated Shang Shang's keen insight. While she was packing her things, Shang Shang asked curiously, "Does the company have any business recently? Why are you going to the south?"

Jiang Zhizhi was quite surprised: "How did you know I went to the South?"

Shang Shang pointed to her phone: "You just told your secretary that you're in the south and the signal is bad, and that she should contact the vice president if she needs anything. Where are you on a business trip and the signal is bad?"

Jiang Zhizhi's expression was calm: "Yes, I'm going to the South. I heard there's a Chinese herbal medicine base there, where the herbs grown there are even more effective, so I'm going to go and take a look."

“There’s a lot of signal over there, deep in the mountains, so I was worried that my secretary might not be able to reach me if something urgent happened, so I reminded her in advance.”

Shang Shang blinked and stared at Jiang Zhizhi: "Mom, lying is wrong. If there really were a Chinese herbal medicine base, the R&D team would have gone there to conduct market research long ago."

“I haven’t received any reports from the marketing or R&D departments yet, and you’re already going? That’s not the right procedure.”

Jiang Zhizhi sighed inwardly, thinking that her daughter's intelligence was sometimes a bad thing. She looked at her daughter helplessly and said, "It's not always the same process. Alright, I'm going to get busy with work. What else can I do?"

Shang Shang pursed her lips and stared at Jiang Zhizhi for a while: "Mom, Pei Yanli hasn't contacted me for half a month. I'm very worried about him. If you meet him in the South, please let me know."

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and patted her daughter's head: "Okay, if I meet him, I will definitely tell him that you miss him and I will call you when there is a signal."

"Don't overthink it. You don't think it's because Pei Yanli is injured that I went to see him, do you?"

Shang Shang was a little embarrassed: "I didn't mean that, Mom. You should be careful when you go out alone, otherwise Dad will worry."

Jiang Zhizhi breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright, little girl, you worry so much every day. When I'm not home, you have to keep a close eye on this experiment. When it gets hot, remember to use the air conditioning."

"Also, there has been a lot of rain lately, so be sure to take precautions to dehumidify the area."

Shang Shang nodded, still harboring doubts. She had been her mother's daughter for over twenty years, and they usually got along like sisters.

She knew Jiang Zhizhi very well; she had just deliberately steered the conversation toward Pei Yanli, which was the biggest point of suspicion.

I plan to give Chen Fanxing a good talking-to after Jiang Zhizhi leaves.

She must know where Jiang Zhizhi went and why she went.

...

Jiang Zhizhi and her two bodyguards landed in Guizhou Province, changed cars, and drove for more than ten hours to reach Pei Yanli's hometown city. They then drove for another four hours to reach the town, where they were about to get out of the car and walk around.

Jiang Zhizhi usually exercises a lot and has good physical strength, but after climbing two mountains, she was still panting heavily.

Standing halfway up the mountain, looking at the scattered houses in the valley, I sighed: "These are too hard to find. If someone gets injured here, do they even have a chance of survival?"

The two bodyguards were also retired special forces soldiers carefully selected by Shang Xingzhou. They had strong reconnaissance abilities and reaction speed, and were also quite skilled.

After careful observation, he took Jiang Zhizhi down the mountain to the village.

Pei Yanli's mother's house wasn't hard to find, after all, Pei Yanli had done a lot for the village and town during this period.

He's still very famous.

Jiang Zhizhi inquired at both places and received the same answer: Pei Yanli had left several days ago.

An elderly villager explained to Jiang Zhizhi with difficulty in broken Mandarin, "He's very busy. He said he's going to repair the road for us. Once the road is repaired, it will be easier for us to go to town."

"He said he was going to call someone back, but he never came back."

"Yes, his things are still in the house, and he hasn't come back yet. I don't know what happened to him."

As the elderly people talked, they led Jiang Zhizhi to Pei Yanli's residence.

Along the way, he kept telling Jiang Zhizhi how hard Pei Yanli's mother had worked and how pitiful Pei Yanli was when he was a child.

They noticed that Jiang Zhizhi and the two men beside her had an impressive air about them, and they looked like they came from the city.

I feel like they're here to help us, just like Pei Yanli.

That's why they were exceptionally enthusiastic.

Pei Yanli's mother's house had been uninhabited for many years and was half collapsed. Only one room was still intact, which Pei Yanli cleaned up and has been staying there for the past two days.

The room was simple, with a single quilt neatly folded, his suitcase on the table next to it, and his watch neatly placed beside it.

Jiang Zhizhi went over, opened her suitcase, and found that the clothes inside were also neatly folded.

Pei Yanli is a very orderly person; he categorizes everything clearly and keeps things in a proper order.

She picked up the watch again and looked at it. She recognized the watch; Pei Yanli wore it when he came to her house for dinner.

He handed the watch to the bodyguard: "If he's going out on business, why isn't he wearing a watch? There's no cell phone signal here, and this watch even has a compass function. He should be wearing it all the time."

After carefully examining the watch, the two bodyguards looked around the room very thoroughly.

He came over and reported to Jiang Zhizhi: "There are no clues here. They must have just left temporarily."

Jiang Zhizhi frowned: "Where could that person have gone?"

According to the clues provided by Shen Fanxing, Pei Yanli had an accident at his mother's house, but the villagers did not notice anything unusual.

Where could Pei Yanli go?

The house is only so big; even if someone is unconscious, they can still be found.

Could something have happened in the surrounding mountains?

Jiang Zhizhi was a little worried. If something happened in the mountains, the area would be too big. How would they find it?

The two bodyguards also analyzed that the accident most likely happened in the mountains, and suggested they search the mountains.

However, it's already late, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Jiang Zhizhi said anxiously, "Let's stay here tonight and ask around tomorrow to see if anyone else has been here. The village is small and remote, so they'll definitely know if any strangers have come."

That night, they stayed at the old lady's house next to Pei Yanli's mother's house.

The old woman lives alone; her children have all gone to work in the city and only come back for the Chinese New Year.

If income is poor, they may not come back for the Chinese New Year.

Grandma isn't very good, but she can still communicate, though Jiang Zhizhi has to repeat many things several times.

They talked about whether any strangers had ever visited their home.

The old woman shook her head: "No, it was the day Yanli came back. Two young people came back with him, and then they left. No one else has come back since."

"What? Did something happen to Yanli?"

Jiang Zhizhi shook her head: "We can't find him right now, so we'll ask around more."

The old woman said anxiously, "Where could this child go? He came to my house for dinner just two days ago and even asked me what I would most like to do if the road were repaired?"

“I also told Yanli that if the road is repaired, I would like to go to the city to see it. I said that the buildings in the city are so tall, and I have never seen them before.”

"He said he would definitely take me to see it, how could it be missing? You should search carefully, maybe it went to the city?"

Jiang Zhizhi was afraid of frightening the old man, so she quickly reassured him, "It's possible that we missed him. Let's wait for him here and see when he comes back."

The old woman nodded repeatedly: "Yes, you all wait here. Yanli didn't take anything with him when he left that day, he will definitely come back."

"Don't wander off, or you'll end up going the wrong way again."

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and nodded, then suddenly wrinkled her nose: "Grandma, what were you burning in the house? Why does it smell strange?"

The old woman looked bewildered: "What's that smell? I can't smell it. I just roasted two potatoes in the stove. By the way, you haven't eaten yet, have you? What would you like to eat?"

"I don't have much good food here, but I have some cured meat from the New Year. Shall I stir-fry some chili peppers for you?"

As he spoke, he stood up unsteadily and went inside to get the cured meat.

Jiang Zhizhi squinted at the stove; the smell was definitely not the smell of potatoes.

It had a herbal smell that made her uncomfortable.

After smelling it for a while, my mind felt a little numb...