“There’s something wrong with her,” Gu Shaojin said calmly to Ming Jiayi.

"I can tell," Ming Jiayi replied seriously. "Didn't you see anything when you went into that storage room just now?"

"Hmm. There's only a bunch of cardboard boxes," Gu Shaojin replied calmly.

"Could it be hiding inside the cardboard box?"

"That's unlikely. The boxes are stacked together. If he wanted to hide inside a box, he could only hide in the bottom box of each stack, and those boxes are piled high with stuff."

That woman couldn't possibly have moved all the things upstairs and put them away by herself in such a short time.

Ming Jiayi quickly organized her thoughts, and the image in her mind came to mind: "Are there windows in there? What if they climbed out the window and ran away?"

Gu Shaojin shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhan Pingping pushing open the door and walking out of the coffee shop.

Gu Shaojin pulled Ming Jiayi close to the wall, then peeked out to look at Zhan Pingping.

"I'm not sure. But there is definitely a small window inside."

Ming Jiayi also quietly peeked out.

At this moment, Zhan Pingping was already walking towards the middle of the road.

Ming Jiayi looked at Gu Shaojin and said meticulously,

"Where is Tan Ziting located? I think if Zhan Pingping really helped Tan Ziting escape, then the two of them should meet soon. I need to go and verify this."

Gu Shaojin turned on her phone and handed it directly to Ming Jiayi. "Let's go, let's go to the basement to get the car."

...

Following the location, Ming Jiayi and Gu Shaojin arrived at a relatively remote suburb. Further ahead, they found themselves in a very narrow alley.

So Ming Jiayi and Gu Shaojin had no choice but to park their car on the street outside and walk inside.

Gu Shaojin took off his suit jacket and held it in his hand. His white shirt and black tie gave him a particularly mature charm.

Ming Jiayi was wearing a floral dress and high heels. Her curly hair cascaded gently down her sides, and a faint fragrance wafted through the air.

The alleyway was not smooth; it was full of potholes, and since it had just rained, puddles were everywhere.

Gu Shaojin subconsciously reached out and took Ming Jiayi's hand, leading her slowly forward while looking at the location.

Ming Jiayi did not shake off Gu Shaojin's hand, but she felt no ripples in her heart.

This had happened countless times before, when the two of them attended parties together a few months ago pretending to be a couple.

Moreover, this kind of requirement may arise during filming, so Ming Jiayi is completely uninterested in this action.

They quickly arrived at their destination. Ming Jiayi and Gu Shaojin stood in the alley, and the uncles and aunties passing by looked at them with some curiosity.

Gu Shaojin called the bodyguard and confirmed that Tan Ziting's address was on the first floor of the basement where they were standing.

"Handsome guys and beautiful girls, are you here looking for someone?"

A kind-hearted aunt stood in front of Ming Jiayi and Gu Shaojin and asked in her local dialect.

Ming Jiayi smiled at the aunt and then replied in her local dialect, "Yes, Auntie."

"Judging from your appearance, you wouldn't happen to be here looking for that strange doll surnamed Tan, would you?" the aunt asked curiously.

Ming Jiayi glanced at Gu Shaojin, then looked at her aunt, "Auntie, why did you say he was strange? What did he do?"

The aunt looked around, then leaned closer to Ming Jiayi and said mysteriously,

"Oh my, you guys probably don't know this. I'll tell you a secret: he rented my basement."

I told him he was a young man who never went out, and I wondered what he was doing in that basement. Out of curiosity, I went to his house to take a look.

When he opened the door for me that day, I saw a really pretty girl in his room.

Upon hearing her aunt's words, Ming Jiayi immediately picked up her phone and scrolled through her photo album.

She remembered that she seemed to have taken a photo with Zhan Pingping before.

Later, Zhan Pingping even sent her that photo on Weibo.

"I was thinking, how could such a pretty girl end up with such a good-for-nothing boy? So I said a few words to the boy."

I didn't say anything offensive. I just told him to work hard, earn more money, and marry that girl as soon as possible.

"Isn't that going too far? Not at all! But that boy got angry for no reason and yelled at me. Isn't that infuriating?"

Ming Jiayi nodded in agreement with the aunt and replied with a serious expression, "How infuriating! How can he not appreciate kindness?"

The auntie's venting box was instantly opened, and she unleashed a torrent of complaints.

"That's right, I'm doing this for his own good, aren't I? If he's happy to stay in the house every day, then let him stay. As long as I pay the rent, that's fine."

But I went out of my way to check on him, and he just gave me a piece of his mind. Don't you think that's going too far? Don't you think that's weird?

"Yes, it's really strange." Ming Jiayi nodded vigorously in agreement, then quickly picked up her phone and handed the photo to the aunt. "Auntie, is the pretty girl you're talking about her?"

The woman squinted, then held her phone far away.

"Yes, yes, it's this pretty little girl. Is that you next to her? You look prettier."

Ming Jiayi smiled gently, "Thank you, Auntie. Did you see this girl come here looking for Tan Ziting just now?"

"I didn't see him. It seems like Xiao Tan went out today; I just saw him come back from outside," the aunt replied in detail.

"Excuse me, Auntie, could I do you a favor?"

...

Ming Jiayi originally planned to go home for dinner the day after filming the promotional video.

However, because Gu Shaojin complained to Ming's parents that Ming Jiayi was not cooperating with him at all, and that she would rather sleep than eat with him when she had free time.

This led to Ming's parents issuing an order that Ming Jiayi must go on a date with Gu Shaojin during the day and bring Gu Shaojin home for dinner in the evening.

Ming Jiayi sat lazily on the sofa in the second-floor lobby, eating snacks and watching TV.

Gu Shaojin, Ming Fengche, and Ming's parents were all sitting on the first floor, chatting happily.

"Xiao Gu, you and Jia Yi are not young anymore. When do you plan to get married?" Ming's mother asked with some concern.

Gu Shaojin lowered her head and smiled faintly, appearing particularly shy. "It's not up to me to decide this alone."