Chapter 73 His body swayed, and he fell sideways into the snow…

At noon, Qin Qiao drove her rented car up a hill near Wanping Village. Unable to reach the top, she had to stop halfway. She picked up her black shoulder bag from the passenger seat, got out, slammed the door shut, and climbed the man-made gravel path to the summit.

The mountains rise and fall, the sun hangs high in the sky, and the sky is a calm, deep indigo.

A small, crooked tree nearby hung precariously in the air, its branches stretching wildly, with a few bright green buds among them.

Qin Qiao took off her shoulder bag, hung it on her arm, and with her free hand unzipped it and took out her DSLR camera.

The camera was bought in the city yesterday, and she also got a telephoto lens that can focus from 200 meters away and accurately lock onto the house.

At the edge of the mountaintop, there is a polygonal rock, about half a person's height, which acts like a natural shelter.

Qin Qiao stepped forward, half-squatted down, and placed the DSLR camera on it.

Today marks the sixteenth day since Chen Jiashu went missing.

A week after being driven away by villagers, they went with the police to another city and stayed there for three days. Officer Ma and his team found the van driven by the Lu brothers abandoned on a national highway. After reviewing layers of surveillance footage, the clues pointed to an abandoned factory, but unfortunately, it was too late.

Following their route, the two brothers found themselves back in Xicheng Province.

Officer Ma analyzed that the two were not professional kidnappers, and if they became afraid, they would most likely flee back to familiar places, which is the so-called "safe house" mentality. Meanwhile, the team members guarding outside Wanping Village reported that they had not seen the two return.

Chen Cheng and Tian Jiayue returned to Lanchuan yesterday.

Qin Qiao was very grateful for their company over the past few days, but work was more important, and she had to stay here. Even though Tian Jiayue was extremely reluctant to leave, she listened to her advice and left with her suitcase.

No sooner had the two left than Sun Gang found the hotel where she was staying in T City that very night.

The address was given to him by Tian Jiayue.

They met in the hotel lobby, where Sun Gang told her that he had contacted several friends who worked in the judicial department, and that they were very willing to help and would do their best to assist her, provided that everything complied with procedures and regulations.

Qin Qiao suggested that a large-scale search could be conducted targeting Nanping Village.

Sun Gang, nicknamed "Qin Qiao," pressed his fingers together and slowly shook his head: "First of all, a large-scale search requires approval at every level, and relying entirely on 'possibility' and 'guessing' is almost impossible. Secondly, such a large-scale operation will definitely make the news, causing a major earthquake both inside and outside the group."

"But these are secondary. The most dangerous situation is that if the two kidnappers see the news or the villagers find out, they will definitely take extreme measures."

Having worked in finance for so many years, how could Qin Qiao not understand? The chairman of a large enterprise has disappeared? No one would believe he could return and run the company properly. What awaits the group is a stock price collapse, margin calls, banks withdrawing loans, partners defaulting... a cascading collapse.

But reason crumbles before emotion. Her husband, her lover, the father of her children, has been missing for sixteen days. Chen Jiashu is not one to sit idly by and wait for death; he must have tried to escape… and most likely failed.

The thought that Jia Shu might be trapped in Wanping Village, where "everyone is a sentinel," made Qin Qiao feel a pang of heartache. Even a healthy person might not be able to escape from that place, let alone someone with poor eyesight.

Has his hearing recovered?

Just as Qin Qiao arrived at the hotel to drop off her luggage in the morning, Officer Ma called her back to the hospital. The young officer who received her told her that the two men in the ward had come for Chen Jiashu, but had been severely beaten by the villagers and were still unconscious.

"The tall guy said before he lost consciousness that they weren't thieves, but were looking for Chairman Chen. That's why we contacted you."

The tall man was Chen Jiashu's driver, Xiao Jun. This usually robust man lay weakly on the hospital bed, his face almost entirely unharmed. His assistant, Zhang, lay beside him; his injuries were less severe, but the doctor said he had broken two ribs.

These two people came here for Chen Jiashu, but were surrounded and beaten by more than a dozen villagers, resulting in serious injuries. They were then falsely accused of being "sneaky thieves with the intention of stealing".

The people in this village have truly taken the "the law does not punish the masses" effect to its extreme.

In those few minutes of distraction, a woman wearing a black cotton-padded coat and holding a child appeared in the shot.

Qin Qiao's gaze sharpened, and she freed one hand to close the door, then walked to the center of the courtyard.

A clothesline stretched across the middle, with a dozen or so clothes and trousers hanging on it. A five- or six-year-old child suddenly jumped down and crawled around underneath, using it as a plaything. The woman, dragging her unsteady right leg, stumbled after her child.

The surveillance of the day showed nothing unusual; all that could be seen was a room full of people walking around.

Qin Qiao looked away, gripping the edge of the rocks with both hands, trying to stand up, but suddenly everything went black. She had no choice but to close her eyes tightly and squat back down.

I pressed my fingertips firmly against the hard stone and waited for a while before the dizziness gradually subsided.

As the sun sets and dusk falls, layers of clouds pile up, and most of the light slowly fades away. The temperature drops sharply, and a wind picks up, rubbing against your face like shards of glass, causing a stinging pain.

Qin Qiao put her DSLR camera back into her bag, sat down on the ground with her back against a rock, and felt a lump in her throat. She blinked, forcing back the tears.

In the photo, the children stand in front of them, their smiles radiant, while the parents' lips curve at just the right angle, revealing a hint of restraint.

This is the first one; she wasn't quite in the zone yet. The later ones are actually more natural. But she really likes every single one of them.

Her thumb stroked his face, warming the cold photo with her fingertips. Qin Qiao slightly raised the corners of her mouth, feeling that it was a smile.

Jia Shu... I will definitely find you... Let's go home together.

A gentle breeze stirred the gauze curtains, and a faint, refreshing fragrance mingled with the warmth of her body, filling her breath.

She and Chen Jiashu were snuggled on the sofa watching "Titanic," with the scene pausing on the female and male leads sitting in a carriage.

“When we’re both retired, we’ll open a flower shop, and when we’re not busy, we’ll close it and travel the world.” Chen Jiashu lowered his head and touched her forehead to his.

She lifted her eyelids, and bright sunlight streamed in over his shoulder. She squinted slightly: "Isn't this my wish?"

He still remembers what he said many years ago.

My heart was pounding.

Your wish is my wish.

His eyes remained a calm, dark void, with only his eyelashes fluttering slightly. He said emotionally, "From now on... you'll be in charge of reading the stories, and I'll be in charge of listening to them."

A pang of sadness gripped her heart. She looked up and touched his lips with her curled fingertip: "Then it's a deal. From youth to old age, you'll always listen to me."

He suddenly lowered his head, took her lips in his mouth, and gently sucked on them.

His moist kisses lingered, finally settling at the corner of her eye. He lowered his long eyelashes and gave a soft "Mmm."

A serrated leaf brushed past Qin Qiao's face and landed on her leg. A slight sting, and Qin Qiao's eyelids twitched; her thoughts seemed to instantly surface from the depths of the sea.

My cold fingers picked it up, and by the faint light of the pale moonlight on the horizon, I could see its appearance.

The leaves were oval-shaped, green with specks of yellow, and not new leaves. Qin Qiao pinched the edge of the leaf and gently tugged at it; it was quite resilient.

The silvery light flowed into the room through the slightly open window, slowly sliding down the man's stubble-covered, sharp jawline to the shoulder of his black velvet shirt.

Beneath thick, dark eyelashes, a pair of dark pupils, as black as ink, were fixedly 'gazing' at the platinum ring on her ring finger.

His thumb rubbed it repeatedly and mechanically, his fingers curling slightly, the ring reflecting a silver light that hit his eyes.

“Qiao Qiao…” A barely audible murmur escaped from her dry lips.

The chilly wind, sometimes strong, sometimes gentle, slipped in through his collar, meandered down, and seeped into his bones.

Now, he can no longer distinguish between day and night, nor can he sense whether anyone is watching him.

Time lost its meaning for him; he woke up and fell asleep, fell asleep and woke up again, and it seemed that a long time had passed, so long that... he even lost the will to try to open the window again.

Just hours earlier, the old man had dragged him out of bed, forced him to sit down, and used his rough, sandpaper-like hands to pinch his chin and force-feed him water.

They were afraid he would die, and they were also afraid he would escape.

For a moment, he had the illusion that this family still had a conscience and a sliver of humanity left.

escape?

I'm not running away anymore... There's no difference between inside and outside the window.

He loosened his grip on the bed and fell back onto the hard mattress, immersing himself once more in the boundless darkness and silence.

Suddenly, a fleeting melody, a wisp of music, drifted in on the biting cold wind and landed in his ears.

It's very similar to that year in the earthquake zone, when he sat on a low slope and played "Little River Flowing" with a leaf.

The leaves possess neither the fullness of a human voice nor the desolation of a wind flute, yet they have a power that penetrates the heart.

"You must teach me today."

The girl's cheerful voice came from down the hillside.

He turned around and waited quietly for her to appear. When her bright, smiling eyes came into view, he reached out his hand, and Qin Qiao took his hand and sat down on the ground beside him.

Playing with leaves doesn't require advanced skills. As long as you choose the right leaves and use the right method, you can get the hang of it quickly. He learned it from his former colleagues.

He explained the principle and demonstrated it to the girl four or five times. The clever girl quickly grasped it and excitedly performed it again and again. She even tried to play "Jasmine Flower" on the whistle.

But when the music of "Jasmine Flower" started playing...

Chen Jiashu suddenly opened his eyes. The music was so clear and crisp, as if the girl holding a leaf and playing it was standing outside the door.

Chen Jiashu rolled out of bed, not bothering to put on his shoes, letting the chill creep up his body from his feet, and walked towards the door, waving his arms.

The music was no longer just a wisp of air; it became the only tangible path in the darkness, a golden ribbon that guided his hand, his heartbeat, and his entire soul.

With his fingertips touching the hard, cold wall, Chen Jiashu adjusted his position, found the door, fumbled for the latch, pulled it, and pushed it forward to open the door.

The wind and snow came crashing down on him in an instant, and the bone-chilling cold was like a giant wave that swallowed him up in a flash.

Chen Jiashu walked forward fearlessly. In this endless darkness, Qin Qiao stood there.

Snowflakes clung to her hair and the hem of her pale yellow dress. With her cheeks puffed out, she played a melody with focused concentration, radiating a bright and gentle glow like moonlight in the snow.

But just as his fingers were about to grasp the hem of her clothes, he suddenly stumbled forward, shattering the illusion of the moon, and fell heavily onto the snow.

When I looked up, the darkness was like a surging tide, boundless and endless; there was nothing there.

The creaking sound of the door opening broke the silence of the snowy night.

Zhongqin stood at the door and saw the man crawling through the snow.

His bare feet and fingers were frozen red and purple, but he still insisted on waving his arms and groping around in the thick snow again and again.

Every breath he exhaled carried a murmured whisper: "Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao".

It was as if his mind had gone mad, or as if he was deeply haunted by a nightmare.

Zhongqin pulled her cotton-padded coat tighter and ran through the snow to his side. Just then, his right hand clenched into a fist, as if he had grasped something.

He turned over and sat on the ground, raising his hand as if displaying a treasure, his bright red palm spread out.

An ordinary silver men's ring lay there quietly, and Zhong Qin's brown pupils narrowed slightly.

The snow, reflecting the moonlight, shone like a giant, gleaming lamp. The man's gaunt face had prominent cheekbones, and his dark eyes were fixed on the ring. A gust of wind blew, and the corner of his mouth twitched crookedly, whether in laughter or tears, it was hard to tell.

The next second, he swayed and fell sideways into the snow.

The ring fell from her loosened hand, bounced on the ground with a "clink," and rolled to Zhongqin's feet.

The snow continued to fall, and a beam of flashlight pierced through the snow curtain, landing on the figure that was bent over and covered in white snow.

"Over here!"

Officer Ma shouted back and rushed over, crouching down beside Qin Qiao and quickly brushing the snow off her face and body.