The man's tall and slender figure was backlit, his handsome and unforgettable face shrouded in shadow, his taut jawline giving him a cold and aloof look.
The desk drawers were wide open, and greeting cards, bank cards, and other items lay there quietly.
A pale, veined hand reached into the drawer and took out a paper crane made of red banknotes from the corner.
Qi Shen watched quietly for a while, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed, revealing no emotion.
Zhizhi had never folded any handicrafts in front of him, but he was certain that this origami crane was not made by her.
Her cash was always neatly arranged, and from the moment it was given to her until she took it out to spend, it was always spotless, without even a crease.
Suddenly, an unusual banknote appeared, placed among her other valuable items...
Qi Shen's eyes gradually darkened, becoming as dark and intense as an overturned inkstone.
Men are always cunning and calculating, and their minds are often heavy with thoughts.
Adhering to the principle of investigating anything unusual, he would rather overthink than let it go, especially when it came to matters concerning the young girl.
Excluding the possibility that the money belonged to Zhizhi, and the fact that she wouldn't accept money from others without a reason, that leaves—
Pay back the money.
The two words flashed through his mind, and he scoffed softly.
They'd almost forgotten about the scheming young man who had his eye on his girl. If he was capable of lending money to add her as a friend, he could certainly use repaying the loan as an excuse to get closer to Zhizhi.
If someone picks them up and drops them off every day outside the school, then they have no chance of contact, so the only possibility is within the school.
The young girl was wary of his reminder, fearing that he would implicate Jiang Yuze, and would take a detour if she encountered him at school.
After considering various factors and finalizing the scope of the investigation, he casually tossed the origami cranes onto his desk, took out his phone, and sent a message:
[Have several people check the surveillance footage in the area near Class 1, Grade 12 of Shangde High School right now to see who your girls have been in contact with. Give me a reply within an hour.]
Shortly after the message was sent out, the subordinates immediately took action.
Because of Fang Zhi's decision to allow students to commute to school, Qi Shengang had donated a large sum of money to the school in his personal capacity, making it easy for him to access the school's internal surveillance footage.
Within an hour, the surveillance footage from the area in recent days had been reviewed, and the subordinates extracted the useful footage and sent it to the man.
Fang Zhi knew that under Qi Shen's supervision, his interpersonal relationships were simple, and he didn't have much interaction with his classmates, so the video clips he obtained were few, less than the size of a hand.
The man leaned back against the stool, legs crossed, and scrolled through videos sent by his subordinate.
The second one confirmed his guess.
In the video, a boy in a black T-shirt walks out of a classroom window—who else could it be but Jiang Yuzhe?
He stood there for a while, then spoke to the people inside.
Then he saw the girl's delicate figure come out of the classroom, and the two walked together to the end of the corridor.
These were clearly monitored and recorded.
Meanwhile, in the campus monitoring room, the subordinate responsible for retrieving the video footage tracked down the surveillance footage at the end of the corridor on the day Fang Zhi and Jiang Yu went out together.
The boy in the black T-shirt had his back to the surveillance camera, and his tall figure blocked Fang Zhi's view.
They stood there and talked for a while, then he reached out and hugged the girl facing him.
-
As Fang Zhi and Liu Siyi left the restaurant, a light drizzle began to fall.
It was difficult to hail a taxi near the city center on a rainy day, so she asked Uncle Zhang and Liu Siyi to take her home first before the car headed towards Nangong.
On the way back, the rain got heavier and heavier, with torrential downpours accompanied by thunder and lightning.
The road ahead was shrouded in a dense, slanting drizzle, making it difficult to see clearly. Only by turning on the high beams could the car drive normally.
Uncle Zhang drove cautiously, and it was past six o'clock when he returned to Nangong. He parked the car in front of the villa and said, "Miss Zhizhi, there is an umbrella in the car. Please wait a moment, I will get it for you."
The entire villa was dark and gloomy, making people feel depressed. Fang Zhi, who was already anxious because he had returned late, glanced at the distance and said hurriedly, "No need."
Uncle Zhang turned to her and advised, "Perhaps..."
Before he could finish speaking, the girl, holding the doll in one hand and opening the car door with the other, rushed into the rain.
It's less than two meters long, but I can run it in three steps.
Fang Zhi was still somewhat wet from the rain, and raindrops slid down her hair. She stood in front of the door and stomped the rainwater off her shoes.
A blue-purple lightning bolt ripped through the dark clouds and illuminated the dim, quiet living room on the first floor of the villa, cutting through the rain.
In an instant, the surroundings quickly went dark again.
The only light source was a cell phone. The man's gold-rimmed glasses were nowhere to be seen. Beneath his narrow, dark eyes lay a raging inferno, as if from the depths of hell.
Qi Shen watched the scene on the screen over and over again, almost as if he were torturing himself. It felt like a ferocious cat was living inside him, scratching at him with its sharp claws.
As he felt a sharp pain in his heart, a violent rage surged through his mind; he wished he could break those eyesore arms.
Then lock up the little girl whose face was not visible in the video, but who showed no signs of refusing the hug.
Why did he let his bird fly away?
He should disregard her wishes and confine her to a small space, so that she can only see him for the rest of her life.
Instead of letting other men touch her.
Reason was gradually destroyed inch by inch by the overwhelming surge of jealousy and prejudice, until it vanished completely.
Qi Shen, who is always very observant of people and things, did not even notice the problem with the video. The boy in the video had his arms spread out at an excessively wide arc, which did not look like a direct hug.
The sound of a door opening could be heard from every corner of the entryway.
Qi Shen's long, thin eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he silently turned off his phone.
Upon entering, she found herself in complete darkness. She placed the plush toy she was holding on the entryway, took out her phone, and turned on the flashlight to illuminate the shoe cabinet.
She took out slippers from inside, put them on, and then picked up the doll and walked inside.
The surroundings were quiet, except for the heavy rain and deafening thunder, as if she were the only one there.
"Wang Ma?" Fang Zhi called out softly, tentatively, as he walked. "Brother?"
No one responded.
She called out several more times, but there was still no response.
Fang Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt something was off. Her brother hadn't returned yet, and why wasn't Wang Ma there either?
She took a few steps forward, turned on the living room light switch, and the villa was instantly brightened. Fang Zhi turned around and met Qi Shen's gaze, who was watching her from the sofa.
The man's face, as smooth as jade, was adorned with a very faint smile, almost imperceptible unless one looked closely.
He gently tapped his thigh, his thin lips parted, and his voice was low and soft, "Zhizhi, come sit down."
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