-69- Your yard
Boys are often left alone, and Lu Kai was already an adult, so his mother didn't contact him often. She'd only ask about his life every ten days or two, sometimes even a month or two without a message. It was nearing Mid-Autumn Festival when Lu's mother finally remembered to ask her son about his plans for the holiday, even though Lu Kai had been on holiday for the past few months. Lu Kai didn't reply immediately, so his mother forgot about it. Two days later, she remembered and called him, but no one answered. She sensed something was amiss. She called all day but couldn't reach him, which made her nervous. The next morning, Lu's mother boarded the high-speed train, got off, and went to Lu Kai's house. She used her spare key to find the house tidy and clean, but his suitcase and summer clothes were gone, as if he'd been away for a long time. At first, Lu's mother was delighted, wondering if he'd gone to live with Zhao Jinghuan. She muttered a few words, "Finally, something's happened." But then she realized something was wrong. Zhao Jinghuan didn't have a house either, so if they were living together, it would make more sense for her to move in than for Lu Kai. To be on the safe side, Lu's mother called Zhao Jinghuan. She tentatively asked if she'd been in touch with Lu Kai recently. When she heard no, she panicked. Hearing Lu's mother's panic, Zhao Jinghuan quickly reassured her, hung up the phone, and rode her electric scooter to meet her. The two searched Lu Kai's house, searching for clues they'd missed, but they'd clearly overestimated their detective skills. After searching extensively, they concluded: "Let's call the police." The police arrived to take their information and reassured them, saying, "Your son left with his luggage. He should be fine. Maybe he just went somewhere for fun." This only made Lu's mother, who frequently watched the news, even more anxious. She wondered if he'd been hiking somewhere and had an accident. The police told her not to rush into any assumptions. "We don't have many wild mountains here," said Lu's mother. "Swimming in the sea isn't an option. It's even more dangerous." The police officer explained that people who go on adventures have professional equipment, but you're just leaving with just a suitcase. It's more like a tour group than an adventure. The officer consoled the two, filled out a report, and said they'd check back at the station. If Lu Kai had taken a plane or train, there would be a record. "If he drove, it would be more complicated. After all, you don't know when he left, and we can't check on the highway." His words reminded the two, Zhao Jinghuan and Lu's mother...
Boys are often left alone, and Lu Kai was already an adult, so his mother didn't contact him often. She'd only ask about his life every ten days or two, sometimes even a month or two without a message. It was nearing Mid-Autumn Festival when Lu's mother finally remembered to ask her son about his plans for the holiday, even though Lu Kai had been on holiday for the past few months. Lu Kai didn't reply immediately, so his mother forgot about it. Two days later, she remembered and called him, but no one answered. She sensed something was amiss. She called all day but couldn't reach him, which made her nervous. The next morning, Lu's mother boarded the high-speed train, got off, and went to Lu Kai's house. She used her spare key to find the house tidy and clean, but his suitcase and summer clothes were gone, as if he'd been away for a long time. At first, Lu's mother was delighted, wondering if he'd gone to live with Zhao Jinghuan.
She muttered a few words: "Finally, I've made some progress." But soon she realized that it was not right. Zhao Jinghuan didn't have a house either. If they were to live together, it would obviously make more sense for Zhao Jinghuan to move in than for Lu Kai to move in.
To prevent any accidents, Lu's mother still called Zhao Jinghuan. She tentatively asked Zhao Jinghuan on the phone whether she had contact with Lu Kai recently. After receiving a negative answer, she was completely panicked.
Zhao Jinghuan sensed Lu's mother's panic and quickly reassured her. She hung up the phone and rode her electric scooter to meet Lu's mother. The two of them searched Lu Kai's house, looking for clues they hadn't noticed before, but they had clearly overestimated their detective skills.
After searching for a long time, the final conclusion was: let's call the police. The officer came to take their information and reassured them, saying, "Your son took his luggage and left, so he should be fine. Maybe he just went somewhere to have fun." This made Lu's mother, who often watched the news, even more anxious, wondering if he had gone hiking in a wild mountain and had an accident. The officer told her not to rush to assume the worst.
"We don't have many wild mountains here," said Lu's mother. "Swimming in the sea isn't an option. It's even more dangerous." The police officer explained that people who go on adventures have professional equipment, but you're just leaving with a suitcase. It's more like a tour group than an adventure. The officer consoled the two, filled out a report, and said they'd go back to the station to check. If Lu Kai had taken a plane or a train, there would be a record. "If he drove, it would be more troublesome. After all, you don't know when he left, and there's no way to check on the highway." His words reminded the two: Zhao Jinghuan and Lu's mother hadn't heard from Lu Kai in at least a month, but that didn't mean he hadn't contacted anyone. Zhao Jinghuan quickly called Sister Zou, Fanqie, and even Boss Chen from the factory. Both Sister Zou and Boss Chen said that they had not spoken to Lu Kai for a long time. Tomato was a little suspicious. As soon as the call was connected, he said in a panic: "It was not my idea, they forced me to do it." Zhao Jinghuan hurriedly asked him: "What idea? Do you know where Lu Kai went?" As a result, when the two checked the accounts, they found that Tomato had just learned about Lu Kai's disappearance. As for what Tomato said about someone forcing him, he refused to say what they forced him to do. He just made up a lie and said that he was sleeping just now and was still a little dazed when he woke up. In fact, he was talking in his sleep.
Zhao Jinghuan was not in the mood to argue with Fanqie, so she stayed with Lu's mother until the evening. In the end, she got a clue from Ji Anya.
——In the evening, Ji Anya got off work and called Zhao Jinghuan to ask why she hadn't returned home yet. Zhao Jinghuan told her about Lu Kai's disappearance, and Ji Anya said, "Damn, I might know what he went to do."
That was probably more than two months ago. Lu posted a message on WeChat Moments, saying that he was going to go into seclusion to practice, and asked everyone whether he should go to Dali or Lijiang.
Ji Anya was bored, so she commented on the post: "If you want to travel, just say so. If you want to retreat, why go so far? Just go to the village next door and rent a yard."
Lu Kai actually sent a private message to Ji Anya, asking where she could rent a yard. Ji Anya didn't think much about it and replied, "Just go to Xianyu. They have everything."
Zhao Jinghuan and Lu Ma spent half the night researching and defining their search area. If Lu Kai had indeed rented a small courtyard in the village, given his personality, he probably wouldn't dare venture into a completely unfamiliar area. There were only a few surrounding villages, so the next morning, Zhao Jinghuan and Lu Ma set out to search village after village. Each village only had a dozen or so households. If a young tenant had arrived, everyone in the village would surely know about it. But after searching for most of the day, even after exhausting nearly every village, they still found nothing. Zhao Jinghuan, a daily delivery driver, was considered a "horse-riding" type, so he didn't feel anything after a full day on his electric scooter. Lu Ma, sitting behind him, was exhausted, her face sallow. However, the physical exhaustion wasn't the most severe; the mental torment was the most unbearable. After two in the afternoon, Lu Ma was clearly at her limit. As they sat on the side of the road drinking water, Lu Ma asked Zhao Jinghuan, her eyes reddened, "What if... we really can't find Lu Kai? What will we do?"
Zhao Jinghuan frantically tried to comfort Lu's mother, but her words sounded a bit strange. "Lu Kai will be fine. He's blessed by fate..." Lu's mother bit her lip, and after a long moment, she managed to utter, "You have no idea what Le Cheng's mother is like right now..." Her voice trembled as she thought of the sad things. "I've visited her a few times, the most recent being at the end of last month. It's almost October now, and Le Cheng has been dead for nearly half a year, but she doesn't seem to be recovering at all. You know, who can recover after going through something like this?" Lu Kai's mother rambled on, "When she looks at people now, her eyes are lifeless. The photo of her and Lecheng is on the TV table. She and I sat in the room for ten minutes, and she would look at the photo every two minutes. Every time she looked, her eyes would turn red, and my heart would break. You kids, how could you be so cruel? When we were young, every family had several children. If one was gone, the parents would be devastated. But in your generation, most people only have one child, and we raised you with our hands in our arms. We didn't expect anything. We never forced you to study or strive for progress. We just hoped that you would be healthy and happy. Think about it, if you were gone, the whole family's world would fall apart..."
Lu Kai's mother became sadder and sadder as she spoke, and Zhao Jinghuan was a little dazed. At one moment, she even thought that something had really happened to Lu Kai as well.
She shook her head, shaking off those strange thoughts, and comforted Lu's mother, "Auntie, don't... Didn't my roommate say that Lu Kai went into seclusion? Don't let your imagination run wild."
Mother Lu sobbed twice, then forced herself to cheer up and said, "Yes, I was in seclusion. I just suddenly thought of Lecheng."
She took out her cell phone and decided to call Lu Kai again. Neither of them had much hope, but this time the hands-free mode was on, and after the ringing for a while, the call was actually connected.
"Hey, what are you doing? It's endless! Isn't it Mid-Autumn Festival yet?" Lu Kai's tone was even a little impatient. "Mom, you said you don't contact me very often. I was just thinking about going into seclusion and getting some peace and quiet, but you keep bombarding me with calls and texts, one after another. I need to go home, go home. How can I not go home for Mid-Autumn Festival? I don't have a job right now."
The red circles under Lu's mother's eyes were no longer red, but her face was completely dark. She was obviously finally sure that Lu Kai was fine, but she did not look happy at all. She was shrouded in murderous intent, and Zhao Jinghuan beside her was so scared that she got goose bumps all over her body.
Mother Lu didn't say anything, but filed her teeth, making a "crunching" sound. This was the first time Zhao Jinghuan saw what it meant to grit teeth in real life.
"Huh? Mom, why aren't you talking? No, you called me and you didn't say anything..."
Zhao Jinghuan quickly took over the conversation: "Lu Kai, hey, if you were going into seclusion, you should have told me in advance. Isn't Auntie worried about you?"
"Jing Huan?" Lu Kai's voice suddenly softened. "My mom is with you. She's been looking for you. Oh, I forgot to tell her before I went into seclusion... I was thinking that the holiday would be coming up in a few days, so I would go home during the holiday, so I didn't rush to reply her..."
Only then did Lu Kai's mother finally speak: "Lu Kai..."
"What's the matter?" Lu Kai said calmly, obviously not realizing how angry his mother was.
"Where are you!!! You're going to die, you bastard!! Hurry up! Send me your location!!!"
…………
Zhao Jinghuan got Lu Kai's location. The location was indeed called "Yard", but it had nothing to do with Chengbian Village. Instead, it was a cat cafe called "Your Cat's Yard".
She rode her electric bike and rushed to the cat cafe with Lu Ma. Zhao Jinghuan couldn't see Lu Ma's expression behind her, but Lu Ma gripped Zhao Jinghuan's clothes around her waist, unconsciously holding them much tighter than when they came. Or rather... She gripped Zhao Jinghuan's clothes with a fierce grip, a murderous intent.
The originally bulky cycling clothes were almost squeezed into a tight suit by Lu Ma, which made Zhao Jinghuan feel uneasy. She thought silently:
The good news is that Lu Kai is not dead yet.
The bad news is, it should be soon this time.
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