“Oh, I asked Madam as well. She said that after He Songling died, Xu Lai was depressed. Miss Zaozao said that her fate was similar to Xu Lai's, and that she might be able to comfort her, which is why she contacted her.”
"Comforting them over the phone?"
"I think so."
“Each call only lasts a minute or two, how can we comfort them?” Zhan Jingting said. “Pull up the earlier surveillance footage from Xu Lai’s neighborhood, check the time period when they arrived early and the time they left.”
Jiang Dong hesitated for a moment, then said, "Master Zhan, do you suspect Miss Zaozao? If Madam finds out, she might be unhappy..."
"Then don't let her know."
"......yes."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Dong's phone rang.
He took it out and glanced at it, then said with a smile, "Master Zhan, you really shouldn't talk about people behind their backs. Madam is calling."
"Take it."
"Yes." Jiang Dong answered the phone and put it on speakerphone. "Madam, you wanted to see me?"
"Jiang Dong, regarding Xu Lai, do you think we might have been looking in the wrong direction all along?"
Jiang Dong asked, "Does Madam have some thoughts on this?"
“If Xu Lai wanted to hide, would she need to smuggle herself out of the country? Smuggling is a very difficult thing to do,” Qiao Wanwan analyzed. “If she wanted to hide abroad and not be found, she could simply take a plane and turn off her phone, making it difficult for others to find her. Why would she need to smuggle herself out? So I suspect that smuggling is just a cover. Maybe she didn’t even leave the country at all, but instead found a place to hide.”
Jiang Dong subconsciously looked at Zhan Jingting, only to see that his master Zhan couldn't hide the smile on his face.
“What you say is true, Madam,” Jiang Dong said. “I will immediately send people to search the country thoroughly.”
"Well, as long as she's alive, it's impossible for her to completely avoid contact with others. Not to mention anything else, she'll need to meet people to stay in hotels and eat, right? Unless someone is helping her, you should thoroughly investigate her social network and see if she has any friends or distant relatives."
"Yes, I'll take care of it right away."
Jiang Dong hung up the phone and said with emotion, "Master Zhan, you and your wife are truly in sync."
Zhan Jingting smiled and said, "Wanwan has always been smart. If she calms down and thinks about it carefully, these details won't stump her."
"I will immediately investigate as you and Madam instructed."
......
The next day, his subordinates reported to Jiang Dong, "We've checked all of Xu Lai's friends and relatives, and only this distant cousin is still in contact with her, though she lives in the countryside."
"The more secluded the better, the better. Send someone to check it out, but don't alert anyone. Even if you find Xu Lai, don't reveal your identity directly. Notify me first."
"yes."
"Master Zhan wants to view the surveillance footage from Xu Lai residential area. Why hasn't he brought it yet?"
“The community’s surveillance cameras were covered up in just seven days. I brought a hard drive and asked the technical department to repair and retrieve the videos from seven days ago. This is a big project and it won’t be done so quickly.”
"Understood, as soon as possible."
"yes."
Jiang Dong hadn't held out much hope, but to his surprise, his subordinates who had gone to investigate called to say they had seen Xu Lai!
Jiang Dong immediately reported the matter to Qiao Wanwan.
Qiao Wanwan was quite shocked after hearing this. "I only guessed that she hadn't gone abroad, but I didn't expect to actually find her. Who is she with now?"
"Reporting to Madam, she lives with her cousin, who lives alone in town and rarely interacts with others. Xu Lai hardly ever leaves her place, and our people only managed to find out about her with great difficulty." Jiang Dong asked, "Madam, should we take Xu Lai back to the capital?"
Qiao Wanwan pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "You make the arrangements. I want to go see her in person."
Jiang Dong hesitated, "Madam is pregnant, so it's not suitable for her to travel and exert herself. Besides, Xu Lai has suddenly gone into hiding. Whether she's friend or foe is unknown, and there's bound to be danger."
"Since she's hiding in the countryside, she wouldn't set a trap to harm me. It's alright."
"But I'm worried that Master Zhan won't agree."
"You make the arrangements first, I'll talk to Jingting about it."
"......yes."
Zhan Jingting was unusually working overtime and came home late today, and Qiao Wanwan almost fell asleep while waiting for him.
"Didn't I tell you to go to sleep and not wait for me?" Zhan Jingting saw Qiao Wanwan yawning as soon as he entered the room. "How was your day? Did you have a good appetite?"
"fine."
"That's good. Are you hungry? I'll go make you something to eat."
“No need. I got hungry while waiting for you, so I asked Zheng Ma to prepare a late-night snack for me.” Qiao Wanwan took the man’s arm. “Jingting, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
"you say."
“Jiang Dong has found Xu Lai. She’s at her cousin’s house in the countryside. I want to go see her in person,” Qiao Wanwan said. “I have a feeling that something special must have happened for Xu Lai to leave without saying goodbye. I want to find out.”
Zhan Jingting frowned. "Just have someone bring her back. Why go through all this trouble?"
"She's not a criminal, don't make it sound like we're bullying her," Qiao Wanwan said. "Anyway, I'm just killing time, so let me go."
"Wanwan, you're pregnant, it's inconvenient for you."
“I’m pregnant, not disabled. What’s inconvenient about it?” Qiao Wanwan argued. “Besides, I’m already past the first trimester and in the second trimester. The discomfort has disappeared, and the baby is doing well and is stable. Going out is no problem.”
"You really want to go?"
"Um."
"Then I'll go with you."
"Isn't this a bit much?" Qiao Wanwan said. "The Spring Festival is coming soon, and it's the busiest time for Dijin Group. You can stay and work. I can go by myself. I'll be back in two days at most."
Zhan Jingting couldn't persuade her otherwise, "Then I'll arrange for people to protect you. Jiang Nan went to the hospital for a check-up and said he's fully recovered. He'll go with you."
"That's fine. Jiangnan is skilled, so you can feel at ease with him by my side."
"Um."
......
The following afternoon, Qiao Wanwan took a plane and left the capital.
To avoid tiring Qiao Wanwan out, the group checked into a hotel first, intending to rest for a night before going to find Xu Lai.
Since Qiao Wanwan wasn't home, Zhan Jingting decided to stay at the Dijing Group and work overtime.
"Knock knock knock".
There was a knock on the office door, and Jiang Dong walked in. "Master Zhan, I've found the records of Miss Zaozao entering and leaving Xu Lai Community that you asked me to check."
Zhan Jingting took the documents from his hand and looked through them.
Cheng Zaozao visited Xu Lai's house five times, staying for more than an hour each time, and once even for two hours before leaving. She made those phone calls before going there.
"Master Zhan, it seems that Miss Zaozao calls before each trip, which is why the calls are so short."
"In other words, we have no idea what she said or did at Xu Lai's house."
“Xu Lai’s house does have surveillance cameras, but when we went to investigate, we found that the memory cards for the cameras were missing.” Jiang Dong suddenly realized, “This is definitely a bit strange. Normally, people wouldn’t touch the memory cards in a surveillance camera. Xu Lai must not want anyone to see the surveillance footage, which is why she removed the memory cards! But Master Zhan, this might not be related to Miss Zaozao, right? Maybe Xu Lai has other privacy concerns…”
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