Lin Fan noticed her unusual expression out of the corner of his eye and asked, "What's wrong? You've seemed preoccupied ever since you left the hospital."
Lin Yue pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Brother, do you think... Uncle Ye's... the way he looked at me was a little strange?"
"Strange?" Lin Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "What's strange about it?"
“I can’t quite put my finger on it…” Lin Yue frowned, trying hard to recall the scene. “It was just… his gaze was very complicated, like… like he was looking at someone else through me.”
Lin Fan paused slightly on the steering wheel, his mind flashing back to Ye Zhengxiong's momentary daze when he looked at Lin Yue, and the trembling fingers he held when he took the photo.
"Don't you also feel..." Lin Yue noticed the subtle change in Lin Fan's expression and pressed for an answer.
Lin Fan was silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Perhaps... you're overthinking it. After all, Uncle Ye is Yu Yan's father. He just lost his daughter, so it's understandable that his emotions are a bit unstable."
“But…” Lin Yue wanted to say something, but Lin Fan interrupted her.
"No buts." Lin Fan's tone was gentle, yet carried an undeniable air. "The most important thing right now is to find Yu Yan. We can talk about other things later."
Lin Yue opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.
She also knew that now was not the time to dwell on these things.
Finding Ye Yuyan is the most urgent task.
Lin Yue shook her head, trying to shake these messy thoughts out of her mind.
Perhaps I'm just overthinking things.
She comforted herself.
"Brother, where did Sister Ye go? Could it really be..." Lin Yue's voice trembled slightly, she couldn't bear to imagine Ye Yuyan encountering any misfortune.
"No, she won't." Lin Fan said firmly, "Yu Yan is a lucky person, she will definitely be alright."
Although he said that, Lin Fan's heart was filled with worry.
Ye Yuyan's car was wrecked in the suburbs and she went missing, which was clearly not an ordinary traffic accident.
Moreover, Brother Long's prison break and the Black Tiger Gang's opportunistic move made Lin Fan uneasy.
He was worried that Ye Yuyan's disappearance was related to these things.
"We're almost there," Lin Fan said, looking at the location on the navigation.
Lin Yue also put aside her chaotic thoughts and looked out the window.
They had entered the town's boundaries, and the surrounding scenery had become desolate.
On both sides of the road are low houses and dilapidated factories. Occasionally, you can see a few pedestrians, all of whom are in a hurry and have no expression.
The entire town was filled with a sense of oppression and gloom.
"This place... why does it feel so desolate?" Lin Yue couldn't help but say.
"Yu Yan's clues point here, so we have no choice but to come here to take a look," Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"I hope nothing bad happens to Sister Ye..." Lin Yue clasped her hands together and prayed silently.
Lin Fan parked his car in front of a hotel that looked fairly clean.
"Let's find a place to stay first, and then we can slowly inquire about it," Lin Fan said.
The two got out of the car and went into the hotel.
The hotel receptionist was a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a plump figure, thick foundation on her face, and bright red lipstick on her lips.
She was sitting behind the counter, eating sunflower seeds and watching TV.
When she saw Lin Fan and Lin Yue enter, she looked up and scrutinized them with a critical gaze.
"Accommodation?" she asked, spitting out the sunflower seed shells from her mouth.
"Okay." Lin Fan nodded. "Two rooms."
"ID card." The middle-aged woman held out her hand.
Lin Fan and Lin Yue took out their ID cards and handed them over.
The middle-aged woman took the ID card, swiped it on the machine, then looked up at them, a strange glint in her eyes.
"Are you... here for tourism?" she asked, her tone slightly probing.
"I guess so," Lin Fan said vaguely.
"Oh..." the middle-aged woman drawled, then lowered her head and typed a few words on the keyboard.
"Okay, here are your room cards, 302 and 303, on the third floor." She handed the room cards to Lin Fan.
Lin Fan took the room key, thanked her, and then went upstairs with Lin Yue.
"Brother, why do I feel like that proprietress is looking at us strangely?" Lin Yue whispered.
"Ignore her," Lin Fan said. "We'll live our own lives; it's none of her business."
"Mm." Lin Yue nodded.
The two arrived at the room door and swiped their cards to enter.
The room wasn't big, but it was clean and tidy.
A bed, a TV, and a bathroom—that's all there is to the room.
Lin Fan put down his luggage, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains.
Outside the window, the streets of the small town were deserted, with few pedestrians.
"Brother, what do we do next?" Lin Yue asked.
Lin Fan pondered for a moment: "Let's rest for a bit, then go out and ask around to see if anyone has seen Yu Yan."
"Okay," Lin Yue replied.
The two rested in the room for a while, and then went downstairs together.
They walked out of the hotel and strolled slowly along the street.
On both sides of the street are small shops selling all kinds of daily necessities.
There are also some snack shops with tables and chairs set up at the entrance, but almost no one sits there.
The whole town seemed lifeless and gloomy.
Lin Fan and Lin Yue went into a snack shop and ordered two bowls of noodles.
"Boss, I need to ask you something," Lin Fan said to the owner who was cooking noodles.
"What's up?" the boss asked without looking up.
"Have you ever seen a girl driving a red sports car? She's about this tall and very pretty," Lin Fan gestured.
The boss looked up, glanced at Lin Fan, then at Lin Yue, and shook his head.
"Never seen it before."
"Have you heard if there have been any car accidents in town recently?" Lin Fan asked again.
"A car accident?" The boss thought for a moment. "It seems... there was a car crash in the suburbs a few days ago, but I don't know the specifics."
"Do you know where you crashed?" Lin Fan pressed.
"It's on the road heading north, but I can't say exactly where," the shopkeeper said.
"Thank you." Lin Fan nodded.
After finishing their noodles, the two went to several other shops to inquire, but they didn't get any useful clues.
"Brother, what should we do? We don't have a single clue." Lin Yue said, somewhat frustrated.
"Don't be discouraged," Lin Fan comforted him. "Let's go back to that place the boss mentioned and take another look."
The two left the town and walked along the road heading north.
After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at a relatively remote place.
On both sides of the road are barren fields, and in the distance are rolling hills.
"This should be it." Lin Fan looked around at the surroundings.
They searched carefully along the road, hoping to find some clues.
Suddenly, Lin Yue pointed to a clump of grass by the roadside: "Brother, look there!"
Lin Fan looked in the direction she pointed and saw some car debris scattered in the grass.
"Let's go take a look." Lin Fan walked over quickly.
The two searched carefully in the grass and found some red fragments with bloodstains on them.
"This...this is Sister Ye's car!" Lin Yue's voice trembled.
Lin Fan's expression also turned serious.
He crouched down and carefully examined the fragments.
“There are signs of an impact here,” he said, pointing to a piece of debris. “And… the impact was very strong.”
Lin Yue's tears flowed down her cheeks instantly.
"Sister Ye... Sister Ye, she..."
Lin Fan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"Don't cry," he said. "We can't be sure if Yu Yan is in trouble yet. Let's keep searching."
The two continued searching along the road, hoping to find more clues.
However, they found nothing but car debris.
As darkness fell, night enveloped the entire town.
"Brother, let's go back." Lin Yue's voice was a little hoarse.
Lin Fan looked at her and nodded.
The two returned along the same route and went back to the hotel.
"Let's go back to our rooms and rest first, and continue the search tomorrow," Lin Fan said.
Lin Yue nodded and silently went into her room.
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