Meanwhile, at the exchange meeting.
Huo Yudong raised his hand to look at his watch, then turned his head to look at the exit diagonally behind him, and couldn't help but frown.
More than ten minutes have passed, and the speech on stage is almost over. Why hasn't Shi Miao returned yet?
He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed Shi Miao's number, but no one answered.
When he hung up the phone for the third time, Huo Yudong finally realized something was wrong.
Just then, Pei Rongzheng finished speaking. He walked to his seat, glanced at the empty seat next to him, and asked Huo Yudong, who was sitting one seat away, "Where's Xiaoshi?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Huo Yudong's expression was somewhat serious, and lowered his voice to ask, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Huo Yudong got up and moved to the seat next to Shi Miao. He leaned close to Pei Rongzheng's ear and said anxiously, "Teacher, my junior sister told me she was going to the restroom, but it's been more than ten minutes and she hasn't come back yet. I've called her several times but no one is answering. I'm worried that something might have happened to her."
Pei Rongzheng frowned. "Let's go check over at the restroom."
Huo Yudong nodded, "Okay."
After saying goodbye to the other members of the Institute of Physics, the two left the venue.
After they walked out into the hallway, they strode towards the restroom.
As soon as I reached the corner, I saw a middle-aged man standing a few steps ahead, talking on the phone.
Huo Yudong glanced at them out of the corner of his eye; they seemed to be from the scientific research institute.
The next second, the man exclaimed, "What did you say? Someone fell into the water?!"
Upon hearing this, Pei Rongzheng and Huo Yudong both instinctively stopped in their tracks.
The two exchanged a glance, and a sense of unease crept into their hearts.
The man, oblivious to the two people who had stopped beside him, continued speaking into the phone: "Was the person who fell into the water one of the participants in this exchange meeting?"
"Okay, I understand. I'll be right there."
The man hung up the phone and left in a hurry.
"Teacher, let's split up. You go to the restroom, and I'll go with that person to the lakeside to take a look," Huo Yudong decided immediately.
Pei Rongzheng said, "Okay, contact me by phone if you have any news."
...
A few minutes later, Huo Yudong jogged to the artificial lake outside the research institute.
At this time, a crowd of onlookers had gathered around the lake.
Huo Yudong's expression changed slightly, and he quickly pushed through the crowd to squeeze in.
Shi Miao stood by the lake, soaking wet, with her eyes downcast, wringing the water out of her clothes. She looked like she had just come ashore from the water.
"Junior Sister!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Miao looked up at the person walking over, paused in her actions, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, and asked in a somewhat unexpected tone, "Senior brother, what brings you here?"
Huo Yudong looked her up and down. Seeing that she seemed fine, though her face was a little pale, his tense nerves finally relaxed. "I noticed you hadn't come back for a while, so I went out with the teacher to look for you. Then I heard that someone had fallen into the water, and you were the first person I thought of. You scared me to death."
"I'm sorry to have worried you," Shi Miao said with a hint of apology.
I thought it would only take a few minutes, but I was wrong.
Huo Yudong shook his head. Seeing that Shi Miao's clothes were soaking wet, he took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "How did you fall into the water when you were perfectly fine?"
Shi Miao glanced at her suit jacket and wanted to say that she had taken it off before it fell off, but since it was already on her, she couldn't refuse her elder's kindness and care, so she simply let it go.
She pressed her temples, feeling a headache coming on just thinking about Qin Mingyue's relationship with Huo Yudong, especially since Huo Yudong had always treated her quite well.
Shi Miao thought for a moment, and was just about to speak when she heard the sirens of a police car approaching.
Two police officers followed immediately. One was dispersing the surrounding crowd, while the other walked over, glanced at Shi Miao and the others, and asked, "Who called the police?"
Zhou Yan spoke up: "It's me."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yudong looked in her direction and noticed Qin Mingyue, who was being supported by her. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes, clearly indicating that he hadn't expected Qin Mingyue to be there as well.
In addition, the red marks around Qin Mingyue's neck were particularly noticeable and impossible to ignore.
Huo Yudong wasn't stupid; he quickly deduced that what happened today was probably related to Qin Mingyue.
Sure enough, the next second Zhou Yan pointed at Shi Miao and said, "It's this person, she tried to kill my friend! I witnessed it with my own eyes, and the marks on my friend's neck are the best proof!"
"Is there some misunderstanding? I believe Shi Miao wouldn't do such a thing." Huo Yudong frowned, his suspicious gaze falling on Qin Mingyue.
"Uncle?!" Qin Mingyue was both angry and shocked. She never expected that Huo Yudong would favor Shi Miao to such an extent. Not only did he only have eyes for Shi Miao when he rushed over, but even now that he noticed her situation, he didn't say a single word of concern!
He could clearly see the marks on his neck!
I am his family!
The police officer glanced at the red marks on Qin Mingyue's neck, then at Shi Miao, who stood calmly to the side. "Let's get in the car together. We can talk about everything at the police station."
...
At the police station.
No sooner had Shi Miao arrived than Ji Yanchen, who had received the news, rushed over.
Even He Zhi came over.
She sent the message to He Zhi before getting into the police car, mainly because the incident happened in Independent Continent, and it would be more convenient for him to come and help handle it.
He Zhi had informed the bureau chief before arriving, so Shi Miao was taken to an empty office to rest by a junior officer after she arrived.
"Have some hot water first." The young police officer filled a disposable cup with hot water and handed it to her.
"Thank you." Shi Miao accepted it with one hand.
"Alright, I'll head out now." The young officer gave her a quick, discreet look.
No one knew who this girl was, but she had even alerted the bureau chief, who ordered them to treat her well.
Shi Miao gave a faint "hmm".
The young police officer had barely left when Ji Yanchen pushed open the door and walked in.
The first thing he did upon entering was to check the girl thoroughly. Seeing that she was unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ji Yanchen frowned. Although his temper had been tempered, his murderous aura was still very strong. "What happened? How did you fall into the water?"
Shi Miao's hair was half dry, and she had put on her own coat. Although her face was a little pale, she did not look disheveled.
Her left hand remained in her pocket, where she kept the photos she had retrieved from the lake; thankfully, they hadn't been ruined by the water.
She just hasn't had a chance to see it yet.
She gently squeezed the soft photograph in her pocket and said succinctly, "I had a little conflict with Qin Mingyue."
Upon hearing Qin Mingyue's name, Ji Yanchen's deep eyes flashed with a fierce light. "She's really good at courting death."
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