(Thirty-Four)

  She hugged his neck and said emotionally: "Ye Can Ran, I have never been as sober as today. If I was still confused in the past, today I clearly know that meeting you is the happiest thing in my life. You let me experience love, taste love, and understand that love is not just a word in the dictionary. I think it's not a temporary impulse for you to want me, I want to give all of myself to you."

  His tears fell as he didn't want her to see, so he buried his face in hers: "Rusong, you've already given me everything. It's not necessarily that I have to do this to give my all. If I want you, then I also want you to be my bride from now on. Isn't this your wish? This is what you wanted to do, I know."

  They slept soundly in each other's arms until the frosty phone rang. She opened her eyes dazedly and saw his calm and relaxed face, afraid of waking him up, she gently lifted the arm he had wrapped around her waist and quietly left his embrace to answer the call. It was Gao Tian's anxious voice: "Liu Qing has encountered an accident."

  Like a thunderclap on a clear day, her hands trembled uncontrollably: "I received a text message from her this morning. The time was last night. She said that if I didn't go to the bus station where we first met at 12 o'clock tonight, I would never see her again. But..."

  She shouted loudly: "Why don't you go——" Gao Tian hesitated and said: "I really can't remember which station it was." She felt dizzy and asked again: "What about now? Where is Liu Qing, in which hospital?" Gao Tian asked suspiciously: "Which hospital? Why are they in the hospital?" She was anxious to death: "Didn't you say that Liu Qing had an accident? Which hospital?"

  "Wait, you've got it wrong! She didn't kill herself, she's gone missing." She was stunned. Ye Xuan was woken up by the noise and tried to say something but shook her head and remained silent.

  Gao Tian continued: "I went to her home and found her mother, who said she had only stayed for a few minutes the night before, received a phone call and left. It was strange. I've been to all possible places, almost every train station, and even the travel agency, but the door was locked from the outside, as if no one was there."

  She quickly hung up the phone and walked away, no longer paying attention to Gao Tian. She turned back to ask Ye Can Ran: "Do you have Ai Qing's phone number?" He shook his head helplessly: "I've only met him at poetry gatherings, I've never seen him give out his phone number or business cards. At first, it was always with Liu Qing that I saw him, and I've never been in touch with him alone."

  "She jumped up and said: 'Let's go find him at Shen Qu'."

  At noon, the divine melody was open, but only the outer room of Qing Bar was in business. In the inner hall, a girl sat far away, writing hastily with her brush. The door to the large hall inside was tightly closed.

  She grabbed a waiter and asked, "Where is Ai Qing?" The waiter looked confused as he walked over. Recognizing him, the waiter called out, "Brother Ye, we haven't seen you for days!" He asked, "Where's your boss?" The waiter replied, "He hasn't come in for several days, which is good. You know, Brother Ye, he usually doesn't come unless Miss Liu comes and then he shows up."

  He asked again, "Has Miss Liu come?" The waiter said, "Not seen either." As they were about to leave, the girl who was writing something in the corner of the teahouse suddenly looked up and saw Ye Fan, then loudly called out, "Little Ye! Little Ye!" He turned his head to look, surprisingly it was Xiao Tang, she also froze for a moment.

  Xiao Tang ran over, stretched out his hand to hug him, but was gently blocked. He took a look at Ru Shuang beside him, who didn't react much. In his heart, he wondered where Liu Qing would go?

  Xiao Tang sensitively sensed something and withdrew her hand, coldly smiling as she said: "Hehe, you'll be looking at me with new eyes in three days." He didn't mind her teasing and politely asked: "When did you arrive?" Xiao Tang said dejectedly: "I just got off the plane. Originally I wanted to go to your place now, but it's probably not suitable. So I called you on the phone, but you didn't answer. That's why I came here to wait for you. I didn't expect them to say that you might not come over. Just as I was about to leave a note for you, you arrived." He rushed out in a hurry and only then realized his phone had been left at home.

  Like Frost said to him: "It's a bit stuffy in here, I'll go outside and wait for you." He went out. He wanted to chase after her but was pulled back by Little Tang: "Ye Xuanran, what's going on with you? You're so carefree, really being infatuated with this girl? Heroic spirit is short-lived, ah, the emotions of a young man are long-lasting. You signed a contract with that record company in Beijing saying you'd go back in September, now you're having second thoughts again, how can I still go out and mix around?"

  He gritted his teeth and said: "I will pay the penalty for breach of contract."

  Xiao Tang said, "It's not that I'm saying you're good at talking, but can you afford the penalty for breach of contract? You've been eating so cleanly every month. Also, before coming here, I met your mom and a German guy in Beijing. He's now opening a piano store in Beijing. And your foreign sister is quite cute. She kept telling me to ask you if you're going to that music academy in Germany or not? Let me advise you to go abroad and make some money first, it'll be easier for you to mix around when you come back."

  He shook off her hand and said, "I have an urgent matter to attend to now. I'll contact you later." He was worried that if Little Tang's voice was too loud, it would be heard by Ru Xue. He quickly ran out of the door in three strides. Fortunately, Ru Xue stood calmly under a nearby big tree and walked over to pull her along, saying, "Let's go find Liu Qing." But she smiled strangely: "Ye Cang Ran, don't look for her anymore. She'll be fine. I believe Liu Qing just wants to be alone. If someone doesn't want others to find them, no matter how hard you look, you won't be able to find them."