Chapter Thirty: Missing

After Gu Yan returned home, he drew the curtains and opened Yu Dong’s WeChat.

Gu Yan: Uncle, do you have time? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.

Gu Yan expected that someone as busy as Yu Dong would take a while to reply, so he went to the living room to grab a drink. Just then, someone knocked at the door.

Could it be Yu Sheng? We just parted ways not long ago—maybe she wants to ask about what happened earlier? Gu Yan smiled and opened the door.

His phone vibrated in the bedroom, signaling a new WeChat message.

On Monday, Yu Sheng didn’t see Gu Yan at school, which surprised her. Usually, every morning when she went downstairs, Gu Yan would be waiting for her.

Why isn’t he waiting for me today? Did he leave early?

Yu Sheng puffed her cheeks. She hadn’t walked alone in a long time, and today, the walk felt particularly lonely without Gu Yan beside her to chat.

When she got to the classroom, she found Gu Yan still hadn’t arrived.

Did he oversleep? If I’d known, I would have gone to wake him up.

“Hey, Yu Sheng, Gu Yan didn’t come with you today? Did you two have a fight?” Lin Ning glanced at the empty seat behind them.

Chen Ke’an looked up and glanced at Yu Sheng after hearing this.

“What are you talking about? I don’t know why he isn’t here today,” Yu Sheng said, a little disappointed as she looked at Gu Yan’s empty desk.

“Wow, never thought even the genius Gu Yan could be late. Haha, when he comes, I’m definitely going to tease him!” Lin Ning said smugly.

“Come on, no matter how late he is, his grades won’t drop like ours…” Yu Sheng replied with a smile.

Chen Ke’an listened quietly, saying nothing, but gazed thoughtfully at Gu Yan’s seat.

But even after the first class started, Gu Yan still hadn’t arrived, and even the homeroom teacher noticed.

“Do you think Gu Yan might be sick today? Maybe you should tell the teacher you’ll go check on him since your home is nearby,” Lin Ning suggested.

Yu Sheng considered it but said nothing.

If Gu Yan really was sick, he’d be home alone with nobody to take care of him.

“Yu Sheng! The homeroom teacher wants to see you!” Yang Xiaolong called from the classroom door.

“It must be about Gu Yan!” Lin Ning said confidently.

Yu Sheng nodded and left.

“Teacher? You wanted to see me?” Yu Sheng approached the teacher’s desk.

“Yu Sheng, I wanted to ask you—Gu Yan doesn’t have any relatives here, does he? He didn’t come today, and I called his parents but got no answer. His address seems to be in your neighborhood—do you know what happened? Why isn’t he here?”

The teacher’s barrage of questions caught Yu Sheng off guard.

“Teacher, I’m not sure if he has any relatives here, but his house is right below mine. I don’t know why he didn’t come today either.”

The teacher thought for a moment and sighed, “Alright, you can go back now. If I have more questions, I’ll find you.”

Yu Sheng nodded, “Goodbye, teacher.”

She had actually considered doing what Lin Ning suggested—going home to check on Gu Yan—but the teacher might not agree.

But now, is Gu Yan considered missing?

Yu Sheng was about to turn away when she heard the teacher murmur behind her, “Looks like I’ll have to go check myself.”

When Yu Sheng returned to the classroom, Lin Ning eagerly asked, “How did it go? What happened to Gu Yan?”

Yu Sheng shook her head, “I don’t know. The teacher can’t reach him either, but she just said she might go check herself.”

With that, Yu Sheng sat down and picked up her pen to work on her assignments, as if she didn’t care at all.

Lin Ning glanced at Yu Sheng, wanting to say something but holding back.

As Yu Sheng wrote, she began to daydream. Without anyone behind her today, the emptiness felt strange—she missed the sensation of someone watching her.

Normally, this would be a good thing, but Yu Sheng felt uneasy. Her eyes kept drifting to the doorway, as if hoping the person who always smiled at her would appear, raise his eyebrows, and drop snacks on her desk as he passed by, refusing to let her turn them down.

This feeling was different from how she felt about Chen sometimes in middle school—it seemed deeper this time.

Realizing how deeply she missed and relied on Gu Yan, Yu Sheng was startled. She hadn’t expected herself to become so dependent on him; she hadn’t intended for this to happen. It was all Gu Yan’s fault, treating her so well that she felt she couldn’t live without him.

Yu Sheng sighed softly. She hoped Gu Yan was simply being mischievous, wanting to worry them for a bit. That was her wish.

Even by noon, Gu Yan still hadn’t come, and the teacher didn’t call Yu Sheng again.

This only made her unease grow.

As soon as school let out for lunch, Yu Sheng did something she’d never done before—she rushed out of the classroom and ran straight to Gu Yan’s door.

Panting, Yu Sheng knocked on Gu Yan’s door.

But she knocked for a long time, and no one answered.

What’s going on? Gu Yan wouldn’t just leave without saying anything.

Feeling dejected, Yu Sheng returned home and found her father was in.

“Dad? You’re home today?” Yu Sheng said in a tired voice.

“Sheng Sheng, what’s wrong today? Are you feeling unwell?” Yu Dong noticed her expression.

“I’m fine.” Yu Sheng replied and went to her room.

Yu Dong glanced at her back, and when Yu Sheng entered her room, he followed.

“Sheng Sheng, did that boy do something to you? Why didn’t he come upstairs with you today?” Yu Dong leaned against the doorframe.

Yu Sheng lay on her bed and shook her head, “No, he didn’t come to school. I went to his place to look for him, but no one was there.”

Yu Dong remembered Gu Yan’s message from yesterday and felt uneasy. “Did your teacher try to contact his parents?”

“They said they couldn’t reach them, and his parents are abroad, so it wouldn’t help even if they did.”

Yesterday, Gu Yan said he wanted to talk, but Yu Dong waited a long time and Gu Yan never replied. He thought it was a phone problem, which was why he came home at noon.

But Gu Yan’s unexplained absence from school and the inability to contact him made Yu Dong’s police instincts, honed over twenty years, sense trouble.

“Alright, have lunch first. I’m off this afternoon, so I’ll wait at home. If he comes back, I’ll call your teacher.”

Yu Sheng considered it and agreed, “Okay!”

“Gu Yan didn’t go to school?” Yu Chen ran over after overhearing.

No way—just after learning about that yesterday, Gu Yan disappeared. Could it be what I’m thinking?

Yu Chen looked at his father, hesitating.

Gu Yan told him not to let anyone else know, but his dad’s a cop—he should have a way, right?

At noon, Yu Chen lay in bed and couldn’t nap, torn over whether to tell his dad about Liu Quan. What if his dad already knew?

Yu Dong sensed something unusual but didn’t want the kids to worry, so he kept quiet for now. After Yu Chen and Yu Sheng left for school, he went downstairs to investigate.

After they left, Wei Yabai prepared to go to work. Seeing Yu Dong still at home was unusual.

“Why haven’t you left yet? Not busy today?”

“I’m off this afternoon.”

Wei Yabai nodded, “Alright, clean the house this afternoon. Don’t forget the windows—they haven’t been cleaned in ages.”

“…Alright, my dear wife!” Though Yu Dong wanted to refuse, he felt guilty and agreed.

Wei Yabai pouted, “Alright, I’m leaving. Bye! Work hard—I’ll check when I get back!”

Yu Dong squeezed her shoulder, “Of course, dear. I’ll get it done. Go to work with peace of mind!”

After Wei Yabai left, Yu Dong wanted to call the police station immediately, but the thought of the mole who hadn’t been found made him reconsider.

Watching Wei Yabai walk away through the window, Yu Dong quickly put on his shoes and went downstairs. He headed to the property management office to find out whether Gu Yan left on his own or if there was another reason.

When he explained his purpose, the security guard in charge of the surveillance hesitated.

“Officer, I’m really sorry. Yesterday our security system was under maintenance, so the cameras weren’t on.”

Yu Dong’s unease only deepened. Such coincidence—either truly unlucky, or someone took advantage of the situation…

Yu Dong felt something was very wrong. The kid had helped them catch that gang before; if the mole at the police station had reported to those lurking in the shadows, Gu Yan’s current situation could be dangerous.

“Alright, don’t mention my visit to anyone else. We don’t want panic. Understand?”

“Yes, officer, understood.”

Yu Dong mentally crossed off a few people he trusted most from his list of suspects.

“Hey, San’er, come out for a field job.”

“Alright, boss!” came the reply.

After hanging up, Yu Dong sighed. With Gu Yan’s whereabouts unknown, if anything happened to him, Yu Dong would regret it forever—after all, it was because of him.

As he walked toward the neighborhood gate, he considered: if Gu Yan was kidnapped by those people, he should have left the neighborhood already; with the cameras out, he could only check the storefront cameras at each gate.

Since Gu Yan messaged him yesterday, that’s when he disappeared, so he’d start checking from that time.

He hadn’t waited long at the gate before San’er arrived.

San’er’s real name was Yang Mu, but as the third child in the family, his mother always called him “San’er,” and the nickname stuck at the station.

“Boss, didn’t you say you’d investigate alone today? Why are we doing fieldwork now? Just the two of us?”

San’er was full of questions, but Yu Dong ignored them and gave orders.

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll split up—you know the other two gates of my neighborhood?”

Yang Mu nodded, “Yes.”

“Go check the cameras at the stores facing those gates. I’ll send you a photo—see if that kid left the neighborhood yesterday around seven or eight, or after.”

Yang Mu was puzzled, but seeing Yu Dong’s resolute expression, he nodded and didn’t ask more.

“Got it, Captain.”

Yu Dong patted his shoulder, signaling him to hurry.

After Yang Mu left, Yu Dong went to check the cameras at the other gates himself.

Since his house was closest to the main gate, Yu Dong started there.

Conveniently, there was a cold drink shop whose camera faced the gate from the side.

After explaining his purpose, the shop owner opened the footage. “Our cameras are always on, officer. Check whatever you need.”

Yu Dong nodded and thanked the owner. He started reviewing footage from seven o’clock yesterday evening, minute by minute, all the way to eleven, but never saw any sign of Gu Yan.