Missing

"Sent by Brother Bing?"

After Zhang Yuanqing finished reading the letter, he frowned.

What did he mean by "change your life"? And what did he mean by "something you can't handle"?

Honestly, he could've been clearer. Zhang Yuanqing looked at the black card again, examining it repeatedly. It was just an ordinary card. If there was anything unusual about it, it was that it felt nice to the touch and seemed to be made of rare materials.

Could it be a VIP card to some top-tier club? Those 36D girls really could only be handled by a remarkable guy like me.

Lei Yibing had been his best friend since childhood. His nickname was A-Bing, and he was two years older than Zhang Yuanqing. Before Zhang Yuanqing's maternal grandparents bought a new house, their families had lived in the same alley.

Lei Yibing had A-rank strength and speed, but only C-rank intelligence. He'd always looked out for Zhang Yuanqing. He'd charge into fights first and stay behind to take the beating. If anyone mocked Zhang Yuanqing for being a fatherless child, Lei Yibing would stand up for him.

That was why Zhang Yuanqing had always called him Brother Bing.

A-Bing hadn't done well in high school, so he went to college in neighboring Jiangnan Province. After that, they'd been living in different places and had gradually lost touch.

As Zhang Yuanqing slipped the black card into his windbreaker pocket, he picked up his phone and sent Brother Bing a teasing message:

"Which club is this VIP card for? At least give me the address or a contact number."

Half an hour passed, but Zhang Yuanqing still hadn't received a reply.

He simply called Brother Bing.

After two beeps, the call connected, and a man's deep voice came through the speaker:

"Hello! This is Lei Yibing's father."

"Uncle Lei?" Zhang Yuanqing froze, then asked excitedly, "Is Brother Bing back in Songhai this week? Could you put him on? I need to talk to him."

There was a brief silence on the other end. Then a heavy, sorrowful voice spoke:

"Yuanzi, I'm in Jiangnan Province. A-Bing has gone missing."

Brother Bing had gone missing?! Zhang Yuanqing stood frozen. A few seconds later, he asked, bewildered and anxious, "What happened?"

How could Brother Bing have gone missing? He'd even sent me something.

"He went missing three nights ago. Your Aunt Zhou and I got a notice from the school yesterday, so we went there right away," Uncle Lei said, his spirits low.

"Did you report it? What did the Public Security Bureau say?" Zhang Yuanqing asked gravely.

Uncle Lei was silent for a long time before answering hesitantly, "It's hard to explain. The way A-Bing disappeared was strange."

Strange? What did that mean? Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback.

Uncle Lei explained, "A-Bing disappeared from his dorm room three nights ago. The police checked the surveillance footage in the dormitory corridors and found that he hadn't left the room all night. But when morning came, he was gone.

"The students in his room said they'd seen him before going to sleep. When they woke up and didn't see him, they assumed he'd just gone out."

"How is that possible?" Zhang Yuanqing blurted out.

Could a person really vanish into thin air? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that.

Suppressing his anxiety, Zhang Yuanqing lowered his voice. "Uncle Lei, did Brother Bing get on the wrong side of anyone at school?"

His first thought was that Brother Bing had offended someone at school, and that person had some influence locally. That would explain why the surveillance showed nothing amiss, since it often meant the school was covering something up.

In this age of information overload, anyone who'd been online had heard of cases like that.

"The school administrators said they'd cooperate with the police as much as possible. The officers told us to go home and wait for news; they'd investigate. Your aunt and I didn't sleep at all last night."

Uncle Lei's voice was tinged with dejection and worry.

So it was the usual response. Damn it. Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and tried to reassure him.

"Don't panic yet. My grandfather and cousin both work for the Public Security Bureau, as you know. I'll ask them what we should do in a situation like this and what we need to watch out for. If there's anything you don't understand or want to ask about, don't hesitate to call me.

"Also, make sure to ask his classmates. If Brother Bing got on the wrong side of someone, one of them is bound to know."

Uncle Lei sounded a little more at ease. "I understand, Yuanzi. Don't worry, either. I'll tell you as soon as I hear anything."

After hanging up, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't sit still. He paced back and forth in his room, worried about Brother Bing's safety.

People didn't just go missing for no reason. If the surveillance hadn't caught anything, someone must have tampered with it. He just didn't know who Brother Bing had offended.

But who could a college junior possibly have offended?

Wait, he'd gone missing three nights ago.

Three nights ago?!

Zhang Yuanqing jolted. A package took two or three days to get from Jiangnan Province to Songhai. Based on the timing, Brother Bing had gone missing the night he mailed me the package.

Was it a coincidence, or was there a connection?

At the thought, he instinctively reached for the black card in his pocket. But the moment his hand went inside, he froze.

The black card was gone.

Had it fallen on the floor? Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly looked down, sweeping his gaze across the floor.

Nothing!

He got down and looked under the bed. A layer of dust covered the floor, along with loose change, pens, buttons, and other junk, but there was no black card.

The card had disappeared, even though he clearly remembered putting it in his pocket.

How could it have vanished into thin air?

Thinking of Brother Bing's mysterious disappearance, the strange letter, and the bizarrely vanished black card, Zhang Yuanqing was overcome by a nameless dread and confusion.

"Could the black card be connected to Brother Bing's disappearance? Could it be an important clue?"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing decided to use his "old affliction" to restart his memory.

First, he poured cold water into a glass. Then he took the bottle of medicine from the bedside table, unscrewed the cap, took off his shoes, and lay down on the bed.

When he'd finished, he closed his eyes and lay perfectly still, picturing his father's face in his mind.

The old affliction could be triggered by calming down and imagining an image. It worked best if it was something he'd once seen but couldn't quite remember.

That would stimulate his brain, warming it up gradually until his thoughts boiled over.

After so many years, his father's face had grown blurry in his memory. It was the perfect image to focus on.

As time passed, his father's face gradually came into focus, until every detail was crystal clear. Zhang Yuanqing's heart pounded violently, like an engine running beyond its limits.

At that moment, time seemed to run backward. The events of the past hour flashed through his mind like scenes from a movie, one frame at a time.

He saw himself opening the package, reading the letter, putting the black card in his windbreaker pocket, and then messaging Brother Bing.

For the next half hour, he'd sat at his desk without moving, watched short videos for over ten minutes, and traded a few suggestive pictures with the perverts in his gaming group.

He'd saved a few good ones.

Then he'd read a novel for a few minutes. Since he couldn't stop thinking about the card, he'd called Brother Bing.

After the call, the crucial moment came. He'd been so anxious that he paced all over the room. That was when the card could most easily have fallen out.

In his memories, he saw himself pacing around with a frown, then reaching for the black card and discovering it was gone.

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes flew open. His face was full of horror.

Gone?!

The black card had vanished just like that, into thin air.

What the hell had Brother Bing sent me? His scalp prickled.

Before he could think any further, a jumble of noise rang in his ears, like countless voices layered over one another. Broken images erupted in his mind like a volcano, flooding in all at once.

Warm liquid ran from Zhang Yuanqing's nose, and his head felt as if someone were driving nails into it.

With his face twisted in pain, he crawled toward the bedside table, shakily poured out five small blue pills, and stuffed them into his mouth. Then he shakily picked up the glass and tipped back the pills and water together.

A moment later, Zhang Yuanqing sat at the side of the bed, pale and panting.

By then, he could be fairly sure that Brother Bing's disappearance was connected to the black card.

"Brother Bing went missing after mailing me the black card, and that card was clearly strange. It wasn't an ordinary thing."

It was hard not to think that Brother Bing had been threatened and, with no other choice, had sent the item away.

"But why didn't he hand it over to the local Public Security Bureau? Why send it to me instead?"

Did he really think a college student who'd never even killed a chicken or slept with anyone was more reliable than a police officer?

Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing thought of one detail: neither the surveillance cameras nor the students in the dorm had noticed anything unusual.

Whoever could pull that off had to have considerable influence.

Had Brother Bing avoided handing over the black card because the local Public Security Bureau couldn't be trusted?

Or did the person or organization responsible for his disappearance have influence over the local Public Security Bureau?

"Did he send me the black card because he knew my grandfather was a retired police captain and my cousin was a Public Security Bureau squad leader, and that they had deep connections in Songhai City? Maybe the people in Jiangnan Province couldn't reach me here?"

I need to tell my cousin.

"Ding-dong."

Then Zhang Yuanqing heard the doorbell, coming from the entryway.

His grandmother's footsteps sounded next. She crossed the living room and opened the front door.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Hello. We're investigators from the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. Is Zhang Yuanqing home?" a voice outside replied.