Wandering

#Xing Yue: I thought you wanted to get a room with me#

The company had been doing a great job promoting the show. Filming had not even begun, but a few behind-the-scenes clips from training had already drawn plenty of attention.

Official filming would start next month, and they would all have to move to another city to compete.

Xing Yue was still worrying about it. The city was some distance from Silent City, and Bu Yao could not possibly make the trip back and forth every day. But if Xing Yue took her along, what would happen to Bu Yao's work in Silent City?

She was in a training session when Luo Zhi came in with a middle-aged woman. Xing Yue recognized the woman at once.

"Xing Yue, come out for a moment." Luo Zhi's expression was complicated as she messaged someone on her phone.

Only after Xing Yue left the classroom did she see the two uniformed police officers standing behind the older woman.

"Jiang Yue's assistant is missing. Please cooperate with a brief investigation." Luo Zhi did not yet say that the police had come because Jiang Yue had accused Xing Yue.

She tried to keep her tone calm, but after years in the industry, she could tell something was wrong.

At the word "missing," Xing Yue's chest tightened. Thinking this was a routine inquiry, she looked at the familiar face and said quietly, "Aunt Ming."

Ming Shushan was He Zhiwen's mother. Before they broke up, He Zhiwen had often taken Xing Yue home for dinner, so they knew each other fairly well. They had only lost touch after the breakup.

As soon as Xing Yue came out, Ming Shushan dropped to her knees. Her wrinkled hands trembled uncontrollably. "I know you hate me for breaking you two apart. Take your revenge on me however you want. I'm just an old woman; my life isn't worth much. Zhizhi is our only daughter. If anything happens to her, I won't go on living either. Where have you taken her? Tell me. Tell me..."

The two officers hurried to help Ming Shushan up. "Ma'am, please don't do this. We'll do everything we can to find her."

People from all over the company came to see what was happening. As they listened to the woman's tearful accusations, their eyes naturally turned to Xing Yue.

With the past dragged into the open, displeasure flickered in Xing Yue's eyes. She frowned. "Aunt Ming, He Zhiwen and I got together of our own free will, and we parted on good terms. I don't hate anyone."

Much less want revenge.

Besides, she and He Zhiwen were both adults. Xing Yue had been miserable for a while after the breakup, but not to the point of falling apart, let alone doing anything extreme like someone in a television drama.

One of the officers took out an exceptionally ornate envelope and records of text messages. "Ms. Xing, were you with He Zhiwen on the evening of June 11? Her family says you brought her this letter. Did the two of you make some sort of deal?"

Xing Yue glanced at the letter, which she had never seen before. The envelope even bore red embossing. Surprise rippled through her eyes, subtly changing her otherwise still expression.

"I was with her that night, but there was no deal."

"Please answer the question. Did you bring this letter to He Zhiwen?" The officer on the left signaled to his colleague.

Before Xing Yue could deny it, the police took her away, saying she needed to come to the Police Station for questioning.

At the Police Station, Jiang Yue was already seated inside. It looked as though she had been questioned for some time.

"I didn't give her the letter. I went home after we met that night. Didn't she keep coming to the company for several days afterward?" Xing Yue could not see how the two things were connected.

That meeting with He Zhiwen had been half a month ago.

"We now suspect that a personal grudge against He Zhiwen gave you a motive."

Xing Yue's expression did not change. "I'm sorry, but I have no personal grudge against Ms. He."

"He Zhiwen disappeared on the night of the 26th. Someone says she went to see you before she vanished. Where were you on the 26th? What were you doing, and who were you with?"

Only then did Xing Yue turn her gaze to Jiang Yue.

According to the surveillance footage, He Zhiwen and Jiang Yue had traveled to He Zhiwen's hometown in another city on the 26th to see the Snake Eggs. On the way, He Zhiwen said she was going to find Xing Yue. She got out on a side road and never returned.

That stretch was a rural road with no surveillance cameras. For now, they had only Jiang Yue's word for what had happened, and the police were following procedure.

"In my room. I didn't go out." Xing Yue could not tell whether He Zhiwen really had gone to find her or someone was lying. "I was with my girlfriend."

The officer brought out the red envelope again. "What about the evening of the 11th? What did you talk about when you met?"

Xing Yue's fingers curled tightly, but she remained composed. "We hadn't seen each other in a long time. She asked me out for a meal, but there was a torrential downpour and all the restaurants were closed. We didn't eat. We each went home."

Bu Yao arrived after receiving word. Seeing Xing Yue subjected to question after question, she frowned, walked over, and wrapped her arms around her. "Are you sure you want to focus on someone who has nothing to do with this? Waste a few more days, and there might not even be a fingernail left of He Zhiwen."

Xing Yue tugged at Bu Yao, signaling her not to say anything reckless.

Sure enough, those words set Ming Shushan off again. She was wailing as though she might hang herself right there in the hall. Clinging to Xing Yue, she insisted Xing Yue had taken her daughter.

Xing Yue had become a primary person of interest chiefly because both He Zhiwen's mother and her wife suspected her.

"Ms. Bu, we're just following procedure..." The officer was getting a headache.

Jiang Yue had reported that He Zhiwen was a Spirit Snake, and the authorities had already assigned a special team to investigate.

Spirit Snakes received special protection and attention from the state. The case would not be made public, but the authorities came down hard on anyone who abducted or killed a Spirit Snake. If evidence linked Xing Yue to the disappearance, she could face severe criminal penalties, even execution by lethal injection.

Bu Yao knew all that. It was why she had reacted so strongly. She stood beside Xing Yue, holding her tight and refusing to let go.

"Ms. Xing, we need to obtain the footage from inside your car," the officer said.

Xing Yue hesitated slightly, then nodded.

The footage showed He Zhiwen getting into Xing Yue's car on the night of the 11th. Their conversation was clear, with the wind and rain raging outside in the background.

It was obvious that He Zhiwen had asked Xing Yue for help that night and Xing Yue had refused. Worse, Xing Yue had said something insulting to her.

—[Really? You asked me to catch up in the middle of the night, and you sent me a location at a hotel. I thought you wanted to get a room with me. I even brought my ID.]

Before the footage had finished playing, Jiang Yue said with a sneer, "Ms. Xing, is this what you meant when you said there was no personal grudge? Seems to me you wanted to rekindle things with my wife. When she turned you down, you got angry and devised an elaborate plan to take her away."

Xing Yue ignored her. She did not even think to argue. Instead, she looked up at Bu Yao, wanting to explain.

The woman who had defended Xing Yue moments ago now stared fixedly at the screen. After hearing what Xing Yue had said in the footage, all color had drained from her beautiful face, leaving a frightening anger in its place.

She pushed Xing Yue away and strode out. She had come in a hurry and left just as quickly.

Xing Yue got up to follow her, but an officer stopped her.

They watched another ten minutes or so of footage. Apart from a minor argument, there was no mention of the letter or any deal.

At most, it proved that Xing Yue and He Zhiwen's relationship was not entirely amicable. It did not prove Xing Yue had taken He Zhiwen. But the leads in the case kept pointing toward her, so she remained a primary person of interest.

"Ms. Xing, please don't leave the city while the investigation is ongoing. Otherwise, we have the authority to arrest you." The officer explained what was at stake.

After a full day of questioning, Xing Yue was exhausted in body and mind. She was about to head back to the company when she glanced at her phone. News alerts kept popping up, all bearing her name.

#Xing Yue: I thought you wanted to get a room with me#

#Xing Yue ex-girlfriend#

#Xing Yue redefines an amicable breakup#

None mentioned He Zhiwen's disappearance. They only carried the audio of what Xing Yue had said in the car. As a somewhat well-known cover singer, Xing Yue had a distinctive voice. The clip immediately sparked discussion and shot onto the trending list.

Whoever released the audio had been clever. Knowing the state gave Spirit Snakes special protection, the widely shared posts never named He Zhiwen, referring to her only as "the ex-girlfriend." They did not mention the disappearance either, neatly avoiding the risk of having the trending topics removed.

So, without knowing what had led up to it or what had followed, people online came away with this version: Xing Yue had met her married ex-girlfriend late at night, propositioned her to get a room, and flown into a rage when she was rejected.

Now Xing Yue could not even go back to the company. She covered her face with both hands, stood there in silence for a while, then went home.

Not long after she arrived, her phone began ringing incessantly. Seeing that it was her mother, Xing Yue hung up without a second thought.

[Where are you?] She typed a message to Bu Yao but had not sent it when she looked up and saw her coming down the stairs. Bu Yao stopped on a step and looked at her.

Xing Yue's eyes brightened. At last, she felt a sliver of relief. "I thought you..."

She had thought Bu Yao would not want to see her anymore.

Bu Yao stood several steps above Xing Yue, her expression cold. "If He Zhiwen hadn't turned you down that night, would you have slept with her?"

Bu Yao had held back outside. She had been holding back all day, her chest packed with anger ready to erupt.

Xing Yue tried to explain. "What I said was out of anger. Yes, I was angry about why He Zhiwen came to me, but I didn't want to get a room with her."

And it was not He Zhiwen who had rejected her. She had rejected He Zhiwen.

Even when she had pretended she was about to kiss He Zhiwen beneath the streetlight, it had been because she was angry and wanted to mock her. Xing Yue admitted there had been some wounded pride in it, but it was not what it looked like.

Bu Yao gave a cold laugh. "Now that He Zhiwen's missing, we only have your word for that."

Xing Yue's expression changed. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I had something to do with her disappearance too?"

After a day of questioning, Xing Yue was already worn out. She thought of the way everyone at the company had stared, how Ming Shushan had insisted she was guilty, and the abuse from people online who knew nothing about the case. Her whole body was wound tight.

"And what if I really had wanted to get a room with her that night? What were you and I to each other back then?" Xing Yue stopped trying to defend herself. If Bu Yao had already judged her guilty, she might as well say it.

They had not been dating at the time. What right did Bu Yao have to condemn her?

Bu Yao descended two steps, bringing her face close to Xing Yue's. "Say that again."

She was like a proud peacock, a sharp contrast to Xing Yue's wretched state.

Xing Yue was like a stray dog that had been kicked countless times out on the street. She had finally found a magnificent, glittering jewel and treasured it beyond measure. But no matter how much she adored it, wagging her tail would never make her worthy of that ruby.