(Bonus chapter for Jiu Yu's gift)
When the car carrying Qiguan Yuan stopped in front of the Listening to the Waves Mansion, the driver looked at the face in the rearview mirror, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.
Qiguan Yuan took out a handful of loose change from his sleeve, a colorful mix of different denominations, stuffed it into the driver's hand, and then got out of the car.
The driver looked down at the pile of crumpled change in his hand and counted it.
Hmm? Three hundred and forty-one yuan.
He looked up; Qiguan Yuan was already far away.
The driver opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back, tidied the money, and put it into the glove compartment.
Qiguan Yuan entered the film and television city.
Houses with white walls and gray tiles lined both sides of the road, with moss growing at the base of the walls. The stone-paved road was winding and the same in every way.
He walked for a few minutes and found himself back in a place he had been before.
He remembered the stone lion at the intersection; a leaf had fallen onto its ear when he passed by just now, and the leaf was still there.
He stood still, glanced at the road to his left, then at the road to his right, and chose one to walk on. After walking for a few minutes, he returned to the same intersection.
The stone lion is still there, and the leaves on its ears are still there too.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at it, then turned and took another path.
This time he made the right choice.
But it wasn't because he found the right direction; it was because he no longer wanted to look.
He said he found the right place because he discovered it was deserted, sunny, cool, and a perfect spot to sleep.
So Qiguan Yuan went over, found a comfortable big rock, lay down, and closed his eyes.
At the mall, after the mall urgently dispatched another batch of security guards and the police arrived to maintain order, they finally cleared a path through the crowd.
When Pei Yubai walked out of the mall, his hair was a little messy, and his face was expressionless.
The assistant had already driven the car to the entrance. Pei Yubai opened the car door and got in. When the door closed, the screams outside were kept out by the glass.
He glanced at the passenger seat; it was empty.
I glanced at the back seat again; it was empty too.
Qiguan Yuan wasn't in the car, so he asked his assistant, "Where's Yuanyuan?"
The assistant glanced at him in the rearview mirror, moved his lips a few times, and briefly told Pei Yubai that he had grabbed Qiguan Yuan and run away, and then Qiguan Yuan had run off in another direction.
" Teacher Qiguan ran too fast, I couldn't catch up. He disappeared after turning into an alley, and I searched the area several times, but I couldn't find him."
The assistant's voice grew softer and softer, and as he spoke the last few words, his eyes were fixed on the steering wheel, avoiding looking in the rearview mirror.
Pei Yubai remained silent.
The assistant waited a moment, but received no response. He then secretly glanced in the rearview mirror.
Pei Yubai leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers on his knees.
The assistant looked away, sat up straight, and didn't dare to breathe.
His palms were sweating as he gripped the steering wheel.
Pei Yubai opened his eyes, but didn't look at him. "You stay here and wait for news."
He opened the car door and got out.
The assistant opened his mouth as if to say there were still fans outside, but Pei Yubai had already walked around the front of the car and opened the driver's side door.
The assistant quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. Pei Yubai got in, the door closed, and the engine started.
The assistant stood by the roadside, watching the black car disappear at the intersection, then took out his phone and started making calls again.
Pei Yubai drove the car a short distance and parked it on the side of the road.
He took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed a number.
It was a call to Pei Zhongkang, who was enjoying some alone time with Shen Lingyi.
I answered the phone after it rang twice.
Pei Yubai spoke first, explaining what had happened.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Shen Lingyi's voice came through, speaking very quickly, " Yuanyuan is missing? How could she be missing? Weren't you two together?"
Pei Yubai explained a few things, and then the other person said a few more things, their voices fading into the distance, as if they were talking to someone nearby.
After a while, Pei Zhongkang answered the phone, his voice deep and steady. "We're already looking for her. Let us know if you have any news. Remember to let us know when you find Yuanyuan."
Pei Yubai responded and hung up the phone.
He didn't put down his phone; instead, he dialed another number, gave a few instructions, and told the other party to send out all the people they could.
After hanging up the phone, he placed it on the passenger seat and started the car.
He wasn't looking at the navigation; his direction wasn't on the navigation, it was on his finger.
He glanced at the translucent red thread on his ring finger, the end of which dangled over the steering wheel and swayed gently in the wind.
He drove in the direction of the line.
Meanwhile, a Weibo is climbing the ranks at an incredible speed.
The Weibo post was made by an account called "Happy Today Too," which usually only gets a few dozen likes and is occasionally retweeted by friends.
A dozen minutes ago, she posted a Weibo with two pictures and the caption, "I met a super pretty stall owner today."
The first picture shows Qiguan Yuan sitting behind a cloth, his silver ponytail hanging down his chest, his moon-white robe spread on the ground, a pile of red ropes scattered in front of him, and a sign next to him that reads "Red ropes, one yuan each".
The second picture is a group photo she took herself. Only a few people liked this Weibo post.
Later, a Xiao Yuan Grains saw it on social media. She clicked on the large image and looked at it for several seconds, then screamed and held her phone up to her roommate.
The spread was much faster than they had anticipated. Xiao Yuan Grains poured in from all corners, and the number of comments skyrocketed.
The number of reposts is also jumping wildly.
"Is this Yuanyuan? This hairstyle, this profile, it's definitely Yuanyuan!"
"I've never seen him wear that clothes before, but who else could have that aura?"
" Yuanyuan is selling red ropes at a stall? One yuan a piece? Where? Where? Where?"
"I checked the blogger's homepage, and the location is Jiangcheng, so Yuanyuan is still in Jiangcheng!"
"I bought that red string!!! I didn't know him as Yuanyuan at the time, I just thought it looked nice, that's why I bought it!!! I regret it so much now, I only bought one!!!"
Someone replied to her below, posting the photo of a bunch of red ropes laid out on a cloth.
Below this post, people who bought Qiguan Yuan ) are posting pictures in the comments section.
An account claiming to be the customer who threw down 100 yuan, grabbed a handful of red ropes, and ran away posted a comment. "I grabbed a handful, about twenty or so. I didn't know who he was at the time; I just thought he looked good and wanted to take a picture. 100 yuan for 20 ropes, 5 yuan each, 4 yuan more expensive than others, I didn't expect that! Hahaha! I'm going to go watch ' Travel to That Unknown Place '!"
The Xiao Yuan Grains in the comments section started calling her "sister".
They're all incredibly sweet-talking.
They were all asking her if she could sell her own things.
The prices offered in the comments section have increased several times over, with one wealthy woman offering 10,000 yuan.
Whether the last person sold it or not is unknown; the two probably went to chat privately.