Once he had made certain that Gu Mengyao was not inside the villa, Uncle Qing slipped away quickly without giving himself away. By now he was sure of it: let alone hiding two people here, hiding even one would have been impossible.

Because Zhong Yongliang's house covered a large area, the furniture stood sparse and scattered, and whether anyone was hidden there could be seen at a glance.

Once out of Zhong Yongliang's villa, Uncle Qing placed a call to Gu Pengzhan.

Gu Pengzhan was destined to toss and turn that night, waiting all along for news from Uncle Qing. Now that the call came, his heart finally settled by half. He knew the search had produced a result, and whether his daughter was in Zhong Yongliang's villa or not, it was good news either way.

"Hello, Li Fu, how did it go?" Gu Pengzhan asked in a low voice.

"Miss Gu is not in the villa. After Zhong Yongliang came home, there was no movement from him. He ate and went to sleep." Uncle Qing gave a brief account of the situation as it stood.

"Oh? So Yaoyao has been hidden somewhere else?" Gu Pengzhan breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, Zhong Yongliang very likely had not yet succeeded! A young man's obsession with that sort of thing was fierce, and Gu Pengzhan did not believe that, having had a first time, Zhong Yongliang would not go after a second. How could he still sleep soundly at home!

If he had already done it, no matter what my attitude is, he would be impatient to do it a second time! Even if I sent him to prison, would he not first take his fill before going? If his standing as son-in-law were acknowledged, doing it would only be natural. How could he hold himself back?

"It must be so!" Uncle Qing said, "Mr. Gu, I think Miss should be in no great danger. Zhong Yongliang has not yet succeeded."

"I judge it the same way." Gu Pengzhan laughed, "Li Fu, I must trouble you to follow Zhong Yongliang without leaving his side for an instant, and watch his every move!"

"I understand, Mr. Gu, rest assured." Uncle Qing also knew how important Zhong Yongliang was. As long as he followed him, he would surely find Gu Mengyao! Nor was Uncle Qing worried that Zhong Yongliang would send someone else to see Gu Mengyao, for some things only Zhong Yongliang himself could do. He could hardly have another do them in his place, could he?

So if Zhong Yongliang had not yet succeeded at this moment, then there was no need to worry, and if he had succeeded, worrying would be useless.

"By the way, Mr. Gu, should we inform Mr. Lin about this matter?" Uncle Qing asked.

"Not for now. Xiao Yi has his own affairs to keep him busy, and I would rather see him build a career of his own than merely stay by Yaoyao's side as a follower." Although Gu Pengzhan did not know what Wei Zhao was doing, he knew Wei Zhao could not be busying himself with anything useless, and besides, a man ought to stand on his own. He cannot live off others, can he?

"Very well." Uncle Qing had only meant it as a reminder. Since Gu Pengzhan said so, he said no more.

The night passed without a word. Zhong Yongliang slept through it and went to school as usual the next day. These past two days Zhong Fabai was busy with matters of the Bingshao Company and naturally had no time to take Zhong Yongliang to school, so Zhong Yongliang took a taxi to school on his own.

Uncle Qing followed him from a distance to the school, somewhat puzzled. How could Zhong Yongliang come to school as if nothing had happened? Was he not worried about Gu Mengyao?

In fact Zhong Yongliang was very worried, but he knew worry was useless. Gu Pengzhan's final attitude had not been settled, so he could not take the next step, and could only stall for now.

Uncle Qing could not well follow him into the school himself, but Gu Pengzhan was a shareholder of First High School, so Uncle Qing casually found a few people and asked them to help keep an eye on Zhong Yongliang. Those people naturally scrambled to take on the task.

Among them, of course, was Director Wang Zhifeng. He was a man skilled at currying favor, and just when he was fretting over having no proper chance to get on good terms with those above, Uncle Qing arrived with a task. So he thumped his chest and promised he would certainly watch Zhong Yongliang's movements well.

This time Wang Zhifeng dropped everything else, caring nothing for what others thought, tucked a notebook under his arm, and came to Senior Year Class 5 to sit in on lessons.

For the dean of studies to come inspect the teaching was quite normal, but to inspect for a whole day at a stretch was a first. Wang Zhifeng, however, cared nothing for what others thought. He sat down in the last row of Senior Year Class 5 and would not leave!

And as ill luck would have it, he sat right beside Zhong Yongliang, nearly bursting him with gloom. What the hell was this? He did not even have a chance to discuss a plan with Gao Xiaofu! He hoped this jinx would finish listening and leave quickly, but he listened all morning and showed no sign of going.

At noon, Zhong Yongliang was scheming to go outside with Gao Xiaofu to talk over a plan, only to be stopped by Wang Zhifeng with a black face, "Zhong Yongliang, where are you two off to? Are you trying to hide in the toilet for a sneaky smoke?"

"I..." Zhong Yongliang pulled a long face, yet dared not fail to answer, "I am going to eat lunch..."

"Oh, then have this classmate... called Gao Xiaofu, right? You go buy it and eat in the classroom! Just buy from the canteen. I happen to be hungry too. Buy one for me as well. My treat!" With that he pulled out fifty yuan and handed it to Gao Xiaofu.

Since the dean had spoken, how dared Gao Xiaofu refuse? He just could not quite figure it out. The dean treating the two of them to a meal? Was this some mistake? Though it was only boxed lunch, such treatment was unheard of!

Seeing things had come to this, Zhong Yongliang could do nothing. Still, he did not suspect much. Wang Zhifeng had never looked favorably upon him, and especially after Jin Gubang ceased to be a shareholder, he made trouble for Zhong Yongliang at every turn.

Who knew what was wrong with Wang Zhifeng today, but Zhong Yongliang truly dared not offend the man.

Uncle Qing had not expected Wang Zhifeng to be so conscientious, acting practically as Zhong Yongliang's personal guard, but it also gave him some time. Taking advantage of the morning, when there was no one at Zhong Yongliang's house, he slipped back in and searched it carefully. He had not searched Zhong Yongliang's room the night before, so today he would search it along with the rest.

Yet in Zhong Yongliang's room he found no useful clue either, and by now Uncle Qing could confirm with one hundred percent certainty that Gu Mengyao was not in Zhong Yongliang's house. But if Gu Mengyao was not in Zhong Yongliang's house, where was she? The key problem was that Shen Yushu had vanished too. The two had disappeared together. Two living people. Where could Zhong Yongliang have put them?

Uncle Qing wiped away every trace he had left in Zhong Yongliang's house. If the other party were only ordinary people, they could never have detected that Uncle Qing had been there, but for Uncle Qing, caution was always best, and it was habit besides.

When all this was done, Uncle Qing tiptoed out of Zhong Yongliang's villa, though in Zhong Yongliang's room there was now one more tiny listening device.

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