Chapter 184: Gone

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Gone

"She’s been running around a lot lately. Says she’s on dates with her boyfriend or looking for a job. Sometimes she comes back for dinner, sometimes she doesn’t. But she’s almost never back for lunch."

Second Sister-in-law Su didn’t feel it was her place to manage Zhang Yun, so she only spoke up when Su Wan asked.

Su Wan frowned.

Seeing her expression, Second Sister-in-law Su asked with concern, "Wanwan, what’s wrong? Is something the matter?"

"It’s nothing much. I just don’t approve of Zhang Yun’s boyfriend."

"Wanwan, you’ve met her boyfriend?" Second Sister-in-law Su’s interest was instantly piqued. She had asked Zhang Yun about her boyfriend recently, but Zhang Yun would always hem and haw, saying she’d bring him over for a look when she had the chance.

Second Sister-in-law Su was a sharp woman. Seeing Zhang Yun’s reluctance, she dropped the subject.

Su Wan paused in the middle of her meal, looked up, and said, "Actually, Second Sister-in-law, you probably know him too."

"Huh? Who is it? Someone from our compound?"

"His older sister is Zhao Xiangxiang, the one who came looking for you all before."

"What! Zhao Xiangxiang’s younger brother?" The moment Second Sister-in-law Su heard the name, she shook her head without hesitation. "Absolutely not. The Zhao family are all bad characters. How could Xiao Yun have such terrible taste, falling for a man from the Zhao family?"

"If I remember correctly, when Zhao Xiangxiang and her mother came looking for trouble, her mother was up front, arguing vehemently with Mom and Dad. But her father just hid in the back without saying a word. Only when he saw they were losing the argument did he anxiously mention something about calling the police."

"He made it sound so noble, but when Mom and I had argued Zhao Xiangxiang and her mother into silence, he didn’t step up to say a single word for his wife and daughter. His head is completely filled with money. Anyone who didn’t know the situation might have thought he was a good guy."

"With parents like that, how could the Zhao family’s son be any good?"

Second Sister-in-law Su’s words were a bit absolute, but there was certainly no harm in staying away from them.

Because even if Zhao Yuan himself were a man of good character, there would still be conflicts with his mother, his father, and his sister.

The family already had three of those characters. Marrying into that would take some serious guts.

"I agree, I don’t approve either. But Xiao Yun doesn’t seem to want to give up. I had originally asked Zheng Chuan to find out if Zhao Yuan met Xiao Yun by chance or if he approached her deliberately."

"But who would’ve thought? The very day he was supposed to see Xiao Yun and Zhao Yuan, that club case came up. Lu Zhengchuan has been so busy with it he hasn’t been able to come back, so I’ve had to put this on hold." Su Wan frowned. "Regardless, Xiao Yun is Zheng Chuan’s cousin. I have a responsibility to look out for her safety until he’s back."

"A failed relationship is one thing, as long as she doesn’t get hurt."

"It’s so late. How can anyone rest easy with her still out? I’ll go look for her after I finish dinner."

"I’ll give Aunt Zhang a call, too. If I can’t manage Xiao Yun, I’ll have to contact her mother. Otherwise, am I supposed to drop everything and keep an eye on her all day?"

Seeing that Su Wan had a plan, Second Sister-in-law Su was quite supportive and couldn’t help but add, "Zhang Yun is a grown woman. You’d think after what happened with Zheng Zhizhi, she would have learned to be more sensible."

"Wanwan, I’ll go look. You stay here with the kids. It’s a good excuse for me to take the bicycle out for a ride." Though Second Sister-in-law Su was full of complaints, she never shirked her responsibility when something needed to be done.

Su Wan shook her head, "Sister-in-law, I wouldn’t be able to rest easy with you riding your bike out alone at night. Let’s go together. We’ll have Aunt Zhao watch the children."

Aunt Zhao reminded them, "Wanwan, you two be careful tonight. It’s dark, so ride the bike slowly. Don’t fall."

"Don’t worry, Aunt Zhao. We’ll search for a bit, and if we don’t find her, we’ll come back." They just needed to do their duty. If Zhang Yun were more considerate, she wouldn’t be out this late without letting her family know.

Su Wan couldn’t let Second Sister-in-law Su get too wrapped up in this ordeal.

The two of them finished their meal and went out on the bicycle.

Second Sister-in-law Su pedaled while Su Wan sat on the back, pointing out a few places Zhang Yun might usually go.

The department store, the co-op, the park, and the street of clubs they’d been to before.

But after making a full circuit, they still hadn’t seen any sign of her.

Su Wan was getting angry. "Where did she run off to? It’s already dark, doesn’t she know we’ll be worried if she doesn’t come back?"

"Wanwan, let’s head back for now. What if Zhang Yun has already returned?"

That was all they could do.

However, to their disappointment, when Aunt Zhao saw them return after nearly forty minutes, she thought they had found her. "Did you find her?" she asked as soon as they came in. "The food in the pot is still warm, you’re just in time to eat."

Second Sister-in-law Su dismounted the bicycle and shook her head. "Aunt Zhao, we still haven’t found her."

"What? It’s almost seven-thirty, it’s completely dark out, and she’s still not back? Where did that child run off to? Even though the Capital is safer than smaller towns, there are still places the police can’t watch over. For a young woman to be out so late by herself, it’s dangerous if she runs into a bad person."

Even in the Capital these days, there were still robberies.

Especially from those unemployed young people. If the amount they robbed was small and they didn’t hurt anyone, nothing much would happen to them.

But the real fear was running into someone ruthless who’d kill for your money, or even worse... A young woman is always in more danger than a man when out at night.

Su Wan frowned. "I’ll go look for Zhao Yuan. He’s the only person she knows in the Capital."

"We’ll go straight to the textile factory."

Second Sister-in-law Su comforted her, "Wanwan, don’t be so anxious yet. Maybe it’s nothing, and we’re just scaring ourselves."

Su Wan agreed with a hum. "Second Sister-in-law, I’m sorry for dragging you all over the place."

"Hah, it’s nothing. Besides, I haven’t been out in a long time."

"Wanwan, you show the way."

"Alright." Second Sister-in-law Su rode the bicycle towards the textile factory. It was a fair distance from West City, and the bicycle ride alone took half an hour.

Many of the workers at the textile factory had already finished their shifts. The entire employee housing compound was occupied by people who worked at the factory.

When Su Wan got off the bicycle and asked where the Zhao family lived, the person they asked found Su Wan unfamiliar and looked them both up and down. "You’re not from the factory, are you?"

"No, we’re here visiting relatives."

Su Wan explained casually.

Unexpectedly, they had happened to run into the director of the factory’s Women’s Federation.

"What are your names? What kind of relatives of the Zhao family are you? Do you have a letter of introduction or your household registration book?"

Only then did Su Wan look at her seriously, and she saw the red armband on the woman’s arm.

Su Wan took out her own student ID. "I don’t have a job yet, and I didn’t bring my household registration book. Will a student ID work?"

The director of the Women’s Federation just wanted to confirm their identities. Hearing this, she reached out and took the ID. When she saw it was from Capital University, her gaze towards Su Wan instantly softened. This was a top student, a pillar of the nation; there was no way she could be some unidentified troublemaker.

"Young lady, there are quite a few people with the surname Zhao in our textile factory. Which one are you looking for?" the director of the Women’s Federation offered warmly.

"Zhao Guofeng’s family," Su Wan said. "His son is Zhao Yuan, and his daughter is Zhao Xiangxiang."