Chapter 186: Comrade Zhang

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Comrade Zhang

"What are you two...?"

"Do you need help?" Zhang Qiao offered.

Su Wan guessed he had probably been nearby and overheard the call she and Second Sister-in-law Su made to her second brother.

Zhang Qiao had just been shopping at the supply and marketing co-op next door.

"Do you have time?" Su Wan really did need a few helpers. After all, she wasn’t sure how many male friends Zhao Yuan had, and she saw no need to put herself and Second Sister-in-law Su in danger.

Especially with Lu Zhengchuan away, it was never a bad thing to be extra careful.

"I do. I’ve already had dinner and was just walking it off. I also made a call to a comrade-in-arms in the Southwest," Zhang Qiao said, his gaze gentle.

Su Wan nodded. "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Comrade Zhang. Please come with us to look for Zheng Chuan’s younger sister, Zhang Yun. You’ve met her before at the Southwest Military District Headquarters."

"No problem." Zhang Qiao agreed with a nod. He got on Mrs. Zhao’s bicycle and had her sit on the back rack.

When Mrs. Zhao saw Zhang Qiao, her expression soured. If it were just the young women looking for her son, what could a few of them do, no matter what he had done?

But now there was a man with them...

"Comrade, your name is Zhang Qiao, right? You’re so good to Su Wan, willing to help her this late at night. You two must be very close, right?" Mrs. Zhao deliberately started sowing discord and trying to ruin Su Wan’s reputation, waiting until Su Wan’s bicycle was far enough away that she couldn’t hear.

Zhang Qiao’s brow furrowed. He ignored Mrs. Zhao’s words, remaining unmoved no matter what she said.

Zhang Qiao was no ordinary person. He was a soldier, and a bodyguard to a division commander at that. If he couldn’t grasp the underlying meaning of Mrs. Zhao’s words, he never would have reached his current position.

Seeing he didn’t say a word, Mrs. Zhao grew a little angry. "It seems Comrade Zhang is a truly kindhearted person. I bet you’d be willing to help any female comrade, wouldn’t you?"

"Still, I think Su Wan is just a vixen. She has the kind of face that’s made for seducing men."

As Mrs. Zhao’s words grew increasingly nasty, Zhang Qiao’s voice turned cold. "The more you try to stop me, the more suspicious I become that your son has done something terrible."

"You had better pray your son hasn’t done anything wrong. Otherwise, I can take him directly to the police station myself."

"What you should be doing right now is finding your son and praying we don’t catch him red-handed."

Mrs. Zhao instantly fell silent.

She clenched her fists at her sides, unable to hide the unease in her heart.

Although she didn’t know if Ah Yuan had anything to do with Zhang Yun’s disappearance, her son had indeed been plotting against Zhang Yun recently.

’If he gets caught in the act...’

Mrs. Zhao didn’t dare to think about it. She said no more and just obediently gave directions.

’When I find Ah Yuan later, I’ll have to remind him to be more careful in the future and not let the Lu Family get any dirt on him. Otherwise, all his scheming over the past six months will be for nothing.’

Soon, the two bicycles stopped in front of a house at the mouth of an alley.

"He’s in here."

Mrs. Zhao went forward and knocked on the door, shouting as she did, "Da Qiang! Da Qiang! Did my Ah Yuan come looking for you?"

Inside, Wang Daqiang’s mother opened the courtyard gate. The place was a mess, and it seemed quite a few people from the Wang family were home.

"Sister Zhao? Are you looking for Da Qiang? Da Qiang went out with your Zhao Yuan."

"Where did they go?" Mrs. Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. If they couldn’t find Ah Yuan through Wang Daqiang, she wouldn’t have to cooperate anymore. That would just be Su Wan’s bad luck.

"Da Qiang said your Zhao Yuan is treating him to a meal today at the new restaurant over on Tonglin Street."

With Mrs. Wang’s words, Mrs. Zhao’s plan fell through.

She forced a smile. "What’s the name of that new restaurant? It should be closed by now, right? It’s so late."

"I think it’s called Yuebin Restaurant. It’s a privately owned place. I hear the mutton there is to die for, but it’s expensive. Your boy is too generous, treating my Da Qiang," Mrs. Wang said, her face wreathed in smiles.

She wanted to keep chatting with Mrs. Zhao.

But Mrs. Zhao couldn’t manage a smile anymore.

’A restaurant!’

’Mutton!’

’How much must that cost? That spendthrift, Ah Yuan!’

Mrs. Zhao was inwardly reeling from the expense, but she forced a smile on her face. "Haha, it’s fine. Da Qiang and Ah Yuan are good friends. It’s just one meal. Well, uh, I have something else to do, so I’ll be going now."

As if a dog were chasing her, Mrs. Zhao hopped on the bicycle, desperate to rush over and stop Zhao Yuan from paying.

Su Wan got the restaurant’s name, but before she could speak, Zhang Qiao spoke up first. "I’ve heard of that place. Comrade Su Wan, you two follow me."

Su Wan nodded, and Second Sister-in-law Su pedaled her bicycle to follow.

From a distance, they could see that the restaurant in the alley was already clearing tables, obviously about to close.

Second Sister-in-law Su quickly parked her bicycle and went up with Su Wan to ask the proprietress.

"Ma’am, did you happen to have a customer tonight named Zhao Yuan?"

"We didn’t have many customers tonight. I don’t know who you mean by Zhao Yuan," the proprietress said, shaking her head.

Fortunately, Su Wan had come prepared. She took out a photo of Zhang Yun and showed it to the proprietress.

It was Zhang Yun’s ID photo. It had been needed for her permit to enter the military region when they were processing it at the Southwest Military Base Courtyard, so Su Wan had kept a copy. She had brought it with her when she went out to look for her, having already considered that no one would recognize Zhang Yun and a photo would be necessary to ask around.

However, after looking at the photo, the proprietress was still a little uncertain.

"Not many female comrades came to our shop today. There might have been one who looked like this, but I didn’t pay much attention."

"Do you know where she went?" Su Wan pressed, not giving up.

The proprietress shook her head. "I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention to that. The customers left after they finished eating. The last table with a female comrade left around seven o’clock."

"Does your restaurant serve alcohol?" Su Wan asked.

"We don’t, but one table of customers did bring their own *baijiu*. I remember the female comrade at that table got drunk and was helped out by her partner. I was afraid something might happen, so I asked a quick question to confirm their relationship before I felt at ease letting them leave."

It was already past eight o’clock.

Su Wan pressed her lips together. After thanking the proprietress, she didn’t linger and returned to her bicycle with a grim expression.

"Wanwan, you don’t think Zhang Yun was that drunk woman, do you?" Second Sister-in-law Su’s face paled slightly as she asked in a worried, low voice.

Su Wan said in a heavy voice, "There’s only one thing to do now. We have to check all the guesthouses. If we can’t find her... we’ll just have to keep looking everywhere. Maybe she’s just coming back late and didn’t have dinner with Zhao Yuan at all."

"Sigh, I guess that’s all we can do for now."

Second Sister-in-law Su was frantic with worry, but all she could do was get busy.

"Let’s split up. There are quite a few guesthouses around here," Zhang Qiao suggested.

Su Wan thought that since she had already troubled him this much, there was no point in being polite. "I’ll have to trouble you then, Comrade Zhang."

"It’s no problem. We in the army are good at finding people. I’ll get going then."

Zhang Qiao immediately got to work searching, dividing the area into different sections with Su Wan and the others. Mrs. Zhao wanted to go home, but Zhang Qiao pretended not to hear her.

They searched for most of the night, but didn’t find anyone in any of the state-run hotels.