To seduce her

As the night deepened, Qi Xiurui's room was still lit with warm lights.

Qi Xiurui hung up the video call with Grandpa Qi. His face looked heavy and lost, as if he was suffocating under invisible pressure.

He slowly put down his phone, folded his hands on the table, and stared at the dark night sky outside the window, as if looking for some answers or hope.

Mr. Qi’s words echoed in Qi’s heart, like a heavy dark cloud hanging over Qi Xiurui’s head.

The phone in his hand seemed to still carry the warmth of Mr. Qi's words, but it conveyed the cold reality.

There is still no news about Shen Yaochu.

Qi Xiurui walked to the window and looked out with empty eyes.

The street lights became blurred in his eyes, but his thoughts were extremely clear.

He felt a sense of loss he had never felt before, as if the most precious thing in his heart had been taken away, leaving only an empty hole.

Shen Yaochu's sudden disappearance is a mystery in everyone's eyes.

Gao Yuchuan has never been sure what Shen Yaochu's current condition is, but everyone has already tacitly agreed that Shen Yaochu is dead.

Now, everything Gao Yuchuan did was just because he refused to admit the fact that Shen Yaochu had passed away.

In everyone's eyes, Gao Yuchuan was like a man who went crazy because of losing his beloved woman. He secretly handled Shen Yaochu's funeral, but seemed to have lost his memory and told the whole world that Shen Yaochu was just missing.

But no one knows the truth.

Gao Yuchuan refused to talk to the world and refused to mention Shen Yaochu.

In other words, Gao Yuchuan said that she just disappeared, but no one in this world believed it.

But Qi Xiurui always thought, how great would it be if it was really as Gao Yuchuan said?

……

There was a gentle knock on the study door and Qi Xiulei walked in.

Ever since Qi Xiurui recovered, his father and mother returned to the Qi family, relieving a lot of her work pressure, so she had time to go home more often.

Qi Xiulei noticed the expression on Qi Xiurui's face and asked with concern: "What's wrong, Xiaorui? You don't look well."

"Sister." Qi Xiurui said in a low voice, with a hint of confusion and disappointment: "There is still no news about Miss Shen. Grandpa even said that I would be disappointed if he continued to investigate."

Qi Xiulei looked at Qi Xiurui distressedly and exhaled slowly: "Xiao Rui, sometimes people need to accept reality. Gao Yuchuan is her husband, he has to accept reality, let alone you?"

Qi Xiulei and Qi Xiurui are not far apart in age. They grew up together and know each other very well.

Qi Xiurui had just recovered from a serious illness, but he was still immersed in the emotion of "killing" Shen Yaochu and couldn't extricate himself.

Qi Xiulei walked over to Qi Xiurui and rubbed his shoulders. "I understand how you feel, but you have to know that all this is destined. No matter how much you blame your parents, things have come to this point. You are now continuously supplying resources to Gao Yuchuan, which is already atonement. Don't blame yourself too much, okay?"

Qi Xiurui listened to his sister's words and did not agree with her, but he did not want to explain more.

There is no complete empathy in this world. His sister doesn't understand, and he doesn't want to force it.

But he didn't want to give up on finding Shen Yaochu.

"I know, sister." Qi Xiurui pursed his lips and said, "I just don't want to sit back and do nothing. If Miss Shen really died and Gao Yuchuan was holding on, then I will continue to atone for my sins. But if it is true as Gao Yuchuan said, Miss Shen quietly left Lugang, then I want to help him find Miss Shen together. Her safety is of vital importance to me."

Qi Xiurui's Adam's apple slid up and down. "If she were still alive, I might be able to dispel some of my hatred for myself. So, please help me contact the private detective you mentioned before and see if he can provide some help."

"Didn't I say that? He might not be as powerful as the people under Gao Yuchuan..."

"It doesn't matter." Qi Xiurui interrupted her: "I have to do something."

Qi Xiulei looked at Qi Xiurui, knowing that her brother was always stubborn. She thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I will contact him. But you have to be mentally prepared, the result... may not be what you want."

Qi Xiurui took a deep breath and said with a firm look: "I understand. But as long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will not give up."

Qi Xiulei patted his brother on the shoulder, giving him encouragement and support.

"By the way, Xiao Rui, since you mentioned it, there is something I have to tell you." Qi Xiulei hesitated, but after thinking about it, she said, "You asked me to help you keep an eye on Gao Yuchuan's whereabouts and see if I can find some clues, right?"

"Yeah." Qi Xiurui raised his eyes and looked at Qi Xiulei expectantly: "Is there anything special?"

"He took his two children to the beach." Qi Xiulei's eyes flashed with a complicated emotion: "It was the beach that the four of them went to before Shen Yaochu fell ill."

Qi Xiurui's heart sank slightly, as if he was hit by something. His thoughts were a little confused, and he could only ask doubtfully: "What do you mean?"

Qi Xiulei was silent for a while, as if he was considering his words: "What I mean is that people usually only revisit old places when they miss them. Xiao Rui, I think you should consider the old man's thoughts. Miss Shen may have... Gao Yuchuan doesn't want to admit it, but doesn't his behavior prove that..."

Qi Xiurui felt as if his heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand. His brows were furrowed. He tried to stay calm, but the doubts and uneasiness in his heart surged like a tide.

He and Shen Yaochu had very little contact, and at first he was just attracted by her eyes.

But later, unknowingly, there seemed to be some kind of fate between them.

When they met Shen Yaochu, they were like a calamity in each other's lives.

He also thought, if he hadn't met Shen Yaochu, would he still be fighting against his parents, constantly trying to live his own life? He wouldn't get sick, nor would he realize his parents' selfishness and cruelty.

But he was also very glad that he met Shen Yaochu, otherwise, in that fire, no one could save Shen Yaochu, and perhaps she would have been gone by then...

It's just that there is no if.

He saved Shen Yaochu, but his parents brought countless harm to Shen Yaochu, and in the end it was even their family that "killed" her.

"Xiao Rui." Looking at Qi Xiurui's red eyes, Qi Xiulei comforted him distressedly: "Sometimes the truth is crueler than we imagine. But no matter what, we have to face it."

"Maybe..." Qi Xiurui's voice trembled a little: "Maybe she is really gone..."

"..."