Volume 1, Chapter 60: Disappearance

Guan Mingxu rushed Song Qinian to the nearest private hospital. When she was wheeled into the operating room, his face was a mask of fear and anxiety.

Because he had sprinted the entire way, his chest heaved violently, and his hair was drenched in sweat.

He never could have imagined that the girl he had been searching for all this time would reappear before him in such a condition.

Dear God...

Please keep my little cutie safe!

If anything happens to her, I... I’ll shave my head and become a monk.

Why is it that every single time he crosses paths with her, she is in such a harrowing state?

Who on earth is she?

What kind of ordeal has she been through these past few days?

Fortunately, Song Qinian’s life was spared. Two hours later, she was wheeled out of the operating room.

Guan Mingxu let out a massive sigh of relief and immediately arranged a VIP ward for her.

He stared fixedly at Song Qinian. Her cheeks and the corners of her mouth were bruised and swollen—clear evidence of the horrific treatment she had suffered before he accidentally hit her with his car.

To think that some bastard would lay hands on someone as precious as her!

If he ever got his hands on that scumbag, he would make sure he paid dearly!

Guan Mingxu gently took Song Qinian’s hand in his. "Little cutie, this time, I will never let you slip away from me again."

No matter what she had endured in the past, now that fate had brought them together once more, he swore to protect her with everything he had.

***

After regaining consciousness for merely a few minutes, Lin Qiutong slipped back into a deep coma.

Shen Chiye stayed by her bedside until dawn, but she did not open her eyes again.

The Lin family had all gathered at the hospital. Having stayed awake the entire night, each of them looked utterly exhausted and haggard.

Lin Xing'an stepped up to Shen Chiye and said, "Chiye, Qiuqiu regaining consciousness for even a few minutes is already a miraculous piece of news for us. There is no telling when she will wake up next, so you should head back and get some rest."

Shen Chiye cast a lingering, profound look at Lin Qiutong on the hospital bed. Her cheeks were sunken and pale from long-term confinement.

Fortunately, she had finally woken up. The guilt that had weighed heavily on his shoulders for three full years could finally be slightly alleviated.

His cell phone suddenly rang. Seeing that it was a call from Shen Keqin, Shen Chiye nodded to Lin Xing'an and stepped out of the ward to answer it.

"What is it?"

"Brother, did Lin Qiutong really wake up?"

At this hour, Shen Keqin would normally still be fast asleep. However, she had been woken up by the urge to use the restroom, and while checking her phone afterward, she couldn't resist browsing her social media feed.

And lo and behold, her entire WeChat moments feed was flooded with posts about Lin Qiutong waking up the previous night.

Worried about Song Qinian, Shen Keqin sent her a few WeChat messages. After anxiously waiting for two minutes without a reply, she immediately tried calling Song Qinian, only to find her phone switched off.

"Since when did you care so much about Qiuqiu?"

"I don't care about her at all! I'm worried about my sister-in-law!"

The mere mention of Song Qinian caused Shen Chiye's heart to sink slightly.

Hearing his silence, Shen Keqin exploded on the other end of the line. "Shen Chiye, don't tell me you didn't go looking for my sister-in-law yesterday, and instead dumped her to go see Lin Qiutong?!"

"Have you grown a pair of guts?"

So it was true!

If Shen Keqin wasn't related to him, she would have loved to curse him out until he was blue in the face!

"Shen Chiye, let me tell you this: my sister-in-law's phone is turned off, and Zhang Qiaoqiao said she never came home last night! You might not like her, but if anything happens to her, I am cutting all ties with you!"

With that furious roar, Shen Keqin hung up the phone.

Listening to the dial tone echoing in his ear, Shen Chiye's mind went blank for a fraction of a second. The next moment, he bolted toward the hospital entrance, dialing Gao Kunlun's number as he ran.

Song Qinian was missing.

Zhang Qiaoqiao had watched Song Qinian leave looking all dressed up for a date with Shen Chiye, assuming the two of them were spending a romantic evening together.

She never could have imagined that Shen Chiye had never gone to meet Song Qinian at all.

Shen Chiye drove straight to Ozone Restaurant. While reviewing the security footage, a waiter informed him that Song Qinian had waited for him until past midnight before finally leaving.

A wave of agitation and unease surged through Shen Chiye, and his expression turned shockingly grim.

The surveillance footage was quickly retrieved, and the taxi driver was soon identified.

Gao Kunlun kicked the door of the driver's apartment wide open and found the man wearing a pair of red boxer shorts, rummaging through Song Qinian's handbag and holding her cell phone.

Without a word, Gao Kunlun strode forward and landed a fierce punch squarely on the man's face. Seizing the man by the collar, he demanded coldly, "Where is the owner of this bag? What did you do to her?"

The driver, whose nose had just been bandaged, started bleeding again from Gao Kunlun's punch. Cupping his nose, he yelled indignantly, "Who the hell are you guys? This is trespassing, you know that? I'm calling the police!"

Wearing a pair of black gloves, Shen Chiye picked up Song Qinian's phone. A sharp, suffocating pain gripped his chest.

"Where is Song Qinian?"

His voice was dark and icy, and the palpable murderous intent radiating from him terrified the driver to his core.

"I... I don't know..."

Shen Chiye gave Gao Kunlun a subtle glance. Understanding the signal immediately, Gao Kunlun unleashed a brutal barrage of punches and kicks on the man.

Gao Kunlun held nothing back, and blood began to stream from the driver's nose and mouth.

Realizing he might actually be beaten to death, the driver shielded his head and sobbed for mercy. "I really don't know! She... she was taken away by a few guys driving sports cars."

"Did you catch the license plate number?"

"No! It was pitch black outside, how could I possibly see it?!"

"Then why are her bag and phone in your possession?"

"I..."

"Speak! If you dare to lie to me, I'll finish you!"

Anyone could tell these men were not to be messed with, especially the one in the black suit wearing gloves. Deciding that confessing was better than being beaten to death—especially since the crime was just an attempted assault—the driver spilled everything.

"I saw that she looked pretty and was all by herself, so... but I swear I didn't succeed! She was too vicious, the injury on my nose was caused by her, and besides—"

Before the man could finish, Shen Chiye coldly interrupted him. "You should thank your lucky stars you didn't succeed. Otherwise, you'd already be a corpse! Gao Kunlun, he's yours."

"Yes!"

After Shen Chiye left the room, Gao Kunlun delivered a few more heavy blows to the driver. "As a taxi driver, instead of serving the public honestly, you dared to harbor evil intentions. If you can't control your lower body, you might as well not have it."

Gao Kunlun slammed his foot down hard, and a blood-curdling scream echoed through the entire building.

Meanwhile, after sleeping for over a dozen hours, Song Qinian finally stirred.

The moment she opened her eyes, a sharp, searing pain racked her entire body.

As consciousness slowly returned, a sudden memory flashed through her mind—she had gotten into a car accident while trying to escape.
And this place looked like a hospital!

As she shifted slightly, she felt her hand being held by someone. Before she could make out who it was, the man sleeping beside the bed jerked awake and leaped to his feet.

Their eyes met—one pair filled with wariness and confusion, and the other overflowing with wild joy and excitement.

Guan Mingxu pulled Song Qinian into an emotional embrace. "Little cutie, you're finally awake!"

Song Qinian's mind was still in a fog. The endearment "little cutie" sounded vaguely familiar, yet she couldn't recall where she might have heard it.

Being held so intimately by a total stranger made her deeply uncomfortable and awkward, so she reached out and pushed him away.

Struggling slightly, she used hand gestures to ask, "Who... are you? Where is this?"