290 Missing
The man looked around. After confirming that there was no one around, he quickly tied Yu Bing up and stuffed a towel into Yu Bing’s mouth. Then, he placed her in the snakeskin bag he had prepared beforehand and quickly walked to the main road.
It was five o’clock when Xiao Sheng returned. When he saw Yu Bing’s closed door, he wasn’t in a hurry to tell her the good news. Instead, he returned to his room to get his enamel cup and went to the state-owned restaurant not far away to order brown sugar-boiled egg.
In the past, whenever his mother was feeling unwell at this time every month, his father would prepare a bowl of brown sugar-boiled eggs and his mother would feel better after eating it.
The round trip took less than 20 minutes. Just as Xiao Sheng was about to raise his hand to knock on Yu Bing’s door, he lowered it.
In his opinion, this was a very private matter. He and Yu Bing were not husband and wife. He was worried that his actions would seem rash, but on second thought, it was better than letting Yu Bing continue to suffer, so he raised his hand firmly and knocked on the door a few times.
Seeing that no one answered, Xiao Sheng knocked harder a few more times, but there was still no answer. Xiao Sheng was a little worried that she might have fainted from the pain.
Xiao Sheng didn’t have time to put down the porcelain cup. He went straight to the front desk on the first floor and said anxiously, “Hello, the person living in room 208 is my colleague. I knocked on the door just now, but no one answered. She started to feel unwell this afternoon. I’m a little worried about her, so please help me open the door.”
The young lady at the front desk recognized Xiao Sheng. This man was the best-looking person she had ever seen in her life. Unfortunately, he was from the countryside. Otherwise, she would have thought of a way to win him over no matter what.
Because of Xiao Sheng’s good looks, she remembered him on the first day and also remembered Yu Bing. Moreover, she was the one who told Yu Bing that someone was looking for her today.
The young lady blushed slightly. “Your colleague’s name is Yu Bing, right? A little boy came to look for her today. Then, I saw her return to her room to get a bag and leave. She seemed to be in a hurry.”
This was the first time the two of them came to this city. What could Yu Bing possibly do?
Xiao Sheng couldn’t think of the reason. The two of them came out together to do something, so no matter how anxious Yu Bing was, she would have left a note and stuffed it into his room. It was impossible for her to leave without a word!
“Do you know what time she went out?”
The receptionist said affirmatively, “About four-fifteen. That’s when we go to the boiler room to boil hot water every day. She’d just left when the receptionist’s alarm went off.”
Xiao Sheng continued to ask, “Did you see which direction she left in?”
The receptionist frowned and tried to remember. “I saw her go right after leaving the door. She kept looking at the map, so she must have been trying to find the way.”
Xiao Sheng’s intuition told him that something was wrong, so he placed the enamel cup at the front desk for safekeeping and left.
Xiao Sheng asked around the shops on the street. When he saw a young man reading at the entrance of the bookstore, he immediately went forward and asked, “Hello, did you see a girl in her twenties at 4:15 p.m.? She was wearing a plaid shirt and black pants. She had two braids that reached her chest. By the way, she’s about this tall and might be holding a map.”
Xiao Sheng gestured.
At the mention of the map, the young man immediately remembered.
He was an employee of the bookstore. At that time, he saw that the door was a little dirty, so he took a broom to sweep the floor. Then, he saw a young lady walking forward with a map.
Because she was quite beautiful, he paid more attention to her. “I saw her. She seemed quite anxious and she turned into the path at the entrance ahead.”
After Xiao Sheng finally obtained a useful clue, he hurriedly thanked him and ran into the alley. After running for dozens of meters, he saw two forks.
After Xiao Sheng looked around, he could only choose one at random. Then, he continued to ask people as he walked forward. However, there was basically no one on the road in the residential area at this time.
Just as Xiao Sheng had to choose a path at the fork again, he discovered a little girl about ten years old walking towards him with a map in her hand.
Xiao Sheng took a few steps forward and yanked the map over. After he opened it, he discovered the various circles he and Yu Bing had drawn on it when they were researching the location.
The little girl was shocked by Xiao Sheng’s actions. After Xiao Sheng came back to his senses, he realized that his actions were too aggressive, so he hurriedly smiled and tried to look as gentle as possible. “Little girl, where did you get this map?”
The little girl looked at Xiao Sheng timidly. If not for Xiao Sheng’s handsome looks, she would have run away in fear. “I picked it up on the path at Westwind Road.”
When Xiao Sheng heard this, he frowned. On the path? He took out 0.02 yuan from his pocket and tried to entice her, “Little girl, bring me to the place where you picked up the map. Then, you can take this 0.02 yuan to buy candy.”