Chapter 062
Dongfang Jenqyih
Dongfang Jenqyih and his friends were sitting in a restaurant in a mall not far from their house. They all couldn't understand the behavior that their dahge had just shown. Shannchyuan, the eldest among them, suddenly did something strange and childish. He just left them. Their leader suddenly ran after a girl Jenqyih had never seen before. What was worse than that was that Shannchyuan said nothing at all before leaving.
Iren's confession that he had seen the girl before made everyone there listen carefully. Such a thing was not something they could simply pass up. They were not people who liked to gossip, but there were things they really needed to talk about more deeply.
Iren told the things he witnessed at dusk four days ago and in the morning three days ago. Jenqyih, who had previously heard Iren's story, just smiled. Tsaehorng and Chioujen listened to what Iren had to say with very serious faces.
"Who do you think that girl is?" Jenqyih looked straight at Chioujen after Iren finished telling the things he had witnessed a few days earlier.
"Why did Yihge ask me?" Chioujen looked back at Jenqyih with a surprised look.
"You've known Dahge since you were very young. You are close to Dahge's cousin's family. So, I think you know more about Dahge than we do," Jenqyih said.
"I was a child when I first met Beaushu, so, of course, I paid little attention to his private life. I had absolutely no idea who Beaushu's girlfriends were." Chioujen sighed as he said those words. Perhaps he regretted why he had paid no attention to the private lives of his surrounding people.
"I don't think we can blame Chioujen." Iren opened his mouth again. "Decades ago, Chioujen would not have been familiar with this kind of thing. Children and adults have different priorities."
"Even if Uncle Jongharng had known Uncle Duanmuh's female friends decades ago, I don't think it would be of much help. The woman we saw earlier was very young. There is no way she is an old friend of Uncle Duanmuh." Instantly, Tsaehorng continued Iren's words.
"Regarding that," Iren apparently hadn't finished commenting yet. "There's no way she's an old friend of Dahge's. But she could be related to an old friend of Dahge's. She could be the daughter or niece of an old friend of Dahge's."
Jenqyih, Chioujen, and Tsaehorng nodded quickly. Iren's words made sense.
"Since we left our hometown," Jenqyih said. I've never seen Dahge show such special concern for a woman. How about you guys?"
Iren shook his head. "So far, there's been no sign of anyone important to Dahge." He then looked at Chioujen.
Chioujen laughed. I haven't lived in this city for the past six months. It's clear what I know about Dahge's association is not as much as you know."
"Did Dahge never say anything about it?" Iren asked.
"All this time, whenever I called home, you, or at least one of you was always at home. Did you ever hear Beaushu tell me about his girlfriend over the phone?"
Jenqyih and Iren simultaneously shook their heads. The atmosphere was silent for a moment.
"Has Uncle Duanmuh never called Uncle Jongharng in the past six months?" Tsaehorng joined in on the conversation. "He could have called Uncle Jongharng not from home, so the other uncles didn't hear what you were talking about."
Chioujen nodded. "Beaushu did call me four or five times. But the duration was so short. We only talked about important things. No talk about personal issues related to women."
"But didn't Dahge come to your place about three months ago?" Jenqyih said. "At that time, he accompanied his boss, who owns the bookstore, to live with his relatives there."
"We did talk about a lot of things at that moment. But Beaushu didn't mention the women he'd known all his life." Chioujen uttered those words at a slow tempo. That way of speaking, to Jenqyih's ears, sounded like someone who wasn't sure what he was saying.
"This is completely Dahge's personal business," said Iren. "But do you think it's wrong to be a little curious about this? After all, we live in the same house."
"Telling about things like that to friends is normal," said Jenqyih. "But we can't force other people to say that. If Dahge wants to talk, of course we'll listen. But if he doesn't, we can't pressure him to say things he doesn't want to say."
"I know that," said Iren. "But it's impossible to expect that Dahge will come clean with us. He's one of those people who only says what he needs. Maybe only a cataclysmic event would make him consider sharing what he feels with us."
"Never mind," said Chioujen. "It's not good for us to gossip like this. Let's just wait for Beaushu's explanation. And whatever he has to say later, we should just accept it. Don't let anyone pressure Beaushu to say more than he wants."
Jenqyih and Iren nodded. Meanwhile Tsaehorng was silent. Perhaps the young man felt out of place if he commented on the matter.
"But," said Jenqyih. "Wouldn't it be better if one of us, right now, get out of here to chase Dahge?" He looked at his friends one by one.
"What for?" Iren raised his eyebrows. "After this, Dahge will definitely be back here again. He knows well that he must be home before twelve o'clock."
"Soon, the food we ordered will be ready. So, we better just wait here." Chioujen added to Iren's words.
Jenqyih said nothing else. He knew that what his friends were saying made sense. But there was an uneasy feeling in Jenqyih's mind. He was worried that something terrible would happen. Something Jenqyih couldn't explain.
After a while, the waiter came to bring the package of food to their table. The smell of food tickled Jenqyih's nose. He looked around. Everyone sitting there had facial expressions like they wanted to pounce on the plastic food bag. While rubbing his nose, Jenqyih opened his mouth again. "Now what? The food's ready, but Dahge hasn't shown up yet."
"We don't know where Dahge is after that woman. If we decide to leave here to look for him, we may not necessarily be able to find him. After all, if Dahge came back here later but didn't find us, wouldn't that make things even more complicated?" Iren let out those words with a fast tempo.
Chioujen looked at his watch. "Let's just wait a little longer. If Beaushu doesn't show up in five minutes, then our team will be divided into two. Some are looking for Beaushu. The other is waiting here. Also, we need to limit the time. If ten minutes later we still can't find Beaushu, then we go straight to the car. Beaushu will definitely head straight for the car when the time is up."
"If we still don't meet Dahge in the parking lot, what then?" Jenqyih still couldn't shake off the anxiety in his heart.
"We'll think about that later. When we're in the parking lot." Chioujen answered quickly.
Five minutes later, Shannchyuan was still not back.
"Yihge and I will go find Dahge. Chioujen and Tsaehorng wait here." Iren stood up in a flash.
Jenqyih also stood up. He followed Iren, who moved to the entrance of the restaurant right away. Just as they passed through the door, they saw people running. Iren turned to Jenqyih.
Something dangerous must have happened!
Chioujen and Tsaehorng seemed to be aware of that, too. The two of them stood up and ran towards Jenqyih and Iren. It wasn't lunchtime yet, so there weren't many visitors at the restaurant. Some visitors were still enjoying their food, but some got up and ran outside to see what had really happened.
A restaurant employee came out of a door that might lead to the room where the workers in the restaurant rested. From the clothes he was wearing, he seemed to be the manager of the restaurant. He walked straight to the door. Just at that moment, a security guard passed by. He was talking to other people through the walkie-talkie he was carrying. The restaurant employee stopped the security guard.
"What's the matter, Sir?" Ask the person who seemed to be the restaurant manager.
"The events of three days ago are happening again!" The security guard widened his eyes. His voice sounded so loud.
"When, Sir? Just now?" The manager looked confused.
"About five minutes ago!" The security guard's face was tense. As soon as he finished answering, he ran away from the restaurant.
Jenqyih and his friends looked at each other.
What was happening again? Was he referring to the light burst event that caused temporary blindness?
The visitors to the restaurant, both standing and sitting, looked stunned at what the security guard said. Iren gestured for his friends to return to the table where they had been sitting.
"This is so strange? How can such a coincidence happen?" Jenqyih muttered.
"Five minutes ago? We felt nothing here," said Iren.
"The incident was in the main hall on the ground floor. This restaurant is located in a secluded and somewhat hidden place at the edge of the building. So it's natural that we didn't hear anything," said Tsaehorng.
"It must be very chaotic down below. I think in such a mess, there's no way we'd be able to find Beaushu," Chioujen said. "Even we can get hurt if we dare to go down there now."
"Uncle Duanmuh ran out after the woman. They haven't come back yet. It's possible that they were on the ground floor. If they were still on the ground floor when the light burst occurred, there is a possibility that they are injured right now," Tsaehorng said.
Iren nodded. "It's not just people on the ground floor who can see that super bright light. The so-called main room is a large hall located right after the main entrance of this mall. The big hall on the ground floor has no roof."
"Regarding that," Chioujen instantly cut off Iren's words.
"Okay, that's not what I meant." Iren continued his words straightway. "The ceiling of the main hall is the roof of this mall building. So we can say that the hall rises up twelve stories high. The roof in that part is made of a transparent material like glass. So, the light that emanates from inside the hall can be seen clearly from the twelve levels on the left and right of the great hall. Even, I think, from the roof, people can still see the light in the great hall."
"So you mean we can't rule out the possibility that Dahge was injured even if he didn't come down to the ground floor," Jenqyih said.
Iren nodded.
"Then, in your opinion, what should we do now?" Tsaehorng asked for their consideration.
"Some of us need to go home as soon as possible, while others stay here to monitor the situation," Chioujen said.
"I have decided to be here," Iren said firmly. "Yihge, you come back to our house soon. Chioujen, I want you to return to the house where the police are monitoring this case. We need someone on duty at the 'police station'!"
Ah! I rarely see Iren taking the initiative like this. I think this is a positive thing.
Jenqyih nodded. Iren definitely wanted Jenqyih to contact Jongli to ask about the progress of Jongli's investigation. So far, Jongli had provided no information regarding the progress of the investigation that he and his group were carrying out. Jenqyih hoped it was because Jongli's superiors forbade him to divulge their steps to outsiders, not because they didn't have any news to share.
"Then what about me?" Tsaehorng looked at them with a hopeful face.
"We don't dare to trouble you any further," said Iren.
"Don't say that, Uncle. After all, I'm already involved."
"Wouldn't it be okay if you had to abandon your painting exhibition or your other business?" Jenqyih asked.
"It's okay, Uncle. All my assistants are reliable," Tsaehorng answered quickly.
"Speaking of business, how many days do you really get off? Iren asked Chioujen.
"So far, I've been busy working. During my days off, I also work. So all my holidays, if accumulated, would be a lot. The company has allowed me to take a long leave," said Chioujen.
"In that case, good." Jenqyih nodded with relief.
"Tsaehorng, I want you to go to your apartment right now. If Miss Liuchiou finds out about this incident, which will almost certainly be broadcast on television and radio soon, she could be just as desperate as come here to look for Dahge. Either way, she must not leave your apartment. If she goes here and gets hurt, I don't know how else to explain it to Dahge," said Iren.
"I understand, Uncle!" said Tsaehorng.
A beeper sounded. Tsaehorng took the pager from his pocket. He was wide-eyed when he read the message that was plastered on the pager screen.
"What is it?" Jenqyih was really worried this time.
Any more bad news?
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