After circling Beijing all night looking for Ji Yi to no avail, there were only three possible places left to search.
Tang Huahua kept in contact with him, so he knew Ji Yi hadn't returned to school yet.
In actuality, deep down, he knew that the possibility of her being back at school was the slimmest. Yet, he was also afraid that she was avoiding him and Tang Huahua was helping her hide from him. It'd be good to drop by the school personally.
As for her parent's house, the possibility of her being there was relatively high. However, after he arrived, he learned from the cleaning staff that her parents had been abroad on holiday for over half a month now. This meant she hadn't come back from Hengdian.
He was most afraid of her being at the home he bought under He Yuguang's name. He knew better than anyone what it meant if she really was avoiding him at "He Yuguang"'s after they had sex. Yet, he knew deep down that the possibility of her being there was the highest.
As he left Ji Yi's house, He Jichen first stopped by his own home, took a shower, and changed into a clean set of clothes. After he confirmed that there weren't any traces of cigarette smoke on him, he took off the red string and hid it in his pocket before he left.
The apartment under He Yuguang's name rarely had anyone staying over, but someone always came to clean it every day.
He entered the passcode and pushed open the door. A clean and bright living room came into view. The pink rose on the coffee table in front of the sofa was blooming beautifully.
Objects were placed neatly in every corner of the room and it looked completely like there wasn't anyone there. There weren't even any extra shoes in the shoe cabinet.
He Jichen guessed that she probably wasn't here.
But he still had a sliver of hope, so he changed his shoes and walked into the apartment. Then he searched every inch of every corner of the apartment.
She actually wasn't in "He Yuguang"'s apartment...
The worst thing for He Jichen didn't happen, yet he wasn't the least bit happy. Instead, he felt even more anxiety and agitation crawl into his chest.
She hadn't left Beijing, yet he searched her usual spots, her favorite places, and even the places she only went to once or twice. However, he still couldn't find her. Just where could she be?
A new day came, and the rising sun shone bright rays of light. The temperature in the room rose higher and higher. The cars and pedestrians on the bustling streets gradually merged to form heavy traffic.
The sun rose from the east and set in the west. When darkness fell, all the city lights started to illuminate the streets.
He Jichen had unconsciously driven around Beijing for the whole day. Out of habit, he tried calling her phone again. The expression on his face became a little numb when he heard that her phone was still turned off.
He stared straight ahead and drove for quite some distance then parked the car by the road. After he lit a cigarette, he sent her a text message.
The whole day passed without a word back from her... Did she do this all just to avoid me?
It felt like there was something stuck in He Jichen's throat, stifling him till his chest ached. He took two heavy drags of his cigarette then pulled out He Yuguang's phone from his bag.
The world was so big. If Ji Yi was determined to avoid him, then even if he was really capable, he still might not be able to find her.
But He Yuguang was different. He was the person she liked the most. Maybe he could use his brother's identity to find out where she was.