Back at the police station, he hadn't seen Deng Rui. Although everyone said Deng Rui was fine, he still wanted to apologize to him in person.
Deng Rui's side was quiet. His voice was soft and low as he said, "You don't need to feel guilty about that anymore. I'm really fine, my body is as good as ever."
"But Master, why did you go abroad, and where abroad?"
"Don't ask about these things. All my actions need to be kept confidential." Deng Rui paused and said, "I'm contacting you just to ask you one thing."
"What is it? Just ask."
"Has Yang Sijie been looking for you recently? What's your relationship with him?"
Su Kangxi didn't understand why Deng Rui was asking about his personal affairs. He said, "Master, how do you know Sijie? He did come to find me. We are good brothers. We grew up together in the orphanage. Later, he was adopted by a foreign couple and became a wealthy businessman abroad."
"Okay, I understand." Deng Rui asked with a faster tone, "What did he want from you?"
"He asked me to use my internal connections in the police force to help him find his girlfriend. It's all personal matters." Su Kangxi felt something was wrong and asked, "Master, does he have a problem, or has he done anything illegal?"
"Never violate a police officer's principles for him. Also, be careful when he contacts you again."
"Why? What happened?"
"This is all I can tell you now. Be extremely careful." Deng Rui hung up.
Su Kangxi sat up, still holding his phone in a daze. Deng Rui had finally contacted him, but he had said all these things without making any sense, and why did he even bring up Sijie?
The more he thought about it, the less he understood. What had happened in between? Why had Deng Rui gone abroad?
The next morning, he went to his direct superior to inquire about Deng Rui's mission.
His superior didn't answer any of his questions, only saying, "Xiao Su, don't ask too many questions about some things. He was definitely sent out on an important mission. You also know our rules; these are absolutely classified matters, and no one can tell."
Su Kangxi felt that Deng Rui had gone abroad as an undercover agent and didn't press his superior further.
But if that were the case, Deng Rui's situation abroad would be even more dangerous than his previous undercover work, and he couldn't help but worry about Deng Rui's safety.
He understood that once a secret mission was accepted, there was no turning back, and one could only rely on oneself when dealing with criminals.
Fortunately, Deng Rui was a more experienced veteran police officer than him and should be better at handling various situations.
He looked forward to Deng Rui completing his mission and returning safely, so they could work overtime together again and go for late-night snacks.
Back in the office, a colleague gave him some information they had found. It showed that Gu Susu had never returned after going abroad, and there were no records of her re-entering the country in the past six months.
But when Yang Sijie came to see him last time, he clearly said he had returned with Susu a few months ago, which was strange.
Since Sijie was so anxious and worried about him finding Susu in Lancheng, Susu should be in Lancheng. But how had Susu returned? Could she have smuggled herself back?
"Have you checked thoroughly? Could she have transferred flights from another city in China to Lancheng?"
"Captain Su, I've checked very thoroughly. The civil aviation passenger system is connected to our system in real-time, so there can be no omissions." His colleague suddenly thought of something. "Could the person you're looking for have changed their name abroad and used a passport with a different name to return?"
Su Kangxi found a photo of Gu Susu on his phone and sent it to his colleague, saying, "Then use her real photo again and compare the facial features in the system."
"Okay."
Su Kangxi realized that Yang Sijie had not told him the truth about how Susu had returned to Lancheng.
He picked up his phone, wanting to find Yang Sijie and ask for clarification, but then he remembered Deng Rui's instructions from last night and felt doubts.
The priority now was to find Susu. He wanted to hear what Susu would say, and it wasn't the time to contact Sijie proactively.
...
Although it was still like searching for a needle in a haystack, Qin Tianyi was unwilling to give up any hope.
For the past two days, apart from eating and sleeping, he had been looking around this small town, hoping for a miracle that would allow him to encounter Susu again without any warning.
But he still found nothing, and the private investigator had no new leads.
Seeing that he couldn't stay any longer, or Yang Sijie would become suspicious, he returned to the self-service bank to keep watch, hoping Susu would come to withdraw money again.
The afternoon passed, and it was almost dusk, but Susu's figure had not appeared. He overheard someone who had just finished withdrawing money say they were going to a nearby clothing wholesale market to get stock.
As soon as he heard "clothing wholesale," he thought of Susu's talent for fashion design, and he wanted to go there to browse, so as not to be too depressed.
Even knowing that Susu was hiding in this small town, it was unrealistic to find her in such a short period.
He asked a passerby for the specific location of the clothing wholesale market.
The passerby told him it was on the basement level of the building opposite the self-service bank.
No wonder he had been wandering around this area and hadn't found a clothing wholesale market; it was underground.
He took the escalator in the opposite building to the basement level and saw that there was indeed a market there, filled with clothing stores.
He walked around, and a stall near the exit caught his eye. He felt that the style of the clothes sold there had some characteristics and was a bit different from other merchants in the market.
He walked closer to the stall to get a better look, only to find that the stall owner organizing the clothes looked more and more familiar.
It was almost time to close, and Wei Yanan was counting clothes, doing accounts, and preparing to pack up. Seeing a customer at the stall, she put down the clothes she was holding and turned around, saying, "You have excellent taste. Our clothes are unique in the entire market. Feel free to tell me what style you like..."
The sales pitch she had been reciting so smoothly got stuck in her throat when she saw the person standing at the stall.
She could hardly believe her eyes. Why would Qin Tianyi come to such a market? This was not a place he should be.
Perhaps this man just looked like Qin Tianyi. She quickly adjusted herself, ready to continue charming the customer.
Qin Tianyi remembered her and said, "It's you! Wei Yanan, Susu's friend."
This time, Wei Yanan knew she hadn't misidentified him; the person in front of her was indeed Qin Tianyi.
She seemed very surprised and said with a laugh, "Mr. Qin, it's you! What a coincidence, it's really a coincidence."