Susu looked at him, knowing that no one would believe her based on a dream alone. "Tianyi, I understand. I was overthinking. I won't tell anyone about this dream but you."
"That's good. You're meeting Chang Qingchuan tomorrow. Do you want me to accompany you?" Qin Tianyi leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"No, you're busy. He's finally willing to meet me proactively. I want to spend some time talking with him so he won't be too sad."
"Alright, then I won't accompany you tomorrow. After you're done talking with him, I'll pick you up. Send me the address then."
Susu nodded and hugged him with a smile. "It's getting late. Let's get some rest."
After Qin Tianyi fell asleep that night, she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but think of Huo Jin, and the more she thought about it, the more suspicious it became. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
The next morning, as soon as Qin Tianyi left the villa, she drove herself to the address that had been sent to Huo Jin, wanting to follow the navigation and drive the same route Huo Jin had taken.
Susu set off from Lancheng and didn't reach the village mentioned by Aunt Chen until dusk. She didn't pass the pond where Huo Jin had the accident along the way.
She studied it carefully again. Neither of the two routes on the navigation passed the pond.
She had only stopped to refuel along the way. If Huo Jin drove slower than her, his arrival time would only be an hour or two later.
She parked her car at the entrance of the village and asked about the house where Shu Yan had lived. Following the directions from the villagers, she arrived at the most imposing house in the village. The gate was locked with an iron lock, and no one lived there anymore.
Susu inquired further in the vicinity. Villagers said that the woman and child who had previously lived there had moved away.
This house had been renovated years ago and had been uninhabited until a year ago when a woman from the city moved in.
Not long after, this woman gave birth to a child at the county hospital, lived there with the child for a period, and left last week.
The closest neighbor to Shu Yan's former residence, an old woman, kindly told Susu, "The woman who used to live inside rarely interacted with the villagers. She would occasionally sit in the front yard of the house to sunbathe. Jia Nanfang visited twice, and a tall, handsome man often came to take care of her and the child."
Susu knew the man she spoke of was likely Xiao Anjing, but why had Shu Yan's mother, Jia Nanfang, only visited twice?
She found Huo Jin's photo on her phone and showed it to the family, asking, "Do you remember if the woman in the photo has been here?"
The family all shook their heads and said with certainty, "We haven't seen her, nor has she been to our village."
Susu felt a bit dejected, wondering if Huo Jin had really taken the wrong road while drunk and therefore hadn't come to this village.
She came to the village entrance, opened the car door, and felt she had wasted the entire day without finding any clues.
Just then, her phone rang. It was Qin Tianyi.
But as soon as she answered, Qin Tianyi's anxious voice came through, "Susu, you didn't go to see Qingchuan today. Where did you drive to?"
"Tianyi, I'm sorry. Actually, Qingchuan and I agreed to meet tomorrow. Today, I drove myself to take another look around the area where Huo Jin had the accident."
Qin Tianyi took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to get angry, and asked, "It's already dark. Are you still out there alone in the wilderness?"
"I'm in a village nearby. It's very safe, don't worry. I'm just about to drive back."
"Which road are you taking back? Send me the navigation. Be careful driving at night. I'll pick you up at the nearest highway service area."
Susu's heart felt as if it had been squeezed. Knowing he was worried about her, she felt an endless love for him. "I can drive back myself. You don't need to rush to pick me up. Just wait for me at home."
"Stop chattering. Send me your location and keep in touch with me at all times."
Before Susu could say anything more, he had already hung up.
No one believed her intuition, not even Qin Tianyi, which was why she had lied to him. She just wanted to figure some things out.
If she couldn't figure out Huo Jin's accident, she might never find peace in her life.
She could only investigate using the methods she could think of. It didn't matter if Qin Tianyi didn't believe her, as long as he didn't think she had mental problems.
Her mind was perfectly normal, and she believed her intuition was correct.
To avoid worrying Tianyi, she sent him her location. Just as she was about to drive away, an old man from the house she had inquired with ran to her car, panting, "It's good you haven't left."
"Grandpa, is there something else?"
The old man asked, "Who are you to the Jia family? Why did you come here, and what do you want with the previous woman?"
"I'm an acquaintance of their family and wanted to see the child. I didn't expect they had already moved out." Susu asked calmly, "Are you a relative of the Jia family? Is this house their ancestral home?"
"I'm a distant relative. Their family went to the city and became wealthy years ago, leaving this house behind in the countryside. Few people ever come back. It's quite rare for a descendant to come and live here for over a year."
Susu agreed, "That's true. Since they don't live here anymore, I should be going."
The old man lowered his voice and said, "I'll tell you something if you can buy me a pack of cigarettes at the convenience store at the village entrance."
"Sure, what is it?" Susu thought the old man was a chain smoker, but it was just a pack of cigarettes, and it wouldn't hurt to give it to him.
"Show me that photo again."
Susu immediately realized he was talking about Huo Jin's photo. As she scrolled through her phone, she asked, "Have you seen the woman in the photo in this village?"
The old man carefully examined Huo Jin's photo again and said, "One night not long ago, I saw someone who should have been her. It was too dark then, and I wasn't entirely sure."
"Tell me how you saw her then."
"One night not long ago, I came out of my house to check on the village chicken farm, fearing weasels at night. As I passed the Jia family's ancestral home with my flashlight, I saw a woman using her phone as a flashlight. Judging by her clothes, she was from the city."
Finally, there was a clue. Susu excitedly asked, "Is it this woman in the photo?"
"She was walking towards me. But the village streetlights were too dim, and I wanted to get to the chicken farm quickly, so I didn't shine my flashlight on her face. As she passed me, I only glanced at her. Now that I think about it, she looked quite like the woman in this photo."
Susu quickly asked, "Where did this woman go later? Did she drive away?"
"When I saw her, she had just gotten out of her car, which was parked outside the Jia family's ancestral home. Of course, she went into the ancestral home, where the woman living there at the time hadn't moved out yet. When I returned from the chicken farm, the car was gone. I guess she left shortly after arriving."