The police immediately launched a sweeping manhunt for Cao Yuntian in Jiangcheng, and at the same time, all vehicles entering and exiting the city were subjected to the strictest searches.
However, after a day, all the vehicles previously designated by Cao Yuntian were found by the police, but Cao Yuntian was not among them.
Cao Yuntian seemed to have vanished into thin air. The Jiangcheng police issued a wanted notice and increased city-wide security.
However, Cao Yuntian had now lost all chances of turning things around. As long as he was apprehended, he could no longer pose any threat to Lin Xiaotian. During this time, Lin Xiaotian's focus should be on his work at the National Medical Hall.
The National Medical Hall, particularly the floor where Li Xiaotian worked, was almost always packed with people.
One day, Li Xiaotian finished work as usual and happened to encounter Xia Qingling during dinner. However, Xia Qingling merely snorted at Lin Xiaotian and ignored him afterwards.
Lin Xiaotian knew she was upset because he had revealed their fake relationship to his family. But Lin Xiaotian couldn't help it; in that situation, if he hadn't explained, his reputation would have been ruined.
Besides, it was all fake to begin with. Lin Xiaotian felt he had already done his best for Xia Qingling.
After all, they didn't have that deep a connection. The reason he helped Xia Qingling last time was primarily due to a half-threat, and Lin Xiaotian had also saved her. In a sense, Xia Qingling actually owed Li Xiaotian a favor.
But what Lin Xiaotian didn't expect was that Guo Linqing also ignored him. Lin Xiaotian had no idea what was going on.
During his lunch break, Lin Xiaotian would also visit Bai Xue. He felt conflicted about the current situation. He already had Qin Yuxiang, but he couldn't abandon Bai Xue. Bai Xue was now alone and helpless, and after what had happened between them, he couldn't just leave her. He had to continue maintaining this relationship.
Lin Xiaotian also took the opportunity to visit Bai Xue's mother. It had to be said that Bai Xue's mother was also very beautiful, and it seemed Bai Xue inherited her genes.
When she saw Lin Xiaotian, Bai Xue's mother was very pleased, especially when she learned that Lin Xiaotian was a doctor, which made her even more fond of him.
Moreover, Li Xiaotian seemed approachable, unlike the rich people she had seen who acted arrogant with even a little bit of money.
After chatting with Bai Xue's mother for a while longer, and as it was almost time to return to work, Lin Xiaotian went back to the National Medical Hall.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the National Medical Hall, Lin Xiaotian encountered Guo Linqing again.
Lin Xiaotian greeted Guo Linqing, who gave him a cold look and then asked, "Xiaotian, what's going on between you and Qingling?"
"Nothing," Lin Xiaotian replied, shrugging.
"Don't lie to me. I can tell you're having a disagreement, right? Qingling might have a bad temper, but she's a good girl. You should cherish her!" Guo Linqing said, letting out a long sigh.
Lin Xiaotian considered whether to tell Guo Linqing the truth, but in the end, he decided against it. Xia Qingling was currently upset. If he told Guo Linqing about this, given her temperament, she might think Lin Xiaotian was targeting her.
During the day, everything was calm. When evening came, Lin Xiaotian had the night shift, so he stayed at the National Medical Hall until his replacement arrived before leaving.
It was already ten o'clock at night when he left.
Lin Xiaotian stretched his back and slowly walked out of the National Medical Hall.
As he reached the entrance, he encountered Guo Linqing again.
"Are you also on the night shift?" Lin Xiaotian asked casually.
Guo Linqing gave a hum but didn't engage in further conversation with Lin Xiaotian.
Lin Xiaotian waited at the bus stop for Liang Xu to pick him up, so he said to Guo Linqing, "Why don't I give you a ride?"
"No, thank you. I'm afraid Qingling will misunderstand. I'll just take the bus myself," Guo Linqing refused decisively.
"Alright!" Lin Xiaotian didn't say anything more.
A short while later, Liang Xu drove up to the bus stop.
Lin Xiaotian invited Guo Linqing again, but Guo Linqing remained stubborn and did not get into the car.
After Lin Xiaotian left, a taxi pulled up in front of Guo Linqing. However, Guo Linqing did not get into the taxi, opting for the bus instead.
Although her salary was high, she was still relatively thrifty.
But what she didn't know was that after she got on the bus, the taxi behind her began to follow her.
The next day.
Lin Xiaotian left the Lin family's villa and was once again driven to the National Medical Hall by Liang Xu.
Because his schedule was fully packed every day, Lin Xiaotian immediately plunged into his work upon arriving at the National Medical Hall.
He was busy like this for the entire morning.
At noon, Li Xiaotian opened his phone and checked the news.
The front page of the news was still filled with Cao Yuntian's name, but it stated that he was still being pursued. It seemed Cao Yuntian was hiding very well.
But Lin Xiaotian believed that it was only a matter of time before Cao Yuntian was caught.
With cameras installed throughout the city, except for some remote suburban areas, Cao Yuntian had nowhere to hide.
Lin Xiaotian couldn't believe he could truly vanish into thin air.
However, since Cao Yuntian had not yet been caught, Lin Xiaotian remained vigilant.
Because Bai Xue had no one to protect her, Lin Xiaotian paid close attention to her safety.
Almost every noon, Lin Xiaotian would go to Bai Xue's villa and also have Liang Xu secretly protect Bai Xue.
In the evening, Lin Xiaotian still had the night shift. According to the contract, Lin Xiaotian had to be on duty when he was present, which allowed the hospital to permit Lin Xiaotian to work only one day a week.
Lin Xiaotian had no objections to this. As Lin Xiaotian was leaving the National Medical Hall, Xia Qingling's phone suddenly rang.
"Hello, Lin Xiaotian, is Qingling there with you?" Xia Qingling asked impatiently on the phone.
Actually, when she made this call, her heart was conflicted.
On one hand, she hoped for a positive answer from Lin Xiaotian, as she hadn't seen Guo Linqing all day, and her calls had gone unanswered.
On the other hand, she didn't want a positive answer, because it would prove that Guo Linqing was very close to Lin Xiaotian, which made her feel a pang of jealousy.
"No!" Lin Xiaotian replied. "Why are you asking all of a sudden?"
"Oh." Xia Qingling inexplicably felt relieved.
But then, she became anxious again.
"Qingling isn't with you? Then where could she be? I haven't seen her all day, and she hasn't answered my calls. Where do you think she could have gone?"
"Could she have taken leave?" Lin Xiaotian asked.
"The director did receive a text message from her requesting leave this morning. However, I called her immediately, but she didn't reply. Since she could take leave, why wouldn't she reply to my call? She always replied to my messages before. Could something have happened to her?" Xia Qingling sounded worried.
"It shouldn't be, right!" Li Xiaolin thought about it, but then quickly thought of something. "It shouldn't be, right?"