After two more rounds of rain, Phoenix City officially slipped into late autumn.
Inside a private club with impeccable privacy, the tightly shut door blocked out the piano music from the main hall. Guo Fengnian sprawled on the sofa, so exhausted that his eyes were unfocused.
Liang Xiao could read the answer from his expression, but he still asked, “Still no sign of her?”
Guo Fengnian sprang upright as though released from a coil, picked up the lemonade on the table, and drained it in one go. Only after catching his breath did he let out a long sigh. “It wasn’t her. The silhouette just looked a little like hers.”
It had already been two months.
For two whole months, they had searched everywhere for Zhang Xiyue.
He still remembered that morning two months ago, the day after Cheng Mingjiao’s failed proposal. He had been sleeping soundly when his phone suddenly rang and woke him up.
He was in a foul mood, but the moment he saw the caller ID, his irritation gave way to helplessness. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Young master, why are you calling so ear—”
“Zhang Xiyue is gone,” Cheng Mingjiao said over the phone.
He jolted awake and sat up at once. “What happened?”
“She left behind a breakup letter and a bank card, then disappeared.” Cheng Mingjiao’s tone was calm, but there was unmistakable panic beneath it.
Still groggy from being forcibly awakened, he could barely process the words. “B-breakup?”
“It can’t be a breakup. She loves me so much—how could she possibly break up with me? Something must have happened to her. That’s why she left those things behind and vanished. Her phone has been switched off the entire time. I don’t know what to do, I…”
“Calm down, Mingjiao. Calm down first.”
While trying to soothe Cheng Mingjiao, he quickly got dressed. They met up as fast as possible and went to the nearest police station to file a report.
But they hadn’t expected that Zhang Xiyue had anticipated exactly what they would do. Before they even arrived, she had already gone to the station herself and spoken to the police.
“She’s not in danger. She just doesn’t want to be with you anymore,” the officer on duty said kindly. “You’re a fine young man. Don’t let yourself get stuck in a dead end.”
Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes were frighteningly red, but he did not press the matter further.
From that day on, however, Cheng Mingjiao began mobilizing every connection he had to find her. Fearing that something might happen, he informed Liang Xiao on his own initiative.
When Liang Xiao learned that Cheng Mingjiao and Zhang Xiyue had dated—and broken up—he gave Cheng Mingjiao a thorough scolding before turning around to try to reason with him.
But no matter how they tried to persuade him, Cheng Mingjiao insisted on searching.
“She must have some reason she can’t tell me. She liked me so much—if she hadn’t run into some kind of problem, she never would have wanted to break up with me. I have to find her. I have to ask her why.”
Seeing the stubborn look in Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes, the two of them knew there was no point saying more. They could only join the search.
Yet Zhang Xiyue seemed to have vanished completely.
She had no relatives, no close friends. Even the classmates she had once attended school with did not remember her at all. If it weren’t for the fact that her records and files were undeniably real, they might almost have believed that she did not belong to this world.
Where had she gone?
How had she managed to hide so thoroughly?
Was she… still alive?
As if in answer to their questions, after they had searched for her so openly and relentlessly for a month, she called Liang Xiao—the most levelheaded among them.
The two spoke for twenty minutes. Liang Xiao recorded ninety percent of the conversation.
Within that ninety percent of the information, one hundred percent of it told him the same thing: Zhang Xiyue was safe, Zhang Xiyue had no unspeakable difficulties, and Zhang Xiyue simply wanted to break up with Cheng Mingjiao.
“I’m doing very well now. Please talk to him and tell him not to look for me anymore.”
Those were the last words Zhang Xiyue said before ending that call.
Cheng Mingjiao listened to the recording thirty times. Then, at last, he calmly looked at Liang Xiao.
“Get someone to trace the IP address of this number.”
Liang Xiao was silent for a long time, but he did not refuse.
But when someone was determined not to be found, even the calls they made came through spoofed IP addresses. They investigated for a long time, yet found nothing.
That day, Cheng Mingjiao flew into a terrible rage and smashed up everything in the house. But when he got up the next morning, he acted as though nothing had happened and continued searching as before.
For the past two months, they had left no stone unturned. Today was no different. Just because they had spotted a similar-looking figure in the background of a short video, Guo Fengnian had driven three hours to another city.
In the end, it had merely been someone with a similar silhouette.
“I drove six hours there and back, and with all the searching, I haven’t eaten for nearly ten hours,” Guo Fengnian complained as he grabbed a handful of peanuts. “How could Xiyue be so heartless? She broke up with him just like that, disappeared just like that, without giving Mingjiao any chance to win her back.”
Seeing the resentment written all over his face, Liang Xiao said rationally, “Everyone has the right to end a relationship. As the one who initiated the breakup, Xiyue has the right to decide whether she wants to give Mingjiao another chance... Honestly, her attitude has been so clear. What we’re doing—looking for her like this—is deeply unethical.”
“I know. I just feel awful. They were so perfect together...” Guo Fengnian sighed again, his face full of melancholy.
Liang Xiao did not know what to say either. For a while, neither of them spoke.
After a long silence, Guo Fengnian sprawled across the sofa and nudged the toe of Liang Xiao’s shoe with his foot.
Liang Xiao turned to look at him.
“Will Mingjiao be going to the Chen family matriarch’s birthday banquet tonight?” Guo Fengnian asked.
Liang Xiao said, “Most likely. Aunt Feng gave him a direct order—he has to attend on behalf of the Cheng family.”
“Aunt Feng really is something. She knows perfectly well Mingjiao isn’t in the mood, yet she still wants him to go socialize.” Guo Fengnian frowned deeply.
Cheng Mingjiao’s search had been so high-profile that news of the breakup had long since reached Cheng Hanting and Feng Shan. Though they were surprised by the breakup, they strongly disapproved of his efforts to find her. They believed that after a breakup, one should preserve one’s dignity rather than cling on so relentlessly.
Unfortunately, Cheng Mingjiao would not even listen to his own parents. He was determined to find Zhang Xiyue.
At first, Cheng Hanting and Feng Shan tried to stop him. Later, when they realized he simply could not find her, they let him do as he pleased.
But their agreement not to interfere came with one condition: he had to compromise on certain small matters, such as attending the Chen family matriarch’s birthday banquet.
“We’ll go together when the time comes. We’ll show our faces, get the task over with, and leave right away,” Guo Fengnian suggested.
Liang Xiao glanced at him and asked, “Don’t you think it might be better for him to spend more time around other people?”
Guo Fengnian froze, then fell silent.
After autumn arrived in Phoenix City, the weather had grown colder by the day. Recently, it had been overcast without interruption.
When the two men left the club, they saw dark clouds hanging low on the horizon, as though they might tumble down to earth at any moment.
“It’s been overcast for so many days. It ought to rain soon, shouldn’t it?” Guo Fengnian muttered.
Liang Xiao opened the car door and replied casually, “Let’s hope so.”
He did not particularly like rain, but he disliked the cold, oppressive silence of an overcast sky even more. Between the two, he would rather have a proper downpour—once all the excess moisture in the air had soaked into the earth, clear skies would return sooner.
After parting ways and going home, the two of them showed up, as if by unspoken agreement, outside Cheng Mingjiao’s villa at six that evening.
Cheng Mingjiao did not keep them waiting long before he emerged from the house.
He was dressed in a black suit today, his hair combed back to reveal his broad, full forehead. His already sharp features seemed even more severe than they had two months ago.
He had lost a great deal of weight. The suit that had once fit him perfectly now hung slightly loose on him, lending him an air of casual composure. Yet his expression was colder than ever.
Guo Fengnian and Liang Xiao sat in their cars, parked side by side. Through their open windows, they exchanged a glance, each seeing the same helplessness in the other’s eyes.
Cheng Mingjiao, however, remained calm. He simply opened the rear door of Liang Xiao’s car and got in.
“Did you have lunch?” Dr. Liang, who was driving, did not mind in the slightest being treated like a chauffeur.
“I did,” Cheng Mingjiao said.
“What did you eat?”
Cheng Mingjiao fell silent.
With a slight curl of his lips, Liang Xiao took out several cheese sticks and passed them to the back seat.
Cheng Mingjiao refused to take them.
“Have something to tide you over. If your blood sugar drops later, I won’t be able to carry you,” Liang Xiao joked.
Cheng Mingjiao still would not take them. “I don’t eat those.”
Liang Xiao immediately switched to a loaf of bread. Only then did Cheng Mingjiao accept it.
Once he saw Cheng Mingjiao unwrap the package and start eating, Liang Xiao drove off. Guo Fengnian, who had been waiting beside them, promptly followed.
Today was the Chen family matriarch’s eightieth birthday. The Chen family had brought her back from Yunxi Temple three days earlier. Aside from tonight’s more business-oriented banquet, the family had spent the previous few days celebrating privately among themselves.
“That old lady never used to like this kind of bustle. Who knows what’s gotten into her this time? She’s actually cooperating with the whole thing. A lot of people think it has something to do with Counterfeit.”
Though he was alone in his own car, Guo Fengnian was unwilling to let that keep him from company, so he was on the phone with Liang Xiao. His voice came through the Bluetooth connection and filled the car for both Liang Xiao and Cheng Mingjiao to hear.
Finding him too loud, Liang Xiao deliberately turned down the volume.
Guo Fengnian did not notice at all. He continued his enthusiastic analysis. “Counterfeit has been like a different person these past two months. He was kicked out of the company, but somehow he went back—and he went straight into the finance department. He’s only been there for a month, and he’s already found evidence that his younger half-brother was taking kickbacks. To protect the kid, his father gave him two properties in his own name and fired his brother. Now everyone’s saying someone influential must be advising him. Who do you think that person could be?”
Liang Xiao wasn’t interested in who this “expert” was, but he was very interested in how Guo Fengnian had learned all these secrets about the Chen family.
“Even I didn’t know about the Chen family’s business. How did you find out?”
Come to think of it, he was the only one of the three who was actually related to the Chen family in any way.
“I have special intelligence channels,” Guo Fengnian said smugly.
Half an hour later, the three of them arrived at the Chen residence. Guo Fengnian somehow produced the latest foreign-made game console and handed it to the ten-year-old son of one of the Chen family’s aunts.
“Thanks, Brother Nian. Let’s keep working together in the future,” the boy said with a grin.
Guo Fengnian gave a mature little wave of his hand. But when he turned around and saw the two brothers standing side by side, he immediately put on the same gleeful grin as the kid.
The corner of Liang Xiao’s mouth twitched. “That intelligence channel of yours is really something.”
“Of course it is,” Guo Fengnian said proudly.
It was already past six, and most of the guests had arrived. Other than the old master and old madam, the entire Chen family was in the front hall receiving visitors.
Chen Mingjiao stood behind his father and stepmother, beside his half-brother. Everyone in the family except him was chatting and laughing merrily. Though Chen Mingjiao wasn’t smiling, he still cooperated with them in putting on the act of a loving family.
Anyone unaware of the truth might really have been fooled by them.
“Counterfeit seems a lot more mature now,” Guo Fengnian leaned close to Liang Xiao and gossiped. “Back in the day, he would’ve gone straight back to his room. Now he’s actually willing to play along. Could there really be some expert advising him?”
Liang Xiao lifted his eyes. Chen Mingjiao happened to look their way, and their gazes met. Chen Mingjiao froze for a moment, then looked toward Cheng Mingjiao, his brow instinctively knitting together.
Seeing him look over, Guo Fengnian immediately waved with a broad smile. “Hey! Counter—kid!”
Chen Mingjiao turned his face away, pretending not to hear him.
“That little bastard...” Guo Fengnian rolled up his sleeves, ready to go after him, but Liang Xiao stopped him.
“Settle down.”
Then he gave him a meaningful look.
Only then did Guo Fengnian notice that Cheng Mingjiao had already gone to sit alone in a corner.
At a social gathering like this, the three of them were bound to be the center of attention.
The moment Cheng Mingjiao was left by himself, quite a few people wanted to go over and strike up a conversation. But his expression was enough to make them think twice.
The smile on Guo Fengnian’s face faded slightly. It felt as though a wad of grass had lodged in his chest, leaving him uncomfortable no matter what he did.
He looked around—and suddenly spotted several of the Chen family’s younger relatives.
They were boys from a collateral branch, around Chen Mingjiao’s age. Usually acting under the orders of Chen Mingjiao’s cheap little brother, they had bullied Chen Mingjiao plenty of times. They were also the ones who had tricked him into going into the mountains last time.
All the uncomfortable feelings churning in Guo Fengnian suddenly found an outlet.
These boys clearly still remembered the time he had called and cursed them out. The instant they saw him looking their way, they tried to slip off.
“You lot,” Guo Fengnian said in a devilishly low voice, “get over here. Now.”
The boys: “...”
A minute later, they followed Guo Fengnian into an empty lounge and lined up against the wall.
Guo Fengnian put on a stern face. “Just standing there? Don’t you know to greet someone when you see them?”
“B-Brother Fengnian.”
The group answered sheepishly. Guo Fengnian gave a cold snort. “Why are you mumbling? Didn’t you eat?”
“Brother Fengnian!” This time, their voices rang out in perfect unison.
Guo Fengnian picked at his ear, looking disgusted. “Why are you shouting so loud? Got a problem with me?”
Everyone: “...”
“I’m asking you—have you been bullying Counterfeit lately?” Guo Fengnian demanded.
They exchanged uneasy looks before finally pushing one person forward to answer in a low voice. “H-he’s been in the spotlight lately. Who would dare bully him?”
Guo Fengnian’s appetite for gossip was piqued again, but he forced it down for the moment. “What about before that?”
“No, we didn’t...” They pulled miserable faces.
After they had tricked Chen Mingjiao into going to Lanlan Mountain, Guo Fengnian had forbidden them from attending any social gatherings held by the Cheng, Guo, and Liang families. Their pleas had gotten them nowhere, so they had no choice but to accept it.
Accepting it was one thing, but they still dared not let anyone else know what had happened. If the other families in Phoenix City’s social circle found out, they might take sides. Then they would truly become outcasts.
They were afraid of others finding out, but even more afraid that Chen Mingjiao might tell someone. They had been keeping their heads down at home, claiming they were cultivating their minds and characters. How could they possibly dare to cause Chen Mingjiao any more trouble?
Guo Fengnian could tell they were not lying, and he nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Remember this: Counterfeit may be a counterfeit, but he is still Young Master Cheng’s counterfeit. He isn’t someone little pests like you can bully whenever you please. Understand?”
“Yes, yes...”
“We know we were wrong, Brother Fengnian.”
They all rushed to profess their sincerity. Guo Fengnian gave a soft, contemptuous snort, then turned and sat down on the sofa. “Come over here.”
They immediately crowded around him.
Guo Fengnian could no longer suppress his curiosity. His fierce expression from moments ago vanished as he asked, “You said Counterfeit has been making waves lately. What exactly do you mean by that?”
They looked at one another again. Finally, the oldest among them spoke up. “We don’t know what got into him, but lately, he seems like a completely different person.”
“Oh?” Guo Fengnian was intrigued. “How so?”
“Wasn’t Grandma sick? Eldest Uncle found a German specialist who said he could help Grandma recover. Then Eldest Uncle used that as leverage, forcing him to leave the company voluntarily—or else he wouldn’t arrange treatment for Grandma...”
“Chen Shuyang is such a piece of work! He actually used his own mother to threaten his own son.” Guo Fengnian could not help swearing.
Everyone present was a member of the Chen family. They looked awkward upon hearing that, but none of them dared say anything.
“Anyway, Chen Mingjiao resigned. He even told Grandma that he simply didn’t want to do the job anymore. Grandma was disappointed, but she didn’t force him to stay... Brother Fengnian, you know what he’s like. With his personality, he would never voluntarily tell Grandma about something like that in his entire life.”
“But he did tell her?” Guo Fengnian immediately caught the implication.
The man nodded. “After a long time, he suddenly told her. Grandma was so furious that she fell ill. When she came back, she tore Eldest Uncle apart. Chen Mingjiao successfully returned to the company and was even assigned to such an important department as Finance. Isn’t that strange?”
“It is strange...” Guo Fengnian fell into deep thought.
Even an outsider like him knew that the Chen family matriarch mustn’t be upset. And Counterfeit cared so much about his grandmother’s health—yet this time, he hadn’t held back at all. That was far too unusual.
Guo Fengnian said, “Still, he should’ve said something. The old lady dotes on him so much. If she found out he’d swallowed his anger because of her illness, she’d definitely be heartbroken.”
“...That’s not the only thing strange about him.”
Guo Fengnian raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“He joined the Finance Department and became like a different person. He keeps invoking Grandma’s authority at every turn. The moment he entered the company, he fired two people—and both of them were Auntie’s relatives. After that little display of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, no one dared to pay lip service or defy him behind his back anymore.”
“He’s actually got some presence,” Guo Fengnian said with a chuckle. “A bit like Mingjiao.”
“That’s why it’s even stranger. He studied art from elementary school onward and has never touched anything related to business. How can his methods be so ruthless and seasoned?”
Guo Fengnian recalled the rumors about some expert advising him behind the scenes. “Could someone be helping him from the shadows?”
“We all think so, but Grandma is lucid one moment and confused the next. Most of the time, she can’t really help him. And he doesn’t seem particularly close to anyone. What kind of expert could it be?”
After thinking for a long while, Guo Fengnian guessed, “Maybe the old lady hired a professional manager from overseas, someone hiding in the background and helping her grandson establish his authority.”
“Who knows...”
While the gossip in the lounge was in full swing, Liang Xiao, having offered his congratulations to the Chen family matriarch, headed toward Cheng Mingjiao.
After only a few steps, a man and a woman reached Cheng Mingjiao before he did. Liang Xiao paused, recognizing the man as Gu Feng, the rising star of the business world.
Seeing no displeasure on Cheng Mingjiao’s face, Liang Xiao thought it was good that he was having some normal social interaction, so he did not go over.
In a corner, Gu Feng held Qing Tian’s hand and nodded at Cheng Mingjiao.
“Long time no see.”
Cheng Mingjiao lifted his eyes and glanced at their clasped hands. “Congratulations,” he said flatly.
Gu Feng and Qing Tian exchanged a look before turning back to him.
“Are you still looking for Zhang Xiyue?”
Cheng Mingjiao froze. His gaze sharpened abruptly. “You’ve seen her?”
Gu Feng said nothing.
Cheng Mingjiao shot to his feet, urgency impossible to conceal in his eyes. “Where did you see her? When?”
“I saw her a little over a month ago. She was...” Gu Feng had only gotten halfway through when, from the corner of his eye, he caught Chen Mingjiao staring fixedly in their direction. His expression cooled, and he did not continue.
“She was what?” Cheng Mingjiao grabbed his arms.
“Calm down.” Gu Feng shook him off. “If I’m right, she’s doing quite well now. You’ve searched for her for so long without finding her. Most likely, it’s because she doesn’t want to see you.”
The heat in Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes gradually faded into coldness. “What are you trying to say?”
Gu Feng was silent for a moment before saying, “Mr. Cheng, we’ve known each other for a while. Since you once gave up the room for us, let me offer one piece of advice: now that things have come to this, there’s really no need for you to—”
“If you’re here to tell me to give up, then keep your mouth shut.” Cheng Mingjiao cut him off expressionlessly.
For a moment, Gu Feng had nothing to say. He raised the glass in his hand, then turned and left with Qing Tian.
“Gu Feng,” Cheng Mingjiao suddenly called after him.
Gu Feng stopped.
“If I trade you the Huicheng deal, would you be willing to tell me where she is?” Cheng Mingjiao still held his chin high, though his breathing had quickened. “Or if I’ve done anything to offend you, I can hold a press conference and apologize to you publicly.”
Gu Feng pressed his lips together, but in the end, he still left.
Cheng Mingjiao sank back onto the sofa. After a long while, he raised a hand to support his forehead.
Chen Mingjiao, who had been watching from afar, finally let out a breath of relief and slipped quietly out of the banquet hall.
Cheng Mingjiao sat alone for a long time. When he looked up again, Liang Xiao and Guo Fengnian had returned, their eyes full of concern.
Cheng Mingjiao had already regained his composure. “I want to go home.”
Guo Fengnian said, “We’ll go with you—”
“It would be too conspicuous if we left together, and it wouldn’t look good either. I’ll go back on my own. You two stay a while longer.”
Guo Fengnian looked toward Liang Xiao.
Liang Xiao nodded. “I’ll have the driver take you.”
“No, I’ll drive myself.” Cheng Mingjiao held out his hand to him. “Give me the keys.”
Guo Fengnian grew anxious. “You don’t even have a license. How are you going to drive yourself home—”
“I do,” Cheng Mingjiao said.
Guo Fengnian and Liang Xiao both froze.
Cheng Mingjiao lowered his eyes. “I found some time to get one recently.”
Liang Xiao stared at him blankly. By the time he came back to himself, the car keys were already in Cheng Mingjiao’s hand.
Holding the keys, Cheng Mingjiao left on his own. After days of overcast skies, Phoenix City was finally greeted by a lingering, drizzling rain.
He stood beneath the covered walkway, waiting for the valet to bring the car around. The rain fell as thick as a curtain, so oppressive it made it hard to breathe, as though one ought to fly low like a swallow.
Cheng Mingjiao stood there all alone, considering whether he should simply send someone to follow Gu Feng. Perhaps that would lead him, step by step, to Zhang Xiyue.
Zhang Xiyue.
He silently repeated her name in his heart, and for a moment, it seemed as though he heard her voice.
Lately, he had often had such illusions. He gave a short laugh.
“Can you stop staring at her already?”
Her voice carried a note of exasperated frustration, as though she had completely run out of patience.
“I wasn’t looking at her,” Chen Mingjiao’s timid voice replied. “I was just worried Gu Feng might say something he shouldn’t, so I kept watching them.”
“Give me a break. I saw you. Your eyes were practically glued to Qing Tian, and you’re still denying it.”
Cheng Mingjiao froze for a moment before finally realizing it was not an illusion. He spun around.
Zhang Xiyue, whom he had not seen in so long, stood beside another man, looking utterly helpless.
