Chapter 122: Found

35th Floor, Dingli Building.

The management meeting had just concluded, and the stifling, tense atmosphere that had permeated the conference room finally began to dissipate.

The process of "cleansing the house" inevitably demands sacrifices. Some who had sat in their offices that morning, impeccably dressed and sipping coffee, found themselves unceremoniously ousted by nightfall.

There was resentment, perhaps, but no one dared to speak out. After all, the bribery and embezzlement were facts; as long as they remained undiscovered, life was peaceful, but once exposed, they could hardly blame their employer for making an example of them.

The senior executives filed out of the conference room. Meeting Cheng Xingye in the hallway, they greeted him with immediate, deferential respect.

These people were shrewd, having climbed to such positions by reading the room. That this young Master Cheng, who held no official title, was present at a high-level meeting today was clearly a deliberate arrangement by Cheng Li to prepare him for taking over the company in the future.

Cheng Xingye offered a faint smile, nodding politely in response and exchanging a few pleasantries.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Offering a brief apology, he walked toward the elevator lobby to take the call. The caller ID displayed "Dian Dian."

She rarely called him, preferring to send messages. A flicker of inexplicable unease shot through Cheng Xingye, and he swiped to answer immediately.

"Cheng Xingye—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a busy tone cut through the line.

Cheng Xingye’s heart tightened instantly. He dialed back at once, but the call would no longer go through—whether the phone had died or something else had happened, he could not tell.

His heart pounded violently. He hit the elevator button and quickly called Lu Yi, telling him to find a way to contact Lu Qingyue.

As soon as the call ended, the elevator arrived. He strode into the car and pressed the button for the basement.

At this hour, Lu Qingyue should have been at the university. The campus was covered in surveillance cameras; logically, it was unlikely that anything untoward could happen.

Cheng Xingye subconsciously tried to think positively, yet his lips were pressed into a thin, tight line. His eyes remained fixed on the floor indicator, unaware that his hands were clenched into tight, trembling fists.

He thought for a moment, then called two department heads in the student union he was familiar with, asking them to find an excuse to check Room 306 in Dormitory Building 3 to see if she had returned.

...

The engine roared with a piercing whine as the car sped toward Jiang University.

The Dingli Building was in the city's CBD, barely a ten-minute drive from the university. With the city roads largely empty in the late hours, Cheng Xingye arrived at the dormitory area in under five minutes.

He shoved the car door open and scrambled out. As he reached the foot of Building 3, he received a call from the student union member.

"The girl you mentioned isn't in her room. They've been rehearsing for the past few days, and the coordinator in charge of the rehearsal confirmed they left at nine."

Cheng Xingye’s mind buzzed, and a terrible premonition welled up from the depths of his soul.

His hands trembled uncontrollably as he relayed this information to Lu Yi, who was also searching for Lu Qingyue.

Meanwhile, Lu Yi had nearly scoured the entire teaching district. After receiving Cheng Xingye’s update, he ran to the Arts Building to have the security guard pull the surveillance footage.

The streetlights in the dormitory area glowed dimly, casting hazy halos of light through the damp mist. The air was cold and humid, making every breath feel stifling and sharp.

In a moment of mental vacancy, he suddenly remembered that someone on the campus forum had mentioned that the streetlights near the small ridge had been broken for a long time...

...

Low-lying thickets were common in the south, typically composed of shrubs like gold-leaf, Ixora, or hibiscus. These bushes were usually just over a meter tall, but when left unpruned, branches sometimes shot up higher than a person’s head.

This season, the foliage was particularly dense; if someone were hiding in the brush, they were not easily spotted.

Cheng Xingye reached the small hill. Ignoring the pain in his lungs, he stepped directly into the dense thicket.

"Dian Dian!"

He pushed aside the branches blocking his path, calling her name with a trembling voice.

The soil, softened by the recent rain, was muddy. With every step, his leather shoes were coated in filth.

It was 10:00 PM, and almost no one passed through this area. In the heavy darkness, there was only the sound of his ragged breathing and the faint hope offered by the dim beam of his phone’s flashlight.

Cheng Xingye had nearly turned the entire area over when, suddenly, he saw a few scattered, shallow footprints in the muddy undergrowth.

His breath hitched. He immediately followed the direction of the tracks.

The area around the ridge lacked maintenance; the deeper he went into the brush, the denser the branches became. He stood where the footprints vanished, hesitating as to which direction to continue, when a faint, weak whimper reached his ears.

He stepped on a dry branch, which snapped with a sharp crack.

Cheng Xingye pushed aside the branches and crouched down.

In the midst of the darkness, his gaze, sharp as a torch, cut through the layers of leaves and finally caught sight of the little girl curled into a ball on the ground, trembling in panic.

"Dian Dian." His voice was hoarse, his hands shaking as he reached out to her.

Hearing the familiar voice, Lu Qingyue looked up abruptly.

She was covered in mud, her hair a disheveled mess over her shoulders, her eyes vacant and dull. The moment she saw him, her eyes welled up with heat. Like a frightened little animal, she lunged into his arms, her voice choked with fearful sobs.

"Cheng Xingye!"

That sob-filled cry of his name sent a dull, throbbing pain through his heart. He instinctively pulled her tightly into his embrace, his broad, warm palms patting her back with a slight tremor.

"I’m here."

The small frame in his arms was visibly shaking. Cheng Xingye’s eyes were bloodshot, his teeth clenched as he buried his face into the crook of her neck.

She had been here who knew how long—dirty, soaked through, and smelling of damp, muddy soil. She looked utterly wretched.

Cheng Xingye’s heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife. He held her tightly, whispering soothingly, "Don't be afraid. It's alright now."

In truth, he was the one who had been terrified.

Cheng Xingye had been on the verge of a breakdown all night. Every time he thought of the worst-case scenario, his heart would tighten with a tearing sensation, making it difficult to breathe.

Now that he had found her, he began to draw great, gasping breaths.

He acted like a steady mountain, hunched over, keeping her firmly enclosed in his arms. He pressed his tense jaw against her forehead, feeling her body temperature over and over, as if stubbornly proving to himself that she was safe in his arms right now.

Both of them were trembling slightly. After a long time, Cheng Xingye finally managed to calm down.

Seeing her eyes red and her lashes fluttering, he checked her limbs to ensure she wasn't injured, then scooped her up and carried her toward his car.

Once they left the ridge, the lights of the dormitory area grew brighter. In the dim glow, he finally saw that the girl in his arms was covered in mud and water, her hair hanging in tangled strands across her face.

Cheng Xingye’s expression was grim, but he didn't stop to ask questions. As soon as they were in the car, he grabbed a suit jacket from the back seat and wrapped it around Lu Qingyue.

Lu Qingyue tried to pull away. She knew she was filthy and was afraid of dirtying his jacket, but he wrapped her in it with an air of unyielding authority.

"It's okay," he murmured, kissing her mud-streaked face, saying nothing of how desperate he had been just moments before.

The streetlight glowed softly in the post-rain night.

Between the flashes of gloom and relief, the night’s oppression and manic anxiety finally dissolved.

Cheng Xingye glanced at the girl huddled in the passenger seat, her eyelashes still fluttering. He reached out to brush her damp hair, then pulled out his phone and sent a message to Lu Yi.

[hOShinO]: She has been found.