A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

Xiao Jingye and Fang Zhijie went into the city and searched for suitable warehouses to store their goods.

The two looked at several properties, but either the rent was too high and not worthwhile, or the location was remote and inconvenient, so they couldn't settle on a suitable place.

After a whole day of running around, covering most of the city, the two still found nothing.

As we emerged from the last warehouse, dusk was falling.

Seeing that he was still looking depressed, Fang Zhijie patted him on the shoulder: "What's wrong? Did you have a fight with your wife?"

"No." Xiao Jingye walked straight to the motorcycle parked by the roadside.

Fang Zhijie took a cigarette out of his pocket and handed it to him: "Want one?"

He waved his hand: "I won't smoke."

"Damn, you have such strong willpower, you quit just like that." When Fang Zhijie saw that he didn't want it, he lit a cigarette for himself.

The two stood next to the motorcycle.

Fang Zhijie nudged his arm with the back of his hand: "Did you make your wife angry?"

He spoke with an air of experience: "Let me tell you, women are actually very easy to please."

"How do we coax him?" Xiao Jingye looked at him seriously.

Fang Zhijie casually exhaled a thick cloud of smoke: "Tell me, how serious is the situation? Let me analyze it for you."

Xiao Jingye took a step back, standing a little further away from him: "You made someone cry."

"That would be difficult." Fang looked troubled, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Buy a gift and go back. Tonight, kneel in front of her, hold her hand, and slap yourself. Remember to be sincere."

"Will it work?" Xiao Jingye asked.

Fang raised an eyebrow: "It's wrapped."

The two returned home in the afternoon. After dropping Fang Zhijie off at home, Xiao Jingye rode his bicycle back to his own home.

Just as I drove to my doorstep, I ran into Zeng Yumei, who was bringing Duoduo back from her parents' home.

Xiao Jingye turned off the engine, parked the motorcycle by the wall, and asked, "Mom, how is my uncle's health?"

"Just an old ailment, nothing serious," Zeng Yumei said, pushing open the courtyard gate. "Did you just get back from the city?"

"Hmm." Xiao Jingye responded, reaching out to take the bag off the motorcycle.

On the way back, I bought some low-sugar cakes for Duoduo and her mother, and also bought Qingyan her favorite chocolates and milk candies.

As soon as the three stepped into the yard, they found clothes lying haphazardly on the ground from the clothesline, with several hanging precariously on the line.

"Oh dear, Qingyan, did you forget to bring in the clothes? The wind was too strong last night and blew them all away." Zeng Yumei said, quickly going over to pick up the clothes and pat them down.

"The roof of your uncle's pig shed was blown off by the strong wind, and then a sudden downpour soaked the pigs..."

As Xiao Jingye listened to his mother, he noticed that the door to the main room was also wide open.

He went inside and found that the cups on the table had been knocked over by the strong wind, and another glass had fallen to the ground and shattered, with glass shards everywhere.

Did my wife oversleep for work this morning and not have time to get ready?

Duoduo staggered in, and Xiao Jingye quickly pushed her away, saying, "Get out of the way, or you'll get pricked."

Then, he put down what he was holding and swept all the broken glass off the ground with a broom.

After tidying up, Xiao Jingye took a delicate little box from the bag he had brought back, stuffed it into his coat pocket, and strode out: "Mom, there are pastries in the bag, you and Duoduo can eat them. I'm going to pick Qingyan up from get off work."

"Okay," Zeng Yumei replied.

Xiao Jingye hopped on his motorcycle and sped off, mentally rehearsing his apology.

"Honey, don't be angry with me anymore. I was being foolish yesterday."

"Honey, I bought you a necklace. Do you like it?"

"From now on, whatever you say goes, but you can't not let me kiss you."

......

When they arrived at the school gate, Xiao Jingye leaned against his motorcycle and waited for a while. As soon as the school bell rang, a large number of students filed out and surged toward the school gate.

The brand-new and stylish motorcycle was particularly eye-catching, and soon attracted a group of children who gathered around it with curiosity and envy in their eyes.

"This car is so cool!"

"This motorcycle must cost several hundred yuan, right?"

"It must be more than a few hundred. My mom says only people with ten thousand yuan can afford a motorcycle!"

The children chattered around the brand-new motorcycle. Several of them wanted to ride it, so Xiao Jingye simply picked them up and put them on the motorcycle, letting the children experience it.

Qiao Yi, carrying his schoolbag, walked out of the crowd with his classmates. When he saw Xiao Jingye, Qiao Yi's eyes immediately shrank back, and he ran away as if he had seen a ghost.

Xiao Jingye waited for a while, but Qiao Qingyan still didn't come out.

He simply pulled out the key and walked into the campus.

Inside the office, Principal Zhou was talking with several teachers. Xiao Jingye stood at the door and knocked on the open wooden door.

His gaze quickly swept around the office, but he didn't see his wife.

"Hey, Principal, isn't he here? Teacher Qiao's husband is here." Teacher Yu, who was sitting in her seat, pointed to the door.

Principal Zhou turned around and, seeing Xiao Jingye, immediately asked, "Comrade Xiao, Teacher Qiao hasn't come to class all day and didn't ask for leave from me. Did something happen at home?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingye's eyelids twitched.

"She didn't come to work this morning?"

Principal Zhou: "No, I know you took a day off yesterday to help Grandma Zhang Xiaohua with her discharge from the hospital. You haven't come today yet, I thought something had happened at home."

After hearing what he said, Xiao Jingye's mind instantly flashed to the clothes scattered all over the courtyard.

It did rain and was windy last night, but my wife will probably pick up the clothes when she sees them this morning...

A strong sense of unease instantly gripped him.

Xiao Jingye frowned deeply, and without saying a word, he turned and strode out of the school.

He hurriedly hopped on his motorcycle, twisted the throttle, and sped off toward Zhang Xiaohua's house.

"Xiaohua, did your teacher, Ms. Qiao, come to your house?"

Zhang Xiaohua had just arrived home and put down her schoolbag. She shook her head blankly and said, "No, Uncle Xiao, Teacher Qiao didn't come today."

"She hasn't come over since we brought you back yesterday, right?"

"Yes, Ms. Qiao didn't come to class today either."

Xiao Jingye's heart sank, his temples throbbed, and a deep sense of panic and fear welled up inside him.

Has something happened?

He didn't dare to delay for a moment. After leaving Zhang Xiaohua's house, he immediately rode his bicycle back to the village and went to each of the neighbors that Qiao Qingyan usually visited to look for her.

First they went to Chun Ya's house, but couldn't find her, so they went to Fang Zhijie's house.

Fang Zhijie's mother wiped her hands with her apron and said, "She came to our house looking for you yesterday afternoon. I told her that you and Zhijie might have gone to the city. Then she left."

"Did she say anything?" Xiao Jingye pressed.

"No, they didn't say anything."

Realizing that Qiao Qingyan might not have been home last night, Xiao Jingye became increasingly panicked, his heart rate became extremely erratic, and his thick, dark eyebrows furrowed into a knot.

Without any hesitation, he rode his bicycle directly to Shidianzi Village.

When Chen Xiuying stepped into the Qiao family's gate, she saw that he had a gloomy face and a fierce aura, and thought that he had come to cause trouble again.

She slammed down the basin in her hand, put her hands on her hips, and said, "What are you doing? Qiao Yi hasn't done anything to you lately."

Upon hearing the noise, Qiao Nianshan quickly came out of the house: "Jingye, what brings you here?"

"Is Qingyan here?" Xiao Jingye asked anxiously.

Qiao Nianshan was taken aback upon hearing this, and immediately shook his head: "No, what happened?"

"Qingyan is missing." Xiao Jingye's voice was hoarse as he suppressed his inner panic.

"Gone?" Qiao Nianshan didn't understand what he meant.

The man's thin lips were almost pressed into a straight line: "She didn't go to school all day, nor did she ask for leave. I've searched her house, several neighbors' houses, and several places she frequents. I couldn't find her."

Qiao Nianshan's eyelids twitched: "Maybe he went to visit some relatives. I'll go out and look for him."

As he spoke, Qiao Nianshan immediately went inside and brought out a coat.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Chen Xiuying asked with displeasure. Was it really necessary to make such a fuss over such a small matter? Could a living person just disappear?

"You guys eat first." Qiao Nianshan put on his coat and walked out.

Xiao Jingye hopped on his motorcycle: "I'll take you with me."

The motorcycle engine roared, its wheels rolled over the road, kicking up clouds of dust, and sped away.

"Is this the car he bought?" Chen Xiuying muttered softly, and followed him to the gate, where she leaned against the door frame and stared at it for a long time.

Then he muttered, "It couldn't have been him who bought it. How could a lousy hunter afford such an expensive motorcycle?"

Meanwhile, Xiao Jingye and Qiao Nianshan went to the homes of several relatives who were on good terms with Qingyan, and everyone said they hadn't seen her there.

After several fruitless attempts, Xiao Jingye had no choice but to send Qiao Nianshan back to the Qiao family.

Throughout the journey, his jawline was taut, and his fingers gripped the handlebars so tightly they almost crushed them.

After getting out of the car, Qiao Nianshan stood beside it and reassured him in a deep voice, "Go back first, and then ask around among your neighbors. If he hasn't returned by tomorrow, go directly to the police station to report him missing."

Chen Xiuying, who was eating in the main room, came out with her bowl, slurped up a mouthful of noodle soup, and gave a cold snort:

"I think you shouldn't waste your energy looking for her. Maybe Qingyan just didn't want to live with you and left quietly!"