The Secret of Second Marriage

I heard Lu Xiao's words, and with a hint of guilt in my voice, I said, "Lu Xiao, I know you trust me a lot. I can give you an explanation for this."

I have a very important friend who has gone missing. I can't contact him no matter who I'm talking to. I think something might have happened to him, so I went to the neighborhood where he used to live to look for him.

But the property management said he hasn't been back for over a month... that's the situation.

"That friend must be very important to you, Man. Do you need my help finding him?"

Lu Xiao seemed to have noticed that I hadn't been acting well these past few days, and patiently comforted me, saying, "No wonder you've been so absent-minded these past few days. When we went to the teahouse for dim sum this afternoon, you didn't have much of an appetite either."

I'm a police officer; I can ask my colleague to help you find the person.

"No need, thank you."

I say.

If President Jiang really wants to hide, even the police might not be able to find him. Besides, I really don't want to involve Lu Xiao.

"We don't need to say thank you... Man, no matter what happens, I will trust you unconditionally. If you say you'll go find someone, then go find someone!"

I hope you can find your friend soon so he can come to our wedding, okay?

Lu Xiao smiled and said.

"OK……"

After I finished talking to Lu Xiao, I hung up the phone.

I drove home, and when I went to the balcony to collect the laundry in the afternoon, I found that the sky was like a watercolor painting, overcast and gloomy, with a cold wind whistling. A large snowflake had started falling from somewhere.

The snowflakes, as white as goose feathers, fluttered down and quickly covered the trees in the neighborhood with a layer of white down.

Snowing.

The first snow after Christmas.

Winters in Beijing are very cold, a dry, biting cold.

I began to worry about and concern President Jiang.

I took the clothes back to my room and sat on the sofa, feeling restless, waiting for Juan's call.

Juan called me at 3 p.m. as expected. She said, "Man, I went to seven or eight temples near Beijing today, but I couldn't find out if President Jiang was on the mountain. I think you might be wrong."

No, he's in seclusion on the mountain! As for where he is, I asked around in the business world, and they all said they haven't seen President Jiang for over a month either.

The Jiang Group is in an uproar. Rumors are circulating that their boss, Jiang Hui, has gone missing. Some say he was kidnapped, some say he has a serious illness, and others say he committed suicide for love... There are all sorts of rumors.

If he doesn't come back soon, the company might really be in chaos.

"Thank you, Juan. I understand."

I say.

After I hung up the phone, I called Mr. Jiang again, but it still didn't answer. I called more than a dozen times without getting through, and that's when I truly realized that feeling of helplessness.

It's as if someone has completely disappeared from my world and my life, and I can no longer touch him, hear his voice, or see him.

This feeling left me feeling empty, as if I had lost something very important.

However, there was a little incident in the middle. A SF Express courier called me excitedly and said, "Is this Ms. Jiang Man? We received your package. It was sent by SF Express, and the insured value alone is worth several million."

The postage alone costs several thousand yuan.

To be honest, this is the first time I've received such a big order in all my years as a courier.

Ms. Jiang, are you free right now? I'll deliver this package to your door right away. Please check if anything inside is damaged, okay?

"Okay, you can stay with the property management office. I'll go pick up the package."

Since becoming a celebrity, I've remained somewhat cautious and wouldn't easily reveal my home address or the house number of my villa. So, I changed into a casual down jacket, wore a hat and mask, and walked with a dog, dressed very simply, before jogging to the gatekeeper.

It was snowing, but the gatehouse had the heating on, so it wasn't cold at all.

In front of the security guard, the deliveryman handed me the package and said, "The delivery fee has already been paid, Ms. Jiang. If you have any more orders this big in the future, remember to contact me."

After I signed for the package in front of the deliveryman, I opened it and took a look. The package was very big. Inside, there were many layers of protective plastic sleeves, and at the very bottom was a small box.

I opened the box, and inside was a valuable piece of jewelry—a jade bracelet worth millions, half mountain and half water, lustrous as jade, so beautiful it was breathtaking.

The deliveryman was stunned: "Wow, this bracelet is so beautiful... Even if I worked my whole life as a deliveryman, I might not be able to afford this bracelet for my wife."

I recognized the jade bracelet at a glance as a gift from Grandma Jiang, a token of her acceptance of my status as a daughter-in-law of the Jiang family.

I returned it before, but I didn't expect that he would send it back to me again after all this time.

"Who sent this package? Is there a sender's address? Let me see..."

I immediately said with great excitement.

But when the deliveryman gave me the shipping address, I saw that the address was actually Jiang's office building, and the phone number listed was his assistant's.

I called his assistant and asked, "Do you know where your General Manager Jiang went?"

"Is this Miss Jiang? Our CEO Jiang has gone missing. I don't know where he went. Nobody in the entire company knows where he is."

Assistant Xiaolin said apologetically, "Ms. Jiang, did you receive that gift? It was a wedding gift from President Jiang."

He probably couldn't accept the news of your marriage. I wonder where he went? I wonder what kind of life he's living now.

It's because our CEO Jiang has you in his heart. Miss Jiang, these past few years I've accompanied CEO Jiang to social events. So many beautiful women, so many investors trying their best to put pretty girls around him, but he hasn't been moved by any of them.

He's not the kind of man who gets blinded by beauty. Actually, he's quite romantic, and he has his own principles: one man for life, one woman.

"I understand. If your General Manager Jiang returns and you have any news about him, please contact me."

I say.

I took the gift home, put the bracelet in my drawer, and locked it.

When my parents came home in the evening, I had dinner with them, watched over Tangtang after her bath and put her to bed, and read her fairy tales in her bedroom to lull her to sleep. I didn't return to my own bedroom until after 10 p.m.

But I just can't fall asleep.

It was past 11 p.m., and it was snowing outside. The weather forecast said there would be a blizzard in the next week. In Beijing, a huge snowstorm suddenly came and covered the sky and earth.

It was still snowing heavily late at night, and I saw that the bamboo in the community garden was almost broken by the weight of the snow.

I finally couldn't sit still any longer.

If Mr. Jiang really did what he said, that he was devastated by our breakup and went into exile, what if he froze to death in the freezing cold? What if something happened to him?

I took out my phone and dialed his number again, but no one answered.

I could no longer suppress my deep concern for President Jiang. I packed a few clothes and luggage, dragged my suitcase, and secretly wrote a note in the living room late at night, asking my parents to take care of Tangtang for a while before leaving home.

Ignoring everything else, I went downstairs, took out my car keys, opened the car door, got into my sports car, and sped away.

I feel like I'm going crazy.

In the dead of night, a woman drove her sports car through the streets of Beijing, her mind racing with thoughts of where President Jiang might be and whether he might have met with an accident.

Jiang Hui, where did you go?

I drove there and finally sent him a text message.

For some reason, I suddenly remembered the office where I first met President Jiang.

At that time, Mr. Jiang was a novice entrepreneur who had just started his business and did not have much budget. He and a few classmates and partners rented a very small and run-down office building in the third or fourth ring road of Beijing.

The office building is next to the vegetable market, and during the day you can often hear the noisy bargaining and the calls of chickens, ducks and geese coming from the market.

It was there that Mr. Jiang slowly began his career, gradually growing the software development company into a large enterprise.

I was the accountant at that company. So many years have passed that I've almost forgotten where the story began, that old office building.

I drove to the original company address. The company moved several times, each time with more luxurious office conditions than the last. I had almost forgotten that we used to be crammed into an office of less than 50 square meters, without air conditioning. In the summer, we would be sweating profusely, constantly running around doing business and eating boxed lunches.

Looking back on that period of struggle, it was actually quite happy.

When I arrived at the old office building where I started, the vegetable market was still as lively as ever. However, the old building next to it was clearly outdated, with its walls covered in dust and gray paint, making it look like it was built at least in the 90s.

The hotel downstairs went out of business, and now that area has been converted into a snack shop and a roast duck shop.

Our office is located on the third floor, in the middle. Several buildings next to it are empty, with signs for rent or transfer posted.

The light in our office was still on... I went up there on a whim and knocked on the door. Just when I had given up all hope, the door opened.

Mr. Jiang was inside, quite drunk. The moment he saw me, he was stunned and hugged me, saying, "Man, you really appeared? Am I dreaming?"

"President Jiang, so you've been hiding here all along."

I say.

No wonder no one could find him. No one expected to see this old and dilapidated office building, which still had the same layout and environment as before, except for a single sofa.

Mr. Jiang kept a lot of loose change and cash in the cabinet. These days, he just stays here and doesn't see anyone. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol and goes downstairs to eat a bowl of noodles when he gets hungry.

He looked much more haggard, but even in his downfall, he still maintained the habits of a young nobleman, keeping his office spotless.

He shaved his beard clean, washed his hair neatly, and even set up a Buddha statue in a corner of his office. He also prepared writing brushes, ink, and a long table, and practiced calligraphy extensively. Stacks of calligraphy papers were piled up in the trash can.

Mr. Jiang was wearing a black sweater. As he hugged me, he said, "Actually, you still care about me, don't you? Otherwise, wouldn't you be the first person in the world to find me?"

"Man, I've thought about this a lot lately, so much, and I've reflected on it a lot. Can you give me another chance?"