Chapter 2: Disappearance
"Sent by Brother Bing?"
Zhang Yuanqing frowned after reading the contents of the letter.
What did it mean by "changing life"? What did it mean by "unable to handle"?
Really, without explaining clearly, he turned his gaze back to the black card, observing it repeatedly, confirming that it was just an ordinary card. If there was anything unusual about it, it was that it felt nice to touch, the material seemed quite rare.
Could it be a VIP card for some high-end club? Only an extraordinary man like me could handle 36D girls.
Lei Yibing was his childhood friend, nicknamed Ah Bing, two years older than him. Before his grandparents bought a new house, the two families lived in the same alley.
Lei Yibing had double A in strength and speed, C in intelligence. He had always looked out for Zhang Yuanqing since childhood, fighting at the forefront, staying behind to take beatings. If anyone mocked Zhang Yuanqing for being a fatherless child, Lei Yibing would stand up for him.
That's why Zhang Yuanqing always called him Brother Bing.
Ah Bing's grades weren't great in high school, so he went to university in the neighboring Jiangnan Province. Since then, their contact lessened due to the distance.
Zhang Yuanqing put the black card into his jacket pocket while picking up his phone to tease Brother Bing with a message:
"Which club's VIP card is this? At least give me the address or contact information."
Half an hour passed without a reply after sending this message.
Zhang Yuanqing decided to call Brother Bing directly.
After two rings, the call connected, and a man's deep voice came through the speaker:
"Hello! This is Lei Yibing's father."
"Uncle Lei?" Zhang Yuanqing was startled, then said happily:
"Is Brother Bing back in Songhai this week? Let him take the phone, I have something to ask him."
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a sorrowful voice:
"Yuanzi, I'm in Jiangnan Province. Ah Bing has gone missing."
Brother Bing is missing?! Zhang Yuanqing stood there dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he asked confusedly and urgently:
"What happened?"
How could Brother Bing go missing? He just sent me something.
"He went missing the day before yesterday. Your Aunt Zhou and I received a notice from the school yesterday and rushed over immediately," Uncle Lei said dejectedly.
"Have you reported it to the police? What did the Public Security Bureau say?" Zhang Yuanqing asked gravely.
Uncle Lei was silent for a long time, then said hesitantly:
"This matter is quite strange. Ah Bing's disappearance is unusual."
Strange? What does that mean? Zhang Yuanqing was puzzled.
Uncle Lei explained:
"Ah Bing disappeared from his dorm room the night before last. The police checked the hallway surveillance footage and found that Ah Bing didn't leave his room all night, but the next morning, he was gone.
"His roommates said they saw him before going to bed, but when they woke up, he wasn't there. They thought he had just gone out."
Zhang Yuanqing blurted out: "How is that possible?"
How could someone vanish into thin air? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe such an explanation.
Zhang Yuanqing suppressed his anxiety and asked in a low voice:
"Uncle Lei, did Brother Bing offend someone at school?"
The first thing he thought of was that Brother Bing might have offended someone with local power, which would explain why the surveillance footage showed no problems, as it often implied a cover-up by the school.
In this age of information explosion, anyone who has been online has heard of similar incidents.
"The school leaders said they would fully cooperate with the police investigation. The police told us to go home and wait for news, saying they would investigate. Your aunt and I haven't slept all night."
Uncle Lei's voice was filled with dejection and worry.
Sure enough, it's this kind of answer. Damn it, Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and comforted him:
"Don't worry yet. My grandfather and cousin both work at the Public Security Bureau, as you know. I'll ask them how to handle this kind of situation and what to pay attention to. If you have any questions or need advice, feel free to call me.
"Also, you must ask his classmates at school. If Brother Bing offended someone, some classmates are bound to know."
Uncle Lei felt slightly relieved and said:
"I understand. Yuanzi, don't worry too much. I'll let you know as soon as there's any news."
After hanging up, Zhang Yuanqing felt restless, pacing back and forth in his room, worried about Brother Bing's safety.
People don't disappear without reason. If the surveillance cameras didn't catch anything, someone must have tampered with them. The question is, who did Brother Bing offend?
But what kind of person could a third-year college student offend?
Wait a minute, missing the day before yesterday...
The day before yesterday?!
Zhang Yuanqing was suddenly startled. It takes 2-3 days for a package to arrive from Jiangnan Province to Songhai. Calculating the time, Brother Bing disappeared the night he sent me the package.
Is this a coincidence? Or is there some connection?
Thinking of this, he instinctively reached for the black card in his pocket, but when he put his hand in, he suddenly froze.
The black card was gone.
Did it fall on the ground? Zhang Yuanqing quickly lowered his head, his gaze sweeping across the room's floor.
Nothing!
He got down on the floor to look under the bed. There was a layer of dust under the bed, along with some coins, pens, buttons, and other small objects, but no black card.
That card was gone, and he clearly remembered putting it in his pocket.
How could it just vanish into thin air?
Thinking about Brother Bing's mysterious disappearance, the strange contents of the letter, and the eerily vanished black card, Zhang Yuanqing felt an inexplicable terror and bewilderment.
"Could the black card be related to Brother Bing's disappearance? Or is it an important clue?"
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing decided to use his "old ailment" to restart his memory.
He first poured cold water into a glass, took out a bottle of pills from the bedside table, unscrewed it, then took off his shoes and lay down on the bed.
After doing all this, he closed his eyes, remained motionless, and visualized his father's face in his mind.
The condition for actively triggering the old ailment was to calm down and imagine a scene, preferably one he had seen before but couldn't remember clearly.
This would stimulate brain activity, slowly warming up, and finally reaching a boiling point.
After many years, his father's face had become blurred, making it the perfect subject.
Time passed second by second, and his father's face gradually became clearer, from blurry to sharp, until every detail was visible. Zhang Yuanqing's heart beat violently, like an overloaded engine.
At this moment, time seemed to flow backward, and the scenes from an hour ago flashed by frame by frame, like a movie.
He saw himself opening the express package, reading the letter, putting the black card into his jacket pocket, then sending a message to Brother Bing.
After that, for the next half hour, he sat motionless at the desk, scrolling through short videos for about ten minutes, exchanging a few lewd pictures with his gaming group friends.
He saved a few high-quality pictures.
Then he read a novel for a few minutes, but kept thinking about the card, so he called Brother Bing.
After the call, the crucial moment arrived. He anxiously walked around the room, which was when the card was most likely to have fallen out.
In the memory scene, he saw himself frowning and pacing around the room, then reaching to touch the black card, only to find it was gone.
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly opened his eyes, his face full of terror.
Gone?!
The black card just disappeared, vanished into thin air.
What the hell did Brother Bing send me? For a moment, he felt his scalp tingling.
Before he could think further, chaotic noises rang in his ears, like countless voices overlapping. Fragmented images in his mind erupted like a volcano, rushing up all at once.
Warm liquid flowed from Zhang Yuanqing's nose, and his head felt as if it had been hammered with steel nails.
He crawled towards the bedhead with a twisted expression, shakily poured out five small blue pills, stuffed them into his mouth, then tremblingly picked up the water glass and swallowed the pills with water.
Moments later, Zhang Yuanqing sat at the head of the bed, pale-faced and panting.
At this point, he was almost certain that Brother Bing's disappearance and the black card were somehow connected.
"Brother Bing disappeared after sending me the black card, and that card is clearly not an ordinary object."
This inevitably led to the thought that he might have been threatened and forced to transfer the item.
"But why didn't he hand it over to the local Public Security Bureau, and instead sent it to me?"
Is a college student like me, who has never killed a chicken or slept with anyone, more reliable than police officers?
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly thought of the detail that "the surveillance cameras and roommates didn't notice anything unusual."
To achieve this level of stealth, one must possess a certain amount of power.
Brother Bing didn't turn the black card over to the local Public Security Bureau because they couldn't be trusted?
Or rather, the person or force that caused his disappearance had influence that extended to the local Public Security Bureau.
"He sent the black card to me because he knows my grandfather is a retired police chief and my cousin is a security team leader, with deep connections in Songhai City. The people from Jiangnan Province can't influence me?"
I need to tell my cousin about this.
"Ding dong~"
At this moment, he heard the doorbell, coming from the entrance.
His grandmother's footsteps immediately sounded, crossing the living room to the entrance, and turning the doorknob.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Hello, we are investigators from the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. Is Zhang Yuanqing home?"
The people outside responded.
P.S.: Please favorite if you like it, there will be another chapter tonight.
(End of chapter)