It was past six in the evening by the time Wu Xiaowen and Tang Yaxuan returned to Wancheng from the provincial city. The trip shouldn't have taken so long, but the mother and daughter had a stroke of bad luck. They rarely took the bus, and on this rare occasion, they got two flat tires. The repairs took half a day, and both times they were stranded in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, they had brought cookies and snacks, otherwise they would have starved.
Worn out by the difficult journey, Wu Xiaowen had long lost any desire to make a surprise visit. She listlessly called home from the bus station, hoping Tang Qingyun would come pick them up. But the phone rang and rang with no answer. 'He should be off work by now. Where could he have gone?'
