Pei Shiyi did not press the matter. He simply handed the hair dryer to Jing Meng and retreated behind his desk, casually returning to his documents.
For a time, the only sound in the room was the low roar of the hair dryer, a noise that masked the erratic rhythm of Jing Meng's racing heart.
"Now, can you tell me news about Jing Hong?" It felt as though an eternity had passed by the time her hair was finally dry.
Pei Shiyi pushed a set of investigation results toward her. "Jing Hong hasn't gone back to work at the bar since the day I brought you home."
Jing Meng's hand clenched into a fist over the documents. "He's avoiding me!"
"Jing Hong is extremely cautious and tends to nip danger in the bud. If he doesn't want to be found, we won't find him easily." Pei Shiyi laced his fingers together, propping them on the desk. An invisible aura of pressure radiated from him.
Jing Meng gave a bitter smile and returned the folder to him. "No matter how difficult it is, I won't give up." She stood and gave Pei Shiyi a slight nod. "Thank you for today."
With that, she turned and walked out.
Pei Shiyi watched her silhouette disappear and remained silent for a long time. Eventually, he turned his gaze slowly toward the calendar, where the Snowdrop Earring lay quietly beside it.
No matter how difficult it is, I won't give up.
In a sense, he and Jing Meng were the same kind of person.
The next day.
Pei Cheng came downstairs for breakfast, eyes half-closed with sleep, only to see Pei Shiyi sitting there alone.
"Where's Meng Meng?"
"Still asleep," Pei Shiyi replied slowly, taking a bite of bread.
Pei Cheng gave a distracted hum of acknowledgement and walked to his seat. "Daddy, did you wear Meng Meng out too much last night? That's why she's sleeping in today."
Upon hearing this, the nearby servants froze, then immediately bowed their heads, desperately trying to stifle their laughter.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Pei Shiyi's usually immovable iceberg face before his expression darkened. "Who taught you such nonsense?"
The servants, possessing keen intuition, immediately scattered like startled birds.
Pei Cheng lazily took a bite of his bread. "Does this need to be taught? Don't the people around you send me this kind of stuff all the time? Especially Jenny."
Excellent. It seemed that his repeated tolerance of that woman for his mother's sake had not made her learn restraint; instead, she had become even more brazen.
Pei Shiyi let out an ambiguous chuckle and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "In half an hour, call Meng Meng down for breakfast."
Having finished, he picked up his suit jacket and headed out the door.
When Jing Meng finally woke up and came downstairs, she found Pei Cheng eating breakfast alone at the table.
"Meng Meng? You're awake?"
Jing Meng hummed a response and gave a lazy yawn before sitting across from the boy. "You..." She was about to ask something when she noticed the place setting next to her had already been used. She understood instantly.
Pei Cheng noticed her gaze linger on the empty plate. "Daddy said he had to go to work, so he left first. You don't have to wait for him, Meng Meng." He flashed her a brilliant smile.
Jing Meng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at the time, it was Pei Shiyi who would have had to wait for her.
"Also, Daddy specifically told me to go up and call you for breakfast in a little bit." Pei Cheng tilted his small face up, grinning at Jing Meng with feigned innocence.
Jing Meng's hand paused as she held her fork. A ridiculous thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
This dynamic really feels like a family of three.
She was startled by her own thought, and her gaze toward Pei Cheng became a bit strange.
Pei Cheng: ?? Why was Meng Meng looking at him like that?
"Cheng Cheng, I'm heading out for a while. If your daddy calls, just tell him I'm sleeping." After breakfast, Jing Meng tidied herself up, intending to return to the bar.
She knew that Pei Shiyi's personality would never allow her to go back there, but she couldn't simply leave Jing Hong to his own devices.
Pei Cheng looked up at her. In those eyes eyes that looked so much like Pei Shiyi's Jing Meng saw her own reflection, giving her the brief illusion that she was staring into Pei Shiyi's gaze.
Jing Meng froze, her hand tightening slightly on the boy's shoulder. "Cheng Cheng!"
Pei Cheng seemed dazed for a moment before the corners of his lips curled up. The gesture was a mirror image of his father's. He spoke softly, "I promise, Meng Meng. But you have to promise me too you must come back safely before Daddy gets home from work."
She wasn't sure if it was intentional, but Jing Meng felt as though he had placed extra emphasis on the word "safely."
Jing Meng extended her right hand. "I promise, Cheng Cheng. Pinky swear."
Pei Cheng looked at her and laughed. This smile finally possessed a bit of childlike innocence, allowing Jing Meng to relax her tense nerves slightly.
After making her pact with Pei Cheng, Jing Meng got ready and headed for the bar.
It was still early, and there were only a few staff members inside. Jing Meng observed for a while before entering.
"I'm sorry, Miss, but we are currently closed," a waiter said, offering an apologetic smile while assuming she was there for a drink.
Jing Meng waved her hand dismissively, letting just the right amount of anxiety show on her face. "I'm looking for someone. Does Jing Hong work here?"
The waiter's expression stiffened instantly. He sized her up from head to toe, as if trying to peel back a layer of her skin with his eyes. Jing Meng merely blinked, looking back at him with a confused, lost expression.
Only after confirming that Jing Meng was not with the group that had come by previously did he ask guardedly, "Who are you?"
Sensing that this man knew something, Jing Meng suppressed her true emotions and asked with a look of feigned sorrow, "My name is Bai Su. I'm Jing Hong's girlfriend. We had an agreement for me to come and celebrate his birthday,
so I flew all the way here from Z City. I never expected that I wouldn't be able to reach his phone for the last two days. I remembered him saying he worked at this bar, so I came to check..."
As she spoke, she acted as though a realization had hit her and grabbed the waiter's arm in a panic. "Is he... is he lying to me?"
People are naturally inclined to sympathize with the weak, especially a girl who had traveled thousands of miles for a birthday only for her boyfriend to go missing.
The waiter sighed. He remembered the person Jing Hong occasionally mentioned being worried about; it must be this girl. It really was a shame.
He shook his head before finally answering. "Jing Hong hasn't been to work for several days. Even we haven't been able to get in touch with him."
Jing Meng's eyes widened. She gripped her phone tightly, putting on a look of someone trying to be strong while on the verge of tears. She forced a smile and said, "Thank you."
She took a half-step back and bowed to the waiter. As she stood, her phone "accidentally" slipped from her hand and fell to the floor. The screen lit up, revealing a photo of her and Jing Hong together.
The waiter let out a final sigh, his last shred of doubt completely vanishing. "There's no need for that, Miss Bai. How about this? I'll give you Jing Hong's home address. Why don't you go check his place?"
The waiter pulled out a pen and paper and wrote down the address for her.
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