He was slightly startled as he entered the kitchen. Wang Yujiao hurriedly hung up the phone: "It's only four o'clock—you're back early today. Your mother took Bao Bao downstairs to get some sun."
"I came back for a document. What happened with Xiao An?"
Wang Yujiao hesitated, but under his gaze, she had to explain: "Teacher Yu was on a business trip out of town and encountered a landslide there. She lost contact. The day before yesterday afternoon, people from her workplace went to Xiao An's school to deliver the news. Xiao An hasn't been to school these past two days, and Xiao Chao insisted on going to her house to keep her company. I was just worried he might cause more trouble than help..."
Gao Xiang didn't wait for her to finish. He turned and left, going downstairs and driving straight to Zuo Si'an's home. It had been nearly half a year since he last saw her—on Bao Bao's birthday when he drove her home. He had visited her school once but didn't spot her among the crowd of students after class, and she hadn't contacted him either—not even after such a major incident as her mother going missing.
After going upstairs, Gao Xiang knocked on the door. Liu Guanchao answered, startled to see him, and blocked the doorway, lowering his voice to ask, "What are you doing here?"
Without answering, Gao Xiang pushed past him into the apartment. Zuo Si'an was sitting in a single armchair to one side of the living room, while a man and a woman sat together on the central sofa, both turning to look at him. He went straight to the point: "Xiao An, any news about your mother?"
Zuo Si'an shook her head dejectedly. The middle-aged man stood up: "May I ask who you are—"
"Hello, my name is Gao Xiang. I'm a friend of the family."
"Hello, we're both colleagues of Engineer Yu. Engineer Yu, along with another colleague and a hydrogeology expert from UNESCO, went to a mountainous area in Guizhou for preliminary surveys on a water conservancy project. The day before yesterday morning, there was a large-scale landslide in that area. The roads haven't been repaired yet, communications are down, and we can't get any on-site updates. Our unit's leadership has already rushed over, contacted the local government, and they've started search and rescue operations, with military support requested."
Gao Xiang looked at Zuo Si'an. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
"Xiao An, have you told your dad?"
After a moment, she shook her head again and said quietly, "I couldn't get through to him."
Gao Xiang took out his phone and first tried calling the Coqên government office, but as expected, the call wouldn't connect. After a moment's thought, he found Old Zhou's number—someone he'd met in Shiquanhe Town. After a series of calls and waiting, Old Zhou was finally brought to the phone. Gao Xiang briefly explained the situation, and Old Zhou immediately agreed: "The communication lines in Coqên are fragile and often have issues. I'll go try to contact Old Zuo right now and call you back."
Everyone in the room was intently listening to his conversation. After relaying Old Zhou's response, Yu Jia's two colleagues seemed to relax a little: "We were just worrying about how to get in touch with Engineer Yu's husband. It's good you came."
The slightly younger woman tentatively asked the middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge: "Director Li, could I go home for a bit? There's no one to pick up my child today."
Director Li frowned: "Then who will stay here with her?"
"Maybe I can call Xiao Xu to come over..."
Zuo Si'an suddenly interjected: "Uncle Li, Aunt Zhang, there's no need. I'm fine." She pointed at Gao Xiang. "Both my parents know him. He can stay here with me."Gao Xiang glanced at Zuo Si'an. Her face and posture were tense, carrying a nervousness that seemed on the verge of breaking. He nodded, "I'll stay here and keep trying to contact her father."
The woman hesitated, "What about tonight? I've been staying with Xiao An these past two days. We can't leave her alone at home."
"Don't worry. I'll have my girlfriend come over after work to keep her company. You two go attend to your matters. Just notify Xiao An immediately if there's any news."
The two readily agreed to this arrangement, left their phone numbers, and said their goodbyes.
Zuo Si'an said to Liu Guanchao, who had been standing nearby, "Xiao Chao, you should go back to class too."
Liu Guanchao glared at Gao Xiang, "If he's staying, I'm not leaving."
"He'll be leaving soon too," Zuo Si'an said hoarsely. "Xiao Chao, thank you for staying with me. But if you don't go to class, your dad will definitely get angry, and your mom will call again, blaming me for keeping you from leaving. Why bother? I'm fine. I just really need some quiet time. Please, as a favor to me, go."
As Liu Guanchao closed the door behind him, the room fell silent. Zuo Si'an tidied the books and magazines on the coffee table, straightened the slightly messy sofa cushions one by one, then picked up the teacups used by the guests and went into the kitchen.
After a while, when she still hadn't come out, Gao Xiang entered the kitchen. He found her standing in front of the sink, running the tap at full force to rinse the teacups, but her eyes were fixed blankly ahead, lost in a daze. He went over, turned off the tap, took the cup from her hand, and led her out by the hand.
She suddenly snapped back to reality, "Oh, right, I haven't offered you a drink. Would you like black tea, green tea, or coffee?"
"Come sit down."
"I'm fine."
"You've repeated 'I'm fine' several times now. When something like this happens, why didn't you call me immediately instead of toughing it out alone?"
She froze for a moment, murmuring, "I can't bother you every time something happens. Besides, I wasn't alone. My mom's colleagues have been very kind and concerned, staying with me all along."
Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at it—it was a call from home. He guessed Wang Yujiao had told his mother about the situation and had no choice but to say, "I need to take this call outside."
He stepped onto the balcony and answered. As expected, Chen Zi Hui immediately demanded, "Why are you still involved with the Zuo family?"
He lowered his voice impatiently, "Mom, stay out of my business."
"If something really happens to her mother and her father is still in Tibet, you'll definitely get stuck dealing with her. When that happens—"
"Enough," he cut her off angrily. "How can you say something like that?"
Chen Zi Hui felt somewhat in the wrong, but she had never been one to apologize or show regret. She maintained her stern tone, "Know your limits. Don't let Ruodi argue with you over this. She hasn't been coming around much lately—is everything okay between you two?"
"That's none of your concern either. Take Bao Bao and get some rest early. Don't wait up for me."
Gao Xiang returned to the room. Just as Zuo Si'an was about to speak, his phone rang again. Fortunately, it was Lao Zhou this time, informing him that they had managed to contact the Coqên county government, but Zuo Xuejun had gone to inspect work in Bianxiong Township within the county and still couldn't be reached.He grew somewhat anxious. "Is there really no phone service in that township at all?"
"The township office has a phone, but inspection work isn't just about visiting the township government—it involves traveling to all the pastures, big and small, within the area and visiting herders. You've been to Coqên, so you should understand how vast and sparsely populated it is. In the places Old Zuo is going, sometimes you can drive for half a day without seeing a trace of human habitation. I've already asked them to arrange for township staff to set out as soon as possible to find him and have him call home immediately."
He thanked Old Zhou and relayed the message to Zuo Si'an. Seeing her standing there dazed, her eyes dim, he comforted her, "Old Zhou is very helpful. He'll get in touch with your dad. Don't worry."
"What difference does it make if we find him? Even if he rushes back, it'll be days from now."
Her tone, almost devoid of hope, unsettled him. "Xiao An, I'll stay with you."
She forced a smile. "I'm really fine, and you don't need to stay with me. There's no need to trouble Sister Ruodi to come over either. I only said that earlier because I didn't want my mom's colleagues to spend more time looking after me. With strangers in the house, I haven't been able to sleep at all. I want to go lie down. You can go attend to your own matters. If you get in touch with my dad, just call me."
He looked at her: her lips were dry, her face an unhealthy pale, her eyes sunken with prominent dark circles. It was clear she was severely sleep-deprived. "Alright, get some proper rest. Call me right away if anything comes up."
Gao Xiang drove back to the office to handle his unfinished work.
Over the past six months, Clear Ridge Winery had encountered some sales issues, leading to a significant increase in inventory. His father and grandfather had considerable disagreements over the company's industrial structure and management policies. After intense discussions among the management, a compromise was finally reached, but the channel adjustments were not proceeding smoothly. Since the start of the year, he had been frequently working overtime and traveling constantly. His efforts had yielded some results, but the work pressure had correspondingly increased considerably.
After meeting with the management team, he dismissed them for the day and stayed behind alone, focusing intently on studying the sales data from recent months. The open office door was suddenly tapped lightly. He looked up to see Liu Yaqin walking in, holding a cup of coffee, which she placed in front of him. It was the latte he usually drank, and he was somewhat surprised.
Liu Yaqin smiled slightly. "Manager Gao, I noticed you always buy this coffee from that café called Green Door on Huaqing Street and bring it to the office. I hope I got it right?"
He had assigned Liu Yaqin as a warehouse logistics management staff. According to the logistics manager, she was quick-witted, picked things up fast, and was fairly diligent. However, she had already made several excuses to come to his office, bypassing proper channels, and the number of times she "coincidentally" ran into him at the company far exceeded what would be considered normal. Now, she had clearly put careful effort into her makeup, wore perfume, and was dressed in a form-fitting purple V-neck dress with high heels, her curly long hair cascading over her shoulders. Showing up with his usual coffee couldn't help but draw his attention.
"Why haven't you left work yet?"
"I'm new, so there's a lot to learn. I always stay a bit after hours to review my work and make sure everything's clear."
"That's a commendable work ethic. Thank you for the coffee. I'll have my secretary reimburse you tomorrow. There's no need to trouble yourself with this in the future."She refused to leave: "President Gao, I heard from the manager that you're recruiting two assistants for the company to help with sales assessments. I wonder if I might have a chance to try?"
"You can register with the HR department. They'll arrange interviews uniformly."
She smiled bitterly: "I asked the HR manager. He said this position requires a university degree, preferably in marketing or statistics. Nearly twenty people have already applied. My qualifications clearly fall short. Actually, I used to have excellent grades, but my family was poor and favored boys over girls. They didn't let me attend high school and forced me into nursing school. Otherwise, I definitely could have gotten into university, and wouldn't be barred from opportunities like this now."
"You're still young. You could try continuing your education. I'll also suggest the company introduce relevant policies to support employees in this regard."
"Thank you for the encouragement, President Gao," she said, leaning forward with her hands resting on the edge of the desk. Her long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, carrying the faint scent of jasmine. Her pleading, dewy eyes looked directly at him. "I truly hope to get an opportunity to work with you, President Gao. I'm willing to do anything..."
"Yaqin." His voice didn't rise in volume but carried a warning tone. Meeting his gaze, she straightened up as if startled, her face flushing with panic. Only then did he continue unhurriedly, "Ambition is good, but the space one occupies should match their demonstrated work capabilities. Don't waste time and energy on unnecessary matters."
"I didn't mean anything else, President Gao. I..."
Liu Yaqin's face flushed crimson, and she became too flustered to continue. Seeing the young woman so embarrassed, he ultimately felt some compassion: "It's nothing. It's getting late, you should head home now."
"President Gao, I've been feeling really lost lately and need to have a proper talk with someone..."
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