Ninety

“President Xiang…” The secretary sitting by the door looked up at the sound, and when she saw the normally towering and imposing chairman in such a sorry state, her face went deathly pale. She sprang to her feet, momentarily unsure whether she ought to help him or pretend she had seen nothing. But before she could decide, Xiang Zuo had already steadied himself, not even glancing her way, and shot out of the company like an arrow.

At the same time, Song Jiakai was also in a state of great anxiety. Seated behind his desk, his phone had not stopped ringing for a moment. The handsome, carefree expression he usually wore was replaced entirely by furrowed, troubled thought. A third-party call came through on the line, and less than a second later the connection switched.

“President Song, this is Chen from the Yongning Residence property office…”

“I know. Speak.” He did not even wait for the other side to finish introducing himself before cutting him off rudely.

“We checked. Her car did not leave the complex. After reviewing the surveillance footage, Miss Zhang left the compound on her own at nine fifteen this morning. As for where she went after that, we can’t…”

“All right, thank you, Manager Chen!”

“No problem, President Song. If there’s anything else, you can call again…”

Before he had finished speaking, Song Jiakai had already hung up, switched back to the original call, and after a brief pause, his thoughts settled. Suddenly, he thought of someone else.

“Captain Wu, I’ll call you back in a moment.” With that, he dialed Zhang Nianqing’s number…

Half a minute later, Captain Wu of the Criminal Investigation Brigade received another call from Song Jiakai. The voice on the other end was urgent but certain. “At the Tianshou Cemetery. I’m heading there now.”

“I’ll bring people over right away.”

Just before ending the call, Song Jiakai calmly added, “Don’t use the siren!”