After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 29

Thank you, but you don’t need to worry about my affairs for my sake.

After stepping out of the restaurant, Qin Shuyue took another look at her phone.

For some unknown reason, the trend of people insulting her was growing more intense; instead of dying down, it had begun to drag up many of Qin Shuyue’s old grievances from years past.

How did they know about the things that happened during her high school and freshman years of college?

Qin Shuyue truly couldn’t understand it.

Furthermore, the truth behind those events was not nearly as absurd as what was being claimed by the public. Where on earth were they getting all this information?

“Miss Qin, are you certain you wish to file a report?”

Qin Shuyue tucked her phone away and nodded to the police officer. “Yes.”

“Wu Xuhua—how long has she been missing?”

“I haven’t received any word from her since we parted ways last night around two in the morning.”

“You’re saying someone was chasing Wu Xuhua, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Qin Shuyue replied.

“Did you see them with your own eyes?”

“No.” Qin Shuyue shook her head. “Sister Xuhua told me herself.”

“Is there any evidence to prove her claim that someone was chasing her? Who were the people chasing her at the time? Why were they chasing her? Is there a likelihood of illegal harm being committed against Wu Xuhua?”

Qin Shuyue shook her head. Recalling the scene at the time, she said, “Sister Xuhua asked to meet me a little after midnight. She said she had something to give me and insisted that I keep it safe, that I couldn’t let anyone know about it, and I couldn’t give it to anyone.”

The several police officers surrounding her looked at each other, exchanging glances before asking, “What was the item?”

“I don’t know.”

Qin Shuyue shook her head with a neutral expression. “I arrived too late, and I heard footsteps behind me. Sister Xuhua left before she could even finish what she was saying.”

“I don’t know if that item—which was clearly very important to her—fell into those people’s hands, but now that Sister Xuhua is missing, I have to ensure her personal safety first.”

“Miss Qin, I hope you understand that a missing persons case requires a 48-hour absence before it can be officially filed. During this time, we suggest you first try to establish contact with her yourself.”

“But if a report is received regarding the potential kidnapping or trafficking of a woman over the age of eighteen, the police can immediately file it as a criminal case for investigation.”

As Qin Shuyue spoke, her knuckles, resting on her knees, rubbed together and trembled incessantly.

Clearly, her small gestures betrayed how lacking her confidence actually was.

The officers stared at her with solemn expressions, asking in a heavy voice, “Miss Qin, you need to be clear: is Wu Xuhua possibly missing, or has she been trafficked?”

“Miss, you must understand that these are two different concepts.”

Wu Xuhua had not contacted her for nearly an entire day.

Before going to the restaurant today, she had taken a detour to check the barbecue stall. The doors were tightly shut; Wu Xuhua still hadn’t returned.

This was too abnormal.

From last night until eleven o’clock tonight, there had been no news of Wu Xuhua.

Coupled with the memory of those footsteps following Wu Xuhua last night, she was truly terrified that something had happened to her.

Qin Shuyue took a deep breath. She seemed to make up her mind, looking at the officers with a steady gaze. “I suspect Wu Xuhua isn’t just missing.”

“She has been trafficked.”

The moment these words were spoken, the officer responsible for the records stopped his pen and looked up at Qin Shuyue before lowering his head again.

However, his pen did not move.

The female officer sitting next to him asked her seriously once more, “Qin Shuyue, are you certain that Wu Xuhua has potentially been trafficked?”

Qin Shuyue bit her lower lip hard, until it turned pale.

She wasn’t certain if Wu Xuhua had been trafficked, but if she had to wait 48 hours to file a report, she feared Wu Xuhua’s body might already be discarded in the wilderness. She couldn’t gamble on the slight possibility that Wu Xuhua was perfectly fine and had only suffered a few scratches.

Therefore, after much deliberation, she looked up and met the female officer’s eyes with determination.

“I am certain.”

“It is highly likely that Wu Xuhua is not missing, but has been trafficked.”

She repeated it once more to bolster the likelihood of it being treated as fact. If so, the police station would have to take it seriously.

Upon receiving a report of a woman over the age of eighteen who is missing and potentially trafficked, public security organs must immediately file a criminal case.

The female officer sitting across from Qin Shuyue seemed to breathe a very light sigh of relief.

She knew the regulations well; in this type of special circumstance, they had to handle it with priority.

She stood up and said to her, “The police will take this case of female trafficking seriously and will immediately transition it into a criminal investigation. Miss Qin, I hope you keep your phone reachable over the next few days. Once we have new leads or other developments, please answer promptly and cooperate with the investigation.”

Qin Shuyue stood up and bowed slightly to the officer.

“Alright. If there is any news, please be sure to contact me.”

The officer assured her, “We will notify her family and you as soon as possible.”

After thanking them repeatedly, Qin Shuyue finally walked out of the police station.

Sister Xuhua… where on earth are you?

She looked up at the sparse stars and the dim moonlight.

It used to be like this; when business was slow, Wu Xuhua would set up two small chairs for them, and they would sit and watch the stars.

It was a way to kill time.

But one day, Wu Xuhua stared at the only star in the night sky and suddenly spoke: “When I was little, my grandmother told me that after people die, they turn into stars. She said she would watch me grow up from the sky. Whenever I missed her, I could see her just by looking up.”

“On the night Grandma passed away, I looked at that lone star next to the moon and silently memorized its position. But a day later, the star was gone. I looked for that star for many years, but it never appeared again.”

“At that time, I felt like Grandma didn’t love me anymore—that she didn’t want to bother with me, which is why she didn’t show up.”

“Later I realized that it was all just a lie adults tell children. A lie that every elderly person tells a child.”

As she spoke, Wu Xuhua held up her fingers, measuring the distance between the moon and the stars in her vision.

“Five fingers,” Wu Xuhua murmured softly. “Qin Shuyue, did you know? When I was little, the distance between that star and the moon was also five fingers.”

At that time, Qin Shuyue had looked at that star in the sky and felt it was terribly lonely. Even the moon hid behind the clouds and ignored it, abandoning it.

She lowered her head and didn’t respond to Wu Xuhua’s words.

“But I’ve grown up now.”

Wu Xuhua lowered her hand, yet her gaze remained lingering on that star.

She curled her lips into a slight smile. “But Grandma said she would grow up alongside me.”

At eleven o’clock on a summer night, the roads were still busy with traffic.

However, the buses had stopped running.

But she was used to riding a bicycle, and today was no different as she rode to the school gates.

Qin Shuyue found the shared bike parking spot, and just as she locked the bike, she heard a voice from behind her.

“Are you the Qin Shuyue from Chinese Language Class 2?”

Qin Shuyue knew immediately they were coming for her, and it wouldn’t be anything good.

She didn’t want to deal with them; she tried to ignore them and leave quickly.

But the group had no intention of letting her go. Having finally found this person, they naturally wanted to “get to know” her properly.

They spread their arms wide, surrounding Qin Shuyue so tightly that not even water could leak through.

A boy in the middle asked her:

“Hey, how did you hook up with Miss Zhu? And why hasn’t she thrown you out along with your suitcase?”

Another boy said, “But you really are stupid. How could Miss Zhu possibly like women? You should take a look at your own gender.”

The boy next to him gave a cackle. “She wants to jump social classes! Who cares if she’s a man or a woman? She’ll throw herself onto Miss Zhu’s bed, extort a huge sum of money from her, and then go off to live a life of leisure!”

The boy on the right huffed coldly, “Exactly. Even a little bit falling from Miss Zhu’s fingernails would be enough for you to live on for a lifetime, right?”

“I heard you have a mother who’s seriously ill in the hospital, is that right?”

“What are you trying to do!”

Upon hearing that sentence, Qin Shuyue suddenly raised her head, glaring fiercely at the boy.

“So fierce?” The boy gave a displeased click of his tongue. “I just wanted to say, if you use money earned from selling your skin to pay for your mother’s medical fees, wouldn’t your mom be so angry she’d drop dead on the spot if she found out?”

The boy asked Qin Shuyue with a smirk.

Slap! A crisp sound rang out!

Qin Shuyue slapped the boy squarely across the face.

“Who gave you permission to curse my mother like that!”

The boy who was slapped was clearly completely unprepared for Qin Shuyue to hit him suddenly.

This was entirely different from the personality described on the forums!

The boy became humiliated and enraged. Having lived for over twenty years without ever being hit by his parents at home, he had been struck by a woman today? And by such a weakling?

He raised his hand almost instantly, his palm swinging toward Qin Shuyue’s face.

Qin Shuyue was surrounded by several people, all exits blocked. With nowhere to run, she could only stand there and prepare to take the blow.

Just as the boy was about to strike down viciously, a shout suddenly rang out from behind.

“Stop! Which major and class are you from? Who is your counselor?”

As soon as that sentence was finished, the group scattered like startled birds, fleeing in a swarm.

Only the boy she had slapped turned back to glare at her.

“Qin Shuyue, you just wait!”

Qin Shuyue stood there cowering, her eyes squeezed shut.

But the pain on her cheek never came; instead, she heard a very familiar voice.

Qin Shuyue opened her eyes and looked toward the sound.

Han Junli emerged from the shadows, slowly walking toward Qin Shuyue with two books tucked under his arm.

In Qin Shuyue’s eyes, no matter what happened, Teacher Han was always calm and composed; even when facing unruly students like Song Jiajia, he was always genial.

She had rarely seen him look so stern.

Qin Shuyue was stunned.

But in the next second, Han Junli’s gentle voice sounded, sweeping away the previous sternness.

“Qin Shuyue? Why haven’t you returned to the school so late at night?”

Han Junli took the two books from under his arm into his hand and walked slowly to stand before Qin Shuyue.

He had initially thought those people were picking a fight at the school gate and had intended to scare them off with a few words. He hadn’t expected Qin Shuyue to be surrounded in the middle of them.

Looking at it now, it didn’t seem like a simple brawl.

Han Junli looked her up and down carefully, his eyes reflecting concern. “Did they bully you? Are you hurt anywhere?”

With tears welling in her eyes, Qin Shuyue shook her head.

Somewhat choked up, she said, “No.”

But her expression clearly showed she had been wronged.

By the orange glow of the streetlights outside the school, Han Junli tilted his head and caught sight of Qin Shuyue’s right cheek.

Though faint, there were lingering marks of being pinched.

“Did they pinch your face?” The warmth in Han Junli’s eyes flickered, his voice dropping slightly in tone.

Qin Shuyue recalled the fierce appearance of Sister Yu this morning.

The tears in her eyes welled up even more.

But she still shook her head, keeping the truth suppressed in her heart. She gave Han Junli a shallow bow.

“Teacher Han, thank you… It’s very late, you should go home and rest!”

With that, she ran away without looking back.

Han Junli turned slightly, his gaze deep as he watched the retreating figure of Qin Shuyue.

And behind the bushes, hidden from view, a shutter button was pressed repeatedly.

The faint click-clack of the camera was concealed amidst the chirping of insects.

Both Han Junli and Qin Shuyue were captured in the frame.

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