Lu Hechen followed Weilan to her residential complex, watching her turn the corner of a building before he drove ahead to wait outside Ding Lan's apartment.
Five minutes passed without a sign of Weilan going upstairs, and Lu Hechen grew restless.
Suddenly, his eyelids twitched twice, and his heart inexplicably tightened.
He hesitated, then took out his phone and dialed Weilan's number.
The call rang, but no one answered.
Lu Hechen thought Weilan might not want to answer, so he tried again, but this time, the phone suddenly went out of service.
Lu Hechen's whole body stiffened; either the SIM card was removed, or Weilan had entered a no-signal dead zone.
He had clearly seen Weilan enter the complex; it couldn't be a signal issue. He got out of the car, hurried up the stairs, and knocked on the door.
No one answered.
He shouted loudly, "Weilan?"
Still no response.