173 — Gao Tinghua Investigates

"But Mom—" Li Lianmo was not convinced and still wanted to quibble.

"You will keep quiet this instant and listen to me, Li Lianmo." Zhang Heying said with unmistakable seriousness in her tone, making her daughter fall silent.

Whenever her mother called her by her full name, it signified that she meant business.

"How could you say that about the woman that is about to become your brother's wife? Taking a step back, how could you say that about anybody at all? Is that how I taught you?"

"But Mom, am I wrong? I'm only stating facts." Li Lianmo returned, unconvinced.

Zhang Heying was becoming angrier but she didn't want to overreact, so she just turned to her husband, "Handle it. You talk sense into her."

Li Qianye received his wife's words like an imperial decree. "Princess, what your mother is trying to say is that you need to speak with facts. You haven't even met her before. You don't know her. It's too harsh to condemn her just because she was married before and lost her husband through no fault of hers.

"Besides, isn't your brother a divorcé? So what's the problem?"

Li Lianmo wanted to retort that her brother was so perfect that a small thing like divorce would not reduce his marketability, but she held her tongue. Her mother was obviously upset.

She didn't hate this so-called sister-in-law, she just didn't understand why her brother would fall for her. "Or was she a vixen? Did she seduce her big brother with her womanly charms?" She wondered.

She didn't know she had said that out loud until her ear began to burn. Her mother had twisted it. "Mom!" She cried in pain.

"What? Vixen? Lian'er, I can't believe you were actually thinking that." Zhang Heying said in angry disappointment. "You deserve a beating."

"You had better not let Big brother hear that from you. He would be furious." Li Junmo added from the front.

While her father didn't say anything, he was obviously displeased.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. My mind was just rambling." She apologized. Since it was her versus the entire family, she kept quiet. Besides, she knew her big brother would truly be angry if he heard her words.

Fine. Anyway, it would not be too late to continue the conversation after meeting her first.

If there was any foul play afoot, she would ferret it out!

Making up her mind, she turned to her mother, trying to get into her good graces, "Mom, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean that. Just forget I said anything."

When her mother still didn't reply, she held her hand and laid her head on her shoulder, "Mommm, pleaseeee. Don't stay angry with me when I haven't seen you in such a long time."

Zhang Heying finally relented, "Fine. Just watch what you say. I know you're speaking out of care for your big brother, but you must be objective, and learn to give people a chance, okay?"

"Okay Mom. Lesson learned." She said with a salute.

That was the end of that conversation, and the tension in the car eased away as if it was never there. The rest of the car ride was spent on digging up old memories.

*****

"What did you find?" Gao Tinghua asked immediately the call connected.

"Nothing much sir. It's been a long time after all. I could not find any information about the shawl."

Gao Tinghua slammed his hand on his table before getting up to begin pacing about his office. As he moved, his brain worked tirelessly.

He didn't hold out much hope on that, but it still unnerved him that nothing was found even though more than three days had passed.

The person on the other end of the call stayed silent, awaiting his orders.

"You said you went to City A? What did you find? Did you locate the approximate area the car broke down?"

"Yes I did, but from that, I didn't find much else. There were no traces at all. And it's just based on the description we were given, we can't say for sure right now."

Gao Tinghua fell silent for a while again. The man he was talking to subconsciously began counting odd numbers between 0 and 100 inwardly as he waited. He got to 53 before his boss spoke again.

"Investigate every establishment in a 50 kilometer radius. If they didn't exist thirty-four years ago, investigate the business that was operating back then. Interview the owners and find out if anyone remembers something odd that happened at the time, anything at all."

The man: "..."

Even the number counting was forgotten in the wake of such a massive search scale. The man began to say, "But sir,—"

Gao Tinghua cut him off. "I don't care how much it will cost, just do it. And fast too. You have three days. Make sure you don't attract unnecessary attention." He said before hanging up.

The man swore in irritation. Such a huge task in three days? And without attracting attention either? It was like saying "you can poop here but it mustn't smell!"

After venting his irritation, he swung into action in earnest. At least one thing was guaranteed: the pay would be humongous. That was a massive motivating factor and it made him hum as he made plans.

Gao Tinghua on the other hand, returned to his seat after the call. His hand found the black fountain pen on his table, which he flicked around in his hands absentmindedly with his eyes closed.

His mother had been looking for her for so long already, so a few more weeks of waiting should not matter. Yet there was a sense of urgency he could not explain.

It was as if he had to find out for his own peace of mind. He had an inkling that the truth would throw a wrench in his plans, yet he really wanted to know.

The contrasting feelings were driving him mad. He couldn't just wait. Even three days seemed so long. What should he do next?

Unbidden, the image of a woman rose up in his mind. Oval face, brown eyes, red lips —

The flicking stopped as he paused. The he sat up suddenly and started rummaging about his drawers until he found what he was looking for: The picture he drew on the flight to City A some months back.

As he studied that face, Tong Zhian chose that moment to knock on the door and let himself in, bringing a couple of files Gao Tinghua needed to look over.

"You came just in time. I need you to look into someone for me."

Tong Zhian: "..."