Chapter 72

"How much longer will this rain last..."

Bell Tong leaned against the window in the classroom, looking outside.

The longest rain since the beginning of summer had been continuously pouring for a week.

The incessant rain washed the streets clean, but also soaked pedestrians to a miserable state.

Raindrops hit the window and slowly slid down along the path.

The damp air always made people drowsy.

"What are you doing?"

She poked Raina Nan's back in front of her with her finger.

"Nothing..."

Raina Nan leaned on the desk, using a small comb to fix her bangs. Her hair tended to get split ends on such damp rainy days.

"Rain, Rain."

"Yes?"

"Did you make a phone call today?"

"..."

She paused for a moment and put down the comb in her hand.

"..."

Bell Tong didn't ask further, propped her chin, and looked out the window again.

...

It had been almost a week, and they still couldn't reach Roxie Lin.

Her phone number had become nonexistent, and there was no sign of her anywhere.

"Let's report it to the police. I heard they can file a missing person's case after 24 hours."

"If Roxie took a leave of absence, the school won't acknowledge it..."

"That's true."

...

Another moment of silence.

"Rain, Rain."

Bell Tong thought for a moment and continued:

"What if Roxie..."

"She will come back."

She said softly, turning her head to look at Bell Tong.

"Really..."

Bell Tong didn't know where she got her confidence from, sighed lightly, and took out her phone.

Looking through the call logs of the past few days, almost all of them were from the same number...

She sighed lightly.

With a hint of hope, she dialed that number again.

"I'm sorry, the number you dialed is nonexistent..."

She was sick of hearing this voice.

...

"All we can do is wait..."

She whispered softly and glanced at Raina Nan.

...

She turned away, clenching the pen in her hand, without saying a word.

...

...

"Watch out!"

"Ah!"

The man walked over and helped William Wei up from the ground.

"Sorry..."

William Wei rubbed the back of his head, picked up the basketball, and threw it back to him.

"I'll take a break."

He said and walked towards the bench on the side of the court.

This indoor basketball court was their backup venue for rainy days. After work or on weekends, a few friends would gather here to play basketball.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted."

Samson Nan, who was sitting next to him, threw a towel at him.

"Ah..."

He sighed, covering his face with the towel in silence.

"School stuff?"

"Yeah."

He nodded.

"Is that so?"

Samson Nan said, picking up a bottle of mineral water and taking a sip.

Not asking further, they usually didn't inquire about each other's work.

"Samson Nan, I've run into some trouble."

But this time, he spoke up on his own.

"Do you remember Roxie Lin?"

He said softly, wiping his face with the towel.

"Ah."

"She's gone missing."

"What?!"

Samson Nan straightened up, turning to look at him.

"Well, we can't jump to conclusions just yet. She just hasn't come to school..."

"Did you call her?"

"I can't reach her, I've tried many times."

"I see... no wonder..."

"No wonder what?"

"Forget it... go on."

He just remembered that Raina Nan had been acting strange these past two days. Whenever he called her, she always sounded listless and wouldn't say anything. It seemed... this was the reason."It's really strange," William Wei said, with a perplexed expression. "I checked Roxie Lin's student file at the office, and there's nothing in it except for her name and date of birth. They didn't even fill in her home address!"

"I was not satisfied, so I went to her previous middle school, but the result was the same..."

"Oh, I see..."

"But I just can't understand!" William Wei stood up and looked at him. "You say she has some hidden secrets with us teachers, OK, I understand. But shouldn't she at least reveal something to your sister?! What does it mean for this inexplicable person to disappear?!"

As he spoke, his eyes widened in frustration.

"Calm down, getting angry at me won't solve anything..."

"I am just so frustrated!" William Wei looked visibly distressed. This was his first time as a class teacher, and honestly, it was the first time he had seen him so concerned about something...

...

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," he said, lying back on the bench and looking at the ceiling. "If she doesn't show up after the leave deadline, we'll have to report it to the police..."

"Really?"

Samson Nan was silent, finishing his bottle of mineral water.

...

What if she doesn't want to be found...

He did not voice that thought. Besides, he, as an outsider, had no room to intervene in Roxie Lin's affairs. It was better not to say too much.

"I've asked Kun Ge to help me investigate this matter."

"Uncle Yun?"

"Yes," William Wei said. "He has a wide network, so I can only try my luck with him..."

The last straw for help...

"Okay,"

He stood up. "I need to go talk to Kun Ge and maybe invite him for a meal. Do you want to come along?"

"I'll pass."

"Luo Jia is also going," he hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand. "Never mind, I have something to do."

"Alright, I'll leave first," William Wei said, stuffing his sneakers into his bag. "Are you going like that?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Apart from several handprints of varying sizes, his basketball jersey also carried a slight sweat odor.

"Never mind, bye."

"Whatever... see you."

He grabbed his umbrella and rushed out of the gym.

...

Samson Nan took out his phone and checked the time. Silent, contemplating something.

After a moment, he stood up again.

Let's go home...

But as he walked out of the gym, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the screen. It was Raina Nan calling.

"Brother,"

Her voice came through the phone.

"Raina?"

"Where are you?"

Her voice trembled slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

She asked again.

"East Suburb Gym, why?"

"I'm coming over."

She hung up the phone.

"..."

He paused for a moment. Raina Nan's tone sounded strange, like she was in a hurry.

Taking a deep breath, he had planned to go home and take a hot shower... It seemed like he had to adjust his plans on the fly.

Quickly changing his clothes, he paced outside the gym, waiting.

Less than 20 minutes later, Raina Nan arrived at the gym, running towards him with an umbrella. Behind her was Bell Tong.

"Raina, what's wrong?"

He asked her while taking her backpack.

Her shoes were wet from the rain, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Brother..."

Earlier, Raina Nan's face had been calm, but as soon as she saw him, her lips began to tremble slightly.

...Keeping his head down, he remained silent.

"If Roxie is missing."

After a while, with a hint of tears in her voice, she finally spoke.

"You really can't restrain yourself whenever you see him..."

Bell Tong muttered softly on the side.

He paused for a moment, hesitating, before resting his hand on her head.

"Mhm..."

"Aren't you surprised?"

"I heard Weiguo talk about it."

"What should we do..."

She looked up at him helplessly.

"Brother, what should we do..."

"..."

His pupils flickered with a moment of hesitation.

So this girl can also show such an expression...

He sighed lightly.

"I will find a way."

He said, rubbing her slightly reddened eye socket with his fingers.

When did he start meddling in other people's business? He couldn't remember...

...

"Feng gege, you make it sound so easy, but now we don't even know where Roxie is staying."

Bell Tong couldn't help but pour cold water on him.

"If we can't find her at home, can't we look elsewhere?"

He said, turning his head to shoot her a glance.

"Do you have any leads?"

"Mhm... we can only give it a try."

The only place he could think of was there.

...

...

"Maid cafe?"

Raina Nan looked up at the words written on the sign.

"Feng gege, is this what you were talking about?"

"Ah."

"Do you know what kind of place this is?"

Bell Tong tilted her head and stared at him.

"A maid cafe."

"You've been here before?"

"Mhm."

"Hmm..."

Bell Tong took two steps back.

"Yuyu, this guy is dangerous..."

She hid behind Raina Nan, looking at him with a strange expression.

"..."

Raina Nan was also a little speechless. He lowered his eyelids and looked at him.

"What are you two thinking? Weiguo brought me here too..."

"Wei laoshi..."

He said, pointing with his chin towards the interior.

"Roxie Lin works here."

"Huh?!"

Bell Tong immediately showed a look of disbelief.

"Impossible, impossible. Roxie would never work at a place like this unless someone held a knife to her neck!"

"Brother, are you sure this is the place?"

Raina Nan also seemed a little skeptical.

"Mhm."

"Why didn't you mention it earlier..."

"She asked me to keep it a secret."

"I see..."

She glanced at him.

A subtle sense of dissonance.

"Let's go inside."

"..."

...