Suddenly coming into a windfall, Xie Tao’s first reaction wasn’t one of great happiness.
She couldn’t accept his money.
Especially since it was twenty real gold ingots!
When had she ever seen so much gold?
But that didn’t mean she felt at ease accepting his gift.
So she repeatedly stated that she didn’t need him to give her these things and asked for his address, wanting to return the entire chest of gold ingots to him.
But he always avoided the topic.
Xie Tao tossed and turned, unable to sleep well at night. She first hid the chest of gold ingots in the wardrobe, then, while lying in bed, felt it wasn’t safe there and took it out again, wandering around the room trying to shove the chest under the bed, but couldn’t manage to fit it.
Eventually, she put it back at the bottom of the wardrobe, covered it with many clothes on top.
Later, when she went back to bed, she didn’t know when she fell asleep.
Xie Tao had a dream.
In the dream, a corner of dark red sleeves fluttered slightly, and a young man with a golden crown and a jade belt turned his back to her, his thick long hair gently lifted by the wind.
Around was a lush bamboo forest, and through the varying density of mist, there was a hint of daylight connecting to a body of water, with gentle ripples, next to a wooden bridge were layers of faintly pink flowering trees, vague and swaying.
She seemed to hear her own heartbeat.
Beat after beat.
She wanted to approach him, but no matter how she ran towards him, there was always a distance between them, neither far nor near, like a chasm that could never be crossed.
And he, from beginning to end, never turned back.
Xie Tao was lost in her dream, unaware of her surroundings, while suddenly, in the pitch-dark room, a faint blue light shadow quietly infiltrated from the outside of the glass window, gradually forming a slender figure.
That woman, was precisely the person who had silently watched her from across the street while Xie Tao was handing out flyers.
Her earlobes still hung with deep purple crystals, like a very intense drop of water color, twinkling with a faint light in the dark shadows.
Her gaze stopped on the small bed, at the side face of the girl sleeping snugly under the blanket, she took a step forward but bumped into the leg of the desk placed by the window.
She hissed, her originally cold and stunning face suddenly wrinkled up, her lips painted with bright red lipstick pursed as if afraid to make a noise.
Rubbing her calves, her eyes began to wander around Xie Tao, as if searching for something. Silently, she walked to the bed, looking curiously at the sleeping Xie Tao, examining her several times before reaching out to take Xie Tao’s phone from the bedside table.
“Why does this thing have to fly into a young girl’s phone?” she complained under her breath, then touched the back of the phone with her fingers.
A pale blue halo appeared at her fingertips, and in that instant, a golden star disk with phoenix tail patterns appeared on the phone’s screen.
The star disk flickered, seeming to rotate twice, emitting a tinkling sound, like the afterglow of an old, slapped TV, before it faded away without a trace.
The woman frowned, “Why is it sticking so tightly?”
She moved her finger, and the pale blue light shone again.
But this time, there was no movement on the phone screen.
The woman seemed frustrated, took a deep breath, looked up at the girl on the bed, her gaze filled with a bit more apology.
Eventually, she stuffed Xie Tao’s phone into her coat pocket.
As she was about to leave, she hesitated for a moment, then took out another phone from another pocket of her coat.
“Consider it compensation.”
With some reluctance, she placed her brand-new, latest model phone beside the girl’s pillow, and seeing that the girl had kicked off her covers, she even pulled the blanket up for her.
The next moment, her figure turned into a pale blue light and disappeared into the long, dark night.
The next day, Xie Tao was awakened by the dazzling sunlight outside the window.
As soon as Xie Tao opened her eyes, yawning and glancing towards the window, she frowned.
She clearly remembered that she had drawn the curtains before going to sleep last night.
Confused, Xie Tao turned her head, intending to grab her phone from the bedside table, but unexpectedly found a strange phone beside her pillow.
Her own phone, which had been on the bedside table, was nowhere to be found.
Xie Tao immediately became alert and started searching under the pillow, then under the bed, and eventually throughout the entire room.
But her phone seemed to have vanished into thin air, nowhere to be found.
Finally, Xie Tao sat on the bed in a daze, staring at the room she had turned upside down.
Could there have been a thief?
Xie Tao had thought so, but quickly dismissed the idea.
Because when she searched the wardrobe, she found that the box of gold ingots hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe was still there, untouched, not a single one missing.
Apart from her phone, she hadn’t lost anything else.
What was most baffling was the phone that mysteriously appeared beside her pillow, which wasn’t hers.
It was the hottest-selling model on the market.
Xie Tao had seen advertisements for this phone more than once on the big screens at the central square while distributing flyers. The phone was very expensive, definitely beyond what Xie Tao could afford.
The phone was unlocked, allowing Xie Tao to easily access it, but upon opening it, she found it completely empty, without even a single call log.
It’s like a brand new phone, devoid of anything beyond the default apps installed.
Things seem to drift towards a bizarre direction. Xie Tao holds the phone, her entire being frozen, motionless for a long time.
From that day on, Xie Tao could no longer contact Wei Yun.
She kept every box he sent her and had looked through them all, but there wasn’t a trace of useful information on any.
There were no outer packages as one would expect from a courier, nor were there any tracking numbers or addresses left behind.
Xie Tao had long noticed many oddities in this situation.
Wanting to re-establish contact with Wei Yun, she specifically asked the courier responsible for all deliveries in their area.
She remembered the approximate times he sent her pastries, even those classical Chinese literature books, and asked every courier responsible for delivering in their area.
And their answers were all the same.
None of the items sent by Wei Yun during those time frames could be found in the courier system.
Aside from the items sent by Auntie Fu, she practically had no deliveries to receive.
If she received deliveries frequently enough, couriers would somewhat remember, but oddly, they don’t recall recently placing any items in her delivery locker.
What exactly is going on?
Xie Tao has been trying to recall everything from the past few days.
She noticed that many times right after he mentioned sending her something tasty, not much time would pass before she’d receive a message from the delivery locker.
How close must one be to achieve such speed?
The more Xie Tao thought, the more she felt that these events were becoming increasingly peculiar, as if she were enveloped in endless fog. Certain things remained hidden behind a hazy mist, revealing only vague outlines. She wanted to see clearly, but could never truly make out the details.
That afternoon, Xie Tao stood in front of the delivery lockers at the base of her apartment building, motionless for a long time.
—
For five consecutive days, Wei Yun received not a single letter from Xie Tao.
And when he took the initiative to write to her, the paper, pressed under a copper pendant, did not transform into the pale golden light merging into the pendant as usual.
Suddenly, their connection was completely severed.
That night, Wei Yun sat at his desk, holding the copper pendant, silent for a long time.
Without the nourishment of the pale golden light, the copper pendant before his eyes appeared no longer special, just like a particularly ordinary object.
“Sir?”
Wei Jing called out several times.
He noticed that this was the fourth time Wei Yun had been distracted.
Wei Yun came back to his senses, first glancing at Wei Jing, then clutching the copper pendant in his hand, his brows tinged with a hint of irritation.
“You may leave now.”
“Yes.”
Although Wei Jing could sense the slight unusualness the Imperial Advisor showed inadvertently these past days, he dared not ask more and could only nod in agreement before leaving the study.
On the desk lay a piece of snow-white Xuan paper, and as Wei Yun stood up to dip his brush in ink, he suddenly paused.
In a moment of distraction, a droplet of ink from the tip of the brush fell onto the white Xuan paper, spreading a mark of ink.
Had she encountered something?
The incense in the purple-gold burner in front of the desk had burned out, and the once warm tea had lost its steam, gradually becoming cold in the early autumn night. Outside the window, the sound of tree leaves rustling, each sound sparse and distant.
With a slight furrow in his brow, the young master dressed in dark red brocade clothes stood for a long time in front of the desk, his eyes lowered. The dim yellow light of the lamp spilled over him, casting a bright and glossy light upon his figure.
He was unaware that at this moment, Xie Tao was sitting in that magical little tavern, crying her eyes out.
“It’s just a lost phone, right? Just buy a new one, why cry?” Xie Lan said as he passed her tissues.
Old Xi sat peeling sunflower seeds nearby, a faint smile seemed to appear in his eyes upon hearing Xie Lan’s words. When he looked at Xie Tao, his gaze held a deeper meaning.
But ultimately, he said nothing, merely placing the seeds he had peeled into a small bowl and pushing it towards Xie Tao.
“How about this, Tao Tao, your brother Lan buys you one?” Xie Lan said, patting his chest.
Tears welled up in Xie Tao’s eyes as she pursed her lips, glaring at Xie Lan.
What do you know?!
Was it just about losing a phone?
It was clearly about losing a boyfriend!
