Butler Fu immediately explained, “Chu He went out in the morning and said she’d be back in the afternoon. But there’s no sign of her yet.”
Gu Jinglian asked, “Have you tried calling her?”
“I did. She hung up on me.”
“Hung up?” Gu Jinglian grew uneasy. Chu He wouldn’t hang up on anyone, no matter what.
Not believing it, the man made a call himself. Indeed, he heard a beep, and then the line went dead.
Gu Jinglian’s frown deepened.
“What’s going on?”
He asked Butler Fu, “Did she say where she was going?”
“Yes…”
“Where?”
‘I think a friend asked her out. Someone by the name of Qingxue or something …’
” Qingxue?”
“Yes. Apparently she texted her on WeChat and—”
Without another word, Gu Jinglian got into the car and shut the door. Ignoring Butler Fu’s and Madam Qin’s anxious questions, he instructed, “Let’s go.”
“CEO Gu, where to?”
“Just keep driving for now.”
Gu Jinglian immediately dialed a number and ordered someone to check Meng Qingxue’s residential address. Within a few minutes, the address came through via text. He gave the address to the chauffeur and ten minutes later, the car was parked in a villa area.
As soon as he got out of the car, the private bodyguard guarding the entrance stepped forward to stop him.
Gu Jinglian did not even give him a glance as he strode through the obstruction. As he passed by the courtyard, he saw Meng Qingxue tending to the carefully cultivated flowers and plants.
“Meng Qingxue!” He called out her name.
Meng Qingxue turned around. She smiled when she saw Gu Jinglian. “Eh? Young Master Gu, it’s you! Where’s Chu He?”
“Chu He?” Gu Jinglian frowned. “She’s not with you?”
Meng Qingxue was surprised by his question. After a brief silence, Gu Jinglian grew impatient and asked again. Only then did she react and shake her head blankly. “No!”
“Butler Fu said that the two of you made plans to meet. She went out this morning and hasn’t been home since.”
“What?” Meng Qingxue was completely dumbfounded. “I didn’t ask her out. She’s nine months pregnant now isn’t she? How can I ask her out when she’s about to give birth?”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“I…” Meng Qingxue looked anxious and worried. “Why would I lie? It’s true!”
“He said you had contacted Chu He on WeChat, that was why she went out for the appointment.”
“Wechat?” Meng Qingxue was stumped. “My WeChat account seems to have been hacked. Because I don’t have any friends on WeChat, I wasn’t in a hurry to fix it…”
Gu Jinglian was stunned!
Meng Qingxue also sensed that something was wrong. She frowned but did not dare to let her imagination run wild.
The man was about to leave when his cell phone rang, but it wasn’t a ringtone. It was Facetime. He took out his phone and saw that the person who had initiated Facetime was using Chu He’s ID.
Facetime was a video call software built into Apple’s iOS that connected to the Internet via wifi or cellular data. It implemented video calls between two FaceTime devices.
When Gu Jinglian saw that Chu He had contacted him through Facetime, he suddenly felt relieved. He hit the answer button, but the video screen was dark.
He asked, “Chu He, where are you?”
Nothing happened for a while.
Gu Jinglian started to feel nervous again.
“Chu He? Chu…”
“Master Gu, long time no see!”
He was interrupted by the hoarse voice of a man.
Gu Jinglian was stunned and immediately recognized this voice.
Black Panther?!
