"Speak properly, why are you acting all coy?" Xu Da instantly sat up straight from his lazy slouch, looking at me with vigilance as if I were a trap.
Ignoring his guard, I tugged at his sleeve again, shaking his arm and coaxing him like a woman, "Brother..."
Xu Da pressed a hand to his forehead. "What on earth do you want? Don't tell me you're short on money?"
I said earnestly, "Brother, when are you getting married?"
Xu Da nearly spat out his drink. After finally catching his breath, he felt my forehead with his hand and stared at me in utter disbelief, "Xu Zhi, have you lost your mind? You've never cared about these things before."
"Uh..." I fumbled for phrasing. "Aren't you thirty-five already? As your younger brother, of course I have to care about you. Look at your college classmate Zou Wen, he's already married with a kid who's ten years old. If you don't hurry up, by the time of your class reunion, the age gap with your classmates' kids will span a whole generation."
I lectured him earnestly, attempting to make Xu Da feel my sincerity so he would seriously ponder the major events of his life and put them on the agenda as soon as possible.
It would be best if he hurried up and got married and had a baby, which would divert Father Xu and Mother Xu's attention.
Xu Da stared at me for a long time, then went back to drinking by himself, his entire body radiating cold indifference.
Feeling the sudden drop in temperature, I suddenly realized that in both my past and present lives, I hated nothing more than people nagging me to marry and have kids, yet here I was doing the very thing I hated most.
A wave of annoyance washed over me: How could I force my own wishes onto someone else?
Just as I wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, Zou Wen, who hadn't spoken much until now, chuckled. "Xu Bai, your brother is quite interesting. Your parents haven't even been nagging you, yet your younger brother is nagging you on their behalf, hahaha."
At this, Xu Da glared at Zou Wen, a warning glint in his eyes that I couldn't quite decipher.
Figuring there was no point in continuing to sit here, and noticing that Zou Wen and Xu Da seemed quite close—though whether it was because of my presence that the two of them hadn't exchanged many words, and since I wasn't familiar with Zou Wen and had nothing to say to him anyway—I decided to take the opportunity to slip away first.
I said, "Big Brother, Brother Zou, I still have matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving. Since you two haven't seen each other in so long, enjoy catching up."
Zou Wen nodded. Xu Da gave me another unfathomable look for a moment before nodding as well.
Coming out of the lounge bar, recalling Xu Da's various baffling looks over the past few days, a sense of repulsion welled up in me. Moreover, on several occasions, he had insinuated in a roundabout way that I had changed—bringing it up even more often than Changxia, who shared my bed. Thinking of this, a trace of wariness toward him arose.
Xu Bai was still a person best kept at a distance.
Suddenly feeling a sense of relief, I wasted no time in heading to Qu Kang's company, an animation firm.
Thanks to Qin Di's help in pulling strings, I quickly found the head of the animation company, President Zhang.
President Zhang was very easy to talk to. After understanding my intent, he called over the company's Human Resources Director.
President Zhang said, "Have your HR side check which department this young man named Qu Kang is in, and have him come up to the general manager's office."
The HR Director looked somewhat surprised. "President Zhang, Qu Kang tendered his resignation yesterday, saying he had an emergency back in his hometown in H City and needed to return immediately. He said he would forgo all his unpaid wages as long as his departure was approved right away."
I asked, "Did you approve it?"
The HR Director replied, "Approved. Since he was willing to give up even his salary and just demanded to leave immediately, he was in such a rush that we didn't want to hold him up."
I asked, "When exactly did he leave?"
The HR Director answered, "Yesterday afternoon."
My mind was in turmoil: Could it be this sudden?
President Zhang looked at me and said, "President Xu, you don't need to be too anxious. I'll have HR check if they have his contact information. After all, he only left yesterday afternoon; he might still be in C City. You can just give him a call and ask."
It was like seeing a beam of light through the fog. "President Zhang is clear-headed indeed. Let's find his contact info first. Best case scenario is he's still in C City. Even if he has already left, having his contact info means we won't have to worry about not being able to find him."
President Zhang agreed, "That's right, that's the logic."
...
After thanking President Zhang and the HR Director, I left the animation company holding Qu Kang's contact information.
"The number you have dialed is powered off."
Powered off? Was he sleeping, or was he on a plane? I felt a bit anxious, but had no other alternatives.
Looking at the number I had dialed, the area code showed it was neither C City nor H City, but A City instead.
Was this guy running all over the place just to make a living?
With nowhere else to go for the moment, I went and bought a few sets of clothes and a suitcase, booked a new hotel, and handed my suits—clothes that didn't dry easily—over to the front desk to have someone help wash them. I planned to wash the rest of my everyday clothes myself.
Once inside the room, I called again. Still powered off.
Forget it, I'll wash the clothes first so they can dry quickly, otherwise I won't have anything to change into.
After hanging up the laundry, I lay on the bed and closed my eyes to rest, but the phone actually rang, giving me a start right in the middle of my thoughts.
On second thought, could it be Qu Kang calling back?
Without time to check, I picked up the phone and answered. No surprise—it was Xu Bai.
Xu Bai asked in a flat tone, "Where are you?"
I replied, "Just walking around."
Xu Bai asked, "When are you coming back to the hotel?"
I replied, "Not sure yet."
Xu Bai said, "I have something to discuss with you. Come back to the hotel for a moment."
I asked, "What is it? I still don't know when I'll be back at the hotel."
Xu Bai said, "Didn't you ask me and Mom and Dad earlier to look for someone named Qu Songhe?"
I paused in surprise, "Didn't you guys say you didn't know him and couldn't find him?"
Xu Bai said, "We seem to have a lead now. Do you want to come back to the hotel and hear about it?"
I hesitated and said, "...How about I call you later?"
Xu Bai said, "Fine."
After hanging up, I dialed Qu Kang's number again. Still powered off.
After pondering for a while, I decided to go try my luck at Xu Bai's place.
Knocking on the hotel room door, Xu Bai opened it and smiled, "Didn't you say you weren't sure when you'd be back? The moment Qu Songhe is mentioned, you're back? Who on earth is he?"
I fobbed him off, "Just a business partner."
Xu Bai said, "Here, this is what my people managed to dig up. Take a look and see if it's any use."
I said, "I'll keep these materials for now and see if I can find the person later. Thanks."
With that, I turned to leave Xu Bai's room, but he insisted on dragging me in to watch a "movie."
"What on earth do these male leads look like? How can those female leads stand it? And you, how can you bear to watch this?" I glanced at it a few times and couldn't help complaining.
Xu Bai retorted, "Who looks at the guys? Just look at the girls instead, wouldn't you?"
Watching him remain completely enthusiastic and entirely unfazed by the ugly men on screen, I rolled my eyes inwardly, picked up the documents about Qu Songhe that Xu Bai had just given me, and began to read them carefully.
Comparing the information sheet given to me by Qin Di, the information sheet from the animation company's HR, and the few documents given to me by Xu Bai, I fell into utter bewilderment.
These sets of data could be said to have no connection whatsoever. All the phone numbers were different, and the area codes were scattered across various regions without a single overlap.
The numbers provided by Qin Di were all disconnected numbers; the one provided by the animation company's HR kept its phone powered off; and when I picked up the data given by Xu Bai and entered the phone number, I found that the area code belonged to B City, yet that HR representative had clearly stated that Qu Kang's hometown was H City.
I dialed Qin Di's provided phone numbers once more—all disconnected.
Then I tried the phone numbers provided by HR—whether it was Qu Kang's, his family's, or his emergency contact's, all were powered off.
It seemed my only option was to look for a breakthrough within the materials Xu Bai had given me.