In the courtyard, the drizzling rain outside gradually ceased, while the cheerful noise, singing, and clinking of glasses inside the house were in stark contrast to the desolate atmosphere outside.
Huo Lan You stood by the window, though she was the main character of tonight's gathering, she had no interest in it at the moment. She looked at the rain outside and then at the wall clock, "It's already eight o'clock."
She dialed the number again, but it was still temporarily unreachable.
She had just spoken to him on the phone at six, and he had personally told her that he would be home in ten minutes. Why hadn't he come back yet?
"Yo, come on, let's toast to you. We don't know when we'll see each other again after you leave," Officer Xing stood up, a bit drunk, and raised his glass to her.
"Thank you, Officer Xing," she came back to reality slightly and drained the remaining wine in her hand.
"By the way, where is Lian?" Duan Xu asked curiously, "It's so late."
"I don't know either. He called a long time ago saying he was almost home, and he still hasn't come back," Huo Lan You lowered her eyes, her worried expression was hard to hide, "The phone has been unreachable. I'm sorry, you guys have fun first, I want to go out and look for him."
"Xiao You, maybe it was just raining, and he's taking shelter somewhere. Perhaps when the rain stops, he'll come back right away," Officer Xing comforted, "He's a big man, he'll be fine."
"Okay," hearing him say that, Huo Lan You felt a bit more at ease.
But by eleven o'clock, when everyone was about to leave, he still hadn't come back.
The bad feeling in her heart grew stronger, and Huo Lan You finally couldn't sit still. As a police officer with years of experience, she also felt something was wrong.
"Xiao You, don't worry, let's search for him in different directions," Officer Xing woke up all the drunk people.
Huo Lan You ran to the road that Yin He Lian might have passed on his way back from work.
"Xiao You, I'll go with you," Duan Xu caught up with her.
"No need, you've had a lot to drink, go back and rest early," Huo Lan You didn't have the mood to talk nonsense with him.
"You, a woman, going out in the middle of the night is not safe. It's okay, I'll accompany you," Duan Xu insisted, and Huo Lan You didn't say anything more.
The two of them, armed with flashlights, searched along the streetlights together.
"Lian, where are you?" In the deep night, Huo Lan You shouted with all her might. With each step, her heart sank a bit more, and in the end, she went to where he worked and still couldn't find him.
"Something must have happened, something happened," Huo Lan You was anxious and a bit incoherent. She was a rational person, but at this moment, she was completely devoid of her usual composure.
"Xiao You, calm down, think about it, did he say anything in his last call?" Duan Xu held her and asked calmly.
"He said he was already on his way back, and would be home in ten minutes," Huo Lan You tried to recall.
"Well, let's go to the place that's a ten-minute journey from your house and take a look," Duan Xu, having handled countless criminal cases, quickly analyzed.
"A ten-minute journey—" Huo Lan You muttered, then suddenly turned back towards the road they had come.
Soon, the two arrived at a remote road near the river.
"The area around a ten-minute journey is probably here," Huo Lan You looked around. It was close to the riverbank, with a slope below, the streetlights were dim, and it was not easy to spot anything. She had to turn on her flashlight and walk down the slope.
"Xiao You, what are you doing?" Duan Xu hurriedly grabbed her, "It just rained heavily, it's very slippery here. How about I call Officer Xing and let them come over to help you?"
"Thank you, but I still want to find him as soon as possible," Huo Lan You freed herself from his hand and jumped down the slope, searching everywhere. Duan Xu saw her lonely figure from the night and could only follow to help search. Soon, Officer Xing and others also arrived.
This patch of grassland was at least several hundred square meters.
More than a dozen people searched for a long time without any news. Just when Huo Lan You thought she had made a wrong judgment, she suddenly heard her colleague Xiao Xie shout, "I found a mobile phone, but it's been drenched by the rain and can't be turned on."
"Let me see," Huo Lan You ran over, and when she saw the familiar mobile phone, her heart fell into an ice cave. She looked at the place where the phone was found, far from the road, next to a small river, why would his phone be here?