In a Ninth-Heaven private room, Qiu Yifan, Cheng Ziyi, Ou Yangfeng, and Yan Shaoqing had all arrived, yet Wen Xinya, the host, was not seen.
"Ou Yangfeng, recently there's been an environmental protection company, and their shares seem to have good prospects. I heard that you helped Wen Xinya buy their shares." A few days ago the government had released a series of environmental policies, causing the entire stocks and shares market to be set into motion, and several environmentally-friendly shares in the country saw their value increase.
Ou Yangfeng nodded and said, "Yes! This share has appreciated two thousand this morning, and I expect it to increase further to three thousand. I had previously helped Xinya to buy ten million stocks, and currently, they have doubled in value."
Cheng Ziyi hurriedly joined the conversation. "Help me buy some too!"
Ou Yangfeng asked, "Are you asking me to help as a prospective investor of Lanxin Investment Corporation, or as a friend?"
Cheng Ziyi said, "Is there a difference?"
Ou Yangfeng adopted a professional attitude and tone, saying, "Of course, there's a difference. If you are acting as an investor for Lanxin, then you would need to go to Lanxin to submit the relevant documents. However, though you are considered a celebrity, for Lanxin's current threshold for investors, you might not have enough money to qualify to be one."
Cheng Ziyi's expression turned dark and kicked him. "Hey, you think my legs aren't long enough to reach the threshold of Lanxin? If it weren't for me helping Lanxin gain popularity, no one would know about it now."
Ou Yangfeng said with a straight face, "Don't be upset, all I'm saying is that if I'm helping you as a friend, there would be no issues."
Cheng Ziyi could not help but become agitated. "Hey, you're messing with me!"
Qiu Yifan and Yan Shaoqing could not control their laughter, and Qiu Yifan impolitely said, "He's messing with you."
Ou Yangfeng tried to prevent himself from laughing. "How much are you planning to buy?"
Waving his hand, Cheng Ziyi indifferently said, "Since you think so highly of this share, then one million!"
As a lawyer, such jobs which included playing in the stock market with high risks should not be dabbled in for too long; otherwise, their job would be interfered with. After dabbling in the stock market for a short time, it was best to leave quickly.
Qiu Yifan looked at his watch and said, "It's already 6 pm, why is Xinya still not here?"
Ou Yangfeng also felt that it was strange. "Xinya is always very punctual, she would never make anyone wait. Maybe because five to six is the peak hour period where most people end work for the day, she's caught in a jam?"
"If it were a jam, she would call and notify us. Could it be something else?" Qiu Yifan and Wen Xinya had interacted with each other many times, so he understood her better.
"I'll give her a call." Ou Yangfeng took his phone out and called Wen Xinya's phone.
"The person that you are trying to reach is currently unavailable." The robotic tone of the automatic reply service then spoke in English. Ou Yangfeng knitted his brows and tried two more times, but reached the same dead end.
"What happened, can't the call go through?" Yan Shaoqing hurriedly asked.
Ou Yangfeng nodded. "I can't reach her phone. I called three times, but none of them got through."
Cheng Ziyi crossed his legs and joked. "Maybe she didn't want to treat us to dinner, so she purposely didn't answer her phone so that she could stand us up!"
Qiu Yifan kicked him harshly. "Don't spout nonsense, Xinya isn't that type of person. She was probably caught up in something urgent."
Cheng Ziyi immediately uncrossed his legs and furiously said, "Qiu Yifan, you silly person, you're too mean. I was just kidding, why do you need to be so serious!"
Ou Yangfeng said, "Let's order something first. Xinya is expected to get here soon."
Qiu Yifan nodded and called the waiter over.
After ordering some cold dishes to go with the alcohol, the dishes soon arrived. At 6 pm, Wen Xinya still had not come, and Ou Yangfeng, Qiu Yifan, and the others were starting to get worried. They called her phone again and again, but none got through.
"I'll give Old Mr. Mo a call." Qiu Yifan said as he called Old Mr. Mo.
Old Mr. Mo was in his study, drawing. One hand held the brush, and the graceful movements of the brush created soft lines, making a beautiful scenery of the environment. The chapped edges of the lines created an authentic yet clear drawing of the mountains and rocks, and the sharpness of the brush strokes was bold and tough.
Suddenly, he received a call from Qiu Yifan. He felt it strange as he was supposed to be having dinner with Xinya, and it was unexpected that he would call.
"Old Mr. Mo, Xinya was supposed to have dinner with us at Ninth-Heaven today, but she hasn't arrived until now. Furthermore, her phone is unreachable, and she isn't at home. Is she caught up with something?"
"She set off at five-thirty to Ninth-Heaven, how could it be that she has not arrived yet?" Old Mr. Mo's hand trembled, and the ink on the brush splattered on the parchment paper. The stains on the paper were unerasable, and the splatters made the entire drawing ominous and dark.
"What, she left at five-thirty?" Qiu Yifan's voice became tense. From the Mo household, she only needed 20 minutes by car to reach Ninth-Heaven. It was already six-thirty, even if she were in a jam, it would take at most an hour to get there.
"Yes, before she left, she said goodbye to me. She said that she had already arranged dinner with everyone and had nothing else on. If she had, given her personality, she would have called to inform you." Old Mr. Mo had an ominous premonition in his heart, and his right eyelid would not stop twitching.
Qiu Yifan noticed that his tone became urgent and quickly tried to appease him. "Old Mr. Mo, don't be too worried yet. Maybe she had something at the last minute, just try to contact her first."
"I had previously asked Uncle Zhang to send her there, but recently his back has been acting up. She said that she arranged the dinner on her own, so she would make her way there by herself. Recently, there have been many incidents with taxis, and a girl being alone like her, she must have met with something bad." Old Mr. Mo's hand started to shake, and he could not help but think of the previous days' news about how taxi drivers kidnapped their passengers and brutally murdered them and hid the corpse. He suddenly felt suffocated.
Qiu Yifan heard Old Mr. Mo's loud breathing and hurriedly consoled him. "Old Mr. Mo, I'll make my way there immediately. We'll talk when we reach there."
Qiu Yifan hung up, and his facial expression became very serious. "Xinya might be in some trouble. Old Mr. Mo said that she left at five-thirty to come to Ninth-Heaven."
Ou Yangfeng and everyone else was anxious. "What do we do now?"
Qiu Yifan picked his suit up and said, "I'll go to the Mo household to find Old Mr. Mo first. He didn't seem fine when he was on the phone just now, and I'm quite worried about him."
Ou Yangfeng and Yan Shaoqing said, "I'll come with you. You'll have help if there's an issue."
Cheng Ziyi also said, "I'll go to the police station to find out if there's been a car accident or any other issues nearby."
They hurriedly ran out of Ninth-Heaven and drove to the Mo household.