Wu Qiangwei erged from the building to see a familiar silhouette approaching from the parking lot, none other than the Chairman of New City Company, Liu Lanzi.
Liu Lanzi had been unable to contact Song Guanchao for the past two days.
No replies to her ssages, calls going straight to voicemail.
It had already been several days.
Her only governnt connection was Song Guanchao.
Suddenly unable to get in touch with Song Guanchao, she genuinely did not know who else to ask.
So, after finishing her work this evening without even grabbing a bite to eat, she ca directly to the City Committee, planning to use a visit as a pretext to check on the situation.
"Secretary Wu."
Liu Lanzi stopped in her tracks, eyeing the woman in front of her whose looks were no less stunning than her own, the Deputy Secretary, and suddenly, a sowhat absurd thought ca to her.
Song Guanchao was her secretary; could sothing have happened between the two of them?
She had heard that the Deputy Secretary was still single.
"Hello, Chairman Liu," Wu Qiangwei had no choice but to halt.
Chairman Liu’s sudden visit to the City Committee clearly indicated she was here for a reason.
Moreover, Liu Lanzi was her person, only Song Guanchao had been the middleman conveying ssages.
"Did you co to see , Chairman Liu?"
"I’m looking for Secretary Song to understand so matters, but I can’t get through to Secretary Song’s phone."
"Secretary Song he..." Wu Qiangwei hesitated for a mont, saying, "He has recently run into a bit of trouble; if there’s anything you need, you can speak directly to ."
Run into trouble?
Liu Lanzi was adept at reading people, and Wu Qiangwei’s response indicated to her that the trouble Song Guanchao had encountered might be quite serious.
She suppressed the concern in her heart and said, "Secretary Song asked to prepare a list of all the companies in the city qualified to construct the high-speed rail. Also, it seed like Secretary Song had sothing he wanted to discuss with ."
Then she pretended to be curious as she asked, "Secretary Wu, could you tell what trouble Secretary Song has encountered?"
With a smile and a shake of her head, Wu Qiangwei replied, "It’s a personal matter, I should not disclose it."
"Oh." Liu Lanzi nodded, glanced at her wristwatch, and said, "Do you have sothing later, Secretary Wu? Why don’t we have a al together?"
"I need to make a trip to the Civil Aviation Administration."
It seed Wu Qiangwei was worried that Liu Lanzi would feel like she was being purposefully avoided, so she added, "A friend wants to rent a helicopter, and I can’t get through to the civil aviation over the phone, so I need to go there in person to inquire."
Liu Lanzi said, "If you need to rent a helicopter, I actually have a channel."
Wu Qiangwei was taken aback and imdiately asked, "What channel?"
Liu Lanzi responded, "The Tourism Bureau has always had a partnership with the Civil Aviation Administration. There are a few helicopters over there, and you can rent them directly through the Tourism Bureau."
At these words, the sense of urgency within Wu Qiangwei found montary relief.
"Chairman Liu, could I trouble you to help make contact?"
"No problem."
Liu Lanzi was rather curious inside, as Wu Qiangwei appeared to be quite anxious.
What friend would need to rent a helicopter?
But what she was even more curious about was Song Guanchao.
What exactly had he encountered?
...
Old Mountain.
Li Zhu and his group of seventeen had successfully t up with Li Yougui.
Li Yougui took the biscuits and water from Li Zhu and began to gulp them down.
In these past three days, he hadn’t starved, but without any seasoning, his mouth was close to tasting bland as a bird’s.
As he ate, he led them toward the direction of Song Guanchao, tracking his whereabouts.
After being well-fed and satisfied, he let out a contented burp and pointed ahead, saying, "Let’s split into groups of three and search separately. Whoever finds him first, call and let the others know."
Li Zhu grabbed his mobile phone, which had one bar of signal.
But the phone’s battery was nearly dead.
It had been three days, and though he hadn’t used the phone much, the battery was still about to give out.
He probably wouldn’t last half an hour before needing to power off.
He did not instruct that if they didn’t find anyone within half an hour, they should regroup.
There was no need to regroup.
If they couldn’t find him, they’d keep searching until they did.
Whoever found Song Guanchao first, would deal with him on the spot.
"Just kill them, and all will be smooth sailing."
Soon, eighteen people were divided into six small teams, spreading out and beginning to track in a fan formation.
Two kiloters away from them,
Song Guanchao and two won crept forward in the dark.
He didn’t dare to stop.
After all, he was with two won, and the opponents might still have guns on them.
If they were caught up to, he might luckily escape, but the two won wouldn’t stand a chance to live.
From the afternoon until now, they had been continuously on the move for over five hours.
Because Song Guanchao set off to travel imdiately after waking up, they hadn’t eaten anything all day.
Song Guanchao could still bear it, but the two won were already so hungry they were dizzy and weak in the legs, relying solely on their determination not to drag Song Guanchao down to keep them going.
"Ah."
Zhou Qian stumbled over a branch lying on the ground and fell.
Song Guanchao helped her up, but after just two steps, Zhou Qian groaned in pain.
"What’s wrong? Where did you fall?"
"My foot seems to be sprained."
Zhou Qian was sweating with pain.
Song Guanchao helped her sit down, grasped her right foot, and gently touched her ankle. Zhou Qian imdiately trembled, "It hurts."
"I’ll carry you."
Zhou Qian didn’t let him carry her, "You and Wu Yun go ahead. I’ll rest for a while and then catch up with you."
Song Guanchao knew what she wanted to say.
In the pitch-black forest, with a sprained ankle, and having not eaten anything up to now, no matter how much she rested, she couldn’t restore her strength.
The idea of catching up later was her being worried about holding him back.
Song Guanchao didn’t speak. He hoisted her onto his shoulder and then said to Wu Yun, "Get on."
"I’m fine, I can walk on my own..."
"Get on!"
Song Guanchao directly bent down and shouldered her as well.
Because of the darkness, his vision was hindered, so Song Guanchao’s pace was also slow.
Zhou Qian tried several tis to ask him to put her down, but Song Guanchao didn’t respond.
"Song Guanchao, put down. We can’t go on like this."
"Besides, the mountain is so big, and there’s only one person chasing us. It won’t be such a coincidence that they find ."
When she proposed this suggestion again, Song Guanchao suddenly slapped her on the buttocks, "Talk less, save your strength."
Zhou Qian was hit with a mix of sha and gratitude, yet deeply moved inside.
In fact, both she and Wu Yun understood that they were a burden.
If it were just Song Guanchao alone, he would have left Old Mountain long ago.
However, at the sa ti, Zhou Qian felt sowhat joyous; she felt that she hadn’t misjudged him.
Song Guanchao was a man worth entrusting. Even if it ant being his lover, she would be willing.
...
At the accident site.
Liang Jianfeng suddenly received so joyous news.
"Good, I’ll wait here."
After hanging up the phone, Liang Jianfeng excitedly said, "Secretary Wu has rented two helicopters!"
"Helicopters?" Wu Xinan was startled, then quickly beca excited, "When will they arrive?"
"They’ve already taken off. They should arrive in about an hour."
Liang Jianfeng said, "With helicopters, it’ll be much easier to find people. We’ll definitely find them tonight!"
...
In the depths of Old Mountain.
Uncle Hong chewed on an overly sweet energy bar and crouched to observe a patch of flattened weeds.
Based on the angle at which the weeds had been flattened, the mud residue on them, and the approximate outline of the shoe soles,
he quickly determined the direction, the ti since soone had passed, and roughly judged the height of the person who had been there based on the shoe size.
It was certain that it wasn’t Song Guanchao.
Since it wasn’t him, it must be a villager from Huangni Village.
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