The Missing Daughter – CH 014

Chapter 14. Boyfriend 5

“Lianyu and I are going to Yangshan. She rented a place there. I’m going to visit her for a few days. I’ll be back soon. Since you said your flight was delayed, I might as well go out and have some fun.”

This was the message I received on the morning of the 26th.

I opened the message interface, then closed it, then opened it again.

The police officer on the other end was surnamed He. He had severe dark circles under his eyes and hadn’t shaved. I heard there had been many missing persons cases in the city recently, and a serious family murder case happened a few days ago. They must be under a lot of pressure.

But that wasn’t what I cared about.

I reopened the message interface and turned the screen towards He Chenghui. “They disappeared together. One person might run away from home, but two adults? How could they just disappear for no reason?”

He Chenghui. “Don’t get agitated. I was just saying, is there any possibility, or maybe it’s a prank? After all, you said it yourself; they are two adults. The probability of something happening to them together is very small, and besides, this is…”

He glanced at the time and date. “They left the city the day before, the 25th, and today is only the 27th. Maybe they lost their phones or something else. It isn’t necessarily that they are missing.”

I shook my head, denying his theory. “Qingyu never ignores my messages or calls, and she never turns off her phone for extended periods. If she’s in Yangshan, she should send me her location and tell me her itinerary.”

He Chenghui frowned slightly. “You just said… your girlfriend, Nie Qingyu, right?”

I nodded.

He Chenghui coughed and glanced at my ID card on the table. “Jiang Shen, um… I can understand your feelings, but have you considered that you’re not married, just boyfriend and girlfriend? Your girlfriend is a woman in her twenties, and she’s only going on a short trip. Isn’t your behavior a bit excessively… domineering? Having to report her every move so meticulously, could it be that she can’t stand your control, so…”

I looked at him.

He Chenghui also looked at me.

The silent standoff finally broke him. “How about this: you go back and wait a bit. They’ll probably contact you in a few days. Do you have her friend Lianyu’s, or any related relatives’ or friends’ phone numbers?”

I said, “I have Nie Qingyu’s family’s phone numbers. I’ve also asked her company, but they haven’t heard from her. I’ve been searching for her for a whole day and night before I came to the police station. It isn’t that simple; she’s a modern person.”

He Chenghui didn’t understand. “A modern person? What’s wrong with her being a modern person?”

I said, “Modern people use their phones every day. As long as she turns on her phone, she can see… She wouldn’t ignore my message.”

He Chenghui. “Maybe she just doesn’t want to reply?”

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Are you just being argumentative?”

He Chenghui quickly explained. “Don’t get agitated. It’s like this: I often receive reports of missing persons, but they are mostly due to internal conflicts or family disputes. The trouble subsides in a few days, and they come back… So, adults can also run away from home. Although there have been some missing persons cases in this city recently, those are mostly children or women traveling alone. Your situation…”

I knew what he meant.

He was short-handed and didn’t want to waste time on people who didn’t necessarily seem like missing persons.

Even if someone went missing within the city and their family reported it, they might not be found immediately, let alone in another city. At my insistence, He Chenghui briefly checked the system and confirmed that both Nie Qingyu and Lianyu had records of taking the high-speed train to Yangshan.

He Chenghui said, “In your reply, you said your flight was delayed and you wouldn’t be back until the 25th at the earliest. Why did you return on the 25th?”

I replied, “I wanted to come back early to surprise her, but I received a text from her this morning saying she was going to Yangshan, so I went straight home. But I hadn’t heard from her by the afternoon. I searched everywhere, called everyone I knew, but no one had any news of Qingyu.”

He Chenghui nodded. “Okay, go back and wait a little longer. If she still hasn’t returned, we’ll look for her again.”

I couldn’t wait any longer; something must have happened to her.

“Can’t you check the surveillance footage from the high-speed rail station and other places to see where they went?”

He Chenghui. “This isn’t that simple, and checking the surveillance footage takes time. We also need to communicate with the police station in Yangshan City. We can’t confirm they are missing yet.”

I asked. “If we still can’t contact them by tomorrow, does that mean they are definitely missing? Didn’t you say that if someone goes missing, we don’t need to wait; we can report it anytime?”

He Chenghui. “Of course, but…”

Seeing my firm attitude, he sighed, “We are really short-staffed here. I haven’t slept for two days and one night. But don’t worry, I’ve recorded what you said. We’ll communicate with Yangshan and let you know when we have results.”

I still had to go back and wait.

It was already dark when I left the police station.

But I couldn’t go home, and I couldn’t rest. Every hour that passed meant she was in greater danger. I arrived in Yangshan in the early hours of the morning.

There wasn’t much of a crowd around Yangshan High-Speed ​​Railway Station. I went to the local police station and told them my girlfriend and her friend had gone missing in the area, and I wanted to see the security footage.

At first, they, like He Chenghui, didn’t believe me.

But after my insistence, they finally agreed, and a police officer took me to see the footage.

There weren’t many security cameras in Yangshan. The high-speed rail cameras showed them exiting the station from the north exit that afternoon and then disappearing from view.

We started searching all the surrounding security cameras, trying to find any trace of them.

We watched until noon the next day, but no camera captured them.

They were like two drops of water flowing into the ocean, completely vanishing from Yangshan, a coastal city.

After Lianyu’s parents also reported them missing, He Chenghui finally confirmed that the two hadn’t simply gone on a trip but were genuinely missing and contacted the Yangshan police to begin the search.

We also checked with the landlord that Lianyu had contacted before, but the landlord hadn’t seen them at all, and, not getting any calls from Lianyu, thought she had been stood up. Before the police began their operation, I had searched the entire Yangshan High-Speed ​​Railway Station.

I never imagined this was just the beginning.

Two living people, vanishing silently in a bustling city, leaving no trace.

Just like many of the missing persons cases that He Chenghui had handled before.

People only knew that young children were likely targets for human traffickers, but they didn’t know adults were too.

If it wasn’t human traffickers but a murderer, then…

I dared not think any further.

Time passed day by day, and my heart sank deeper and deeper.

I searched every corner of Yangshan, and from Yangshan, I searched the entire province, but to no avail.

Suddenly, one day, a terrifying thought flashed through my mind.

What if Nie Qingyu were no longer in the province?

If those people could take them away silently from outside the high-speed railway station, why couldn’t they take them from Yangshan? Or even leave the province?

At that moment, I was terrified.

Because I realized…

The country was so vast, made up of countless Yangshans, and each Yangshan had corners I couldn’t fully explore. Could it be that at some point, I’ve already brushed past her without even realizing it?

**

I hated He Chenghui.

Not because of his name, but because of the reality he represented.

Two years after Qingyu disappeared, He Chenghui found her. I saw her badly injured body in the police morgue.

He Chenghui said she was sold to another province, but he didn’t know exactly where or to whom. He only knew that perhaps during her escape, she had no choice but to jump into the river.

But she wasn’t a good swimmer, and her body was covered in wounds.

This river meandered through the land of other provinces, passed the city where we once lived, flowed past Yangshan, and finally emptied into the sea.

When bystanders pulled her from the water, she was already dead. She was severely malnourished, her left leg showed signs of a fracture that had healed, and she had many other injuries…

I couldn’t bear to listen.

He Chenghui continued, “Many boats travel on this river. Perhaps those who have disappeared were transported out in this clandestine way, via ships or containers. We’ve started investigating along the riverbank following this lead. Don’t worry, we’ll give you an explanation…”

I’ve forgotten what he said after that.

I only knew how much fear and pain she must have endured all these years, these years of being unable to escape.

Nie Qingyu, I’m sorry.

I couldn’t find you, I couldn’t protect you, and I could not…

Take you home.

**

After Qingyu disappeared, I never returned to the place we used to live together. I had been in Yangshan and the surrounding area, never sleeping a full night, watching countless surveillance videos.

I still remember the expression on her face when she casually placed the brochure for the Anquan Residential Complex on my desk, a gesture she’d clearly been planning for a long time.

“This place…the environment is nice, the greenery is good, but it’s a pity the down payment is too expensive. Sigh, if only I had a friend who’s already made a fortune and is rolling in money, willing to splurge with me.”

I flipped through the pages on my tablet. “No splurge.”

Nie Qingyu’s tone softened immediately. “Brother Jiang, look how nice this apartment is! You can’t always rent, can you? It’s so inconvenient to bring your girlfriend home when you’re renting.”

When things were fine, she would call me Jiang Shen; when things got tough, she would call me Brother Jiang.

I looked up at her, amused. “Aren’t you my girlfriend?”

She gave me a defiant look, her true colors revealed. “Just tell me, are you in or not?”

I held up the brochure. “In. Of course I’m in! I can’t bring my wife home; she can’t live in a rented place, can she?”

The girl blushed. “Who, who’s your wife?!”

I asked knowingly. “Who’s my wife?”

Nie Qingyu glared at me again. “Oh, so you want another wife?”

Later, I bought a bunch of ice cream as an apology before she reluctantly forgave me.

Why did she have this habit of liking ice cream in winter?

**

When we first moved in, she was like a sparrow, flitting from room to room, chattering away, making plans, constantly turning back to ask me, “Is this okay here? How about that?”

Now, all the decorations were covered in dust.

Even the mirror.

When I was little, I loved this mirror. My mom said that back then, I was always alone, didn’t like playing with others, was a bit withdrawn, and wouldn’t greet adults or relatives—a bit rude.

She said I liked looking at this mirror alone and talking to my reflection.

I said, “I don’t remember.”

My mom sighed and said, “Of course you don’t remember. Later, you were always clinging to Nie Qingyu, inseparable from her. How could you remember this mirror at home, or your ‘little friend’ in it?”

In a parent’s eyes, talking to one’s reflection was a sign of extreme withdrawn behavior.

I said, “I wasn’t withdrawn as a child; I was just simply rude and didn’t want to talk to others.”

I walked to the mirror and wiped the dust off its surface.

The mirror reflected the living room, just like now—the lights weren’t on, but it was darker in the mirror. In that dim scene, I saw a drowsy girl, wearing a white nightgown with her favorite doll pattern, walking to the mirror.

My blood ran cold; I felt like I’d seen a ghost.

Yes, I’d seen a ghost.

The girl, eyes closed, was standing within the mirror, swaying back and forth.

It was Nie Qingyu.

I reached out to touch her.

But all I touched was the cold surface of the mirror.

She swayed and turned in front of the mirror, her little head bobbing as if it had no support.

Seeing her like this, I knew she was sleepwalking again.

Everything that followed was just as I remembered.

The sound of her bumping into the furniture was very clear.

Soon, another version of myself appeared within the mirror—

He glanced amusedly at the girl with her eyes closed, then, without going anywhere else, poured himself a glass of water in the living room, sat on the sofa, and, without turning on the lights, watched her in the moonlight streaming in from the window.

Yes, he was also Jiang Shen.

The night was still, and I just stared at myself in the mirror.

Jiang Shen within the mirror looked at Nie Qingyu.

He stayed by her side until she settled down on the sofa, her breathing even.

The Jiang Shen within the mirror knelt beside the sofa, looking up at her peaceful expression. Then he chuckled softly, reached out, and pinched Nie Qingyu’s soft cheek before carrying her into the bedroom, gently closing the door behind him.

**

At first, I thought the person within the mirror was a projection of my past memories.

Or perhaps, it was just my imagination.

But I gradually realized that wasn’t the case.

The details in the mirror were different and not quite the same as in my memory.

The house within the mirror had some things that were missing from my home and some things they had that I did not. I’d experienced most of what they went through, but the details were different.

That wasn’t my memory.

That was another world.

But no matter how much I pat the mirror, I couldn’t pass through it; I could only be an observer.

This was the only place I could still see her.

Every day, I sat in front of the mirror, looking at my other self and my other Nie Qingyu.

I could even hear the voices coming from the mirror.

Nie Qingyu was sleepwalking again.

Nie Qingyu was eating random things again, suffering from gastroenteritis, and lying on the sofa, refusing to go to the hospital.

Nie Qingyu was complaining about her awful boss again, saying she would definitely change jobs next month, but her procrastination keeps putting it off.

And at the same time, I saw it too.

Jiang Shen within the mirror, carrying her back to her room again and again when she was sleepwalking.

Every time she had a stomachache, Jiang Shen within the mirror could tell from her expression whether it was her period or gastroenteritis and then prescribe the right medicine for her, more professionally than a doctor.

He would vent with her about her awful boss.

They would watch documentaries, thrillers, and cartoons together in the living room.

Sometimes they would hug and kiss each other.

I sat in front of the mirror with the lights off. The “home” behind me was covered in dust, shrouded in darkness and loneliness.

But the living room within the mirror was warm and bright. Even at night, a soft little lamp was always lit there—a piece of furniture that didn’t exist in my world.

Every day within the mirror was familiar to me.

I never imagined that one day I would be powerless to do anything, only able to watch all of this as an observer. That mirror was like an impenetrable barrier, dividing the inside and outside into two separate worlds.

These days didn’t last long.

The day arrived quickly.

I heard Nie Qingyu within the mirror ask—

“Jiang Shen, shouldn’t we get married?”

I stared blankly at her reflection, muttering to myself, “You only just remembered this, Nie Qingyu?”

But a different answer came from the mirror.

It was another voice of mine, feigning calm, but the eggs in its hand had already shattered on the floor.

“We should have gotten married a long time ago. Which day do you prefer?”

I knew what was going to happen next.

Yangshan, disappearance, death…

That same night, I discovered…

I had passed through the mirror.

**

One world could not contain two versions of oneself. After passing through the mirror, there was no way back, and I didn’t want to return to that world.

Parts of my body were starting to become transparent, and the duration was getting longer and longer.

Would I disappear?

There was no time left.

**

Nie Qingyu, I’m sorry.

**

“Jiang Shen, I hate you. I don’t like you at all. You’re the worst person in the world. You’re a liar.”

Yes, I was the worst liar in the world.

“Then why did you come looking for me? If you died, go reincarnate. Why did you come looking for me?”

“Because I miss you too, I want to see you.”

I wanted to see you every day…

Did you know? I had been looking for you for a very, very long time. Every day, I was on the verge of collapse. I was afraid of not finding you, and even more afraid of finding you…

Nie Qingyu… I was so scared.

I was afraid of a world without you.

“Don’t cry…”

I wanted to wipe her tears, but I pulled my outstretched hand back. How could I touch her?

“Don’t cry; I’ll take you home, okay?”

**

I hid her identification.

I sent the text messages, both the warning to Lianyu and the clue to He Chenghui.

The former, using an anonymous phone; the latter, using Nie Qingyu’s phone. All her passwords were always the same; I couldn’t remember any more.

But in the end, I was just someone who could only stand in the darkness.

After playing the ghost game with her for so many days, I finally decided to throw away the mirror.

Before throwing it away, I needed to smash it to feel at peace.

Yes, I was afraid. I was afraid someone else could emerge from that mirror and take everything from me, just as I took everything from him.

She wasn’t stupid at all.

She was beautiful, smart, kind, and brave.

So, she must have realized it long ago.

I wasn’t him who had been resurrected.

“Nie Qingyu,”

I said to the girl in the moonlight, “There are many people in the world who aren’t as stupid as you, as slow-witted, as prone to crying, or as beautiful as you, and…they aren’t you.”

“I only love you.”

Jiang Shen couldn’t live in a world without Nie Qingyu.

Just as Nie Qingyu couldn’t accept a world without Jiang Shen.

After this confession, there was a ring that could never be given, and a question that could never be asked.

Nie Qingyu, in this world, I only love you.

Will you marry me?

【Boyfriend Chapter/End】