FIO CH63

Chapter 63: Zhou Zheng Runs into Trouble

“Oh, he’s calm and composed, always very cool-headed. He probably thought I was still busy, so he didn’t ask.”

“That’s actually good. It saves him from worrying. If he’s not worried, then I’m relieved, yeah.”

Liu Zhu felt that the male voice on the other end of the line sounded a bit forced. He wondered whether the repeated assurances were genuine or an attempt at self-persuasion.

Liu Zhu pushed his glasses up with his hand and moved his mouth, but in the end, he couldn’t come up with any comforting words.

“Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll send you the address,” Zhou Zheng hastily hung up the phone.

As a good friend of the alpha and a witness to this relationship, Liu Zhu tasted a bit of helplessness and bitterness. He sighed and put his phone back into his pocket.

“Ding——” The elevator door opened. As Liu Zhu stepped in, his gaze met a pair of clear and moist eyes.

What a coincidence. Lu Fangchi nodded slightly at him in greeting.

Liu Zhu smiled and nodded back, taking the initiative to say hello, “Mr. Lu is also off work, how have you been lately?”

“Fine, and you?” Lu Fangchi responded politely.

“Getting by,” Liu Zhu turned around in the elevator, observing Lu Fangchi out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be doing alright, at least his face didn’t look haggard, and he appeared to be in decent spirits. It seemed that Zhou Zheng’s disappearance hadn’t affected him.

Liu Zhu’s mood at this moment was somewhat complicated. He felt it was unfair for Zhou Zheng; he was also helpless, as he couldn’t interfere in the couple’s relationship; and he was mostly puzzled about how these two could have such a relationship.

“Ding——” The elevator arrived at the basement level. Lu Fangchi stepped out of the elevator first.

Liu Zhu followed closely behind, and after much hesitation, he decided to give things a push.

Just this once, it’s up to them to see if they can make something of it.

Liu Zhu stopped in his tracks and said, “Zhou Zheng has run into some trouble.”

Delivering a bombshell in the most neutral tone, Lu Fangchi stopped in his tracks, turned around to look at Liu Zhu, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, “What do you mean?”

“He’s been out of contact for a few days. He just got in touch and asked me to send him some clothes,” Liu Zhu took out his phone, unlocked it, and forwarded the message from Zhou Zheng to Lu Fangchi.

“Ding-dong,” the phone made a sound. Lu Fangchi didn’t pay attention to it, his lips pursed into a straight line, “I don’t understand what you mean. What kind of trouble has he run into? Wasn’t he on a business trip for the company? How could he go missing?”

Lu Fangchi spoke rapidly, asking several questions in a row. It seemed he wasn’t entirely indifferent to Zhou Zheng. Liu Zhu shrugged, looking like he didn’t know much either, and answered the questions he could: “It’s not work-related. It’s his personal matter. I don’t know the specifics. Why don’t you ask him yourself? Also, he asked me to send him clothes. I’m busy here by myself. Mr. Lu, could you go to his place and help send them?”

Lu Fangchi frowned deeply, and without hesitation, he agreed, “Alright.”

“Sure, I’ve already sent you the address,” Liu Zhu waved his phone, “So it’s trouble…”

Before he could finish, Lu Fangchi turned around and quickly walked towards his car, eventually breaking into a run.

Lu Fangchi quickly got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, and drove towards Zhou Zheng’s apartment. He glanced at the address in Liu Zhu’s message: Longhe Street, xx Town, xx County, xx City, C Province.

It seemed very remote. Lu Fangchi hadn’t been there before and wasn’t very familiar with it, so he queried the location using the car’s voice command system.

It was 632 kilometers away from City A in a straight line, a seven-hour and forty-five-minute drive, to an 18th-tier small rural village.

Why did he go there? Lu Fangchi had no idea and couldn’t guess at all. Then he realized he knew nothing about the alpha, a realization that made his frown even deeper, so deep it could crush a fly.

He entered the password, unlocked the door, opened the shoe cabinet to change into a pair of slippers, and quickly walked towards the wardrobe.

This was his second time at Zhou Zheng’s home. The first time, he hadn’t had a good look around, and this time was still in a hurry.

Lu Fangchi didn’t know what was really going on with Zhou Zheng. With only Liu Zhu’s words “Zhou Zheng has run into some trouble” and the fact that he had gone missing, it all seemed very serious, like he had gotten into some major trouble.

Lu Fangchi’s hands moved quickly as he packed clothes, not bothering to fold them neatly or consider how they looked together, just throwing everything into the suitcase.

Lu Fangchi squatted down, reached for the suitcase that was almost bursting, and pressed his leg against the side of the suitcase to zip it up. Unfortunately, the suitcase was too full and disorganized, and the corner of a piece of clothing got caught in the zipper, preventing him from closing it. Upon closer inspection, his hand was trembling slightly, his Adam’s apple quivered, and his eyes filled with obvious regret.

So why hadn’t he called Zhou Zheng these past few days to check in, instead of making a unilateral judgment?

A buzzing sound, growing stronger, pulled Lu Fangchi out of his downward spiral.

That night, the darkness was endless. The weather was sweltering, and there was a “buzzing” sound in his ears, with countless mosquitoes buzzing around him.

Zhou Zheng sat on the ridge of a paddy field, taking out his phone to check countless times, only to lower his eyes in disappointment each time.

The pinned message was still inactive. He really didn’t send himself a message. Was he that reassured? Or did he simply not care?

Zhou Zheng’s thumb slid over Lu Fangchi’s avatar. The avatar was a cluster of sunlight filtering through lush green branches, with speckles of light.

He recognized this angle; during junior high, he often lay on a bench, looking up at this very scene.

He slid and caressed it again and again, but there was always a chance of slipping. Zhou Zheng’s thumb accidentally double-tapped, causing the avatar frame to flicker twice, displaying “I patted Lu Baby.”

Zhou Zheng’s eyes widened, and his expression became somewhat flustered. Although he missed Lu Fangchi, he couldn’t explain his unexplained disappearance over the past two days. It was better to stick to his plan, wait until the matter was resolved, and then return to apologize in person.

Unfortunately, Lu Fangchi was looking at his phone and he also patted himself, replying almost instantly.

Zhou Zheng bit his lower lip. It would be too obvious to retract the message now; what should he say?

While he was thinking, the other party initiated a video call. It was so sudden that Zhou Zheng was startled and almost dropped his phone.

The alpha got up and examined the ringing phone from all sides. It was pitch dark around him, with only the ridge of the paddy field in sight. There were lights if he walked down another street, but the overall environment and facilities were very backward. A video call would immediately reveal his location, and he wouldn’t be able to explain.

After hesitating for a moment, the video call was disconnected by the other end. Lu Fangchi was never the type to be persistent or overbearing. He had a strong sense of boundaries and respected others’ wishes. In other words, once the call was disconnected, he wouldn’t call back.

Zhou Zheng pursed his dry lower lip and, with a mix of relief and disappointment, started typing: “I’m… “

He had only typed three characters when “Voice Call” popped up on the screen, interrupting his typing.

Zhou Zheng blinked in disbelief, hesitated for a second, and then pressed the green answer button, thinking hopefully that it should be fine if he couldn’t be seen…

The other end of the line was very quiet, with only a faint sound of breathing audible. Zhou Zheng swallowed and realized that answering the call now wasn’t a good choice, as he couldn’t provide a good explanation or rush back to comfort Lu Fangchi.

But just staying silent wasn’t an option either. Zhou Zheng licked his lips and said, “My phone has been broken for the past two days, and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to buy a new one, so… I couldn’t tell you.”

The more Zhou Zheng spoke, the quieter his voice became, lacking confidence. The excuse was too poor, and he himself almost didn’t believe it.

However, Lu Fangchi didn’t seem suspicious and simply responded with a “Hmm,” before asking, “What are you doing?”

Lu Fangchi didn’t press further, which relieved Zhou Zheng. He kicked a small stone with his foot and made up an answer, “I’m at a restaurant. I came out to take your call.”

“Is that so?” Lu Fangchi’s voice was very soft as he asked, “What have you ordered?”

It would have been better if Lu Fangchi hadn’t mentioned it, but as soon as he did, Zhou Zheng’s stomach started to rumble loudly. He hadn’t eaten for four meals since last night.

Zhou Zheng pressed his hand against his stomach, pressing down forcefully to stop the growling from being heard on the phone, and began to imagine out loud, “Stir-fried pork, salt and pepper pork chops, and steamed eggs.”

“Any vegetables?” Lu Fangchi asked.

Really, what was Lu Fangchi’s obsession with a balanced diet of meat and vegetables? Zhou Zheng, whose mood had rarely lightened in the past few days, lightly laughed and teased the non-existent items, “Does the scallion on top of the steamed eggs count?”

“What do you think?” Lu Fangchi coolly retorted.

“Hehe…” Zhou Zheng laughed foolishly, scratching his head with his hand, and suddenly felt a pang in his nose. Listening to Lu Fangchi’s voice, even if it was indifferent, he missed him terribly.

“What are you laughing at?” Lu Fangchi asked again, “When are you coming back?”

Zhou Zheng tilted his head back, looking at the rural night sky, dotted with stars, a sight unseen in the city. He sniffed and replied, “In three or four days, maybe a week. Do you miss me?”

There was a silence on the other end of the line. Lu Fangchi didn’t respond. Zhou Zheng didn’t mind and answered his own question, “Anyway, I miss you. I want to hug you and kiss you.”

The call ended, and Lu Fangchi leaned against the wall, letting out a long sigh of relief. His heart, which had been tightly clenched, finally relaxed. Although he hadn’t gotten the whole truth, at least Zhou Zheng was safe, and that was enough.

As for the rest… Lu Fangchi reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, copied the address from Liu Zhu’s chat window, pasted it into the navigation interface, and the electronic voice announced: “Now planning the optimal route for you. Estimated arrival time is in seven hours and fifteen minutes.”

Lu Fangchi decided to go and ask in person, to hear Zhou Zheng’s answer face to face.

After talking to the alpha, Lu Fangchi’s mind cleared. He spread out his suitcase again, took out some clothes and hung them up, and then went to the bathroom to neatly place towels and a razor in the suitcase.

He also needed to bring some first-aid medicine, just in case. Lu Fangchi thought for a moment, remembering that Zhou Zheng had mentioned a medicine box, which was in the study, right?

Lu Fangchi and Zhou Zheng often made video calls. Although he hadn’t been there often, he was familiar with the layout of the house and found the study with precision. He pushed the door open.

Zhou Zheng’s study was extremely minimalist, with a height-adjustable desk, a rotating chair, and a glass bookshelf. It was so simple that Lu Fangchi immediately saw the bookshelf without any books, replaced instead by five photo frames.

From top to bottom, they were from elementary school, junior high, high school, and college, with faces maturing from innocence to adulthood, all school honor wall ID photos, and the unchanging protagonist—Lu Fangchi.

The last one on the third row was a bit special. It was more accurately a spliced photo of two people. Lu Fangchi recognized it as the photo from the Internet Rising Stars list two years ago, where both he and Zhou Zheng had made the list.

Now they were spliced together side by side, both in red backgrounds and white shirts, giving off a vibe reminiscent of a marriage registration photo.

What… is going on here?