Chapter 768: Where Did She Go?

Although the pace of life has recently been so fast that I can hardly catch my breath, this night spent in a hotel still left me somewhat insomniac. Inevitably, amidst the quiet of the night, I began reminiscing about the events of recent years and pondering what I had gained and lost through them.

Lost in thought, my mobile phone, resting on the cabinet, suddenly emitted a message notification. I could roughly guess who had sent it, because only she was fond of sending me messages late at night.

Sure enough, it was a WeChat message from Leyao, telling me to pay more attention to Luo Ben, a man on the verge of achieving enlightenment.

Recently, Luo Ben had indeed been in a state of seclusion. Even when we called him, he rarely answered. Sometimes he did pick up, but would impatiently hang up after just a few words. Who knows whether he had developed depression or was simply too busy with music creation.

Considering his previous expressions of no longer wanting to play music, it was likely that he really had some issues with his mindset. Over the years, he had experienced moments of madness and overnight fame, but unfortunately, his love life had never been fulfilling. Reflecting on his journey, it was truly quite bittersweet. Except for us few close friends, no one knew that beneath his wild and unrestrained exterior lay a heart longing to stay with one woman for life, just as he once said: A man’s heart isn’t big; it can hold only one or two women for a lifetime.

Yes, he had countless women, but only Wei Manwen and CC had truly touched his heart, though both relationships ended tragically.

Leyao and I continued discussing Luo Ben’s recent condition. Her concern grew increasingly intense, to the point where she immediately made a decision: she would go to the United States tomorrow to find Luo Ben. We both agreed that Luo Ben’s current state likely stemmed from his lack of a stable circle of friends in America, always living alone, inevitably leading to overthinking. Therefore, he needed to return home and live in a familiar environment while focusing on his music career.

Actually, since Leyao became famous in the entertainment industry, she had been just as concerned about Luo Ben as I was. When comparing this, I truly felt that she was a woman of deep emotions and sincerity. Her current feelings for me were not due to lingering affection, but rather based on the deep bond forged through shared hardships.

After finishing our conversation about Luo Ben, our topic shifted back to Cao Jinfei. Leyao told me an important piece of information: Cao Jinfei was currently playing a mobile game called “Long You Tian Xia” (Dragon Roams the World).

I immediately became excited, abandoning the messaging chat method, and directly called her. She answered, somewhat surprised, asking, “Why did you call instead of just texting?”

“Did you say Cao Jinfei is playing Dragon Roams the World?”

“Yeah… this spoiled young master actually spent over one million on a stupid game. I really don’t know if his head is full of manure!”

“Impulse buying, right?” I sighed, my mind quickly confirming that the top player known as “Tianya Siming” (Commander of the Ends of the Earth) was likely Cao Jinfei. It was just too coincidental. In my subconscious, I had always thought Cao Jinfei played large computer-based online games, so I hadn’t asked much about it last time. However, “Dragon Roams the World” was indeed the current hottest mobile game on the market, with a massive player base. I heard that during one event, the single-day recharge amount reached an astonishing 30 million, so since our game type and target consumer group were consistent, I directly aimed my business competition at this already mature game.

Leyao herself was a gaming expert. No one understood the impulse to spend money while playing games better than her. Besides, Cao Jinfei was certainly not short of money. Moreover, there were many people who spent over a million in games, so she didn’t really take it seriously. On the contrary, she was somewhat moved, after all, the young master had only tried gaming to please her. Unfortunately, despite Cao Jinfei’s grand gestures and becoming a prominent player in the game, in the end, it was all for naught—Leyao didn’t play games or indulge in the lifestyle of the rich, instead choosing to go make movies!

Thinking about this, I really felt that this celebrity couple lived quite humorously.

…

After ending the call with Leyao, I immediately logged into “Dragon Roams the World” and, under the in-game name Xiong Yidao, sent a private message to Tianya Siming: “Boss, are you raiding a dungeon?”

Perhaps because I had been sending private messages frequently recently, Tianya Siming was already annoyed and, although online, did not reply. However, if he really was Cao Jinfei, it also sufficiently proved that his nightlife was quite ordinary. While Leyao was out filming, he stayed home playing games and didn’t go out to party like other rich young men.

I decided to confront him directly and sent another private message: “Hey, are you Cao Jinfei?”

He immediately replied with a shocked emoji and asked, “Who the hell are you, and what do you want?”

I wanted to tease him a bit, so I replied with a sad emoji and said, “Master, you really forgot about Xia Yuhe from the banks of the Ming River?”

“Stop messing around, I’m a man of integrity…” As if realizing that sounded a bit too shameless, he quickly added, “At least now I am!”

Suddenly finding some fun in this boring night, I replied again, “Master Cao, are you the kind who only sees the new bride smiling and ignores the tears of the old one? How can you be so heartless and unfeeling, not living up to my deep affection for you?”

This time, it took a while before Cao Jinfei finally replied in frustration, “Dude… I don’t know you at all!”

I burst out laughing. In real life, Cao Jinfei was still somewhat refined, but in the game, he had regressed to being just like me, a commoner. I suppose that was one of the joys of gaming—people could be their true selves in this virtual space. Finally, I replied, “Okay, I won’t mess with you anymore. I’ll call you. Is it convenient for you to answer now?”

“If you have my number, go ahead and call. I hope you’re not a girl!”

I exited the game, found Cao Jinfei’s phone number from my contacts, and dialed it. On the other end, Cao Jinfei probably saw my name on the caller ID, so when he answered, he asked in disbelief, “Zhaoyang, you’re the one behind Xiong Yidao?”

I laughed like the playful friend I was, and on the other end, Cao Jinfei became even more frustrated. He asked again, “No one in real life really knows what games I play for fun. How did you find out?”

The reason I contacted Cao Jinfei was actually for serious business matters. I immediately dropped the playful tone and said seriously, “Actually, I didn’t know who Tianya Siming was before. But after Leyao told me you were playing this game, I was pretty sure it was you. After all, in the entire Dragon Roams the World mobile game, there’s only one top-spender who has spent over a million. Besides you, with your wastefulness, I can’t think of anyone else who could be that extravagant!”

Cao Jinfei felt a bit awkward. Although everyone in the game admired him as a top-spender, discussing it with real-life friends felt somewhat like showing off his wastefulness, especially since over a million yuan could buy a high-end luxury car, yet he had only exchanged it for some game codes! After a while, he said to me, “I heard your company is developing a game similar to Dragon Roams the World. Are you hoping that after your game launches, I’ll switch to playing yours?”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. I believe our game’s playability is better than Dragon Roams the World, so I hope you can help me out. As for your financial investment in Dragon Roams the World, our company will reimburse you… What do you think?”

Cao Jinfei hesitated a bit and said, “The money I’ve spent on the game is just a small amount. However, I have a certain private relationship with Sun, the CEO of Dragon Roams the World. If I participate in your business competition to help you out, it might be a bit awkward for me with him.”

Cao Jinfei honestly expressed his dilemma, and I really couldn’t press him further. But now that I had placed myself in the position of a businessman, facing problems and solving them was something I had to do. After a bit of thinking, I said, “I understand your situation. If you and Sun are really close friends, I definitely won’t make you feel uncomfortable. But if it’s just a casual relationship, I still want to try to persuade you… How about this, if you’re free tomorrow, I’ll come to Beijing to meet you and discuss this face-to-face… Actually, our company has invested most of its funds into game development, and there isn’t enough budget left for marketing and promotion. Now we really need some event-based marketing strategies, so regardless of our personal relationship, this is something I have to do… You can understand that, right?”

After a moment of silence, Cao Jinfei said, “Uh… Let me come to Suzhou instead. I’m pretty free these days, so I don’t want to waste your precious time coming to Beijing!”

“Thanks, thanks a lot!”

…

Since starting my second venture, my luck seemed to have improved significantly. However, I was still occasionally hindered by minor difficulties and obstacles. Still, these didn’t create much pressure for me, as I had completely embraced the role of a businessman. At this point, I truly understood how far I needed to go on this path. Therefore, no matter how big or small the difficulties were, I had to have the determination to face them head-on.

The next day, I went to the company early in the morning and found Tongzi. I hoped the game development department could add a game scene named after Cao Jinfei’s name. I intended to use this gesture to show Cao Jinfei my sincerity in hoping he would switch to our game. I believed these small details could move him, especially since we had a personal relationship. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to come to Suzhou just for this matter.

Around ten in the morning, my assistant bought many daily necessities for me. These were items I was going to give to Jianwei at the convalescent home. I checked them carefully to make sure nothing was missing before driving to the convalescent home on the outskirts of the city.

About twenty minutes later, I arrived at the convalescent home where Jianwei was staying. At that moment, she was sitting alone under the shade of a tree, reading a fantasy novel titled “A Song of Ice and Fire.” I greeted her, but she merely glanced at me before turning her attention back to her book. I knew this book was left by Muzishi before he left, and this type of fantasy novel was helpful for stimulating her thinking.

After delivering the daily necessities to her room, I sat down beside her on the flowerbed. Looking at her profile, I didn’t know what to say for a moment, so I lowered my head to look at my shadow, planning to rest for a while before returning to the company.

Finally, I couldn’t help but ask her, “Are you getting used to staying here?”

“I’ve only been here half a day. Can habits really form that easily?” Jianwei responded while continuing to read her book, her tone somewhat impatient, obviously because I had interrupted her reading flow.

I smiled, wisely choosing not to speak again. About five minutes later, she marked her place with a bookmark and put the book down. Then she turned to me and asked, “What’s your name again?”

I was momentarily stunned, feeling a bit hurt inside, but still managed to smile and reply, “Zhaoyang… same pronunciation as ‘morning sunshine.'”

“Oh, that’s easy to remember!”

I instinctively wanted to reply, “Then why didn’t you remember it before?” but I held the words back at the last moment, merely nodding in agreement with her. Then I picked up a stick from the ground and idly poked at the dirt.

Just then, my phone rang again. I thought it might be something urgent from the company, but after checking the caller ID, I realized it was Anqi calling. My heart suddenly started pounding. I put down the stick, took a deep breath, and answered the call, knowing she would bring me news about Micai.

“Zhaoyang, Zhang Yixi and I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday. This morning we went to the headquarters of New Green Energy…”

Hearing her pause at a crucial point, I felt somewhat impatient and replied, “Anqi, you know how anxious I am! Can you please not keep me in suspense? I’m begging you!”

Anqi’s voice was somewhat low as she said, “Zhaoyang, I’m really not trying to keep you in suspense. The reason I paused is because I don’t know how to tell you… Uh, we didn’t get to meet Micai in person. I asked people from their group, and it turns out she hasn’t been to the company for over a month, and no one knows why!”

I was stunned, as if my mind had gone blank…

“Zhaoyang, are you okay?”

I tried not to think the worst and finally calmed myself a bit before replying, “I’m fine… Please keep looking for information, or try to find someone named Weiran. He must know about Micai’s recent situation!”

“Yeah, don’t worry too much. After all, Micai is Yan Zhuomei’s only daughter. She won’t have any problems here. My guess is that she might have gone somewhere else on vacation. Don’t forget, she really likes traveling. Considering the pressure Yan Zhuomei put on her, she might have chosen this way to protest against Yan Zhuomei while also relaxing herself. What do you think?”

I had always admired Anqi’s strong analytical skills, and my heart felt a bit more at ease. At the same time, I made up my mind that if Anqi and Zhang Yixi couldn’t find any news about Micai, I would apply for a visa and go to the United States myself… I wouldn’t care about anything else!