Volume 3 Chapter 44

Volume 6 + Chapter 44: I Am Her Brother-in-Law

“Ouyang Qianyue?” Bai Yuxuan repeated in surprise. The name left a deep impression on her, after all, she was Qianxue’s younger sister. Bai Yuxuan had not only looked into her but had also crossed paths with her a few times.

Qianxue should have already left for an out-of-town competition. Should she tell him about this? Bai Yuxuan hesitated inwardly.

“Excuse me, student? Do you know Ouyang Qianyue?” Seeing Bai Yuxuan’s strong reaction to the name, Qianyue’s teacher asked anxiously.

“Oh, I not only know her, I’m very familiar with her.” Looking at the teacher before her, Bai Yuxuan made up her mind. 

(I won’t tell her. A disappearance is urgent. Rather than having her rush back from out of town in a panic, it’s faster to use my own connections and resources to solve this. Maybe I can resolve it before she even returns, sparing her the worry.)

“Then you are her…?” The teacher looked at Bai Yuxuan with some confusion.

“I am her brother-in-law!” Bai Yuxuan’s expression was calm, her tone resolute.

“Brother-in-law? But you’re still a high school student, right?” Startled by Bai Yuxuan’s words, the teacher observed her carefully, yet her expression didn’t seem like she was joking.

“Here’s the thing, her older sister and I are already engaged with both families’ consent. We’ll get married as soon as we reach the legal age. So I’m actually her sister’s fiancé. Just tell me the details.”

“But I think it would be better to call her sister over, since they’re biological sisters…” The teacher hesitated, looking at Bai Yuxuan.

“Ah, her older sister is currently away competing in a national tournament, so you’d better tell me. After all, I’ve grown up with both sisters since we were kids. She’s just like a little sister to me!”

“Oh, I see!” Reassured by Bai Yuxuan’s explanation, the teacher then told her about some of the recent issues Qianyue had been having at school.

“Qianyue is an excellent student, very obedient, so we teachers all like her quite a bit. But lately, her behavior has been a bit strange.”

“Strange in what way?”

“She hasn’t been as focused in class as before, she often stares blankly. Her personality has also changed, she’s not as talkative as she used to be, and even her relationships with her classmates seem a little…”

“Then why didn’t you contact our family members sooner?” From the teacher’s few words, Bai Yuxuan sensed that this was more than just a simple disappearance.

“One teacher has to manage over fifty students. We can’t keep track of every single one.” Faced with Bai Yuxuan’s reproach, the teacher herself felt quite aggrieved.

“Enough, I understand the situation. Give me your phone number. If we find her, or if any other issues come up, I’ll contact you.”

“Okay.” With that, the teacher left the office.

“Xiao Liu!” The moment Qianyue’s teacher left, Bai Yuxuan dialed Xiao Liu’s number.

“Young master, do you have an urgent matter for me?” Hearing the urgency in Bai Yuxuan’s voice, Xiao Liu immediately snapped to full attention.

“Ouyang Qianxue’s younger sister is missing. Assemble all the resources I currently have. I want her to be found within half a day, no, within two hours!”

“Understood!” Xiao Liu dispersed Bai Yuxuan’s people to search the streets. Bai Yuxuan herself also contacted acquaintances at the police station, asking them to pull surveillance footage from major roads in Xijiang City to help locate her. After doing all that, she began to organize her thoughts.

(The last time I saw Qianxue’s sister, she was so considerate of her older sibling. I don’t believe that girl would play truant for three days on her own initiative, unless…) 

Bai Yuxuan started considering the possible reasons for Qianyue’s disappearance.

First, she might have met with some mishap. Crimes against underage girls were not uncommon, this was the scenario she feared most. If something had happened to Qianyue, she couldn’t imagine what a blow it would be to Qianxue. And since he cared so much about his sister, he might do something rash.

Another possibility was that something had happened at school that made it unbearable for Ouyang Qianyue, ultimately driving her to skip school, for instance, unfair treatment by a teacher, or school bullying… Just as Bai Yuxuan was deep in thought, her phone suddenly vibrated.

“Hello, Xiao Liu? How’s it going?” Before the ringtone had even finished, Bai Yuxuan eagerly answered the call.

“Young master, we found her. She’s sitting alone with her backpack on, in a park next to the city hospital.”

“Whew~” Hearing that Ouyang Qianyue was not in the worst-case scenario she had feared, Bai Yuxuan breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Come pick me up. We’re leaving immediately!” With that, Bai Yuxuan rushed out of the student council office.

Meanwhile, Qianyue was sitting alone on a swing in the park, her expression gloomy. She was terrified. So many things had already happened at school, and she didn’t know how to tell her mother and brother about them. 

Now she had even played truant. She had told herself she wouldn’t cause her mother and brother any more trouble. Thinking of this, she once again shed tears, tears of helplessness.

“Found you!” Bai Yuxuan burst out of the car and ran over to the girl.

“Are you all right?” Bai Yuxuan asked Qianyue.

“You’re… the Demon Lord who performed in the stage play with my sister?”

“So you remember me. I’m your sister’s friend. Come on, let’s go back.” Bai Yuxuan extended her hand toward Ouyang Qianyue.

“I don’t want to go back! I don’t want to go back to school!” Like a frightened kitten, Qianyue slapped away Bai Yuxuan’s hand and curled up.

Only then did Bai Yuxuan notice the bruises on Qianyue’s arm.

“I won’t take you back. But we should at least tend to your injuries, don’t you think? Otherwise, when your sister comes back and sees them, she’s bound to ask, isn’t she?” Hearing this, Qianyue froze. After hesitating for a moment, she agreed to go with Bai Yuxuan to the hospital to get treatment.

“This child has multiple contusions and bruises all over her body, but nothing too serious,” the doctor told Bai Yuxuan after the examination.

“Is that so?” Bai Yuxuan clenched her fists. So Qianyue had been suffering from school bullying. That made it even more imperative not to tell Qianxue.

After the examination, Bai Yuxuan took Qianyue to an upscale restaurant.

“Eat. You probably haven’t been eating well these past few days, have you?”

“B-but this meal looks really expensive…” Eyeing the delicacies on the table, Ouyang Qianyue hesitated.

“Don’t worry. I owe your sister a big favor too. This meal is nothing.” Only after Bai Yuxuan said this did Qianyue begin to eat heartily. When she finished, Bai Yuxuan poured her a glass of water.

“Now, can you tell me what happened?” Bai Yuxuan asked Qianyue.

“I…” Qianyue fell silent again.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll call Qianxue right now.” Bai Yuxuan pulled out her phone.

“No! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!” Seeing that Bai Yuxuan was about to call her brother, Qianyue panicked. After a brief silence, she poured out everything that had happened to her over the past few days.

“Crack!” After hearing Qianyue’s account, Bai Yuxuan crushed the glass in her hand with rage.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this for you! Stay with me for the next few days.” With that, Bai Yuxuan wiped her hands with a tissue and strode toward the door.

(How dare they bully my future sister-in-law! Just wait, I’ll pay you back tenfold for what you did to her!)

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