Chapter 47: The Missing Person, Jian Xingxia
Jian Xingxia had returned to her grandmother’s house on July 13th, and today was already the eighth day.
She rarely had time to check her phone.
This was normal for Jian Xingxia. Compared to her classmates, her spare time was consumed by part-time jobs, leaving her little time to browse her phone. She usually kept it on silent to avoid distractions while working.
After a busy day selling chestnuts, although she saw notifications popping up, she had to keep her payment QR code open the entire time. It wasn’t until now that she finally got a chance to read the messages.
A massive flurry of texts had come from her college roommate, Liang Chengcheng.
Liang Chengcheng: “Waaaah, Xiaxia, let me tell you, working is pure torture! I’ve only been working for half a month, but I feel like I’ve aged ten years…”
Below that were several voice messages, each exactly 59 seconds long. When Jian Xingxia converted them to text, they were entirely rants about her unscrupulous boss and bizarre colleagues.
The sporadic messages spanned several hours, until finally, around 6:30 PM, Liang Chengcheng realized something was wrong.
Chengcheng: “Xiaxia, are you okay? Why aren’t you replying? You told me last time you were going back to your grandmother’s house. Are you adapting well there? Have you found a job?”
“Are you too busy at work? Haven’t clocked out yet? Wait, even if you haven’t clocked out, you should be having dinner by this time, right?”
“Xiaxia, don’t scare me. You didn’t get scammed, did you? Oh my god! Why didn’t I ask exactly where your grandmother’s house is!”
“Xiaxia! Call me back! If you don’t call me back, I’m calling the police!”
“…I can’t even report it. I’m not an immediate family member or an emergency contact! Hmph! You heartless woman!”
“I’m sorry, I take it back. Just hurry up and reply! It’s been a whole day. Have you really not had a single second to check your phone?”
Aside from Liang Chengcheng, several other college roommates and classmates had sent messages and called her.
Looking at her phone, Jian Xingxia saw over a dozen missed calls. She had likely set her phone to Do Not Disturb while selling chestnuts, so she completely missed them while weighing and packaging the goods.
In their group chat, people were actively debating whether Jian Xingxia had been trapped by a pyramid scheme or, heaven forbid, kidnapped and taken to Northern Myanmar.
However, one classmate offered a different perspective, suggesting she might have entered a factory—specifically an electronics factory, where workers had to lock their phones away before entering the workshop.
Jian Xingxia spent over half an hour just reading through these messages. There were too many discussions in the chat to read them all, so she sent a voice message to the college group chat:
“Thank you, everyone! I’m totally fine. I’ve returned to my hometown, and I’ve been a bit busy lately. I only get to check my phone for a short while at night. I received all your warm wishes. Once I’m done with this busy stretch, you should all come over to visit when you have time! The scenery here is beautiful, and the mountains are full of fruits and flowers.”
She then sent a few photos she had taken earlier around the old house: the old peach tree laden with fruit, the chestnut forest covered in spiky burrs, a massive watermelon floating in the well to cool down, and the lively, rustic village market… It was natural and unadorned, yet full of charm.
After dropping the barrage of photos, she placed a direct call to Liang Chengcheng.
“Xiaxia, is that you?” On the other end of the line, Liang Chengcheng’s voice was trembling, filled with anticipation mixed with a hint of worry.
“It’s me, you silly Orange,” Jian Xingxia laughed, using Liang Chengcheng’s nickname.
Liang Chengcheng shrieked over the phone, “Waaah! Jian Xingxia! It really is you, you heartless woman! What did you say before? That we were the absolute best of friends! Yet right after graduation, you refused to come to my family’s company when I asked you to. You just sneaked back to your hometown without saying a word, and you haven’t contacted me for so long!”
“What do you mean I haven’t contacted you? I liked your post on WeChat Moments just two days ago, did you forget?” Jian Xingxia defended herself.
Driven by the pressures of life, she had to spend most of her time studying and working part-time, making it difficult to find ample time to stay active online. Liking her friends’ social media posts was her most accustomed way of staying close.
“That was three days ago!” Liang Chengcheng grumbled for a long while before immediately demanding the specific address of the old house. “I don’t care. I’m buying a plane ticket right now to fly out to you tomorrow!”
“Huh? Aren’t you working?”
“Not anymore, not anymore!” Liang Chengcheng said indignantly. “I thought something happened to you and planned to take time off to call the police and search for you. But that moron of a manager refused to approve my leave and even tried to PUA me, spouting nonsense about how young people can’t endure hardships, don’t know how to sacrifice, and are too self-centered… So I just quit on the spot.”
Liang Chengcheng sighed. “No wonder my dad said the company hasn’t been doing well these past two years and wanted me to check things out from the grassroots level. I didn’t expect the bottom to be completely rotten!”
As Jian Xingxia listened, she couldn’t help but check her phone’s cellular data usage, terrified of going over. After all, she had signed up for a strict budget data plan. There was no broadband at the old house, so she completely relied on cellular data to go online. Fortunately, she rarely went online after returning, so her data was still sufficient.
Sensing no issue, she comforted Liang Chengcheng. After rattling off a whole stream of complaints, Liang Chengcheng finally circled back to her plan to visit.
“Hehehe, I saw the photos you posted in the group chat! Didn’t you see everyone saying your hometown looks more beautiful than an actual tourist spot? I just quit my job and need to clear my head, so I’m heading your way!”
Jian Xingxia hesitated, not agreeing immediately.
The conditions of the old house were one thing. More importantly, she had a temporary worker showing up here every day. Should she stop hiring temporary workers, or should she tell Chengcheng not to come?
On the other end of the phone, Liang Chengcheng was completely oblivious to her dilemma. “Lu’an Village, Jinmen Town, Xiangshan City, right? Let me check… It looks like the flight only goes as far as Xiangshan Airport… How far is the airport from your place? Let me see if I can hire a car.”
While speaking, Liang Chengcheng had already purchased the ticket.
Jian Xingxia felt helpless, yet a surge of warmth rushed through her. Over the years, the word ‘family’ had felt far too distant, but the friends by her side were a concrete, undeniable presence.
“Don’t regret it when you get here.” Jian Xingxia sent over a few photos of the old house before it was cleaned up, giving Liang Chengcheng a realistic expectation.
Liang Chengcheng giggled over the phone. “You can’t scare me. Any place where you live won’t stay messy for long.”
Jian Xingxia couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. She was proud that after all these years, she could take excellent care of herself entirely on her own. She was also proud that no matter the circumstances, Liang Chengcheng always understood and trusted her completely.
Jian Xingxia hung up the phone. Two seconds later, Liang Chengcheng’s text flashed inside the college group chat.
“Reporting, reporting! I’ve successfully reconnected with Jian Xingxia! This rascal has been living a secret pastoral life in the mountains behind our backs. I’ve decided to fly over tomorrow to share the luxury with her!”
The classmates below broke into various wails of despair: “You two are too much! One is a wealthy heiress who can just fly off on a whim, and the other is a hidden hermit who commands her own countryside estate! That leaves only the rest of us corporate cattle, unable to taste fresh grass and not even daring to leave our cubicles!”
Jian Xingxia was thoroughly amused. “Everyone is welcome to come play at my place, provided you don’t mind that my hometown has no internet, no refrigerator, no washing machine, no courier service, and no food delivery… Other than that, it’s very fun.”
The classmates: “…Then never mind. I can’t survive without food delivery.”
Jian Xingxia replied a few more times and let out a yawn. “Classmates, it gets dark early in the mountains, so I’m heading to sleep. Bye-bye.”
Turning off her phone, she fell into a peaceful, deep sleep.
