"She sent a text message to Mr. Song saying she had something urgent and had to leave first. Mr. Song sent me to see her off. But when I went to the lounge, I didn't see her."
Song Yian glanced at the venue. It wasn't time for the event to end yet. Although Li Xiyu might be angry, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would just walk away. If she wanted to quit, she would have done so long ago instead of waiting until now.
Song Yian took out his phone and called Li Xiyu.
The call didn't go through.
Song Yian immediately felt a pang of panic.
Hearing the news, Mr. Song also walked over. Seeing Song Yian's anxious look, he tried to comfort him.
"Maybe her phone is out of battery? She just sent me a message. She should be okay."
"Mr. Song, could I borrow your phone?"
Seeing that Song Yian was already in a complete mess, Mr. Song didn't dare to delay. He took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Song Yian. Song Yian directly found the text message sent by Li Xiyu.
The text message was very brief: Mr. Song, I have to leave first.
But Song Yian knew at a glance: "She didn't send this."
"Ah?" Everyone present was startled.
Mr. Song took back the phone and looked at it again. "Isn't this normal? What's the problem?"
"Xiaoyu doesn't use punctuation marks when sending messages."
This might be the difference in writing habits between ancient and modern people. Li Xiyu usually used spaces instead of punctuation marks when sending messages. So seeing this text message with both commas and full - stops, Song Yian was sure that it wasn't sent by Li Xiyu.
Moreover, when he heard the secretary say that Li Xiyu had sent a text message to Mr. Song, Song Yian had a faint feeling that something was wrong.
He had only taught Li Xiyu to use WeChat and make phone calls. Even if Li Xiyu wanted to send a message, she would choose WeChat instead of a text message.
Mr. Song originally thought Song Yian was overreacting, but after hearing what he said, he wasn't so sure anymore.
However, as a powerful figure, he quickly calmed down in the face of this situation.
First, he told Song Yian not to panic and asked him to go find the hotel manager to check the surveillance footage.
Second, he instructed the secretary to block the news. Under the pretext that Mr. Song was tired, they would end the banquet early. Before more people knew about this and the impact expanded, they would ask all irrelevant people to leave the hotel.
After all, it wasn't a good omen to spread the news that Song Yian's wife had disappeared right after his return.
Businessmen believed in such things.
After the venue was cleared, Song Yian, who had gone to check the surveillance, came back. He shook his head dejectedly.
"The surveillance footage was interfered with. After Xiaoyu entered the room, it didn't record anything until it returned to normal half an hour later."
The interference with the surveillance proved that something had definitely happened to Li Xiyu.
Mr. Song also looked full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Xiaoan. I invited her just to let her witness your homecoming. I really didn't think about this."
Didn't Mr. Song think much?
Song Yian understood everything when Li Xiyu got out of Mr. Song's car.
Mr. Song was afraid that he would back out again, so he simply cut off all his retreats.
If Li Xiyu knew his identity and the Li family also knew, he wouldn't be able to deny that he was Song Yian. After all, the Li family wouldn't let go of such a well - connected son - in - law.
Moreover, if Song Yian later regretted and didn't want to be Mr. Song's grandson or manage the Song Group, the Li family would help Mr. Song push him to stay in the Song Group.
But Mr. Song had indeed grasped his weakness.
And now, he had lost his weakness.
Song Yian didn't want to argue with Mr. Song about whose fault it was. He just wanted Li Xiyu to return to his side safely.
He tried to calm himself down.
He couldn't lose his temper now. This was the capital, Mr. Song's territory. He needed Mr. Song's help.
"I just checked the surveillance at the hotel entrance. During the time when Xiaoyu disappeared, no one entered or left through the front or back doors." Song Yian presented the evidence he had collected.
"What about the cars?" Song Yunsheng asked.
He was really worried too.
Song Yian glanced at Song Yunsheng. After learning that Xiaoyu was missing, Song Yunsheng was actually the first person he suspected.
Song Yunsheng had harassed Xiaoyu before and claimed to be Zhou Donglin. His intentions were not good.
Now that Song Yian had decided to return, he had caught Song Yunsheng off guard at the Song Group's high - level meeting. It was very likely that Song Yunsheng would use Xiaoyu against him in retaliation.
Of course, now Song Yunsheng seemed to have no flaws. He looked like a man who had lost his wife and seemed even more anxious than Song Yian. At least his reaction seemed normal.
But no one knew what Song Yunsheng was really thinking.
Looking away, Song Yian said, "I noted down all the vehicles that left after Xiaoyu disappeared. There were twenty sedans and two vans. The sedans belonged to the hotel guests, and the vans were the hotel's delivery trucks."
Fortunately, this was a high - end garden - style hotel that mainly served high - end customers, following the principle of being small but excellent. In addition, since they were going to receive the high - level of the Song Group today, the hotel had deliberately controlled the number of individual customers. The number of people coming in and out was not large. Otherwise, it would really be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"It's easy if we have the license plate numbers. I'll contact the Department of Transportation right away." Song Yunsheng volunteered.
Although Song Yian didn't want Song Yunsheng to get involved in matters related to Li Xiyu, for now, personal jealousy had to be put aside. Nothing was more important than getting Li Xiyu back safely.
"Okay, thank you."
This was the calmest thing Song Yian had ever said to Song Yunsheng.
After Song Yunsheng left, Mr. Song and Song Yian could only wait for news in the lounge. Song Yian's eyes fell on the juice on the table. He remembered that this juice cup was in Li Xiyu's hand before she entered the lounge. There was still juice in it at that time, but now it was empty.
Not only was it empty, but the cup wall was very clean, with not even a trace of juice residue, as if it had been deliberately wiped.
Why would someone wipe the cup for no reason?
Could it be that there was something in the cup that couldn't be discovered?
Thinking of this, Song Yian got up again. Seeing his restless look, Mr. Song asked, "Where are you going?"
"To check the surveillance."
"Didn't you say the surveillance was out of order?"
"Not the surveillance in the lounge, but the one at the banquet outside."
"Why do you need the surveillance of the outside banquet?"
"Xiaoyu has no enemies in the capital. The person who made her disappear must be after me. Most likely, they took action at the banquet. She was implicated by me."