Jiang Zhirou firmly grabbed the railing with both hands, then made a swift somersault and landed steadily on the corridor opposite.
The solid feeling under her feet made her take a deep breath.
Falling from this place, she wouldn't even have a complete body.
She turned to look behind her. Seeing the bottomless abyss only ten centimeters away from her feet, her tense heart relaxed a bit.
Jiang Zhirou steadied herself, didn't stay for long, and quickly walked towards the room beside.
She quickly tapped on the combination lock with her fingers. In a short while, the door clicked open.
Jiang Zhirou slipped in sideways and gently closed the door.
She scanned the room with her eyes.
Chen Qingmian had lived here for a while before moving to Chi Yu's place. Now the room still looked the same as when she had just moved out.
Jiang Zhirou walked straight towards the master bedroom. Relying on her memory, she found the photo album in the bottom drawer compartment of the bedside table.
Looking at the carefully laminated photo album, Jiang Zhirou was momentarily stunned.
The cover of the originally somewhat yellowed photo album was now completely protected by a vacuum bag.
She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering slightly. After calming her emotions, she found a pair of scissors and opened the photo album.
Jiang Zhirou directly flipped to the last few pages.
Chen Qingmian's photos were clearly in front of her.
Sure enough, there were photos taken in the orphanage.
In the photo, Chen Qingmian was standing at the entrance of the orphanage. On her left stood the dean and Chen Yu'an, while on her right stood a man in a black robe.
Jiang Zhirou's pupils suddenly shrank, and her face changed.
Her thoughts were instantly pulled back to her days in the orphanage.
Most of the children in the orphanage were either abandoned by their parents or had lost their parents. Naturally, the conditions there were not good.
Jiang Zhirou was different. Although Jiang Yan had mental problems, what she wore and used were all good things.
Moreover, Si Moshen had taken good care of her before, making her chubby and fair.
Standing with the other children in the orphanage, there was an obvious contrast.
Sometimes, a child's jealousy could be the most terrifying. As soon as Jiang Zhirou arrived at the orphanage, she was isolated and bullied.
She had almost forgotten these memories, but the moment she saw this photo, the memories came flooding back like a tide.
Jiang Zhirou took a deep breath and stopped thinking. Her gaze returned to the photo.
So the man in the photo really existed. It wasn't a dream.
But why had she never had any memory of this man before?
A person's memory could suddenly disappear. It might be because of a major stimulation that triggered the body's self - protection mechanism, or... it could be hypnosis...
She hadn't experienced any major stimulation, so there was only one possibility: she had been hypnotized.
The moment this thought popped into Jiang Zhirou's head, her emotions instantly became agitated.
Judging from the situation, this man was the one who had brought her from Country A to the imperial capital back then!
From this photo, it seemed that this man had a good relationship with Chen Qingmian. But why didn't Chen Qingmian have any memory of this man either?
Who on earth was he? And why had he brought her here? Jiang Zhirou was completely confused. Too many questions popped up in her mind, but she had no clues at all.
It seemed that she had to go to Chen Yu'an's place.
Jiang Zhirou's gaze returned to the photo album and she continued to flip through it.
Most of the following photos were about Chen Qingmian's performance awards. There was only that one photo related to the orphanage.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Zhirou quickly took out her phone and took a photo of that photo.
Then she dialed Si Moshen's number.
"I just sent you a photo. Do you remember the man in the black robe I told you about before? The person in the photo is him! It was him who brought me to the imperial capital!"
Jiang Zhirou was a bit agitated, and her voice rose several decibels.
On the other end of the phone, Si Moshen opened the picture while gently comforting the agitated woman. "As long as we have the photo, we'll get the result soon. Zhizhi, trust me. Don't be in a hurry."
Previously, he hadn't been able to find any clues. The most important reason was that this man was too secretive and there was almost no information about him.
Now that they had the photo, it was like finding the key to open that door.
"Okay. Time is running out. Hurry up. I'm waiting for your good news." Jiang Zhirou's voice couldn't hide her excitement.
After hanging up the phone, she didn't leave immediately. Instead, she put the photo album back in its original place.
She walked out of the bedroom. Looking at the empty living room in front of her, a thought suddenly popped into her head.
The scene of jumping out of the bathroom just now still made her feel scared. She couldn't just jump back, could she?
But if she left through the front door and was discovered by Chi Yu, she wouldn't be able to explain how she got out.
Her gaze fell on the sofa in the living room.
It would be better to just sleep here for the night. She could pretend that she had just finished her morning workout and come back home early tomorrow.
She had lived with Chi Yu for so many days and knew his character well. He wouldn't suddenly enter her room. As long as she didn't give herself away, Chi Yu wouldn't find out.
She decided to do it. Without any psychological burden, Jiang Zhirou lay down on the sofa. With full of doubts, she unconsciously fell asleep.
...
...
Early the next morning.
Jiang Zhirou walked out of the room and went to the next door. She quietly entered the password. As soon as the door opened, a dark figure suddenly blocked her way. Then Chi Yu's face came into view.
Jiang Zhirou greeted him nervously, "Hi..."
She was afraid that Chi Yu would notice something.
"Did you go for a morning run again?"
Chi Yu asked softly.
She nodded repeatedly and closed the door while saying, "Yes, I went for a morning run."
Chi Yu nodded to show that he understood. Then he turned around and walked into the room. "Hurry up and have breakfast. We'll go to the training ground later. It'll be very tiring."
"Okay." Jiang Zhirou followed behind him and replied silently.
She wondered if it was just her imagination, but Chi Yu seemed to be a bit cold towards her. Had he discovered that she had sneaked out last night?
It shouldn't be. Chi Yu wouldn't enter her room in the middle of the night. Moreover, she had locked the door on purpose and she had the key. Chi Yu couldn't have gotten in.
Jiang Zhirou sat at the dining table and looked at the toasted bread on it. She felt a strange feeling in her heart.
"Don't get up early to make breakfast for me anymore. You should sleep more. I can just buy a piece of bread when I go out for a morning run."
This kind of life would disappear from her life sooner or later. Since that was the case, it would be better to end it earlier. When the day of real departure came, she wouldn't need a long time to get used to it.
"Okay."