Abstinence Pei, don't be too sweet when chasing your wife

The noise in the banquet hall had not yet died down, and the champagne tower under the crystal chandelier was still emitting a cold light.

Pei Luonan stood at the edge of the terrace, an unlit cigarette between his fingertips. The night breeze lifted the hem of his suit, revealing the seven-figure watch on his wrist. At this moment, its hands were cutting his increasingly tense nerves every second.

Kong Haoyu gently handed over the phone. "Boss Pei, the finishing touches are almost complete. All evidence has been submitted simultaneously; the press release has been issued as you requested; and... there's an unread message on your personal phone."

Pei Luonan took the phone, and the moment the screen lit up, Ling Jiuer's explosive messages pierced his eyes like needles.

His fingers sliding across the screen paused on the words "Pei Luonan, you defeated Long Weiwei, but forced Fanxing into the mountains. If anything happens to her, you'll regret it!" His knuckles suddenly tightened, and the phone case hurt his palm.

"Deep mountains?" He repeated these two words in a low voice, his Adam's apple rolling violently.

He originally thought that he had calculated the time well and would be able to clear her name after the dinner, but he forgot that when she came out of the closed archaeological site, she would see overwhelming news about the "engagement".

What she saw was Long Weiwei holding up the longevity lock and saying "engaged since childhood", a video edited by a marketing account showing "Pei Luonan tacitly agreed to the engagement", and the entire network's abuse of the "third party".

She had no explanations from him, no denials from him, only comments that could have drowned a person.

"Fool..." Pei Luonan's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper grinding against wood. His heart seemed to be clenched by an invisible hand, and it hurt so much that he could hardly breathe.

"Haoyu," he turned abruptly, the calmness in his eyes shattered, leaving only surging anxiety. "Investigate! Investigate Fanxing's whereabouts immediately! I want all her consumption and transportation records after she left the archaeological team's base. I want to see them within ten minutes!"

"Yes!" Kong Haoyu had never seen Pei Luonan lose his composure like this, so he turned around and ran to the technical department.

Ten minutes later, Kong Haoyu's message popped up: "Boss Pei, we've checked! Miss Gu went to Waguan Town, Qingchuan County, and there's no further record of her since then. The area is surrounded by undeveloped primeval mountains and forests, and the signal is extremely poor."

On the map attached to the information, Waguan Town looks like a lonely little dot, surrounded by a large area of ​​green representing mountains.

"Prepare the plane, go to Qingchuan County." Pei Luonan grabbed his coat and left, his leather shoes making a rapid echo as they stepped on the marble floor.

"Boss Pei, you haven't slept for over thirty hours..."

"No need." He interrupted Kong Haoyu, "Mobilize all resources and contact the guides and forest rangers in Qingchuan County, the more the better. Find Gu Fanxing and double the reward."

The private plane landed at four in the morning, and the off-road vehicle arrived in Qingchuan County as the sun rose.

The county town wasn't big. Pei Luonan took Gu Fanxing's photo and asked at the bus station. The ticket seller thought for a moment and said, "I have some impression. She asked if there were any B&Bs in Waguan Town, and also mentioned that she wanted to find a place with an old kiln site."

Old kiln site? Pei Luonan's heart moved.

Kong Haoyu quickly found out from the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau that there were three Song Dynasty kiln sites around Waguan Town, but only the "Waguan Kiln" deep in Heifengling had not been developed and the mountain road was steep.

"Let's go to Black Wind Ridge." Pei Luonan opened the car door, and the red bloodshot under his eyes was particularly dazzling in the sunlight.

Kong Haoyu spread the newly printed route map on the SUV. "Mr. Pei, there are seven villages, more than 30 natural villages, and over 20,000 mu of forest around Waguan Town. It's rained these days, and the mountain roads are muddy. Even the locals don't dare to go in many places."

The off-road vehicle bumped along the muddy mountain road for more than an hour and stopped at an abandoned logging site.

Going further, there is only a narrow path.

The young ranger cleared the way with a machete, and Pei Luonan followed closely behind, his hiking boots sinking deeply into the mud with every step.

After walking for just half an hour, the sky suddenly darkened.

The dark clouds were like spilled ink, and raindrops as big as beans fell, soon forming a curtain of rain.

"We need to find shelter!" The ranger pointed to the cliff ahead. "We can hide from the rain down there."

Pei Luonan quickened his pace, the rain running down his forehead, blurring his vision.

Occasionally he looked up and shouted "Stars", but his voice was immediately drowned out by the sound of rain.

Kong Haoyu was panting as he chased after him: "Boss Pei! It's raining so hard! The mountain road is going to be slippery!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Luonan slipped and rolled down the steep slope.

He reached out to grab the bushes, and the thorny vines cut several bloody wounds on his palms. Mud and water mixed with blood oozed out, causing a burning pain.

He supported himself on the ground and stood up, patting the mud off his body: "It's okay, keep walking." The knees of his jeans were worn and bleeding, but he didn't even frown.

They hid under the cliff for two hours and continued on their journey when the rain subsided a little.

When we reached Eagle's Beak, it was already dark.

This is a steep cliff with only a few crevices covered by vines to stand on.

"Climb up from here and cross the mountain to the old kiln site," the ranger said. "But it's dark now, so it's too dangerous."

Pei Luonan looked up at the dark cliff and took out a strong flashlight: "You wait down there, I'll go up and take a look."

"Mr. Pei! This won't do!" Kong Haoyu was anxious.

"She might be up there." Pei Luonan's voice was terrifyingly calm. "She's afraid of the dark and will shiver when it rains. I have to go up there to find her."

He stuffed his cell phone and wallet into Kong Haoyu's hands, leaving only the flashlight and climbing rope, and climbed up by grabbing the vines.

The rain water in the cracks made the rocks slippery. He lost his footing several times and had to rely on the strength of his arms to keep his body steady.

The wound on the palm of his hand turned white from being soaked by the rain, and every time he grabbed the vine it felt like a needle prick, but he had only one thought in his mind: climb up and find her.

Halfway up the mountain, the flashlight suddenly went out.

The surroundings were plunged into pitch darkness, with the only sound being the sound of raindrops hitting the cliff wall.

Pei Luonan was suspended in mid-air, and he could clearly feel the abyss below him, and his heart suddenly tightened. He groped for the rock protrusion by memory and moved up little by little.

After an unknown amount of time, my fingers finally touched the flat ground.

He rolled over and lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his whole body feeling as if it were falling apart.

After replacing the spare battery, the flashlight beam pierced the darkness - the top of the cliff was empty, with only a few clumps of wild grass blown askew by the wind, and not even a single person in sight.

He slumped on the ground, rain mixed with warm liquid sliding down from the corners of his eyes, only to be washed away by the cold rain.

For the first time, he felt powerless. The deep mountains were like a huge maze, and the "key" he lost was hidden in a corner where he could not find it.

"Stars..." he shouted towards the valley, his voice hoarse, "Can you please come out? I know I was wrong..." The only responses he got were the howling mountain wind and raindrops.

It was not until the rain stopped in the second half of the night that Pei Luonan was half persuaded and half pulled down the cliff by Kong Haoyu.

When he returned to the lumberyard, he was soaked, his lips were purple from the cold, and he had a low fever.

He leaned against the car, holding the rain-soaked photo, and looked at it over and over again.

In the photo, Gu Fanxing is smiling at the archaeological team's celebration banquet, her eyes as bright as the stars in the mountains.

"After daybreak, divide into two teams." Pei Luonan took the hot water handed to him by Kong Haoyu, his fingertips trembling from the cold. "You lead one team to Black Wind Ridge, and I'll lead the other to Wild Boar Ditch. Tell everyone to gather at the town entrance before dark."

Kong Haoyu looked at the light rekindled in his eyes and nodded.

He knew that the journey to find his wife had just begun.

The rain outside the window had completely stopped, and the moon emerged from a gap in the clouds, casting a cool light. Pei Luonan leaned back in the car seat, not wanting to sleep at all.

He seemed to see the stars huddled in a cave, hugging their knees and looking at the moon, just like that lost night many years ago.

"Wait for me, Fanxing." He said to himself, "Even if I have to search the entire mountain, I will find you."

The mountain road is long and the wind and rain have not stopped.

His journey to pursue his wife has just entered the most difficult part.

How long will it take to see the rainbow? He doesn't know, but he knows that as long as he can reach her, no matter how much mud and thorns there are, it will be worth it.