Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 248: Organizational Structure

Chapter 248: Chapter 248: Organizational Structure

When Gu Fan saw that Su Hui was focusing on Liu Yao in solving the case, he felt a tinge of unease and scratched his head: "Sister Su, I forgot to mention that I had a visitor earlier. You know how it is, we all have our own affairs; you at work, me at school, so..."

"Enough, cut to the chase. Who came to visit and does it concern me?" Su Hui looked puzzled at Gu Fan’s hesitation.

Gu Fan managed to utter:" It’s not related to you, Sister Su, but it’s related to the case."

"Oh, let’s hear it." Su Hui perked up, eager to listen.

Gu Fan gave a dry laugh: "You won’t believe this, Liu Zhendong, Liu Yao’s father, came over."

Su Hui gasped in surprise: "Hmm, what did he come for, to bribe you?"

"Almost felt like that, but it was not exactly a bribe." Gu Fan’s words seemed puzzling and Su Hui quickly urged him to clarify.

Gu Fan thought for a while and organized his thoughts: "Here’s the thing, there were six households living in our old house before, and the other five moved out, including the Liu family, who moved out last. I used to play with a girl from the Liu family when I was little. Liu Zhendong and my father knew each other well. But after moving out, everyone got busy and lost contact."

Hearing this, Su Hui frowned: "What a coincidence. What’s Liu Zhendong’s intention? The connection had been long lost, and now that we are investigating his daughter, he’s trying to claim kin? That cannot be claiming kin I guess?" After saying this, Su Hui thought for a while, and then asked: "Your situation wouldn’t count as kin-recognition, right?"

Gu Fan gave an awkward smile: "Technically, according to Liu Zhendong, our families arranged a childhood betrothal for me and Liu Yao. But after the Liu family moved away and losing contact, the arrangement came to nought, so it can’t be considered kin-recognition but it’s quite close."

"What do you mean, you and Liu Yao had a childhood betrothal, that’s tragic! Liu Yao is good friends with your girlfriend Leng Le!" Even Su Hui had to marvel at the unpredictable fate; how things had turned out this way.

"Wait, if Liu Yao hadn’t moved out of this old house, she would probably be with you, then Yuan Cheng wouldn’t have left me because of Liu Yao. In that case, I would be the one marrying Yuan Cheng, and I would not have moved into this old house. What does this mean?" After saying this, Su Hui looked around the old house, feeling for the first time that there was something peculiar about it.

Hearing what Su Hui said, Gu Fan also felt that fate was playing tricks on them.

Gu Fan quickly advised: "Alright, alright, Sister Su, let’s not think about this coincidence now and focus on solving the case."

"Okay!" Although Su Hui agreed, she still cared about it. Were there too many coincidences? She shook her head: "Perhaps it’s not that simple as coincidences, it must be an arrangement by fate."

Not wanting to see Su Hui overthink, Gu Fan retorted: "If it really was fate, then after Liu Yao moved out of this house and didn’t end up with me, but rather married Yuan Cheng, which led to you breaking up with Yuan Cheng and moving into this old house, the next logical sequence should have been you and me ending up together, Sister Su. But now, Liu Yao’s good friend Leng Le is with me, so this is only a coincidence, not fate."

"You seem to have a point." Pondering for a moment, Su Hui glanced at Gu Fan.

At this point, Gu Fan also looked up, their eyes met, and an odd sensation arose between them. The awkwardness swiftly caused both of them to avert their gaze.

"Now, let’s stop talking about fate and such, let’s discuss the case." Gu Fan pointed at Liu Yao’s name on the whiteboard and said seriously: "Liu Yao is currently overseas. If we are to find her, we must also go overseas. Do you know where she is?"

To this, Su Hui shook her head: "Liu Yao left the country using fake information, we have no clue which country she went to. Besides, we can’t gain cooperation from the local authorities, its going to take some work to find out."

"People with power and influence really do have an upper hand." Gu Fan felt the enormity of the task, and pondered for a moment, his brow furrowed: "When Liu Zhendong came to see me, he hinted that I should stop looking. It seemed as if Liu Yao would be in danger if we continued the investigation."

Su Hui nodded: "Liu Yao has seen something she shouldn’t have, and therefore the mysterious force wouldn’t want her to speak. To this point, Liu Yao still hasn’t been silenced, likely because of Liu Zhendong and Yuan Zhenggang’s influence. If Liu Yao truly threatens the mysterious force, I believe these two can’t protect Liu Yao either, hence they hope you’d stop investigating."

Hearing this, Gu Fan understands the difficulty: "So we must land a successful blow, bring Liu Yao back without letting the mysterious force react. If we fail, they will never tolerate such a risk, and Liu Yao will be in danger. By then, whether Liu Zhendong resents the mysterious force or us more, who knows."

To this, Su Hui shrugged: "They forged a decoy for Liu Yao, giving us a hint. We can also forge an identity for Liu Yao and bring her back, provide protection."

"The idea is good, but we first have to find Liu Yao." Gu Fan is clueless in this regard, while Su Hui didn’t seem too concerned: "Even though we can’t use the resources of our city to find Liu Yao, we can use our overseas resources. No matter how Liu Yao changes her identity, she is still a citizen of our place. As long as we have this one point, she cannot escape."

"Impressive, with overseas resources, how can the mysterious force compete? Notify the authorities quickly." Gu Fan was impatient, feeling that time was of the essence.

Su Hui nodded in agreement, stating that they will immediately have Zhuo Hang take care of it, do it as fast as possible, and get a step ahead of the mysterious force this time.

Strangely, Gu Fan remembered fragmented images of playing with Liu Yao when they were young. It was a carefree and happy time. He also recalled his father saying: "Dong, look, your daughter and my son seem to make a good pair. Since our two families are close, we might as well ease our minds and arrange a betrothal."

"That could work, but I must say beforehand, not even a cent less in the bride price."

But Gu Fan and Liu Yao didn’t know what a betrothal was, they looked puzzled at the adults, causing the adults to break into conspiratorial laughter.

Thinking of Liu Yao moving out, thinking of Su Hui moving in, and considering the happenings between Liu Yao and Su Hui, Gu Fan suddenly found this old house somewhat special.