Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 407: Inquiring Everywhere

Chapter 407: Chapter 407: Inquiring Everywhere

The gala had entered its final stage, and Ning Qi’s people were searching for Lin Xi all over the place. Whenever they found a group of beautiful girls, they would rush over to let Ning Qi confirm if Lin Xi was among them. They ended up running Ning Qi ragged, as none of the girls they found were Lin Xi.

Finally, Ning Qi couldn’t take it anymore. "Please, use your top-tier aesthetic judgment, this Lin Xi is not your average beauty, she’s the kind that’s very, very beautiful."

A few of the men present were taken aback, wondering exactly how beautiful Ning Qi deemed ’very, very beautiful’ to be, and what her standard of beauty was.

"Standard?" Ning Qi thought carefully before one of the men asked, "How does this Lin Xi compare to you, Ning Qi?"

Upon hearing this, they all looked curiously at Ning Qi, who was secretly annoyed. What kind of question was that? In Ning Qi’s mind, she was, of course, the most beautiful.

At this moment, Yang Xinran was leading a dance on stage, drawing a lot of attention.

Seeing this, Ning Qi had a brainwave and pointed at Yang Xinran on stage. "Lin Xi is prettier than her. Is that a clear enough standard for you?"

Everyone then looked at Ning Qi and Yang Xinran with odd expressions, as though they were trying to decide who was prettier, Ning Qi or Lin Xi.

"Alright, please focus, we must find Lin Xi tonight," Ning Qi urged anxiously. If they couldn’t find Lin Xi, she was sure to face severe punishment back home. That woman was terrifying, and Ning Qi did not want to face her.

At this point, Gu Fan, having not seen Lin Xi on stage, began to get worried. He therefore made his way through the crowd towards backstage, and unfortunately brushed past Ning Qi without her noticing.

Zhang Yang was getting worried. "Even though there are a lot of people here, we can’t just assume that Lin Xi and Gu Fan are here. We shouldn’t get our hopes up."

"I know, but..." Ning Qi was still not willing to give up, her fists clenching in determination. Only by finding Lin Xi could she escape from being manipulated.

Unaware of Ning Qi’s presence, Gu Fan knocked on the backstage door and entered, only to find Lin Xi alone, looking bored as she played with her phone.

"What’s wrong, beautiful? Sitting here all alone and sulking? Who upset you? You’re even skipping your performance." Gu Fan walked up to Lin Xi, put his arm around her shoulder, and tried to cheer her up with a cheeky smile.

Lin Xi shook her head. "Nobody, I just played the good Samaritan and let Yang Xinran take the lead dance tonight. Her boyfriend is watching her perform tonight and she wanted to look her best, so I did an act of kindness."

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan couldn’t help but praise her. "I never thought my girlfriend would be so kind and understanding, no wonder I like you so much."

Lin Xi gave a side-smile and rolled her eyes. "Don’t flatter me, I’m not that nice. I just want a peaceful coexistence with Yang Xinran as we’re living under the same roof. I don’t want to argue with my roommate over trivial things, it really affects my mood."

Gu Fan was puzzled by this. "Aren’t you afraid of a Yang Xinran? You have plenty of means."

Lin Xi shook her head. "I don’t want to resort to those measures. I want to be an ordinary person, and I want to solve things the way ordinary people do. You should support me in this, it would benefit you too."

"I understand, and I do support you. I’d support you a thousand times over," Gu Fan assured her genuinely. He was pleased to hear that Lin Xi wanted to live as an ordinary person because that would give their relationship a brighter future.

Seeing Lin Xi still looking gloomy, Gu Fan suggested, "Since you don’t have to perform, and my work here is done, why don’t we leave early and I’ll take you for some good food?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xi’s eyes lit up, and she nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, outside, Ning Qi and her group had been searching for quite some time without any sightings of Lin Xi or Gu Fan. She felt disheartened and began to wonder if they had not attended the event after all.

Was she really going to end up empty-handed tonight? Ning Qi wasn’t willing to accept that. Her gaze then fell on Yang Xinran. The last time, she had overheard Yang Xinran mentioning Lin Xi and Gu Fan during a phone call, so Yang Xinran must know them.

It won’t be easy to get information about Lin Xi and Gu Fan from Yang Xinran, and she wouldn’t be able to just ask outright. She would have to be subtler in her approach, but when Zhang Yang had previously asked Yang Xinran about her close friends at university, Yang Xinran had not mentioned any names specifically. In essence, his questioning had yielded nothing.

This was why Ning Qi had come; she couldn’t wait any longer. Waiting for Zhang Yang to obtain information slowly from Yang Xinran wouldn’t do, because the woman behind them all wouldn’t have the patience to wait.

"Zhang Yang, later you will ask Yang Xinran if she knows Lin Xi," Ning Qi’s declaration shocked everyone around, especially Zhang Yang, who objected. "Isn’t that too direct? She might get suspicious. Even if asked, she might not give an answer. She might even start to question my motives for approaching her, and then we will lose our only lead."

Everyone agreed that Ning Qi was too rushed, and that they weren’t ready to disclose their clues. Zhang Yang was of the opinion that finding someone should be a slow process, but who knew how much pressure Ning Qi was under.

"This won’t do, that won’t do, am I really out of options?" Ning Qi felt frustrated. Everything, the lights, the music, the dance, was annoying.

The performances concluded, and there were not many events left. The people around were still enjoying themselves, but Ning Qi was too distracted to stay. She had already resigned herself to the imminent punishment of her failure.

"Damn Lin Xi, damn Gu Fan, it’s all your fault." Just as Ning Qi was about to leave in anger, she overheard a few classmates saying, "How weird, why is Yang Xinran leading the dance tonight for the dance society? Usually, doesn’t Lin Xi always lead?"

Another student said, "Maybe she’s busy tonight. To be honest, although Yang Xinran put in a lot of effort and her performance wasn’t bad, it’s better when Lin Xi leads."

Upon hearing this, Ning Qi felt a jolt of shock. She quickly connected the dots between Yang Xinran, Lin Xi, the dance society and the lead dance, and a broad smile crept across her face. Perhaps her luck tonight wasn’t so bad after all.