Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 530 - 514 is missing

The courtyard house was brightly lit that night, and Guan Kunling did not return all night. During the wait, Tian Sangsang was anxious beyond measure. When Kunling didn’t return after the expected time, they had a premonition that she had encountered something tricky.

Tian Sangsang entered the space and found the old bugging device, hoping fervently that Kunling had it on her. She kept listening, listening, as the bugging device flickered, accompanied by rustling sounds.

After listening for a while, she still wasn’t willing to give up.

It wasn’t until dawn that Kunling’s faint voice finally came through the bugging device. "Sangsang... Sangsang..."

She opened her battling eyelids and was about to burst into tears of joy.

"I’m here." Even though the other side couldn’t hear, she still spoke out.

"...I tracked them down and found new clues. I have to go away for a while, not in..."

Just a few brief sentences, and then it stopped abruptly.

"Kunling? Kunling?"

After that, there was a rustling sound like the signal was cut off, the bugging device turned black and lifeless.

Tian Sangsang anxiously picked up the bugging device, shaking and patting it, but to no avail. She didn’t know what had happened, why the words were cut off midway, nor did she know that Kunling had actually crushed the device herself. She didn’t want her to hear what was happening on that side.

No... Kunling said she was going away to track...

She didn’t believe it.

Kunling couldn’t have left things unfinished like that.

The next morning, the police department sent out a team to look for her.

According to reports, someone by the name of Guan Kunling had already been missing for over two days.

And the person reporting this missing case, Xu Zhengyang, had once met her. It was during that time on the street when they saw Jiang Jinghuai’s wife.

**

Kunling’s whereabouts remained unknown, and Captain Xu had yet to respond. Not because he didn’t want to, but because they hadn’t found her.

Fortunately, later Tian Sangsang asked less about it.

But Captain Xu’s mind wasn’t at ease; instead, they intensified their search efforts.

Tian Sangsang and Zhao Chun did not discuss it with each other, slowly, slowly, neither of them mentioned Guan Kunling, as if they had reached some tacit understanding.

It was almost as if... there never was a Guan Kunling in this world.

Initially, they were still apprehensive, unable to sleep through the night.

Tian Sangsang would go to the police station every day to inquire, and Zhao Chun, whenever he went out for work, would ask pedestrians if they had seen Guan Kunling. But the result was self-evident.

Later, Zhao Chun stopped asking daily, but still would not overlook any pedestrian as he walked; Tian Sangsang stopped running to the police station, instead, she kept all her concerns bottled up inside. As a consequence of this accumulation, she wore a facade of forced cheer every day, trying to keep busy — because the moment she had even a little bit of free time, that terrible sadness would seep in. A sadness with no end, because it wasn’t an ending, but a beginning.

Once she felt sad, she couldn’t eat, but for the baby’s sake, she forced herself to eat something.

They both believed in their hearts that what Kunling said at the time was true. She went to follow a clue, and once she found it, she would come back. As for when that day would be, she hadn’t said, so they didn’t know.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed, and there was no news from Jiang Jinghuai, not even a phone call.

One time, Tian Sangsang couldn’t resist going to her uncle’s house, but her aunt didn’t know much either. The border was far from Beijing, and even if there was news, it was just a brief message, "on a mission." Moreover, the mission was confidential.

She asked no more, for there was nothing to gain from asking. She wasn’t afraid of waiting; if there was a definite end time, she wouldn’t mind waiting. The fear was in endless waiting, while time wasted away.

Time would dull everything, but it wouldn’t erase everything. It would leave a tiny thorn, and at some sudden moment, this thorn would suddenly surface.

Every day she sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the phone or the door.

From dawn to dusk, from hope to disappointment, that seemed to be life. It started with full expectation, and ended with a calm heart, where sunny days and rainy ones felt the same.

"Mom, Chun Zisu and I are back!" Her son’s clear yet soft voice rang out.

It was Zhao Chun and Meng Shuyan.

Since Guan Kunling went missing, they had been living separately, and Zhao Chun moved back to his original courtyard house. It was like those times again when they were neighbors, and he would climb over the wall to her house to cook for her.

Same, yet not quite the same.

By this time it was already November, the weather was gradually cooling, and the ginkgo trees in the courtyard were turning almost golden, marking a seasonal change. Just as her belly was also gradually growing larger.

It grew so large, she desperately wanted to stop its pace, fearing that her child wouldn’t wait for their father to return.

Meng Shuyan wore an autumn outfit; the pants were long, and he seemed to have grown quite a bit taller, legs seemingly longer. Just saying he seemed quite tall, yet when he stood in front of her, he was still only as tall as her thigh.

After all, he was just a child.

Meng Shuyan looked at his mother’s round belly, reached out his small hand to touch it, and looked up:

"Mommy, you should go sit down."

This was out of concern that she might get tired standing.

Good kid.

"Tian Sangsang, why are you standing again?" Zhao Chun was startled and shouted, extending a hand to lightly support her.

He still held in his other hand some meat he had just bought. Vegetables were grown in the backyard, so they seldom went out to buy ordinary vegetables. There were chickens and ducks too, only pork, lamb, beef, and some dried goods were occasionally needed, making trips out necessary.

Tian Sangsang shook her head helplessly; her belly was getting larger, and Zhao Chun and Meng Shuyan were always a bit overly anxious. It truly made her feel fretful and helpless. But on second thought, the ones who cared about her now were only the two of them, who else would there be?

A mix of pain and joy, nothing more than this.

Zhao Chun placed the vegetables on the table, noticing with a quick glance a plate of longans. When did he buy these longans?

At this time of year, longans slowly dwindled in the south, and they were even rarer in Beijing. But the longans on the table looked freshly picked, full and plump, exuding a fresh autumn longan fragrance that he could smell.

Meng Shuyan didn’t know about these things, he simply loved to chew on something when he found it. He picked up a longan, calmly peeled it, truly the happiest kid in the world.

"Where did you get the longans?" Zhao Chun asked in astonishment.

"Bought them on the street when I went out today, someone just happened to be carrying a load, so I happened to come across them." Tian Sangsang said, "Don’t say — these longans are really fresh. You’ll know once you try them."

Zhao Chun didn’t hold back, picked up one, peeled it, and tasted it, his eyes instantly lighting up. Indeed, they were extremely fresh.

Finding it strange in his heart, he didn’t dwell on it and took the bag to get busy in the kitchen.

Tian Sangsang suddenly grabbed his shoulder, "Why do you have some red on you?"

Like lipstick that got smeared on.

Zhao Chun looked down and suddenly remembered.

His expression turned to disgust, his brows knitting tightly.

"I ran into Jia Wenxiu on the way..."

"Oh." Tian Sangsang nodded knowingly, she wasn’t surprised anymore.

But Zhao Chun found it strange.

Jia Wenxiu, who always looked down on him before, suddenly threw herself at him, making him almost sick, darting far away, but unfortunately still got some marks on his clothes.