Ding Wei still felt Wenjie's gaze at his back as he walked up the stairs. At the top, he got his knife back from the guard. The guard immediately accompanied him to the garage, where his private cab was already waiting. 

Xiao Dao glanced at the door leading to Xu Zhengqing's hideout. He felt a growing tension in his muscles. He would have liked let go of his good intentions, engaged in a fight with the guard, and tried to free Wenjie from Monsieur's grasp right away.

But his stomach grumbling quickly alerted him that this would not be a good idea right now. The three-day fasting program had caused him to lose physical strength, while Xu Zhengqing's accomplices had surely trained and eaten diligently. 

Without another word or stalling for time, he got into the back of the car. There lay the blindfold, which he immediately strapped on. Then he leaned back and listened to the engine noise that sounded shortly thereafter.

His thoughts lingered on Wenjie. He had not missed the look on the younger man's face. Wenjie feared he was making a mistake by trusting Xiao Dao. Ding Wei, however, would not disappoint him. There had to be a way to outwit Xu Zhengqing. 

Now that Monsieur probably thought he had reached his goal, perhaps he was making mistakes. A satisfied smile played around Xiao Dao's lips as he imagined Monsieur's face as the man was caught by the police. Oh, he should make a video of that, or a photo. Then he could show it to his father. Ding Shenghuo would be pleased. 

The car drove around in circles for quite a while. At least that was the impression Ding Wei got. Time was passing. He got impatient. This stalling for time, just to prevent him from remembering the way, was annoying immensely. He wanted to get out and put his words into action. Wait a minute. What was his plan, anyway?

Contact the police, and do it unnoticed. If he was right, Xu Zhengqing would need the driver as soon as he dropped him off at his car. That meant, during that time, it would not be possible for him to tail him. Thus, there was a window of several hours left for him to get his scheme off the ground. 

"Hey," he addressed the driver. "Is it a detour for you to drop me off directly at the university?" Xu Zhengqing had said nothing about stopping to watch Wenjie's friends. Therefore, Ding Wei assumed that was exactly what he was expected to do. 

"No," the driver replied.

"I'll get my car later. Monsieur won't call me again for a few days, after all. Drop me off at the university."

The driver said nothing, but turned off shortly thereafter. 

Very good. This way he saved himself time and shouldn't run the risk of being caught by Xu Zhengqing's accomplices in his action. As long as he avoided the police station, no one should suspect anything either. 

The car stopped. Xiao Dao took off the blindfold and caught sight of the large sign across the street that read Qingcheng University. A smile stole onto his lips. "I can't wait to tell Wenjie about his little girlfriend next time," he grinned. 

The driver remained silent and handed him his phone. 

Ding Wei got out, but did not cross the road immediately. Instead, he waited until the car disappeared at the next turn. Then he pocketed his phone and wandered down the sidewalk a bit. His gaze wandered down the street. 

Nowhere did he spot any suspicious cars. Too bad. He would have expected them to be watching the university. Oh, damn. Someone was probably watching his car to follow him as soon as he returned. There was nothing he could do about that now. 

Anyway, if he entered the university through the main entrance, the camera surveillance there should pick him up. With a bit of luck, the police would have an eye on him, if they had noticed that he had been hanging around here for the last few days. 

Hands in his pockets, he walked leisurely over and pretended to be a student. A few young people crossed the courtyard. No one took any notice of him. So he strolled down the path to the main door and entered the building. 

Finding Lin Zhiyue or Sun Zhijian among all the male and female students would not be easy. But what had he exchanged phone numbers with the young woman for? She had probably deleted his number again on Wenjie's advice. But he still possessed hers because she had called him once.

Calling from his phone, however, seemed like a bad idea. Xu Zhengqing might listen to his calls. 

Then he would just try the doorman. He quickly returned to the entrance. "Excuse me," he addressed the doorman. "My phone is running low on battery. Could I use your phone? I would have to call a friend very urgently."

The doorman eyed him from head to toe. Ding Wei was afraid he would refuse when he handed him the phone after all. "Thank you." Xiao Dao bowed slightly and dialed the number he had memorized from his contact list. 

It took quite a while before Lin Zhiyue answered. 

"Am I connected correctly, with Lin Zhiyue?"

"Yes. Who am I talking to?" 

"A friend of Wenjie's." Ding Wei put a hand over the conch and spoke more softly, not wanting the gatekeeper to overhear. 

"Wenjie? You know where he is? Where are you? I was so worried," she immediately flooded him with questions.

"Calm down. I don't know where he is. But I need to talk to you. Can you meet me at the canteen? I'll pay for you and Sun Zhijian's meal."

"Yes, it's possible. I still have a two-hour break until the next lecture. Unfortunately, I don't know if Zhijian is off. How do I recognize you?"

Ding Wei laughed. "You'll remember when you see me. Wenjie probably tipped you off not to trust me."

A brief pause arose. "It's you? How did you get my number? Oh, you saved my number," she stammered. 

"I want to meet on neutral ground. You can feel safer with your buddy around."

 "There are enough other students in the cafeteria. I'll come even if Zhijian can't."

"Great. See you in a bit then." Ding Wei hung up and handed the phone back to the doorman. "Thanks again." Then he looked up at the camera mounted by the gatehouse and smiled into it. If the police had access to it, they should certainly have noticed him now. 

Amused, he returned inside the university building. The canteen was indeed busy, and apparently she had succeeded in reaching Sun Zhijian. For the young man was with her and seemed no less excited than she was. 

Ding Wei raised his hand in greeting as he approached them. 

"Hey, that's you," Sun Zhijian said. His gaze wandered back and forth between Zhiyue and Xiao Dao in surprise. 

"Ding Wei," Xiao Dao introduced himself to the young man. 

"You've been here before. What's going on between you and Wenjie?"

Ding Wei burst out laughing, which drew the attention of a few students at the surrounding tables. These looked over at them crossly because he was obviously too loud for them. "That sounds kind of wrong, buddy. There's nothing going on. We're not even friends, at least according to him."

Lin Zhiyue gulped. "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, but let's get something to eat first. I've barely eaten for three days, so Wenjie will have enough."

"What happened? We haven't heard from him in over a week. Lin Zhiyue wanted to call the police, but I thought he is on secret mission or something."

Xiao Dao waved it off. "The police are already looking for him." Determinedly, he headed for the buffet without further addressing Sun Zhijian's pressing questions.

They'd have plenty of time for that later at dinner. 

to be continued...