48 Hours a Day

Chapter 1034: The Truth About Xu Qian’s Disappearance

After seeing the news on the Internet, E-Goat became extremely nervous, seeing things going as Zhang Heng had said. Xu Qian’s fans began to persuade her to take a break or even change jobs altogether.

E-Goat became angrier as he read the news. And soon, he could not stand it anymore. He had to reply to a comment left by a cynical netizen that said, “It’s all just an act.” However, as soon as he typed the first two words, Zhang Heng stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

“Explain the whole thing to everyone,” E-Goat said angrily. “You can’t just allow them to insult Xu Qian like that.”

“So, you want to tell everyone that Xu Qian is a clone?” Zhang Heng asked rhetorically.

E-Goat was left speechless.

“And now we are not supposed to focus on debunking rumors. We must first rescue Xu Qian. If I’m right about it, I think someone is controlling her.”

“Is she still alive?” E-Goat thought of something, and it clearly left him very unhappy.

“I can’t confirm my speculation now,” Zhang Heng told the truth. “Her reply in the email is too short. It is impossible to know if she had sent it or not. However, based on my understanding of Xu Qian, during this period, after she knew that you were the one that stalked her, she shouldn’t collect any money or gifts from you anymore.”

It had been a while since Zhang Heng left the third level, and he did not expect that the other party would move on Xu Qian so quickly. However, her whereabouts were unknown now, and he had to bear part of the responsibility for that. Zhang Heng had, after all, previously accepted a new task from Xu Qian. Before he could conduct any further investigation, Xu Qian disappeared. Zhang Heng had to find out what happened to Xu Qian to make up for his previous negligence.

“We have to find Xu Qian before those guys hurt her,” E-Goat eagerly said. “But where will she be now?”

“I don’t know, but I know someone who can answer your question.”

…

Xu Qian’s hands were trembling all the time. She looked at the man on the other side of the sofa. She used to think that she knew him, but now she felt that he was a stranger to her.

“Are you done considering?” Qiu Ming asked, still as gentle and elegant as ever.

“I won’t make the retirement videos you asked me to do.”

Although she was terrified, Xu Qian insisted on not doing it because she still remembered Zhang Heng’s reminder before leaving: stay within the public eye. So, Xu Qian insisted on streaming every night until yesterday morning when she went to the toilet and found the broken buoyancy valve. However, she remembered that it was fine just before she fell asleep.

This discovery caused Xu Qian’s heart to skip a beat. She then noticed that her electronic toothbrush’s head disappeared for some reason. Xu Qian immediately realized that someone might have broken into her apartment. It was at that time, the fear in her heart rose to an all-time high.

She did not know if the intruder had left her apartment or if he was still hiding somewhere in her apartment. Xu Qian did not dare to go to another room. So, she hurried back to her bedroom and put on a dress. After that, she rushed into the elevator without makeup and shouted at the smart panel to close the elevator doors. She was terrified for a while, even after she had run out of her apartment, constantly looking back and speeding up her pace.

She was confused at the time, and she did not know where to go. When she opened up her address book, she did not know who to contact as well. When she saw Zhang Heng’s name, her fingers paused, and she remembered the news that she read yesterday. Immediately, her heart sank.

Xu Qian did not expect Zhang Heng would die so suddenly. When she read the news for the first time, she felt a chill. To her, Zhang Heng’s death was too much of a coincidence. Soon after he agreed to help her to investigate her matter, it was hard for Xu Qian not to connect Zhang Heng’s death with her affairs.

And this not-so-beautiful misunderstanding also made Xu Qian, who was already extremely nervous, feel even more uneasy. What actually happened that night was still unclear to the public. Different versions were circulating on the internet, where more than one person said they saw a group of police officers and exoskeleton fighters fighting each other, destroying a lot of public facilities as they went along. Many bullet marks had been left at the central station on the second level. Xu Qian did not know how she caused both sides to fight fiercely against each other.

She had been thinking about it for the past two days, and since no solid evidence could be found, every idea she came up with was no more than conjecture. This incident caused her to lose the only person that she could rely on.

Xu Qian ran through the address book and found that she could not find anyone to help her apart from Zhang Heng. In the end, Xu Qian had to settle down at a small hotel. While preparing for the livestream at night, she thought about what she should do next.

Unfortunately, her plan was forced to be canceled after a glass of free orange juice the hotel provided. When Xu Qian opened her eyes again, she found out that she was already in Qiu Ming’s villa. Since Qiu Ming did not use any violent means to deal with her, Xu Qian finally calmed down a little. She then added, “I don’t have any mental illness. My fans know that. So, you made it up. No one would believe a lie.”

Qiu Ming didn’t answer her immediately. Instead, she smiled and asked, “Do you know Baudrillard?”

“Who?”

“This name was once a taboo in human society, and now there are not many people on earth who recognize this name.” Qiu Ming said as he took out a knife from his pocket.

Xu Qian suddenly became nervous, staring intently at the knife in Qiu Ming’s hand.

He then picked up an apple from the fruit plate and peeled it with a knife. At the same time, he said casually, “Baudrillard came up with a very interesting and very pessimistic theory. He believes that as society continued growing, the truth will eventually disappear completely and be replaced by a set of made-up and well-designed theories. All those theories would compete with each other, constantly imitating the truth. There might be a certain truth hidden in those theories, tempting us to believe in them. However, we will never know what the truth is.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Open your bracelet and look at your social account.” Qiu Ming said.

Xu Qian did what he asked and logged into her social account. Seeing a fan asking her to stop streaming and take a break, she was left in complete shock. Xu Qian then scrolled down the message board and saw that everyone was wishing for her speedy recovery.

“You faked the fake news and told everyone that I was mentally ill?” Xu Qian was shocked and angry.

“Remember the theory that I said earlier? I personally don’t recommend you use the term fake news because the content and videos I posted are real. And I never said a word from the beginning to the end that you have a mental illness. I even added the word “suspect” to the title. These netizens believe whatever they want to believe without any hesitation.”