Chapter 384: How could you be so capable?

Li Dan Yan ate the tasty dishes, hearing Xia Xi's words she paused, then looked at her.

She hardly needed to recall; the answer immediately appeared in her mind. Because Miao Yijia had called her that morning to mention it, and also asked about the male companion she had brought.

Li Dan Yan swallowed the food in her mouth, took a sip of juice, and said: "Of course I remember. In the past two months I've only gone to a bar once, that was with Jia Jia, and there was also a male friend along."

She wasn't really familiar with that male acquaintance; they met through an escape room, added each other as contacts, and rarely kept in touch. That evening, after work she was buying snacks at a convenience store when she happened to run into him. Hearing she wanted to go to a bar for fun, he suggested going together, since he often went to that bar.

After arriving at the bar, she met up with Miao Yijia who was waiting there.

They didn't go to the dance floor to dance, just sat in a booth drinking and chatting. The guy playfully brought up topics to tease Miao Yijia, and otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. Later she received a call from a colleague: the plan had a problem, needed urgent refinement, and had to be submitted to the client for inspection tomorrow, so she had to rush back to the office to work overtime.

She asked Miao Yijia if she wanted to leave together. Miao Yijia was having a great time, waved her off to go first, and said she'd stay a bit longer.

Before leaving, she told the guy to look after Miao Yijia, and if possible, to send her home.

Having a guy along made it safer in the bar.

"I left quite early that day, so I don't know what happened afterward." Li Dan Yan said cautiously, "Is... something wrong?"

"No." Xia Xi shook her head with a smile, comforting her, "It's nothing to do with you, don't overthink."

Li Dan Yan half-believed, half-doubted: "Jia Jia also talked to me about this this morning; I was working then and didn't pay much attention, but now I recall her mood seemed off."

She herself brought it up first, and Xia Xi seized the opportunity to propose: "Please don't tell Miao Yijia that I came to see you."

Li Dan Yan was puzzled; from the moment she received Xia Xi's call, she felt in a fog, and after the conversation she still didn't know the other's purpose, having a strange feeling she couldn't put into words.

"Rest assured." Xia Xi's eyes were sincere, her tone serious, "I'm not up to anything bad; I just want to understand some things."

Li Dan Yan looked into her eyes and inexplicably believed her: "I understand."

"Thank you." Xia Xi smiled, then added, "By the way, what's the name of the bar you went to?"

Li Dan Yan said a name, worried Xia Xi might not know the corresponding characters, she pulled out her phone and typed them into a memo to show her.

Xia Xi glanced at it, memorized it, and added her on WeChat.

After accompanying Li Dan Yan to finish her meal, they parted at the restaurant entrance; Xia Xi looked at Li Dan Yan's WeChat avatar on her phone, opened it, and transferred a sum of money as thanks.

Li Dan Yan initially refused to accept it, but after Xia Xi's persuasion she did, since the amount was not small.

Xu Yanfeng only said one sentence the whole time, correcting Li Dan Yan's way of addressing him; at that moment he put his arm around Xia Xi's shoulder, his palm touching her face, and said: "Shall we go?"

"Where to?" Xia Xi glanced at him, "Home?"

"The bar." Xu Yanfeng raised his eyebrows slightly, "You're not thinking of that, are you?"

Xia Xi suppressed a laugh, pinched his cheek as retort: "How are you so capable, you even know what I'm thinking."

Xu Yanfeng: "Let's go, I'll take you around the bar."

The two got into the car and headed for the bar Li Dan Yan mentioned; originally they just wanted to clarify some things, but now it felt like they were investigating a case.

The bar was in full swing, lights flashing, wine flowing, a frenzy of revelry; men and women swayed on the dance floor, and the bar area, booths, and even the aisles were packed with people.

Xu Yanfeng firmly grasped Xia Xi's hand, parting the crowd as they walked in; Xia Xi didn't watch the road, head down, closely following his steps. Xu Yanfeng's face had a strong presence in any setting, he was tall and of outstanding demeanor; as they walked, people instinctively made way for him. Xia Xi suddenly felt the path ahead was much smoother, she lifted her head and saw countless pairs of scrutinizing eyes.

Those people raised their glasses, their gazes brighter than the overhead spotlights.

Noticing the woman beside Xu Yanfeng, the opposite-sex individuals in the crowd felt an urge to make a move.

Upon reaching the bar, the flair bartender asked what they'd like to drink.

Xu Yanfeng lightly tapped the bar with his finger: "I want to see your manager."

A few minutes later, the bar's manager arrived; Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi exchanged a glance, and Xia Xi told the manager: "My sister had an incident here last month; I'd like to check the surveillance."

The manager observed them for a moment, then said formally: "Sorry, you have no right to check the surveillance; if you need to, you can report to the police, follow their instructions, and we'll cooperate in retrieving the footage."

Xia Xi understood, but…

Before her thought was finished, Xu Yanfeng asked the manager to step aside to a quieter spot to negotiate; after a few words, Xu Yanfeng turned and called to Xia Xi: "Come over."

Xia Xi looked at him in surprise: "You settled it that quickly?"

She caught up, and Xu Yanfeng took her hand again; she lowered her voice and asked: "Is it settled?"

Xu Yanfeng: "Mm."

The manager led the way ahead, his attitude much more respectful than before: "Please follow me."

Upon reaching the surveillance room, the manager asked which day's footage they wanted to retrieve.

"According to regulations, surveillance is kept for 30 days, but ours is retained for three months; too long a period might not be feasible."

Xia Xi gave a date; the manager patted the shoulder of the staff member in charge of the surveillance and urged him to pull it up quickly.

The staff member, experienced, soon found that day's full recording.

According to the time Li Dan Yan provided to Xia Xi, they narrowed down a time slot; the bar was busy, the screen showed many people, and after searching for a while Xia Xi spotted Miao Yijia, Li Dan Yan, and a male figure sitting together in a booth.

Just as Li Dan Yan said, after a while she got a call and left, leaving only Miao Yijia and that guy. They drank and chatted, laughing; Miao Yijia, whether from drink or excitement, leaned on his shoulder. He lowered his head to look at her, they were close, she kissed his lips, their kissing grew more intense, and gradually she wrapped her arms around his neck.

The surveillance room was quiet.

The manager, also wary of responsibility, said according to what the footage showed: "It looks like they were consenting."

No one responded; the manager embarrassedly rubbed his nose.

They kissed for a while; the guy whispered something in Miao Yijia's ear unknown to us, then put his arm around her and headed upstairs. The upper floors of the bar were private rooms, places for customers to rest.

The manager said nothing.

The surveillance staff, seeing what Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi wanted to check, having been instructed by the manager to cooperate fully, switched to another segment of footage showing the second-floor corridor: the two emerged from the elevator entwined, the guy said something to a passing server, who quickly readied a private room, and the guy and Miao Yijia entered together.

After that, they were never seen coming out again.

Dragging the progress bar, the time advanced to the next day, just after five a. m.; Miao Yijia emerged alone from the private room, clutching her bag, and entered the elevator.

Xia Xi copied the useful footage, thanked the manager, and left the surveillance room with Xu Yanfeng.

Back in the bustling hall, the song changed to another high-energy track; a punk-styled guy was manning the decks, his exposed arms bearing extravagant tattoos.

Xu Yanfeng's gaze swept over the dance floor; sharp-eyed, he spotted among the crowd a face he had seen just minutes earlier. He firmly pinched Xia Xi's hand.

Xia Xi looked at him; he slightly lowered his head, spoke close to her ear: "In the dance floor, on the east side, the guy wearing a white T-shirt and denim vest is the one who was with Miao Yijia."

According to his description, Xia Xi turned her head to look toward that side of the dance floor; in the flashing lights she found the guy he'd described, swaying to the beat with his hands half-raised, his face wearing a wanton smile.

He recalled the scene he had just seen in the surveillance footage, two faces overlapping.

Exactly, it's him.

Li Dan Yan had mentioned, this guy often comes to this bar...