"Sent by Bing Ge?"
Zhang Yuanqing frowned after reading the letter.
What does he mean by 'change of life'? What does 'uncontrollable' mean?
Seriously, he didn't explain anything clearly...
He looked again at the black card, examining it carefully to confirm it was just an ordinary card. If anything was unusual, it was the nice texture and rare material.
Could it be some kind of VIP card for an exclusive club? A 36D beauty like that could only be handled by a rare man like me.
Lei Yibing was his childhood best friend, nicknamed A Bing, two years older than him. Before their grandparents bought new houses, both families lived in the same alley.
Lei Yibing was a top athlete with A grades in strength and speed but a C in intelligence. He always had Zhang's back—leading fights, taking the blows, and standing up for Zhang whenever anyone mocked him as a fatherless kid.
That's why Zhang always called him Bing Ge (Brother Bing).
A Bing's grades in high school weren't great, so he went to university in Jiangnan Province nearby. Since then, they rarely kept in touch.
Zhang Yuanqing put the black card into his jacket pocket and sent Bing Ge a teasing message:
"Which club's VIP card is this? At least give me an address or contact info."
Half an hour passed with no reply.
He finally called Bing Ge.
After two rings, a deep male voice answered on speaker:
"Hello! This is Lei Yibing's father."
"Uncle Lei?" Zhang was surprised but quickly brightened.
"Is Bing Ge back in Songhai this week? Can you ask him to answer? I have something to talk to him about."
There was a pause, then a heavy voice said:
"Yuanzi, I'm in Jiangnan Province. A Bing has gone missing..."
Bing Ge missing?! Zhang Yuanqing froze on the spot. After a few seconds of disbelief, he anxiously asked:
"What happened?"
How could Bing Ge disappear? He just sent me something.
"He went missing the day before yesterday. Your Aunt Zhou and I got the school's notice yesterday and rushed here immediately," Uncle Lei said gloomily.
"Did you report it to the police? What did the security bureau say?" Zhang asked in a low voice.
Uncle Lei hesitated for a long moment before replying:
"This is complicated. A Bing's disappearance is strange…"
Strange? What does that mean? Zhang frowned.
Uncle Lei explained:
"A Bing disappeared from his dorm the night before yesterday. Police reviewed surveillance footage of the dorm corridor. It showed A Bing stayed in his room all night, but the next morning, he was gone.
"His roommates said they saw him before sleep, but when they woke up, he was gone. They thought he just went out."
Zhang blurted out: "That's impossible..."
Could a person vanish into thin air? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that.
Suppressing his anxiety, Zhang lowered his voice:
"Uncle Lei, did Bing Ge offend someone at school?"
His first thought was that Bing Ge might have crossed someone powerful on campus, which is why the surveillance footage showed nothing suspicious. Usually, this means the school is covering up.
In this age of information explosion, everyone with internet access has heard stories like this.
"The school officials say they're cooperating with the police. The cops told us to wait for news; they're investigating... Your aunt and I haven't slept all night," Uncle Lei's tone was heavy with worry.
Just as expected. Damn it... Zhang took a deep breath and tried to comfort him:
"Don't worry yet. My grandfather and cousin both work at the security bureau—you know that. I'll ask them how to handle this and what to watch for. If you don't understand something or need advice, call me anytime.
"Also, you must ask Bing Ge's classmates. If he offended anyone, surely someone knows."
Uncle Lei felt a bit reassured:
"Thanks, Yuanzi. Don't worry. I'll let you know as soon as there's news."
After hanging up, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't sit still. He paced anxiously around the room, worried about Bing Ge's safety.
People don't just disappear without reason. If the camera footage shows nothing, the surveillance must have been tampered with. The question is: who did Bing Ge offend?
But he's just a junior in college—who could he have angered?
Wait. He disappeared the day before yesterday...
Day before yesterday?!
Zhang suddenly realized something. A parcel from Jiangnan Province to Songhai takes 2–3 days by express delivery. Based on timing, Bing Ge disappeared the very night he sent me the package.
Is this a coincidence? Or are these events connected?
Thinking this, he instinctively reached for the black card in his pocket—only to freeze.
The black card was gone.
Did it fall on the floor? Zhang quickly scanned the floor.
Nothing.
He crouched and looked under the bed, where dust, coins, pens, and buttons lay—but no card.
He clearly remembered putting the card in his pocket.
How could it disappear into thin air?
Linking Bing Ge's mysterious disappearance, the strange letter, and the vanishing black card, Zhang felt a rising wave of terror and confusion.
"Could the black card be connected to Bing Ge's disappearance? Or is it a key clue?"
Taking a deep breath, Zhang decided to use his "old trick" to reboot his memory.
He poured cool water into a glass, took out a bottle of pills from the nightstand, opened it, took off his shoes, and lay down on the bed.
Then, he closed his eyes and focused on imagining his father's face.
This old habit triggered when he calmed his mind and pictured something vaguely familiar but unclear.
This activated his brain's energy, slowly heating it up until it was fully awake.
After years, his father's face had blurred. It was the perfect image to focus on.
Minutes passed. The face slowly sharpened from blurry to crystal clear. Zhang's heart thumped wildly, like an over-revving engine.
Time seemed to rewind. The scene from an hour ago played like a movie, frame by frame.
He saw himself opening the package, reading the letter, putting the black card in his jacket pocket, then messaging Bing Ge.
Then, he sat motionless at his desk for half an hour, scrolling through short videos and exchanging a few risqué pictures with some "lsp" friends in the gaming group.
He saved a few quality images, then read a few minutes of a novel.
Because he kept thinking about the card, he called Bing Ge.
After the call, the crucial moment came. He paced nervously around the room—the most likely time to lose the card.
In the memory, he saw himself frowning, pacing, then reaching to check the card—only to find it gone.
Zhang shot open his eyes, horrified.
Gone?!
The black card vanished into thin air.
What the hell did Bing Ge send me...? His scalp tingled.
Before he could think further, a chaotic roar of voices bombarded his ears, like a crowd talking all at once. Fragmented images exploded in his mind like a volcanic eruption.
Warm liquid ran down his nose. His head felt like it was hammered with steel nails.
His face twisted as he crawled to the bedside, trembling, pulling out five blue pills, popping them into his mouth, and gulping them down with water.
After a moment, his face paled as he sat gasping on the bed.
By now, he was almost certain Bing Ge's disappearance was related to the black card.
"Bing Ge disappeared right after sending me the card. That card is clearly not ordinary..."
It suggested Bing Ge might have been threatened and had to transfer something urgently.
"But why didn't he hand it over to the local security bureau? Why send it to me?"
Could it be that I, a college kid who's never killed anyone or slept with anyone, am more trustworthy than the cops?
Zhang suddenly recalled the detail: the surveillance footage and roommates noticed nothing unusual.
To pull that off, whoever's behind this must have real power.
Bing Ge didn't hand the card to the security bureau because... the bureau isn't trustworthy?
Or that person or group who caused his disappearance had influence over the local police.
"He sent the card to me because he knew my grandfather is a retired police chief and my cousin is a security captain in Songhai City. They have strong connections here—people in Jiangnan Province can't reach me."
I have to tell my cousin.
"Ding dong~"
At that moment, the doorbell rang from the entrance.
Grandma's footsteps sounded as she crossed the living room and turned the doorknob.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Hello, we're investigators from Kangyang District Security Bureau. Is Zhang Yuanqing home?"
The voice outside answered.