A month passed, and Han Yan remained as if she had vanished without a trace. Bai Peiwen exhausted every possible method to search for her. He asked Yan Lili, pced missing person ads in the newspaper, and even asked someone to investigate her household registration at the police station. But Han Yan seemed like a bubble that had disappeared into the sea—there was not a single trace to be found.

  He regretted that he had never asked Han Yan about the names or addresses of her foster parents. Now he had lost every clue. The missing person ads in the newspaper started small but gradually expanded, running for an entire week, but Han Yan didn′t even send a single phone call. Bai Peiwen rapidly became thinner and more haggard. He couldn′t enjoy food, couldn′t sleep peacefully, and wandered restlessly throughout the day, like a lost dog. He couldn′t stay at home for a minute, fearing that Han Yan might call the factory, but in the factory, he also couldn′t sit still for even a minute. At any given moment, he would jump up in a sudden panic, imagining that she had already married, that she had married that idiot. He would then be seized by cold shivers, his whole body stiffening with spasms.

  All of this did not escape the notice of Old Madam Bai and Gao Lide. Gao Lide, a young man who had worked hard for his education, came to Taiwan alone after the mainnd fell. He studied agricultural sciences at university, where he became cssmates with Bai Peiwen. Due to their shared interests, the two became close friends.

  As a result, after Gao Lide graduated, he moved into the Bai household, and Bai Peiwen entrusted the entire tea pntation to him for management. Gao Lide applied his education effectively, and with his interest in the tea farm and his willingness to work hard, he made it flourish. The Bai family's tea harvests were collected seven or eight times a year, all thanks to Gao Lide's efforts. In gratitude, Bai Peiwen gave him shares in the business and paid him substantial annual dividends. As a result, Gao Lide held a very special position in the Bai household. He was not only Bai Peiwen′s confidant and brother but also his assistant.

  That evening, Gao Lide and Old Madam Bai were in the living room, while Bai Peiwen paced back and forth in his room, unable to sit still. Recently, he had been walking back and forth like this every night, even into the early hours of the morning. Sometimes, he would continue walking until dawn.

  "Pei Wen," Old Madam Bai couldn′t help but call out, "What's wrong with you?"

  "Oh?" Bai Peiwen stopped and looked at his mother bnkly.

  "A little factory girl, and she has you this distracted?" Old Madam Bai stared at him.

  "Oh? Mom?" he said, surprised. "How do you know—"

  "I know everything," Old Madam Bai nodded. "Pei Wen, I advise you to let go of this.

  She′s not right for you, nor for our family. She′s just stringing you along. Don′t fall for this girl′s tricks!"

  "Mom!" Bai Peiwen protested. "You have no idea! You don′t know her at all! This isn′t fair!"

  "You don′t think I know?" Old Madam Bai raised an eyebrow. "I know girls like her all too well. I advise you not to be so stubborn! Look at what she′s done to you! Go look at yourself in the mirror—do you still look human? You′re really strange, Pei Wen. After turning down so many noble young dies, you′ve gone for a factory girl!"

  "She graduated from high school too!" Bai Peiwen shouted. "So what if she works in a factory? How many important people started as workers?"

  "Of course," Old Madam Bai sneered. "That factory girl is almost about to become the boss′s wife."

  "Don't say that, Mom." Bai Peiwen stood in front of his mother, like a statue, his face pale and his gaze gloomy. "It′s not surprising that she would marry me; she′s been missing for a month now."

  "She will appear," Old Madam Bai said quietly. "She′s cast the bait, and eventually she′ll reel it in. But Pei Wen, I′ll tell you this—I don′t want that kind of daughter-in-w."

  Bai Peiwen stood there frozen. After she finished speaking, Old Madam Bai got up on her own and walked upstairs. Bai Peiwen continued to stand there in a daze until Gao Lide approached him and handed him a lit cigarette.

  "I think you need a cigarette," Gao Lide said with a smile.

  Bai Peiwen took the cigarette, sighed deeply, and slumped into the sofa, his fingers buried deep in his hair. Gao Lide lit a cigarette for himself and sat across from him. He said quietly, "What exactly is going on? Talk to me; let me help you figure things out."

  Bai Peiwen looked up and met Gao Lide's encouraging gaze. He sighed again, inhaled deeply, and let the thick smoke linger between the two men. Gao Lide sat casually, his legs crossed, looking rexed and carefree, while Bai Peiwen furrowed his brows, his face filled with frustration and distress.

  "How did Mom know about Han Yan?" Bai Peiwen asked Gao Lide.

  "She called Manager Zhao to ask," Gao Lide said. "What? Is she really just a factory worker?"

  "A factory worker!" Bai Peiwen excimed excitedly. "If you had seen this factory worker! If you had seen her!"

  Gao Lide smiled faintly. "How did she disappear?" he asked.

  Bai Peiwen lowered his head and fell silent. For quite a while, neither of them spoke. Gao Lide didn′t rush him, only puffing on his cigarette at his own pace. After a long, long time, Bai Peiwen finally began to speak slowly:

  "I first noticed her four months ago." He exhaled a cloud of smoke and watched as it dispersed. In that misty, swirling smoke, he seemed to see Han Yan′s face again, faintly appearing in the haze—delicate, ethereal, and unreal. He slowly recounted the story of himself and Han Yan, holding nothing back, telling it completely and utterly. In front of Gao Lide had no secrets.

  When he finished, he leaned back on the sofa, staring bnkly at the ceiling with a pair of lifeless eyes, and said softly, "I would trade the entire world for her! The entire world!"

  Gao Lide fell into deep thought, as he was a man who excelled at using his mind. After a long while, he suddenly asked, "Have you tried asking around at the dance halls?"

  "Dance halls?" Bai Peiwen froze.

  "You see, she used to work in a nightclub, but wanting a fresh start, she resolutely left that life and became a factory worker. But you crushed her, shattered her hope. A girl in despair—when she realizes that the new life she hoped for doesn't bring respect or honor, and even the man who loves her can't look at her the same way, what do you think she'll do?"

  "What will she do?" Bai Peiwen′s forehead broke out in a cold sweat.

  "She′ll give up on herself! That′s why she said she would 'go with the flow,' why she said she wanted to destroy herself, to sink, because she has already lost hope. Now, she has two possibilities: one is that she′s already married to that fool, and the other is that she′s gone back to the nightclub to dance again. So, I suggest you, you might as well go to the nightclub and see if you can find her!"

  Bai Peiwen stared deeply at Gao Lide, silent for a long moment. Then, without saying a word, he suddenly jumped up, grabbed a jacket that was draped over the chair back, and headed for the door. Gao Lide, surprised, called out, "Where are you going?"

  "To the nightclub!"

  "What nightclub? You don′t have any clues; how will you find her?"

  "I'll search every single one!" Rushing out of the house, Bai Peiwen's voice trailed off as Gao Lide immediately heard the sound of a car engine starting. Gao Lide stood up, walked to the window, and watched as Bai Peiwen's car shot off like an arrow from a bow. Raising his eyebrows slightly, he tilted his head, stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and muttered to himself, "Hmm, I really do want to meet this Zhang Hanyan."