I found you

The time on the video was 8:15 p.m. when his worthless secretary entered the store. Later, a young man in a dark blue suit left the store in a hurry.

Jiang Wei watched the video more closely. He noticed that the second guy with the photo came in twenty minutes after Ling, and left at almost half past ten. But when the right person arrived, he couldn't understand.

How could it have come out that Shi Ling was in the same store? Could he have even seen that other man? Ling's phone did not answer. Jiang Wei took his car and drove to the secretary's house. The door was open, and he almost jumped for joy, but he suddenly lost the ability to speak and think: the secretary's apartment was empty.

This emptiness challenged him and made him angry. For some reason, Jiang Wei thought of desolation. His heart shivered at once. Like a fool, he stood at the entrance and stared at the clean-cut, dark apartment and didn't move until the manager appeared from the apartment.

"Ah, Mr. Jiang, good evening!" he said kindly, and looked questioningly at the man, saying, "What are you doing here?"

"And where is...Ling?" Jiang Wei asked a most ridiculous question, showing that there was not even such a simple thing as friendship between him and the secretary, since he was standing there like a chump.

"Mr. Shi finished renting this apartment, and he moved out this morning. Where to, I don't know. Good night!"

The manager closed the apartment and ran vigorously down the steps.

Jiang Wei had been drinking all night. Why, when he seemed to be getting so close to a clue, did the answer hide from him?

For the next few days, he devoted himself entirely to his work. The day was approaching when he would finally establish a large flow of exports. Ambassador Shu hinted that it would be good to thank him as the main culprit, but Jiang Wei only smiled. He believed that "there are many wolves and little meat" and "always know your limit."

On the eve of the deal, Ambassador Shu suddenly disappeared, and rumors of bribery and abuse of power began to circulate. Even Jiang Wei pricked up his ears. The next day, the prosecutor's office came to his office and began to confiscate documents and computers. The deal, of course, fell apart.

Jiang Wei came home early and so caught the housekeeper. She only came on Wednesdays, and this time she had a lot of work to do. While cleaning, she was surprised to find a wrinkled jacket on the floor behind the sofa, and her master's shoe sticking out on the shelf under the TV. The woman was well-mannered and reserved. She put things back in their places, and about the jacket, she decided to clarify.

"Mr. Jiang, what to do with this jacket?" the woman asked, showing her clothes.

"What's wrong with it," the host said without looking. His attention was riveted on the news of the company scandal.

"I found it on the floor behind the couch," the housekeeper clarified, "should I take it to the dry cleaner?"

"А?" Jiang Wei seemed to be remembering something hard, and then he looked at the jacket and suddenly his eyebrows went up.

He blinked a few times and then snatched the thing from the woman's hands. His eyes burned like mad. The housekeeper wisely chose to walk away.

Jiang Wei sat back in his chair, still keeping his eyes on the jacket. He only now saw it, especially it's color. As he investigated, he found out that the young man had been filmed in an exclusive suit that had been brought back from Italy in a single copy.

For this reason, it could not be confused. Jiang Wei slowly turned the jacket inside out and indeed found a hand-embroidered tag with the tailor's name on it. He shuddered as if from a severe cold, gradually realizing how things were.

Scattered facts clung to each other and the puzzle was finally put together. Jiang Wei watched the video once more and drew the simplest and truest conclusion.

"Two people went in and two people came out, too. One had changed beyond recognition, but that's no wonder, considering how scruffy he always seemed." Jiang Wei slapped himself on the forehead. "I'm an idiot," he scolded himself for the first time in his life. He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning without sleep.

He felt uncomfortable, because if the one he was looking for had been his invisible shadow for three weeks and had not given himself away in any way, that was strange, to say the least. And as for Jiang Wei himself, how come he didn't pay any attention to the inconspicuous assistant at all? After spending almost a month in his apartment, eating from his hands, how did he feel about it?

That's right, nothing! And this put more and more pressure on Jiang Wei. Okay, he was drugged and forgot everything, but what about Ling? Was he in his mind and also chose to forget everything?

Once again, Jiang Wei was left with only two possibilities: Ling was afraid or he found him disgusting.

The rays of dawn touched the man's haggard face affectionately as if trying to wash him away, taking his tiredness and anxious thoughts with them, but Jiang Wei only grimaced and went to get a portion of strong coffee.

An hour later, as he stepped out of the shower, the phone rang. Lu Fei once again warned him not to show up for work because the office was once again besieged by journalists.

"My friend, we'll figure it out," Fay said with a strange familiarity, "The legal team has been working all night, but the scandal is still a big one. The prosecutor's office will check the company's activities over the last year. I advise you to disappear for a while. You will keep your position, don't worry about it," the man summarized.

"For how long should I disappear?" - A confused Jiang Wei clarified.

He could not imagine himself without a job; it seemed absurd.

"Disappear for a couple of months, consider it a vacation," Lu Fei finished his speech and said goodbye.

The man felt worthless. This had been his carefully thought-out project. He had prepared everything neatly, without trampling anywhere. So he was confident that the prosecutor's office would not discover the connection to the disgraced ambassador, but the situation as a whole was unpleasant.

"Where should I go next?" His gaze wandered around the room until it stopped at the suit. He looked at it in silence for a while, and then walked over and raked it up. The fabric didn't retain the owner's scent, but it was still the same suit to the touch. Jiang Wei frowned and made a decision.

He spent the day leaving appointments with the people looking after the house. He contacted the bank and withdrew enough cash. Then he called Lu Fei again and asked to find Shi Ling's address.

There was no problem with that, and by evening Jiang Wei was driving out of town, following the navigator's directions. On the seat next to him was a blue suit. Driving in silence was rather boring, so Wei began to reason aloud.

"You may be small but you are proud," Jiang Wei began, addressing the owner of the suit, "you can't be dealt with head-on, otherwise you'll close up like a clam. But you have a good heart, and if I find myself in trouble, weak and helpless, you will not be able to pass by. Most likely, as a child, you dragged all the homeless sick critters from the neighborhood into the house..." grinned Jiang Wei at his hunch.

"Well, if I have to pretend to be weak and sick to pick me up, I agree. Let's see how you take care of me."

In Jiang Wei's mind, a plan matured in vivid colors. He wondered if he should hire thugs to beat him up a little. Maybe buy some rags from a bum? He spent the rest of the trip thinking like that. But all his self-confidence turned to ashes when he stopped outside a detached two-story house on the outskirts in the night.

Soft light poured in from the windows, illuminating the neat lawn. The alley leading to the door was lined with beautiful stone overgrown with moss. Trimmed bushes grew around the house, a white wooden fence enclosed the perimeter, and the scent of flowers made my head spin. The entire first floor of the house was flooded with light. The man checked the navigator once more and made sure he had arrived at the address.

He got out of the car and walked to the fence. It was easy to get over it, but the man stopped halfway, pondering his next steps. There was laughter coming from the house, and silhouettes of people flashed. Something strange and slimy stirred in the man's soul. He tried to remember when he had been part of something like this and could not.

His mother was his father's third wife, and he was his only son. His older sister was ill, his middle sister had left home at sixteen and the connection with her was cut off. His father was a cold and petty despot. He always expected Wei to make a mistake or slip up, suspected him of laziness and profligacy, punishing him "before, during, and between."

Jiang Wei hardly remembered his mother, for she often went away for medical treatment, and in fact, she simply ran away from her tyrant husband. At first, she cherished dreams of high status and luxurious life, especially when she was able to give birth to a boy. But within ten years all her hopes were dashed.

Her husband treated her no better than a servant, and his lawyers did everything they could to keep her poor and dependent. When Wei was fourteen years old, his father kicked his wife out of the house. The heir overheard servants talking about his mother having a lover. As a child, he still chose not to condemn his mother. He would have been happy to run away, but it was not his fate.

At twenty-one, he took over the company business. By then he had largely become a reflection of his father, retaining only a small part of his soul and independence. One day he told the old man that he would look after the company faithfully, but that he would never sacrifice himself for a profitable marriage.

The father merely nodded in response, and that was the end of the only father-son conversation in five years. The father was now living abroad. He was prescribed mountain air and peace.

Jiang Wei had not seen him in two years. Doctors made regular reports and the company paid the bills. Jiang Wei's family was one of many whom money and power did not make happy.

For example, Li Guang did not remember his mother at all, for after giving birth to him, she became ill and soon died. He had two stepmothers and three stepbrothers with "bad blood."

This was the opinion of his father, a highly suspicious paranoid man. He tried to poison his second son by receiving a denunciation about his affairs behind the family's back.

The young man survived but left the house with a scandal. The other children trembled with fear in the presence of their father. Only Li Guang was a fearless lunatic. He repeatedly made violent scenes, showing an unrestrained and violent temper.

Watching him, his father felt a perverse pleasure and recognized this deranged man as his true offspring.

Jiang Wei shuddered at the cool air and remembered the evening in the courtyard of his house. He selfishly wished that Shi Ling had brought a plaid for him.

As if in response to his thoughts, someone threw a jacket over his cold shoulders.

Jiang Wei:...