Chapter 473 – Disappearing for One Minute
Now that she thought about it, it really wasn’t good to have made them worry.
“You little girl…” Grandpa Xie was both amused and helpless after hearing Xu Jinning’s explanation.
Xu Jinning linked her arm with his, slightly supporting him as she said, “Grandpa, let’s go inside. These past two months at home, I’ve really missed you.”
“Grandpa missed you too.”
As Xu Jinning and Grandpa Xie chatted and walked inside, Xie Ting’an brought in their luggage and followed them in.
Once inside, Xu Jinning noticed that there was a new housekeeper.
After hearing Grandpa’s explanation, she found out that the housekeeper was someone he had arranged a while ago, right after learning about her pregnancy. The housekeeper had been specifically hired to take care of her.
Grandpa Xie had made the request early on, and the housekeeper had arrived yesterday, just in time for Xu Jinning’s return today.
According to Grandpa, the housekeeper was skilled in cooking and taking care of pregnant women and children.
Xu Jinning thought the housekeeper had a very kind face as well.
By lunchtime, the housekeeper had already shown off her cooking skills.
Xu Jinning had to admit, the food was indeed delicious, and she ended up eating quite a lot.
Since she had returned and Grandpa had specially hired someone to take care of her, it was only natural that Xu Jinning stayed at the Xie family’s old residence.
After the school term started, Xu Jinning continued her routine of commuting between the school and the National Translation Department for work.
She was still in the early stages of pregnancy, so working wasn’t too much of an issue.
However, she did feel more prone to drowsiness and needed more rest.
As a result, Xie Ting’an helped her apply for reduced working hours.
Both the school and her workplace agreed after learning about her pregnancy.
From then on, Xu Jinning’s life settled into a peaceful routine, spending her time between the Xie family’s old residence, the small courtyard, school, and work, following a simple daily schedule.
Because of her pregnancy, Xie Ting’an no longer allowed her to go out alone.
Almost every time, he came to pick her up and drop her off.
Even if he didn’t have time, someone else had to either accompany her or handle the transportation.
After graduating from university, Xie Ting’an didn’t pursue further studies.
He started a company directly, focusing on the internet industry.
He knew very well that in the future, real estate and the internet would be the two most promising industries.
However, he wasn’t interested in real estate, so he chose the internet field instead.
Now, his company was developing its own computer…
For this, he had put together a team of highly skilled talent to create a computer that would be uniquely Chinese.
And today, this project had already shown significant progress.
…
Time seemed to pass day by day, and Xu Jinning’s belly gradually began to show.
Until one day, she and Xie Ting’an arrived at the small courtyard, which was her sister and brother-in-law’s home.
There, they saw an unexpected person.
“Dad Changzheng, you’ve come to Beijing?” Xu Jinning was surprised when she saw the person sitting in the living room.
“Yes, I’m here.”
Indeed, the person sitting there was none other than Zhang Changzheng.
But wasn’t Zhang Changzheng supposed to be in the provincial capital? Why was he in Beijing?
“Dad Changzheng, are you here on a business trip?” Xu Jinning thought that seemed to be the only explanation.
“More or less. There’s something very important I’m here for, but of course, I also came to see you.”
“How are you? You’re pregnant and still working. Is it tiring?”
Xu Jinning sat down beside him and shook her head. “I’m doing fine for now. When I reach the later stages of pregnancy, I’ll take maternity leave.”
“That’s good.”
“By the way, Dad Changzheng, is there something important you’re here for in Beijing?”
After asking, Xu Jinning quickly realized something and added, “Of course, if it’s something you can’t talk about, you don’t have to.”
Xu Jinning understood that, given Zhang Changzheng’s position, there were some matters that had to remain confidential and couldn’t be discussed.
“There is indeed something urgent,” Zhang Changzheng paused for a moment, “but it’s something I can tell you.”
He could tell Xu Jinning, but no one else.
“Actually, I came this time because I wanted to talk to you about it, to see if you have any thoughts.”
“Alright, let’s go to the room,” Xu Jinning suggested.
“Okay.”
Xu Jinning could tell from Zhang Changzheng’s serious expression that the matter seemed very important.
She just didn’t know why he wanted to talk to her alone.
With that, the two of them headed to the room.
Xie Ting’an, aware that they had something important to discuss, followed along but kept his distance.
As Zhang Changzheng followed behind Xu Jinning, he gazed at her back thoughtfully.
During this trip to Beijing, after meeting some of the higher-ups, Zhang Changzheng started to realize that Xu Jinning’s identity was even more extraordinary than he had initially imagined.
He discovered that it wasn’t just him who knew about Xu Jinning’s uniqueness—apparently, people higher up were aware of it too.
There were even individuals from the state secretly protecting her.
And regarding this matter, when he hesitated about whether to tell Xu Jinning, someone higher up had surprisingly given him permission.
Originally, this matter was classified as top-secret.
Yet Xu Jinning was allowed to know about it.
This alone showed how high and significant her status was.
Of course, Zhang Changzheng had already intended to share the matter with Xu Jinning anyway.
He had a strong feeling that the answers to this mystery could be found with Xu Jinning.
Even though in previous conversations, Xu Jinning had been completely puzzled, unclear about what was going on.
Still, Zhang Changzheng felt that to solve this riddle, Xu Jinning would be the key.
So, after getting approval from above, he came here specifically to talk with her.
Soon, the two of them arrived in the room and sat down.
Xu Jinning looked at Zhang Changzheng, signaling that he could start speaking whenever he was ready.
Without beating around the bush, Zhang Changzheng began, “Ningning, do you remember the disappearance cases I mentioned to you before?”
Xu Jinning immediately recalled, “Yes, I remember. It was about things mysteriously disappearing without any signs of being stolen, almost like they vanished into thin air.”
“But didn’t you say that nothing like that had happened again?”
“Has it happened again?”
Zhang Changzheng let out a long sigh and said, “Yes and no.”
Xu Jinning furrowed her brows slightly. What did that mean?
Zhang Changzheng quickly explained, “The disappearances have indeed occurred again.”
“But this time, it didn’t happen in the provincial capital where I’m based.”
“It happened here, in Beijing.”
“Beijing?!” Xu Jinning was slightly surprised. Although she was living in Beijing, she hadn’t heard anything about such incidents.
“This time, what disappeared wasn’t as simple as the items from before…”
As Zhang Changzheng recounted the details, Xu Jinning finally understood what was going on.
An extremely important, classified national object had gone missing.
To say it was missing wasn’t entirely accurate.
It had only disappeared for one minute.
“Disappeared for one minute?”
“Yes. It vanished into thin air for one minute and then reappeared in its original place. Anyone who didn’t know would have thought it had been there all along.”
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