Chapter 272 - 206: Also a Little Weak-Kneed

"Something this big has happened. I have to go with you two. Let your dad stay home and watch the house."

Sang Jingwen wasn’t one for socializing; he was a homebody who loved his research. Shui Sulan handled most of the Sang Family’s external affairs. Sang Yuan had long been accustomed to this family dynamic, so he wasn’t surprised at all by his mother’s arrangement.

With something like this happening, Ni Bingyan needed someone watching over her at all times for him to feel at ease. When he got there, he’d definitely need to follow up on the search and rescue progress, so having an extra person along was a good thing.

Sang Yuan didn’t have time to say more and rushed out the door.

Shui Sulan didn’t dally either, following right behind him.

The driver had already pulled the car around. After picking the two of them up, he headed to get Ni Bingyan.

Fearing a suitcase would be inconvenient, Ni Bingyan had also opted for a backpack. She had already locked the gate to Yayuan and had been waiting on the steps for two minutes.

"Let’s go!"

Ni Bingyan pulled open the car door, and before she could even sit down, she saw Shui Sulan in the front passenger seat.

A warmth spread through her heart, knowing that she was only coming along because she was worried.

"Don’t be scared, sweetie. We’re all here with you. The results aren’t out yet, so nothing is certain!"

Ni Bingyan managed a muffled "Aunt Shui" before she was too choked up to speak.

Yayuan was very close to the airport. The Sang Family’s driver was experienced, driving both quickly and steadily. He barely hit any red lights on his way to the airport.

The plane tickets had already been booked. After picking them up, the three of them headed straight for the boarding gate, rushing toward Liucheng without a moment’s delay.

With such a heavy weight on her mind, Ni Bingyan didn’t say a single word the entire way.

Carrying all three of their bags, Sang Yuan held her hand the entire time, silently giving her strength.

’He couldn’t figure it out. His father-in-law hadn’t encountered this in his past life, had he?’

’Could his butterfly effect be this powerful? Did he just flap his future father-in-law out of existence?’

At this thought, Sang Yuan felt a sudden surge of pressure. Before he knew it, his fingers were tightly intertwined with Ni Bingyan’s.

Along the way, Shui Sulan made several calls but couldn’t get any definite news. All she knew was that the search and rescue team had located the mountain where the plane had crashed. The specifics wouldn’t be known until they went up the mountain to search.

Since the accident had just happened, there weren’t many passengers on the flight. In fact, they were the only three in first class.

Shui Sulan sat behind them. Sang Yuan’s seat was next to Ni Bingyan’s, and he hadn’t let go of her hand since they sat down.

As the plane leveled off, Sang Yuan saw Ni Bingyan sitting there in a daze, tears streaming down her face. His heart ached as he pulled out a tissue to wipe them away for her.

"Don’t worry, he’ll be okay, alright? Don’t cry. What if you ruin your eyes?"

Ni Bingyan was used to toughing things out on her own. For once, when something terrible happened, there was someone by her side to comfort her, and she instantly broke down.

"Wooo... wooo... Daddy!"

She had performed in many, many crying scenes, but acting was just acting. It could never compare to genuine grief.

As Ni Bingyan cried, her sobs turned into loud wails.

They had been in such a hurry, with no time for sorrow. But now, on the plane with over three hours to go before reaching Liucheng, her mind couldn’t help but race.

She couldn’t imagine how helpless and terrified her dad must have been in the sky when he realized the plane was going down!

With the plane crashing like that, even if she was just fooling herself, she knew survival was absolutely impossible.

She had finally found a family, only to lose them in the blink of an eye.

From now on, when she made that phone call, no one would ever answer while grumbling. When she sent money to that WeChat account, no one would ever accept it with a look of feigned arrogance. She would no longer have a close relative, connected by blood, who would mail her all sorts of delicious treats from time to time. No one would ever love her like her father did!

Hearing her sobs, a flight attendant immediately came over to comfort her.

She offered a slew of gentle, comforting words. But when she heard that the passenger’s father was on the crashed plane, she couldn’t hold back her own emotions and left with red-rimmed eyes.

A short while later, the flight attendant brought her a sweet slice of matcha cake.

"Miss Ni, when you’re sad, eating something sweet and getting some good sleep might help a little."

Several flight attendants took turns coming over to comfort her. Ni Bingyan felt terribly embarrassed and quickly forced herself to stop crying. She followed their advice, ate the cake, then reclined her seat and lay down.

Sang Yuan didn’t dare to close his eyes. He held her hand and gently patted her back the whole time.

In this situation, there was no way Ni Bingyan could actually sleep, but not wanting to worry him, she closed her eyes and pretended to be fast asleep.

Sang Yuan gently wiped the tear from the corner of her eye, blinked, and stared up at the ceiling. Every single minute, every single second, felt like an eternity of torment.

Shui Sulan had already said plenty of comforting words. Seeing that her son was with Ni Bingyan, she simply put on an eye mask to catch up on sleep.

When they arrived, there was no telling what the situation would be. It was always wise to conserve her energy.

「Meanwhile, at Rongcheng Rabbit Head Airport」

Ni Guangli’s legs also felt a little weak.

"Talk. Where did this come from?"

In the airport interrogation room, two police officers wore stern expressions, staring at him with the kind of look reserved for criminals.

Ni Guangli’s hands were cuffed. He sat on a cold, stainless steel interrogation chair with a bar across his chest to prevent him from lashing out. He looked at the bag of what looked like rock sugar on the tray, so scared that his voice trembled when he spoke.

"I... I don’t know!"

He had been about to board his flight when a K-9 unit dog on patrol suddenly started barking wildly at him. The next thing he knew, he was dragged here.

Before he could react, the police followed the dog’s lead and quickly found a tape-wrapped bundle in his bag. After unwrapping it layer by layer, they revealed the thing now lying on the plate, seemingly mocking him.

It was an unsettling thought, but in Ni Guangli’s eyes, this thing was worse than a thug trying to extort him by faking an injury!

This was an outrage!

Having been a law-abiding citizen for the better part of his life, Ni Guangli never imagined he would one day encounter something so ridiculous!

"Confess and you’ll be treated with leniency! Resist and you’ll be punished severely! You better think carefully! Trafficking more than fifty grams of this stuff is a death sentence! Even if you’re just in possession of it, you’ll get at least seven years in prison!"

Ni Guangli completely lost it and began shouting his innocence.

"I’ve never touched this stuff, you can just test me and you’ll know! I, Ni Guangli, have lived my life with a clear conscience. I’m not afraid of your investigation!

"Besides, I’m not short on money! Am I an idiot, selling this?! Wouldn’t I be better off just selling some of my hotpot base? Me, selling this? Am I out of my mind? Me, selling this?

"I’ve really never seen this thing before! I have no idea how it ended up in my backpack! You can check for fingerprints to see if I ever touched it, can’t you?

"Instead of investigating properly, why are you trying to frame an innocent man? Huh? Do I have any reason to do something like this? Look at my face! Do you think I have any reason to do this? This is completely unreasonable!"

Ni Guangli was a major internet celebrity from the Sichuan and Chongqing area. He had even been in the news at the end of last year for receiving an award. Both of these criminal investigators knew who he was.

If they hadn’t found so much ice in his bag, they wouldn’t have even brought him into the interrogation room, let alone cuffed and questioned him.

"First, calm down. Just explain everything clearly. You know how serious this is."

The police officer felt helpless as well.

His colleagues were already checking the surveillance footage, but an immediate interrogation here was also mandatory.

Seeing that Ni Guangli had calmed down, the officer continued, "Tell us what you did after arriving at the airport today. You have to cooperate with us to catch the real culprit to clear your name, understand?"

Ni Guangli figured that made sense. He could only sigh and speak in a sullen tone.

"I left home after breakfast this morning, got my ticket at the airport, and then my stomach started hurting while I was waiting to board, so I went to the restroom..."

As he spoke, Ni Guangli recalled, "My hand wasn’t steady when I was in the stall, and my phone fell into the toilet. It’s an old phone, so the fall cracked it open. It wouldn’t turn on after getting wet. If I wasn’t afraid of my private data being leaked, I almost would have just thrown it away..."

The officer didn’t rush him, glancing at the still-stinky phone in the evidence bag with a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

"When I came out of the restroom, right at the entrance, I was in a bad mood because of my phone. Someone bumped into me, so I cursed at him a few times. He didn’t respond—he was probably in a rush to pee. I was about to board, so I didn’t bother making a big deal out of it..."

"Wait!"

The officer immediately stopped him.

"Which restroom did you go to?"

Ni Guangli told him, and the officer immediately sent a message to his colleague.

"The person who bumped into you, do you remember what he looked like?"

The penny had dropped for Ni Guangli. He knew this was most likely the key evidence to clear his name. He immediately frowned and began to recall with all his might.