"I won't be having dinner with you."
With that, she walked out the door.
The three roommates looked at each other in confusion.
Something was off, very off.
That evening, Zeng Keqin arrived at the data room as usual.
Jiang Shiyu wasn't there yet. She skillfully turned on the computer and continued staring at the dense data.
Her stomach churned. She felt like throwing up.
She was already developing a physical aversion.
Just then, the door opened.
Zeng Keqin frowned and turned her head. "Why are you so late..."
Her voice trailed off.
Standing at the door were not Jiang Shiyu, but Wang Chunyue, Liu Ying, and Fang Yu.
"You... you, how did you come?"
"You, Zeng Keqin!" Wang Chunyue put her hands on her hips aggressively. "Such a big thing happened, and you didn't tell us? You wanted to hide it! If we hadn't confronted Jiang Shiyu, we wouldn't have known your photos were stolen by some bad guy for online dating scams!"
Even Fang Yu sided with Wang Chunyue. "Exactly. You really don't treat us as friends!"
Zeng Keqin bit her lip, her voice low. "I'm sorry..."
"If sorry were enough, what would the police be for?! I unilaterally declare that you are no longer my best friend!"
Liu Ying and Fang Yu echoed in unison, "Me too!"
Zeng Keqin bit her lip hard, leaving a row of white teeth marks.
It was fine. She was used to being alone. Friends were a luxury for her. Besides, they were about to graduate, and everyone would go their separate ways anyway. It was better to end it early.
But... her heart still ached.
"However—" Wang Chunyue's stern face suddenly broke into a smile. The three of them rushed over and surrounded Zeng Keqin.
"If you let us help you search, that'll make up for it!"
Zeng Keqin's eyes widened in shock. "You... you're not angry?"
"Why would we be angry? You had your reasons for not telling us. But we want to help you, and we have our reasons too."
"Exactly!"
The originally empty data room instantly felt crowded.
Jiang Shiyu leaned against the doorframe, watching the scene inside. His gaze passed over the girls and landed on the flustered figure.
At the same time, Zeng Keqin looked up and saw Jiang Shiyu at the door. She curled the corners of her mouth and mouthed, "Thank you."
He curled his lips slightly.
Many hands make light work.
In less than an hour, they had locked onto the target.
"This is it!" Wang Chunyue pointed at a row of data on the screen. "The pickup code and the phone number match!"
Zeng Keqin leaned in to look. Sure enough.
"Oh my god! We finally found it! We can go home and sleep!"
"Great!"
Zeng Keqin's dark eyes glistened with moisture. Her voice was a little hoarse. "Thank you."
"Don't be so polite! As long as we catch the bad guy, it's all worth it."
"Yeah, let's go back!"
Jiang Shiyu didn't move. "You guys go ahead. I still need to check the owner of this phone number."
"Alright, then thank you, Jiang Shen!"
They waved and turned to leave.
As they walked, Wang Chunyue suggested, "To celebrate, let's go have hotpot tomorrow!"
Zeng Keqin: "Okay, my treat."
But reality was often cruel.
When Zeng Keqin received the call from Jiang Shiyu, she was on her way to the hotpot place with her roommates.
"I checked that phone number. It was deactivated six months ago."
In other words, the lead was dead.
Zeng Keqin paused mid-step, not too surprised. She replied calmly, "I see. Thank you for your hard work."
Hanging up, she noticed Jiang Shiyu's voice sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept in a while.
Fang Yu sensed something wrong and stopped. "Qinqin, what's wrong?"
Zeng Keqin forced a smile. "Nothing."
They chatted and laughed as they walked into the hotpot restaurant.
The aroma of beef tallow in the pot wafted over, bubbling away, dispelling most of their fatigue.
Towards the end, Liu Ying and Wang Chunyue argued for a long time over the last piece of shrimp ball, only for Fang Yu to swoop in with her chopsticks and place it into Zeng Keqin's bowl.
"Oh man, I'm so full, I can hardly walk."
"Me too! Haven't eaten this much in a long time."
They waddled out of the hotpot place and encountered a group of young women walking towards them, dressed in cosplay and Lolita dresses, with exquisite, doll-like makeup, chatting and laughing.
"Wow, they're so pretty."
"Yeah, I want to wear Lolita too! It's so beautiful!"
Zeng Keqin, who was at the back, followed their gaze and froze on the spot.
In a flash of inspiration.
She thought of the photos of herself.
"I think I know who stole my photos."
Author's note: The mystery will be revealed soon. Everyone can take a guess.