Chapter 520: Suspicion
Chapter 520: Chapter 520: Suspicion
Su Qing raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. Mr. Yan and I just met and only exchanged a few words. How could there be anything romantic between us?"
Hua Zifeng gave a faint smile. "Situations like this are very common. My suspicion is only reasonable."
Su Qing’s expression turned serious. "Then may I suspect that you, Mr. Hua, are insulting my character and questioning my integrity? Knowing full well that Miss Angela and Mr. Yan are about to be engaged, I would still try to have a romantic affair with Mr. Yan? What kind of person would that make me? Besides, it’s not my habit to fall for every man I see."
Hua Zifeng also said lightly, "After all, Mr. Yan is a member of the Hall family. That status is very attractive."
Su Qing sneered. "If you continue to question me like this, Mr. Hua, I’ll have to start questioning your professional competence."
Yarn also spoke up from the side. "Mr. Hua, I’ve told you before. Because of Angela’s hostility toward Miss Susan, Miss Susan even refused my offer of a purely platonic friendship. How could she possibly be involved with me romantically? What you’re saying is truly an insult to Miss Susan."
"Alright, alright. Let’s drop this topic." Seeing that both Su Qing and Yarn were saying this, Hua Zifeng had no desire to offend Yarn. He didn’t care about Susan, but he didn’t want to make an enemy of the Hall family. He changed the subject. "May I ask, where was Miss Susan in the middle of the night yesterday?"
"In my room, sleeping, of course," Su Qing said.
"Can anyone prove that?" Hua Zifeng pressed.
Hua Zifeng’s question made Su Qing laugh. "I’m traveling alone on this ship, the Jixiang, to A Tai. I am the only person in this room. Tell me, Mr. Hua, how exactly do you expect me to find someone to prove that I was sleeping alone in my room last night? Or is it that, in your eyes, any guest staying alone is automatically the prime suspect?"
"That’s not it," Hua Zifeng said. "It’s just that there was previous friction between you and Miss Angela. My suspicion is only reasonable. I hope you can understand, Miss Susan."
"I’m sorry, but I cannot understand this kind of malicious speculation," Su Qing said coldly.
Hua Zifeng paid no mind to Su Qing’s attitude. He just said, "Then may I ask, did you leave your room in the middle of the night yesterday?"
"No."
"And who can prove that?"
"Heh. The burden of proof is on the one who makes the accusation." Su Qing sneered at Hua Zifeng. "Since you suspect I left my room last night, Mr. Hua, and you seem unsatisfied with my answer of ’no,’ insisting that I might have left, then please, find your witnesses and evidence. Don’t just keep hounding me with questions."
Before Hua Zifeng could speak, Su Qing continued, "Besides, by continuing to suspect me, don’t you think you’ve got your priorities backward, Mr. Hua? What you should be doing right now is finding Miss Angela’s whereabouts as quickly as possible, not getting tangled up with me here. If you still suspect me, then please, find some evidence."
Hua Zifeng smiled. "I regret that my attitude has caused you some distress, Miss Susan. May I take a look at your room?"
"Be my guest." Su Qing nodded faintly.
Hua Zifeng gave Su Qing a nod and began to walk around her room, searching for anything suspicious. Su Qing remained seated on the sofa, watching his every move from behind the cover of a houseplant.
Yarn looked very apologetic. "Miss Susan, I’m truly sorry. This has caused you so much trouble. Last night, someone saw Angela walking on the deck, but... no one saw her after that."
"It’s nothing, really," Su Qing said. "I’m just curious why Miss Angela wasn’t in her room in the middle of the night. Logically, she shouldn’t have left her room so late, right? After all, it gets quite cold at sea during the night."
Yarn sighed. "I had another argument with Angela last night. She was probably in a bad mood and went to the deck to clear her head. I just never expected she would go missing on this ship. If I had known, I would have just given in to her."
Yarn’s expression was full of remorse; he clearly regretted his actions from the previous night.
Su Qing said, "The most important thing right now is to find Miss Angela’s whereabouts."
"Yes." Yarn nodded. "But we’ve searched almost the entire ship and haven’t found any trace of Angela. I’m afraid she might have met with some misfortune."
Yarn’s spirits were very low.
"Maybe things aren’t that bad. Let’s just keep looking for now." Su Qing knew that anything she said would sound hollow at this point, so this was the only comfort she could offer.
Yarn nodded. "Thank you, Miss Susan."
Just then, Hua Zifeng came out of the study and said to Su Qing, "Miss Susan, my apologies for the intrusion. However, from now on, please do not leave the sight of others. This is a request I hope your room steward can fulfill."
"Mr. Hua, you...!" Yarn felt this wasn’t right. It was practically treating Su Qing as a suspect.
Su Qing, however, didn’t seem to mind. "Alright, no problem," she said.
Then, Su Qing turned to Jim. "Jim, I’ll be troubling you, then."
"It’s no trouble at all, Miss Susan," Jim said quickly.
Su Qing smiled and said to Hua Zifeng, "Well then, I’d like to go to the dining hall for a meal now. Is that a problem?"
"Please, go ahead." Hua Zifeng made a gentlemanly gesture of invitation.
Su Qing gave a faint smile and said nothing more. She took Jim to the buffet on the first floor, and afterward, instead of returning to her room, she went up to the deck.
The ship was currently anchored at sea. It was a perfect opportunity for her to see what was on the seabed. ’Maybe I’ll find something,’ she thought.
Su Qing led Jim to the deck. By now, quite a few people were there, all leaning against the ship’s railing and looking out at the sea. Su Qing glanced at the water and saw several speedboats scattered around the Jixiang. It was obvious they were searching the sea’s surface for any sign of Angela.
Jim said to Su Qing, "The captain had those speedboats launched a little while ago. Sigh, I hope Miss Angela is safe."
"Let’s hope so." Su Qing said no more. Repeating her previous method, she had several Vine Seeds firmly attach themselves to the bottom of the ship’s hull, then sent them exploring toward the seabed.
Unfortunately, there were no schools of fish passing by at the moment. There were plenty of other fish, but Su Qing didn’t recognize them, so she didn’t try to catch any.
Soon, the vines, under Su Qing’s control, reached the seabed.
Su Qing discovered that the seabed in the area where the Jixiang was anchored was a layer of soft sand. And on that sand, there was a huge bed of sea clams.
Although Su Qing wasn’t very familiar with shellfish, that didn’t stop her from getting excited. ’With so many clams, could there be pearls inside?’