CH 211

Of course, Comrade Xiao Wang was just talking. After all, he couldn’t afford to even date when he was poor, so how could he really upset the boss?

Wang Chao sat down in front of the desktop computer, and a light cough came from behind him. He stood up suddenly and gave his seat to his boss.

His boss wasn’t embarrassed at all and sat down in front of the computer with great ease, forcing Wang Chao to bend over and manipulate the mouse aggrievedly.

Wang Chao moved the screen to the last scene where the suspect was holding a balloon and leaving the crowd and said, “This is the scene when the suspect left.”

“Mm,” Xing Conglian said lightly.

Wang Chao dragged the mouse, and the timeline was moved to a later position. The suspect could be vaguely seen walking past the amusement park restaurant and out of the surveillance screen.

Afterwards, Wang Chao rubbed his fingers and excitedly said, “The moment of witnessing a miracle has come!”

Xing Conglian gave him a slap and said irritably, “Stop chanting slogans.”

But after he finished speaking, even Xing Conglian was surprised.

In the surveillance video, the suspect was walking on the main road of the amusement park, heading towards the exit, passing by many cute girls who were dressed up and holding balloons.

“This is five minutes later.” Wang Chao pressed the pause button and spliced the scenes five minutes before and after together. “Let’s find the differences!”

Xing Conglian looked at the object in the suspect’s hand on the left side of the screen and then looked to the right side of the screen. “The suspect’s four balloons in his hand are missing?”

“Yes, is it popular to kill people and release balloons to make wishes now?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay, Boss!”

“Can you find out where the suspect went during the missing five minutes?”

As Wang Chao spoke, he snapped his fingers and called up a 3D stereoscopic image. Xing Conglian looked at the restaurant and exit positions, recalled the direction in which the suspect left the surveillance range, and finally looked at the amusement park’s vast artificial lake.

“He went to the lakeside?”

“Surely he went to the lakeside to release the balloons!” Wang Chao said.

Xing Conglian ignored him and asked with a frown, “Is the lakeside a blind spot in the surveillance?”

“Yes.”

“Retrieve the surveillance records from here and here.” Xing Conglian looked at the 3D image and clicked twice on the screen.

Wang Chao did as he was told, and the screen began to move. These two surveillance points were the only way the suspect could have taken from the lakeside to the exit. The suspect walked slowly against the crowd, disguised very well and looking down.

“Stop!”

Xing Conglian said it coldly. The screen froze.

Looking at the suspect’s balloons floating in the air on his head, Wang Chao couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn, why did he keep one balloon in his hand, and then none at the end?”

Xing Conglian didn’t answer but pressed the enter key to slow down the following scene.

From the surveillance footage, it was clear that after passing by the same couple, the suspect bent down and tied his last balloon to the hand of a very chubby little boy. In the end, he even kindly patted the little boy’s head.

The sun was shining. The little boy looked up with confused eyes, not knowing exactly why the other party gave him the balloon.

For a moment, no one spoke in front of the computer screen.

Wang Chao shuddered and spoke with some difficulty. “Boss, is this a pervert?! Should we call A’Chen Gege?”

Xing Conglian looked at the little boy on the screen and felt a sense of familiarity, but the image was blurry. He said to Wang Chao, “Can you choose a clearer camera angle and process the boy’s face?”

Wang Chao immediately perked up. “Boss, do you know him? Is he your illegitimate child?”

Xing Conglian couldn’t help but give him another slap. “Can your A’Chen Gege give birth?”

Wang Chao’s face froze with an expression of “Boss, you’re a beast”, then he turned his head stiffly and quickly processed the black and white surveillance footage.

After a while, the blurry grayish image gradually became clear through calculations, and the fat on the little boy’s face changed from mosaic into smooth lines.

Looking at the screen at the bewildered chubby face, Xing Conglian took out his cigarette and phone, and dialed Lin Chen’s number. Taking advantage of the gap before connecting the call, he said to Wang Chao, “It looks like we can only ask him for help.”

……

Lin Chen walked out of the ear examination room, leaving only one X-ray to be taken before he could finish his entire medical examination.

His phone vibrated, and he smiled helplessly when he saw the caller ID. “I just hung up not long ago…”

“I’ll come pick you up.”

In fact, before answering the phone, Lin Chen didn’t expect the lead to come so suddenly.

“Hmm?”

“We’ve found a clue about the suspect.”

“So fast.”

“Somebody had contact with the suspect after the crime.” Xing Conglian seemed to be talking while walking; his voice was urgent.

“Who?” Lin Chen suddenly realized the purpose of Xing Conglian’s call. “Do I know them?”

The sound of Xing Conglian opening the car door came through the phone. “Not only do you know them, but you might be the only one who can talk to them…”

Lin Chen was even more surprised, “Who?”

“The little fatty who wanted to eat KFC.”

“Zheng Xiaoming?”

Remembering the little kid who asked Xing Conglian to exchange KFC for a handful of sand, Lin Chen quickly reacted. He widened his eyes, looked down at his phone screen, and was immersed in a strange feeling of how small the world was. He was speechless for a long time before speaking, “This is too…”

“Too bizarre, right?” Xing Conglian started the engine and stepped on the gas. “But, isn’t that little fatty our matchmaker?” Xing Conglian sighed and then hung up the phone.

Lin Chen stood at the entrance of the medical examination building, wearing a hospital gown and a wristband. He got into the passenger seat and asked Xing Conglian, “Have you contacted Zheng Xiaoming’s parents?”

“School is in session today.” Before Xing Conglian could reply, Wang Chao interrupted. “So Xiaoming is still at Shishi Elementary School. His parents will pick him up this afternoon, which is just in time for us to go there!”

Lin Chen nodded, still a bit dazed. “Are we sure it’s Zheng Xiaoming?”

“Who else could be that fat?” Xing Conglian’s tone was also vague.

Wang Chao handed Lin Chen the tablet. “A’Chen Gege, take a look for yourself.”

Lin Chen lowered his head, and the face of the child on the tablet was somewhat blurry, but he had a chubby face and a somewhat dull look in the eyes.

“It’s really him,” Lin Chen said.

“Isn’t this a good clue?” Xing Conglian said.

Lin Chen didn’t answer the question quickly. His gaze fell on the balloon floating on Zheng Xiaoming’s wrist.

“This balloon?”

“You’re amazing, A’Chen Gege. This balloon was given to Zheng Xiaoming by the killer,” Wang Chao said.

Lin Chen felt the air in the car was a bit cold.

Wang Chao leaned over and pulled up the surveillance video to show him.

Lin Chen carefully watched the slowly advancing picture. When he saw the killer who had just stabbed Tan Kang tie the balloon to Zheng Xiaoming’s wrist and gently pat his head with his hand that had just killed someone, Lin Chen felt shivers down his spine.

“He’s disturbed. Why did he take the risk of exposing himself and give the balloon to the chubby kid?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Chen said. “I remember he had four balloons in his hand before. Why are there only three now?”

“That’s what I find strange. He had balloons before he went to the lake, but when he came back, he didn’t have them anymore. If he didn’t give all the balloons to the kid by the lake, then he released the balloons! Is he doing something romantic?” Wang Chao shivered. “Isn’t this killer too cold?”

Lin Chen didn’t answer.

……

Outside the gate of Shishi Elementary School, Lin Chen saw Zheng Xiaoming and his parents, whom he had not seen for more than a year.

Zheng Xiaoming had grown taller. Before Xing Conglian’s car had even stopped, he had broken free from his parents’ hands and ran in the direction of the Jeep.

Lin Chen got out of the car and squatted down. Zheng Xiaoming, like a heavy missile, rushed into his arms. If he had not leaned against the car door, Lin Chen suspected he might have been knocked down directly, but even so, he still felt pain in his chest.

Xing Conglian hurriedly got out of the car and pulled the little fatty from his arms.

Only then did Zheng Xiaoming’s parents arrive, looking at him with the same embarrassed expression as a year ago.

Wang Chao reached out, and Lin Chen helped the young boy up. He coughed lightly and nodded to the two adults.

“Teacher Lin… Long time no see. Are you feeling unwell?” Zheng Xiaoming’s mother only reacted after a while.

“Well, there are some minor health problems, but they are not contagious. Please don’t worry.” Lin Chen rubbed the boy’s head and said to Zheng Xiaoming’s parents, “I came to see you today to ask about some clues related to a case. Can we go eat lunch together?”

On the way from the school gate to the restaurant, Zheng Xiaoming, the chubby child, clung to Lin Chen’s arm, unwilling to let go.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lin Chen rubbed the soft hair on the child’s head. “Do you like a girl but dare not confess?”

Zheng Xiaoming suddenly looked up and shook his head hard.

The parents coughed slightly and said, “Actually…”

Xiao Ming’s parents coughed awkwardly and said, “Actually…we don’t know how to communicate with him. Since you left, he has…”

“He even squatted outside our house for a while,” Xing Conglian added.

Looking at the child whose eyes were turning red, Lin Chen suddenly realized the so-called “when he left” referred to the time when he left Hongjing by feigning death. Although Xiao Ming’s parents didn’t seem to know that he had disappeared, there should have been some sporadic reports when he fell into the river. Xiao Ming was smart, so he must have noticed.

Lin Chen felt a little guilty. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He rubbed the kid’s chubby face. “And when I came back, I should have let you know.”

Xiao Ming still held his hand tightly and shook his head desperately, then looked at the pedestrians rushing by outside the window.

“Don’t go?” Xing Conglian guessed the meaning behind Xiao Ming’s gaze before Lin Chen did, and he pursed his lips. “Comrade Zheng Xiaoming, you can’t be too ambitious in life!”