CH 37.1

Having a standoff wasn't getting them anywhere. Although Fu Zheng felt like fireworks were going off in his heart, he still hoped to solved the issue through words. Thinking carefully, he came to the conclusion that simply pestering the boy was useless. It would be easier just to go straight to the point--

"How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Alright. I'll fill the tub for you. Get in and bathe yourself. You're seven years old already, if you can't even take a bath by yourself, you'll be letting all us men down. I'll give you fifteen minutes, so hurry and wash up! Time is counting down starting now!"

Regardless of whether or not the child had a sense of urgency about his bath, Fu Zheng lifted a finger, and with his nose pinched, pushed the child into the bathroom. "After you shower, I'll let you live here while you wait for your father, and tomorrow I'll go out to look for him with you…"

The little boy had been somewhat resistant to the idea of a bath, but when he heard the word "father", his eyes lit up. "Can you really take me to dad? Can I really live here while waiting for him?"

Fu Zheng nodded.

The boy brightened up immediately. "You'd better keep your word!" He held out a dirty little finger. "Promise!"

Fu Zheng looked at that black little finger. "You really don't need to…"

But the child insisted. "No! You have to shake! Daddy said that he was just going on a business trip for a few days and that he would be back soon, so he never did the pinky shake, and he never came back..." he seemed to be thinking of his father as he spoke and tears once again began to well up in his eyes.

Fu Zheng had absolutely no experience with coaxing children. Crying children terrified him. No longer caring about getting dirty or looking childish, he quickly knelt, reached out his hand, and pinky promised the boy. "All right, it's a promise. Now take a shower."

Having gotten what he wanted, the boy willingly took a towel into the bathroom.

Ning Wan wasn't gone for long. Fu Zheng gave her the feeling of not being able to care for children, so she had hurried back after buying a few necessities. As luck would have it, in the corridor, she happened across the policeman on his way back from the police station. The two greeted each other, made some small talk, and then made their way to the house together.

She had thought that the boy and Fu Zheng would mix like oil and water, but what was actually happening in the house left Ning Wan's mouth agape.

Beyond all expectations, Fu Zheng had already bathed the child. When she walked in, he was condescending to dry the boy's hair with a frown on his face. Although he looked awkward and even a little impatient, his movements were careful, even gentle. It was just drying hair, but he seemed tense and nervous, and when she came in with the policeman, he looked relieved to have been saved.

The young policeman helped begin sorting out the daily necessities that Ning Wan had bought, while she took over caring for the child. As the boy emerged from under his layer of dirt, Ning Wan found that he was actually quite a cute child, with fair skin and large eyes.

"Your name is Feifei, isn't it?" She brought him over to the dining table and took out the dinner she had just bought from the convenience store downstairs. "Here, let's eat something first."

The boy nodded. He seemed hungry, and devoured the food. By the time he was done eating, he seemed to have lost his wariness toward Ning Wan and Fu Zheng, and was willing to take the initiative to speak to them--

"Big sis, where's my daddy?"

Ning Wan slowed and softened her tone, then crouched down so she was level with the child in order not to put pressure on him. "Will you tell me what happened when your father left? Where is your mother again?"

"Yes, it's okay," the young policeman encouraged. "Go ahead and tell us everything you know, so that we can help you find your father faster."

Fei Fei looked between Ning Wan and Fu Zheng, and finally spoke. "Mom and Dad used to live with me. Not here, but somewhere else. That was our old house."

"What happened afterwards?" Ning Wan asked patiently.

"Daddy went out to gamble, and mommy was angry with him. She said he lost a lot of money, and there were some people coming over to collect debts. At the time they couldn't sleep, and in the end, we had to sell our house. Mommy divorced daddy and went back to her hometown..."

Ning Wan roughly understood. "And after the divorce, you followed your father, right?"

Fei Fei nodded. "Yes. Mommy was in poor health and didn't have any money to support me, so I went with daddy." After saying that, he defended Yao Kang quickly. "But daddy is really a good daddy. So long as he doesn't gamble, he's really good to me! After mommy divorced him, he stopped all his bad habits and said he would never gamble again. He bought this house and said he wanted to get mommy back... A few days before daddy left, I heard him talking to mommy over the phone. He said we had a new home and asked her to come back..."

There were once again tears in Fei Fei's eyes. "Daddy bought this house for me and mommy to live in, so I don't know why that uncle came and drove me away not long after daddy left. He said that this house was his..."

Fei Fei didn't know, but Ning Wan and Fu Zheng looked at each other and had a good guess about why. If this was what had happened, then Yao Kang must have forged the real estate license and purchase contract. That would explain everything - the old house had to be sold to cover his gambling debts, and this had led to his divorce. He must be trying to prove that he had turned over a new leaf by 'buying' this house, hoping to reconcile with his ex-wife.

So why had he suddenly disappeared halfway, and even left his son behind?

The policeman asked patiently and systematically, "Do you know where your daddy is now? Did he say anything before he left? Anything strange?"

"He didn't say anything strange," Fei Fei answered, shaking his head. "All daddy said before he left was that he was going on a business trip. He works in a factory and goes on business trips sometimes. Sometimes he has to go for two or three days before coming home. Before leaving, he'll always buy me instant noodles, and when the instant noodles are gone, he'll be back. This trip he said would take four days, and he bought me noodles and sausage for four days. But even after four days passed, daddy didn't come home…"

Fei Fei wiped away his tears. "I've been waiting and waiting, and daddy still hasn't come… Big sis, do you think something happened to daddy? I can't find daddy, and I can't find mommy... Because mommy's in her hometown, I don't know her phone number. Only daddy has my mommy's phone number..."

Crying, Fei Fei pointed at Fu Zheng. "Big sis, this uncle said that he would help me find my daddy. Will he really keep his promise?"

Fu Zheng frowned and was about to say something, but right then his phone rang, and he had to get up and step away.

……

It was getting late. After Fu Zheng left, Fei Fei cried for a while. Ning Wan and the policeman calmed him down and eventually put him to bed.

Fu Zheng had been taking his phone call from the balcony and got back to find the child missing.

"Did he go to sleep?" He considered, his face ugly. "Go wake him."

"What?"

Fu Zheng pursed his lips. "I was interrupted by the phone call just now, but I have something to ask him."

"Haven't we asked most of the questions already? Yao Kang might not actually have gone on a business trip, but instead gone gambling. A leopard doesn't change it's spots. It's a pretty high likelihood that he's gone back to gambling. He used to be able to return from a 'business trip' in a day or two, so he was probably gambling for small change, but this time he disappeared, so it's likely that he either owes a huge gambling debt and ran away for fear of being chased, or was caught by the casino because he couldn't get the money." Ning Wan sighed. "Gambling is like quicksand. Without a lot of self-control it's so hard to quit..."

"No, I'm not curious about Yao Kang. I know everything I need to know about Yao Kang's situation, and we'll figure out the rest at his factory tomorrow." Fu Zheng paused somewhat unnaturally, "I wanted to ask about something else."

"If it isn't about Yao Kang, what else is there to ask?"

Fu Zheng obviously didn't want to say. "Don't worry about it. I'll ask him myself."

As he spoke, he made to go into the room. Ning Wan reached out her hand swiftly and pulled him back. "What are you saying? The kid just fell asleep, don't wake him up again, or he'll never go back to sleep. I had a rough time getting him to bed in the first place! If you wake him up and he won't go back to sleep again, you and the policeman are going to have to handle things."

"But I can't sleep if I don't ask," Fu Zheng's face was dark. However, he was so unwilling to say what it was about that he didn't go inside in the end. "Fine, I'll ask tomorrow."

He looked like he was trying to suppress his indignance. Ning Wan became even more curious. "Seriously, what is it?"

Fu Zheng tried to stifle himself, but burst out in the end. "Why did he call you 'big sis' and me 'uncle'?!"

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