CH 137

Gu Xizhou looked at Si Yu’s hand still holding the umbrella and gave him an odd glance.

“What are you holding an umbrella for?” he asked.

“It’s useful.”

Gu Xizhou turned the corner and saw a row of bungalows off to the side. There were about ten houses in the row. On the other side of the street was a four-story building built by farmers, rented out as small single rooms. 

However, no one seemed to be around right now. Gu Xizhou surveyed the area, but unexpectedly, all the doors were closed tight. Gu Xizhou still wanted to try to knock on a door, but Si Yu stopped him. “Knocking is useless. There’s definitely no one here.”

Gu Xizhou said, “Why?”

“This neighborhood is used by workers from other parts of the country who come to work temporary jobs. Ningqing’s summer is very rainy, and people can’t work in the rain, but today is bright and sunny. Everyone living here is busy at construction sites, so naturally no one is home,” Si Yu explained.

Gu Xizhou glanced at his watch as he walked. It was three o’clock. It wasn’t like he could go to a construction site or factory to ask about the situation, right?

“How long would I have to wait if I go?”

“Don’t worry, they’ll come back in an hour at most,” Si Yu said casually.

Gu Xizhou looked at him. Then, a water droplet hit his cheek.

‘Di di da da,’ the dust on the road instantly flew up, filling the air. Gu Xizhou planned to go back to where he parked when an umbrella suddenly appeared above his head. “You knew it was going to rain?” 

Si Yu held the umbrella with one hand. He said quietly, “When I drove you over this morning, the weather broadcast said there would be a big rainstorm.”

“How come I didn’t hear it?” asked Gu Xizhou, raising an eyebrow.

“You were asleep.”

The two people stood very close. Si Yu’s rough voice sounded like it was rubbing his ears, making them itch uncontrollably. Gu Xizhou glanced at him in exasperation. The two people under the umbrella walked back together. 

The heavy rain beat down painfully on people’s bodies, and puddles grew everywhere. The drops fell down and splashed open instantly, covering people in mud.

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“QKM, ktja jc eciemxs vjs. Qf’nf bcis kjixfv atlr ojg jcv uba mjeuta lc j wbcrbbc.” 

“Ey, Leader Gu isn’t in the car!” someone shouted.

They discovered that there was no one in the front seats and looked around for traces of Gu Xizhou. There was no one inside the Bentley next to it either. Lao Guo took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to Gu Xizhou——

“Leader Gu, where are you? It’s raining, so we’re all heading back!”

Gu Xizhou looked outside the window at the rain rushing like a river down the awning and replied, “I’m at a resident’s home. I’ll continue looking after the rain stops.” 

Everyone listened to Gu Xizhou’s voice coming from the phone and looked at each other. How come they didn’t meet such a kind resident? They had to run back through the rain!

At the door of a private house, a man with deep and clear features put away an umbrella, leaning against the doorframe. Then he turned around to thank the owner of the house.

“Thank you for letting us come in to avoid the rain.” Si Yu’s voice was very loud because the old man couldn’t hear too well, so he could only raise his voice. The gray-haired old man could barely hear him.

The old grandpa wandered over to a rocking chair and sat down in it, swaying back and forth, back and forth, and waved a hand at Si Yu. “Don’t mention it.” 

Gu Xizhou got up and walked over. This old man was a local farmer. They were about to leave earlier when he enthusiastically opened the door and invited them in to avoid the rain. It was lucky that they came across him, or they’d be like big fish outside by now. Even if they had an umbrella, their pants and feet would be soaked.

“Daye, thank you.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, don’t be polite with this old fellow!” The old man chuckled, and said, “My wife passed away, and my children live in the city. I’m always bored by myself. My heart is happy to see you young people.”

Gu Xizhou smiled. He looked outside and asked, “Daye, let me ask you something. Has a child around here gone missing lately?” 

The old man shook his head. “I’m not sure. I don’t go out very often. Why are you asking me?”

Gu Xizhou pulled out his police badge and explained, “I’m a police officer here to investigate.”

“Oh.” The old man nodded calmly. “Actually, I can’t see very well. Those who live around here are all migrant workers who came to the city to work or peasant farmers. I haven’t heard about any human traffickers.”

“It’s not human trafficking. We suspect someone might have a missing child around here, but they haven’t reported it to the police, so we came over to take a look.” 

The old man opened his cloudy eyes, looking a bit confused. “How could a parent lose their child and not report it? I don’t think the child is from here.”

“We think it’s strange, too.”

The old man repeated, “However, those around here are migrant workers and farmers. Not many bring their children. If there really was a child here, they should be easy to find.

“There are 23 families living in this four-story building, but only two of them have children. The rest are couples who came here for work and left their children back at home. Ai, it’s too troublesome to study in the city.” 

The old man chattered on and on, and Gu Xizhou could only lament that the old man was really too lonely. Completely absorbed in the conversation while the rain continued, Gu Xizhou saw groups of two and three people returning home through the storm.

The place where the old man let Gu Xizhou and Si Yu shelter from the rain was near the stairwell. Through the open door, they could see people going upstairs. The old man’s relationship with them wasn’t bad. Many of the men and women passing by would pause to say hello.

After about half an hour, the rain finally stopped. After Gu Xizhou and Si Yu thanked the old man, they left quickly, walking to the staircase. According to what they’d inquired about just now, they found the residents with children in the building and asked if any were missing.

“I haven’t heard about a lost child. Officer, are you looking in the wrong place?” asked a dark-skinned, honest looking man, scratching his head. 

“No one around here is missing a child?” asked Gu Xizhou.

“No, everyone around here is a manual laborer. Even if we aren’t familiar, we’ve at least seen everyone’s faces at the construction site. If someone’s child really disappeared, the people at the site would definitely know about it already.”

The honest man added, “I personally sent my child to school today. He’s definitely not missing.”

After asking a few households, none of them had heard about any missing children. Gu Xizhou was a little frustrated. 

That suspect was definitely from around here, or else he wouldn’t disappear nearby. But if no one around here was missing a child, then they could only let the guardians of children who’d gone missing come in to identify the corpse.

Gu Xizhou’s head hurt.

The visit took a long time, and soon it was 6 PM. In the distance, Gu Xizhou saw a big group of men and women all dressed in the same uniform returning home.

Gu Xizhou had to make another visit. He walked over to the door and knocked. A thin and small middle-aged man opened it. His face was filled with deep wrinkles, and his home was stuffed with trash collected from outside. It smelled terrible. 

“Wh-who are you looking for?” he asked quietly. The thin man’s expression was a bit fearful as he cowered. He was clearly afraid of strangers.

“Hello, I’m a police officer. I want to ask you some questions.” When Gu Xizhou said this, he noticed the thin man began to shudder from head to toe. He couldn’t help but draw a question mark in his mind. This man seemed to be terrified of police officers. Is it because of his occupation or something else?

“G-go ahead.” The thin man nodded.

Gu Xizhou said, “I just asked your neighbor. You have children in your family. How old are they?” 

“One is three, and the other is eight.”

Three years old!

That corresponded with the age of the corpse. Gu Xizhou asked hurriedly, “I just looked and didn’t see your children. Haven’t they come back from school?”

The thin man shook his head. “The little one went back home with my wife today. The big one is still at school.” 

“Is your little one a son?”

“Yes, why?”

“That… have you contacted your wife recently? Are they back in your hometown?”

“Of course! I’ve been in contact with her. A few days ago she went back and called me.” The thin man looked at Gu Xizhou vigilantly. Apparently he was a little suspicious. “Why are you asking that?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to make sure there were no missing children in the area.”

The thin man: “There aren’t. I haven’t heard anyone say that.”

“Okay, thank you.”

After saying goodbye to the thin man, Gu Xizhou found his other coworkers and asked, “Did you find anything?” 

“No, there are no missing children from this neighborhood.”

“If this murderer really lives here, he must be wary after all of our investigating.” Gu Xizhou thought for a moment, then ordered, “Like this, notify the local police station and have them immediately carry out the first census. All the residents must be recorded without exception. At the same time, get in touch with the landlords here and have them pay attention to whether anyone has returned the rent recently.”

Everyone received their orders and immediately went to carry them out. Gu Xizhou turned around and saw Si Yu looking at him. Gu Xizhou went over and said, “I’m still busy today. You’d better go back first.”

“It’s fine.” Even though it had just rained, the weather was still very hot. Si Yu had found a white paper somewhere and was using it to fan himself. 

Gu Xizhou gave him an amused look. He was about to suggest that he get in the car and use the air conditioner when his eyes swept across that white paper and froze. He snatched it with a scowl.

The white paper was a black and white leaflet for spreading propaganda. Gu Xizhou looked at it and saw that it was advertising some sort of evil cult. There was a strange symbol in the center of the paper, and it was the exact same as the one on the dead child’s arm!

Gu Xizhou glared at Si Yu, asking anxiously, “Where did this come from?”

Si Yu pointed at a distant building and winked at GU Xizhou. “It was too hot just now, so I casually pulled it out of the downstairs trash can.”