Chapter 64

Meanwhile, in Da Huaishu Village,

Liu Xinghua cried, wiping her tears as she said, “He… Uncle, please do something for us. Xiangdong ran away last night, and he still hasn’t returned. I’m so worried. That old woman is probably going to force him to death!”

Li Jianbin glanced at Liu Xinghua standing beside him, signaling with his eyes. Liu Xinghua immediately spoke up, “Sister-in-law, don’t cry. Come, sit down first.”

“Wuwuwu, I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t, Uncle, I want to go home, go home!”

Li Jianbin spoke seriously, “Don’t worry, big sister. Xiangdong is a good child. He’s probably just throwing a tantrum. He should come back in a couple of days. Don’t say such things about going home.”

“Uncle, you know Xiangdong. He’s usually so honest and well-behaved. This time, he must have been heartbroken by his grandmother. What if something bad happened to him outside?” Liu Xinghua began sobbing. “Wuwuwu, if anything happens to Xiangdong, I won’t be able to live anymore…”

At that moment, Li Jianjun walked into the yard. Seeing his wife in such a state, he felt uncomfortable as well. He stepped forward to greet Li Jianbin.

“Jianbin, don’t mind your sister-in-law. I’ll take her away now.”

Li Jianbin stood up and said to Li Jianjun, “Cousin, let’s wait a little longer. Xiangdong might come back in a couple of days. If not, we’ll report it to the police. A grown person shouldn’t just disappear like this.”

“Don’t call the police…” Liu Xinghua continued crying. “Xiangdong is already over 11 and still hasn’t gotten married. People have been gossiping about him. Now that this has happened, if others find out, his reputation will be ruined. Oh, my poor Xiangdong, why does his life have to be so hard…” She wailed.

“Uncle, I want to go home, and maybe if I do, Xiangdong will return. I can’t go on like this…”

Li Jianjun impatiently ran his hands through his hair. “Wife, don’t make a scene. What do you mean by going home?”

“Making a scene? Am I making a scene? I’ll tell you, Li Jianjun, if you don’t handle this properly, I’ll divorce you!” Liu Xinghua shot back.

Li Jianjun stared at his wife, shocked. How had things come to this?

Liu Xinghua quickly intervened, “Sister-in-law, please don’t say such things. We don’t talk about divorce here. Don’t worry, Xiangdong will definitely come back.”

“Sister-in-law, I feel so distressed. Our family is the only one that’s been oppressed. I really can’t take it anymore…”

Elsewhere, Gu Zhixing had just seen off Xiao Chan and was still feeling uneasy. He decided to visit the Wang family’s home personally, hoping to find some other clues.

In the middle of the night, he arrived at the Wang family’s small courtyard and, taking advantage of the darkness, climbed over the wall.

The house was quiet. Gu Zhixing listened carefully at each door to make sure everyone was asleep.

He followed the directions Xiao Chan had given him and silently entered the study. Looking at the key in his hand, he wasn’t sure if it would work.

To his surprise, with a quiet click, the door opened. He smiled to himself. This little girl really had all sorts of tricks up her sleeve.

After shutting the study door behind him, he found that the drawer was indeed locked. When he managed to open it, he discovered the photos of girls that Xiao Chan had mentioned.

His expression became serious as he examined the pictures. Two of the girls seemed familiar, though he couldn’t quite place where he had seen them.

He reached into the drawer and carefully searched. Soon, he discovered a hidden compartment under the top layer of the drawer. Inside, there was a small notebook.

Flipping it open, his pupils contracted sharply. He quickly pulled out a pen and paper and began jotting down the contents…

Back in the office, Gu Zhixing stared at his notes, frowning deeply. His instincts told him that this matter was far from simple. The two addresses mentioned were very suspicious.

As for those two girls, where had he seen them before?

He pondered deeply, then went to the archives and flipped through the files from the past three months.

As expected, in the missing persons’ files, he found the photographs of the two girls.

The two girls were from different regions, one from the South and the other from the North. They had no connection, yet both had mysteriously disappeared while traveling on a train to visit relatives.

He angrily slammed his fist on the desk, cursing in his heart: “Wang Xinzhou, you bastard!”

Time quickly passed, and three more days went by.

In Gu Zhixing’s office:

“Captain, both of the locations have been secured. Yesterday, Wang Xinzhou went to No. 123, Shenjia Village and left early this morning. The old man guarding the gate is a cripple, and inside there is a woman in her forties who cooks for them. Additionally, there are two big men inside, looking like bodyguards.

Our people have been lurking nearby and have often heard the sound of a girl crying. The area is very remote, and there are no neighbors around, so no one has noticed anything unusual.

The other location is an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the northern suburbs. The situation there is similar to that of Shenjia Village.”

Gu Zhixing tapped the desk. “Keep the two locations under surveillance. Find that woman for me. Once you locate her, have someone monitor her, but be discreet.”

Zhou Tao hesitated as he took the envelope, opened it, and was startled when the photo fell to the floor.

At just 22 years old, he had never been asked to look at such photos. This felt like a test of his composure!

“Find this woman and keep an eye on her.”

“Captain, there’s one more thing. Wang Xinzhou has hired two punks. He wants to…”

Gu Zhixing frowned. “What does he want?”

Zhou Tao angrily replied, “This Wang Xinzhou is full of malice. I don’t know where he got these photos of Sister-in-law, but seeing how beautiful she is, he wants to…”

“Wants to what?”

“He wants to kidnap her and send her to…”

“To where?”

“To that kind of place!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhixing suddenly stood up with a crash, breaking his pen in half.