Chapter 8

“The two-bedroom apartment assigned by the factory can’t be that big, right? I figure my parents are just ordinary workshop workers, so that two-bedroom place is probably only about fifty square meters.”

“Two rooms—how do you fit a family of five in that? The eldest daughter is already nineteen, and the youngest son is thirteen. Who would share a room with whom? What size bed can fit three people?”

After asking, Qiao Xinyi smiled and looked at the three grown men sitting across from her side by side. Seeing the three of them exchanging glances and unable to answer, she raised her eyebrows and said, “No answer, huh?”

“Men in one room, women in another?” Chen Dachuan tentatively answered.

“My dad and my brother share a room? Then my mom, my grandmother, and the eldest daughter share the other?” Qiao Xinyi rolled her eyes at Chen Dachuan. “My parents sleep apart all year round, how could you even think of that?”

The veteran police officer couldn’t help but laugh—yeah, that’s pretty unlikely.

“I have another question. My eldest uncle, my aunt, and my younger uncle—they all should have steady jobs, right?” Qiao Xinyi asked.

Fu Qingshan nodded, “If I remember right, all three couples have formal jobs.”

“So it seems the Qiao family’s original financial condition wasn’t bad. My grandmother had three sons and one daughter; I’d guess the old Qiao house must have at least three rooms.”

Qiao Xinyi clicked her tongue. “So logically, my biological father, who is taking care of my grandmother, should be living in the Qiao family house with my parents.”

They got the caregiving part but not the rights to the old house. Think about it. Surely, they didn’t want to trouble the hardworking eldest son or the youngest, so they went with the second son.

“My guess, at best, is my parents have one room, my grandmother and eldest granddaughter share another, and my younger brother sleeps on a small bed set up in the living room.”

“A worse guess is my grandmother and younger brother share a room, and the eldest granddaughter sleeps on a small bed in the living room.”

The three men showed different expressions. Qiao Xinyi went on, “And I’ll boldly guess my biological parents probably don’t have a good relationship.”

“How do you guess that?” Chen Dachuan asked, surprised.

“Chen and his wife said when my mother gave birth to me, there wasn’t even a single family member accompanying her in the delivery room. When they switched babies and were discharged, they never saw any family member from the Qiao side.”

“A loving couple wouldn’t just leave the wife to give birth alone in the hospital,” Qiao Xinyi said, shrugging. “In other words, even if the relationship wasn’t good, anyone with conscience and responsibility wouldn’t do something like that. So we can deduce my dad isn’t the family-oriented, honest, good man people say he is. We can also deduce my grandmother isn’t a kind woman, not a good mother-in-law.”

The veteran cop was the first to respond, “When my wife gave birth, it was also late at night. I was on duty, but as soon as I got the news, I asked a colleague to cover for me and rushed to the hospital. When I arrived, my parents and my in-laws were already there waiting.”

Chen Dachuan almost wanted to applaud Qiao Xinyi—she analyzed so much from just a few sentences? He hadn’t thought about it at all when he heard it, but she made it so airtight nobody could argue.

“So, with that analysis, we can conclude how the rooms are divided. Most likely the eldest granddaughter sleeps in the living room,” Qiao Xinyi said with a smile, looking at the three men.

“This isn’t a family with normal, harmonious relationships.”

Such sharp analytical skills!

Fu Qingshan couldn’t help but silently admire in his heart.  

Six hours later, the train stopped at the provincial city station. Surrounded protectively by the three men standing in a circle around her, Qiao Xinyi safely got off the train.  

As soon as they exited the station, they saw a comrade in a police uniform standing at the exit, watching them.  

“Li Jun!” Chen Dachuan spotted him immediately and waved his arm.  

“Chuanzi, Qingshan!” When the group of four approached, Li Jun recognized them right away. Not only because Chen Dachuan and his colleague were also in work uniforms, but Fu Qingshan’s tall figure—about 1.83 meters—stood out clearly in the train station.  

Also, the bald girl standing next to Fu Qingshan was presumably the victim girl of this case—the “silly girl”.  

Li Jun had come with the unit car to pick them up. Once in the car, as the only girl, Qiao Xinyi naturally sat in the front passenger seat, while the three boys squeezed into the back.  

The train station wasn’t far from the police bureau; the drive took about twenty minutes.  

When Li Jun parked the car, Qiao Xinyi leaned close to Fu Qingshan to ask for a favor.  

“No matter if I share a room with my grandmother, or with my brother, or even sleep in the living room, I can’t accept it. So could you help me rent a place? It doesn’t have to be big, a single room is fine.”  

Fu Qingshan worked in the provincial city and had friends there. On such a hot day, it was better to let Fu Qingshan help with the search rather than her dragging around with a head injury.  

“Rent a place?” Li Jun came over after parking the car and took up the conversation. “You want to rent? I happen to have a spare room at home for rent. If you don’t mind, you can come take a look. If it suits you, you can rent it; if not, we can help you look around.”  

Li Jun said enthusiastically, “There are three of us in my family—my mom, me, and my sister who’s about to enter 11th grade this year. That spare room was previously rented to relatives, but they got married and moved out a couple of months ago. If you want to rent it, like my relatives, five yuan a month is enough.”  

In a place like the provincial city, five yuan a month for a room was indeed a relative’s price.  

Fu Qingshan nodded, “Li Jun’s family lives in a courtyard, not a big communal yard with many families. His family seems nice. After I finish my work, I’ll go with you to take a look. If it doesn’t suit, we’ll look elsewhere?”  

His tone was a question because, after all, it was Qiao Xinyi who was renting the room. Although Fu Qingshan thought renting from Li Jun’s family would be the best fit for a girl like Qiao Xinyi, he wouldn’t make decisions for others without asking.  

Qiao Xinyi gladly agreed, clearly appreciating everyone’s goodwill.  

The group chatted as they pushed open the door to a small conference room, where seven or eight people were already seated. Among the group Li Jun brought in, Qiao Xinyi was the only girl, so no further questions were asked by the people inside.  

“I’ll introduce you all,” the team captain stood and first introduced the mother and daughter on his left.  

“This is Chen Yubing, and this is their adopted daughter, Qiao Baihe. Chen Yubing is your biological mother.”  

The captain hesitated slightly when mentioning “Saniu,” as the nickname wasn’t a pleasant term.  

“This is Captain He, and this is his wife Zhou Yun. This is their adopted daughter, He Rou.”  

Qiao Xinyi followed the captain’s introductions closely, taking in everyone’s expressions.  

Qiao Baihe’s face was full of confusion, helplessness, restraint, and unease — a normal reaction for anyone suddenly faced with this kind of situation.  

He Rou’s expression showed more unwillingness and resentment. Considering she was Chen Dachuan’s biological daughter, her feelings were understandable.  

After the captain finished the introductions, He Rou glanced nervously behind Qiao Xinyi and the others, as if expecting more people to come in.  

When the captain told Qiao Xinyi’s group to sit down and talk, He Rou anxiously asked, “Are you the only one coming? Isn’t anyone from the Chen family here?”