After listening to the village chief's description, the investigators asked, "Did you notice anything unusual about him? Or are there any rumors about him in the village?"

After thinking for a moment, the village chief quickly said, "As for the anomaly, I don't quite understand. But many people in the village want to know how he made his fortune. When someone asked, he said he was doing some small business outside, but the risks were too great, so he didn't want to bother anymore, so he came back to the village to find something to do."

The investigator then asked, "Where does Cao Wang live now?"

The village director replied, "Cao Wang has been dead for over ten years, and his wife passed away a few years ago. His eldest son also went out to make money and hasn't been seen in many years. This second son is called Cao Yong, and we're all used to calling him Cao Wang's second son."

The investigators frowned. If that was the case, it meant that he had no roots in this village?

Then they asked the village director: "Does he have any other relatives?"

The village chief thought for a moment and said, "His grandparents had three daughters and only one son, his father. His three aunts all married far away and are more than ten years older than his father. I wonder if they are still alive."

In this way, Cao Yong seems to have no family ties, so he can only go back and check his household registration to see if he has a wife and children.

The public security officer took a piece of paper, wrote a string of numbers on it, and told the village director: "If Cao Yong and his two companions return to the village, call us immediately."

The village chief readily agreed and sent the two police officers away like door gods, then he breathed a sigh of relief. The reason he was so nervous was because the police officers had said that Cao Yong was suspected of human trafficking.

Because there are families in the village who buy children and wives, as the village director, he naturally knows which family has a new member.

But they all lived in the same village, and even if they were not related, they were all neighbors. If anyone dared to report it, they would be retaliated. So these village cadres usually turned a blind eye.

In Mafang City, although Zhan Jinhua and his family have fled, it cannot be said that nothing has been found.

In the noodle shop's kitchen, they discovered a basement. It wasn't known when it was dug. The landlord said the couple who rented the space had been operating there for three years. Since they paid rent on time every year and didn't cause any trouble, the landlord didn't pay much attention to the shop's condition.

Merchants nearby commented that this noodle shop was not doing business in a legitimate manner and was specifically designed to rip people off.

During a visit to the Renminli community where Zhan Jinhua's family lived, we gained a general understanding of their family situation, which was very similar to the information provided by Sun Aimin.

According to neighbors, the family moved here three years ago. At that time, the couple brought their eldest daughter and their newborn son. The older son was only brought here recently and was mainly asked to take care of the younger son. The child was not seen going to school.

His daughter, on the other hand, attends junior high school in a nearby school, and the official start date for school has not yet arrived on September 1st. However, the child is now in the graduating class of the third grade, and the vacation time is short, so school will only start in the next few days.

As for the couple's names, the neighbors were not quite sure. They only heard someone calling the woman "Sister Hua" and heard that they opened a shop near the train station.

Putting these pieces of information together, it was basically confirmed that the female owner of the noodle shop was Zhan Jinhua.

Afterwards, the police officers went to the school where Qian Niandi was studying to find out more about the situation.

Qian Niandi's homeroom teacher said, "She was in school this morning, but around noon, her father came to pick her up. He said an elderly family member had passed away and he had to go home to attend the funeral, so he asked for a few days off."

Oh, this is such a coincidence. It's understandable that a normal family would ask their child for leave for something like this, but isn't this just too much of a coincidence? The police naturally wouldn't believe the Zhan Jinhua couple's explanation.

If it weren't for the clues provided by Sun Aimin, finding these two people would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. After all, in that era there were no advanced technologies such as the Skynet system and facial recognition.

Since they said they were going back to their hometown to attend the funeral, let's go to Qian Jindou's hometown first. He is from Mafang City, and his hometown is in a rural area far away from the city.

Sun Aimin, after discussing with several of his companions, decided to make Luojiagou, Qian Jindou's hometown, their next destination. After they finished taking their statements at the police station, it was already late, so they decided to find a hotel in the county town and set off the next day.

At the hotel, several people called home to report their safety.

Sun Aimin is not at home these two days, so Yuan Jie is taken care of by her father and mother during the day, and Yuan Rui takes over at night.

Sun Aimin called home and his mother-in-law answered the phone.

Sun Aimin first asked about Yuan Jie's condition, then said he would be back in two days. Finally, he told his mother-in-law, "Mom, don't take Xiaohao to the hospital these days. The air in the hospital is not good. I'll trouble you to take care of Xiaosi. Let her stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation. I'll call you again in the next two days."

Oh, right. And about that Professor Fan, try not to let him contact Xiao Si anymore. Please also talk to Big Sister about this. I feel like Professor Fan is just a name for nothing."

Sun Aimin hung up the phone only after he explained what he was worried about.

That night, things were not going smoothly for the Qian family in Luojiagou. Although it wasn't as Qian Jindou and Qian Niandi's homeroom teacher had said, that an elderly person had passed away, the old lady of the Qian family was no better off than dead. This all started with the movie being shown in the village tonight.

Nowadays, although television is no longer a rarity in rural areas, open-air movies still have a strong appeal to men, women, and children in the village.

At around seven o'clock in the evening, after every household finished their meal, everyone carried a small stool to the village brigade.

The old lady of the Qian family naturally wouldn't miss out on such a lively and free event. There were two movies showing in the village today, and given her personality, she had to watch both movies before going home.

She didn't know what she had eaten wrong tonight. Not long after the movie started, she felt a rumbling of gas in her stomach, and she couldn't help but let out a series of farts, which made people around her fan themselves with palm-leaf fans.

Aunt Zhang even joked, "Auntie, they say the more delicious the food, the stinkier the farts. What delicious food did you eat so late at night?"

As soon as the words came out, everyone around him burst into laughter.

The old lady of the Qian family didn't have time to waste talking to them at this moment. She had to find a place to solve her physiological problem quickly.