Chapter 192 Hope

Hearing this, Xia Mufan's eyebrows were twisted into a line.

Tao Nianqiao just disappeared like that?

Judging from Tao Nianqiao's calm behavior, it should not be suicide. She is only fifteen years old, in the prime of her youth, and infinite beauty is waiting for her ahead. Although her parents divorced and neglected her, refusing to spend money on her education, she had the love of her grandmother and her life was not yet at a desperate point.

Xia Mufan asked: "Before Tao Nianqiao left home, she said she was going to school to find the teacher, but the teacher said she didn't come to school, is that right?"

Chi Juxiang nodded, "Yes. Qiaomei studied hard and had good grades. Her teachers, especially her homeroom teacher, Ms. Li, treated her very well. She knew Qiaomei's family situation and took care of her in every way. Once, she was late in paying her tuition and miscellaneous fees, and it was Ms. Li who paid for her. This time, Qiaomei ranked second in the school and received an admission letter from No. 1 Middle School, but her parents refused to give her money for her studies. She must have wanted to consult a teacher, right? But I didn't expect Qiaomei to be so stubborn and unwilling to ask the teacher for help. She didn't even go to school."

Xia Mushige asked: "How far is it from the school to the village? How long does it take to walk? Are there cornfields, groves, ponds, canals, etc. on the roadside?"

Chi Juxiang raised her head, the wrinkles on her face deepened, and there was a hint of sadness in her eyes when she looked at Xia Mufan: "It's about ten miles from the town to the village, and it takes two or three hours to walk. It's all dirt roads. There are rice fields on both sides of the road, and no corn fields. There is a Jiuyan Reservoir about two miles from the town, but the reservoir is a bit far from the dirt road. There are steep slopes on both sides of the road, and there is a canal underneath. There are two ponds in the village, one for drinking water and the other for washing clothes."

Without waiting for Xia Mufan to ask again, Chi Juxiang continued in a hoarse voice: "We looked for it. We all looked for it. The villagers and I went back and forth from home to the town more than ten times. We asked people to fish in reservoirs, ponds, and ditches, but we didn't find it... We didn't find it."

Xia Mufan felt a little sad.

The old man in front of us walked the ten miles again and again with his unsteady legs in order to find his granddaughter. Whenever he saw water, he begged people around him to salvage the water. He waited for the result in fear, and when he heard that nothing was found, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Mufan comforted her: "If you haven't found it, there is still hope."

The old man said in a trembling voice: "Officer Xia, my Qiaomei is very smart. Although she is a little stubborn, she is not the kind of child who sticks to her own way. When she encounters a problem, she will find a way to solve it. At that time, the police station thought that the child was sad because she heard that she couldn't go to school, so she committed suicide. I firmly don't believe it. My Qiaomei is not that kind of person. She is very strong and will never commit suicide."

After confirming that Tao Nianqiao would not commit suicide, Xia Mufan began to inquire about the results of the police investigation after her disappearance: "Did the police station find any witnesses? What was Tao Nianqiao's whereabouts on the day she disappeared?"

The old man is over sixty years old this year, but his mind is still clear. Over the past five years, she has been obsessed with finding that person, and has gone over what happened that day over and over in her mind, so she remembers it very clearly.

"Yes. When Qiao Mei went out, several people in the village saw her and greeted her. Qiao Mei was indeed heading towards the town."

"After arriving in town, Qiaomei did not go to school, but went to the hardware store owned by her stepfather Mo Liangcai to look for her mother. Her mother lived behind the hardware store, in a two-story building she built herself, with a spacious yard, and had to pass through the hardware store to get in and out. The police asked Qiaomei's mother, and she said she was busy cleaning the house and decocting Chinese medicine at the time, and had no time to take care of Qiaomei. When she heard Qiaomei asked for money to go to school, she got angry, scolded her, and kicked Qiaomei out of the house."

Chi Juxiang is kind-hearted and never says anything bad about her former daughter-in-law Zhao Qingliu. But because Tao Nianqiao disappeared, Chi Juxiang couldn't hide her anger and cursed, "Qiaomei's mother is so cruel! Not only did she not give her money, but why did she drive her away? At least let her have some food."

Xia Mufan asked: "When did Tao Nianqiao leave her mother's house?"

Chi Juxiang replied, "Qiaomei left the house at 7:30 in the morning. She arrived in town around 10:00. After saying hello to Mo Liangcai who was guarding the store on the first floor, she went straight up to the second floor. She stayed there for less than half an hour before leaving."

Xia Mushige said: "That is, she came out from her mother's house at 10:30."

Chi Juxiang: "Yes. After coming out, Qiaomei went to the bus station in the town to wait. The bus came around 12:00, she got on the bus and bought a ticket to the county town."

Xia Mufan asked: "Are you sure she has arrived at the county town?"

Chi Juxiang: "Yes. Our town is not big, and Qiaomei goes to the town middle school, so everyone knows her. When the police were investigating, you and I both said we saw her in the morning. If it weren't for the police investigating, I wouldn't have known that Qiaomei had something on her mind. She first went to the town to find her mother, and then went to the county town to find her father. She still wanted to give it a try, hoping that her parents would relent and give her money to continue her studies."

At this point, Chi Juxiang couldn't help but shed tears again. She wiped her tears with her handkerchief embarrassedly: "I cry more as I get older. I'm sorry."

Xia Mufan waited for a while, and when Chi Juxiang calmed down a little, he continued to ask: "Did anyone see Tao Nianqiao after she arrived in the county?"

Chi Juxiang shook her head. "The county town is too big, not many people there know her, but my son Dazhuang said Qiaomei did come, around two or three o'clock, when the rice noodle shop was quiet. Qiaomei didn't say anything when she came to the shop, she just sat on a chair and waited quietly. Dazhuang didn't want to pay attention to her at first, but then he saw that she had been waiting for a long time, and felt a little sorry, so he came over and asked her what was wrong."

"Qiaomei asked him for money, saying that she wanted to study very much and had good grades. She would pay him back after she got into college and found a job. She also said that she could write an IOU. Dazhuang had just given birth to a son and had to pay the fine for having more children than allowed. He was feeling upset, and when he heard about the request for money, he called Qiaomei a debt collector. After saying a few words to her, he kicked her out of the rice noodle shop."

At this point, Chi Juxiang was anxious, angry and regretful: "How could I have given birth to such a heartless thing? Qiaomei is his biological daughter, but he never washed her diaper or fed her milk. He treated her like a weed. His rice noodle shop is doing well, and Qionghua is wearing gold and silver. How could the family not have extra money to send my Qiaomei to school? Qiaomei said she could write an IOU, but Dazhuang still scolded her! If Dazhuang had a conscience, my Qiaomei would not have disappeared!"

Chi Juxiang became more and more sad as she spoke: "It's been five years. If our Qiaomei was still alive, she would have gone to college by now. But now she is missing, and I can't find her body. What should I do? Qiaomei, where are you? Grandma misses you so much. I am sorry for you. I can't afford to support your education. You have suffered at the hands of those evil parents. You have disappeared until now. Where have you been?"

Seeing the old woman crying out of breath, Xia Mu hurriedly walked to her side, stretched out his hand and gently patted her on the back: "Don't worry, old lady, we will work with you to find a solution. Tao Nianqiao disappeared at the age of fifteen, and she is only twenty years old now. Twenty years old is still very young. Everything can start over again."

Xia Mufan's words successfully raised hope in Chi Juxiang's eyes. She gradually stopped crying and looked at Xia Mufan with tears in her eyes: "They all said that you are good at finding people. You found my mother who has been missing for more than ten years. You can definitely help me find Qiaomei, right?"

Xia Mufan pursed his lips and said, "Well, let's try it."

The fact that Qiaomei’s body has not been found yet means there is still hope. Judging from Chi Juxiang's words, Qiaomei was most likely abducted on her way back or taken away by an acquaintance. But five years have passed and many clues have been lost. I don’t know if I can still find Qiaomei.

Chi Juxiang grabbed Xia Mufan's hand and shook it up and down: "Officer Xia, I believe in you! As long as you are willing to help, my Qiaomei will definitely be found!"

Being trusted by so many people, Xia Mufan felt a heavy weight on his shoulders.

I hope I can live up to her trust and find Qiaomei smoothly. I also hope that Qiaomei can be more alert and save her life no matter what setbacks she encounters.

As long as you are alive, there is hope.

Chi Juxiang is old, and if a cold corpse is found, Xia Mufan is really worried that the old lady will not be able to bear the blow.

At this moment, Sun Xianbing pushed open the door of the reception room, followed by Jia Wenbi, deputy section chief of the Archives Section.

Sun Xianbing said: "I called Section Chief Jia. She remembered this case and came over specially."

Xia Mu stood up and greeted Chief Jia: "I'm sorry to bother you to come over here on the weekend."

Section Chief Jia smiled and handed a file to Xia Mufan, "Well, it's okay, my home is quite close to the workplace." After that, Section Chief Jia glanced at the old man sitting on the sofa and winked at Xia Mufan.

Xia Mufan turned to Yu Jing who was taking notes and said, "Dayu, ask Tao Nianqiao where she went after leaving the county. Section Chief Jia and I will study the files first."

Xia Mufan and Section Chief Jia left the reception room one after another and stood in the quiet corridor talking in low voices.

Chief Jia asked, "Is your team ready to take on this case?"

Xia Mufan nodded, "That's what I meant. I just finished the Huang Jinfeng case and I have some free time. It's a missing girl case from five years ago. I hope we can find her."

Chief Jia said: "I remember this case. The town police station was very responsible at the time. They spent more than two months looking for the girl, but couldn't find her in the county town. After classifying it as a trafficking case, they sent a joint investigation notice to the city, hoping to find the girl with the help of the city bureau. We published a missing person notice in the newspaper. Whenever there is a case of trafficking in women, we will pay attention to whether Tao Nianqiao is among the rescued women, but there is still no news. This old lady came to the city every three months to inquire about the progress of the case. She is also an old acquaintance of the city bureau, and everyone sympathizes with her. It's just that similar abduction cases are basically team-operated, and the girls are sold to remote mountainous areas. It's hard to find people across provinces, and sometimes you need a little luck."

Xia Mufan's eyes moved, his eyes slightly raised, with an unyielding determination in his eyes: "Perhaps, we are that luck."

Jia Wenbi had dealt with Xia Mufan before because of the Huang Jinfeng case, and liked her quick and resolute personality. Looking at her bright eyes, I knew that Xia Mufan had made up her mind. However, the special operations team had just been established and had won its first battle, so there were countless eyes watching them. It might not be a wise choice for Xia Mufan to take on such a complicated and time-consuming case at this moment, so Jia Wenbi said a few more words.

"Director Fang has already issued instructions to our archives department. I have been sorting out old cases in the past few weeks and am preparing to bring out several suspicious cases for you to take over. If you want to take over this missing person case, it is best to say hello to Director Fang first and seek his advice."

Xia Mufan could tell that Jia Wenbi meant well, so he smiled and said, "Thank you, Chief Jia. I'll report to Director Fang in a moment."

Section Chief Jia smiled and patted the back of her hand: "Okay, I'll go first then."

After saying goodbye to Section Chief Jia, Xia Mufan opened the door and walked into the reception room.

Chi Juxiang stood up nervously, carefully observing Xia Mufan's expression: "Will you still help me?"

Xia Mushi picked up the file on the table and said, "Yes, help."