Encountering Wen Zhi again
The winter rain, carrying a chill, silently seeped over the eaves of the town. Lead-gray clouds hung low over the courtyards, and the fine, needle-like raindrops fell on the bluestone slabs, splashing up tiny droplets that quickly coalesced into winding streams, soaking the entire courtyard.
Liang An sat behind the cashier, gazing at the rainy scene outside the window. Cold air seeped in through the crack in the door, carrying the crispness of the rain, causing him to instinctively pull his thin coat tighter around himself.
There were very few pedestrians on the street, and the rooftops and trees in the distance were shrouded in a hazy rain and mist. The whole town seemed to have been put on silent, with only the rustling sound of rain hitting everything, conveying the unique tranquility and coolness of winter.
He changed into a thick coat, picked up a book, and settled into his chair to read, occasionally looking up to observe his surroundings.
Today, my aunt's family went to a housewarming party in the next town, leaving Liang An alone at the old house to look after the small supermarket.
With the Spring Festival approaching, Liang An thought it was time to return to Haicheng.
Welcome!
As the doorbell rang, the glass door was suddenly pushed open, and a blast of damp, cold air, carrying raindrops, rushed in.
Hearing the sound, Liang An looked up and stood up, only to be met with a face that made his heart sink – it was Wen Zhi.
How did I end up meeting him here?
Wen Zhi shook the water droplets off his clothes and walked towards the cashier. Behind him was a boy, who was rather thin and had a delicate and cute appearance.
Liang An had nowhere to avoid it, so he could only meet Wen Zhi's gaze. He didn't say anything and looked away expressionlessly.
Wen Zhi looked Liang An up and down, a strange light in his eyes.
"Boss, we're just coming in to take shelter from the rain for a bit, is that alright?"
Liang An shook his head, sat down again, and lowered his gaze back to the pages of the book, but he could no longer calm down.
Wen Zhi stood opposite the cashier, his gaze always intentionally or unintentionally falling on Liang An.
The boy who followed Wen Zhi in walked around the shelves, picked up a few bags of snacks, and went to the cashier.
He tapped on the table to get Liang An's attention, smiled to reveal two small tiger teeth, and said, "Little boss, do you have anything hot to eat?"
Liang An didn't get up, but shook his head and continued reading.
"The young boss is quite aloof. Wen Zhi, there's nowhere to sit here, let's not just wait around."
Ignoring the other person's request, Wen Zhi turned to Liang An and said, "Could I have a cup of hot water?"
Liang An kept his head down and ignored him.
Wen Zhi shrugged indifferently and continued standing by the cashier.
The rain gradually subsided.
Finally, urged on by his companions, Wen Zhi reluctantly paid the bill and left the supermarket with them.
Liang An slumped down, letting a sense of powerlessness wash over him. He wondered what awaited him after meeting Wen Zhi in this life.
When Liang Xiaohui's family returned in the evening, Liang An told them that he was going back to Haicheng.
When Liang An encountered Wen Zhi in the small town, he always had a sense of unease.
Ayao held onto Liang An tightly, crying and refusing to let him go back. Liang Xiaohui also tried her best to persuade him to stay and spend the Spring Festival with him.
Liang An thought he should wait a few days before making a decision, but his sudden return had indeed hurt his aunt's feelings.
Unexpectedly, these few short days brought a devastating disaster upon my aunt's family.
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After their chance encounter on a rainy day, Wen Zhi started coming to the small supermarket every day to buy snacks and drinks, almost like clocking in.
Liang An tried hard to control his emotions, treating Wen Zhi as a complete stranger, his eyes indifferent and unmoved, as if he were looking at an insignificant speck of dust in the world.
His indifference did not dampen Wen Zhi's enthusiasm.
Liang An couldn't even understand where Wen Zhi's enthusiasm for her came from.
To Wen Zhi, she was just a stranger in the vast sea of people with no connection to him. Why was it that he could always develop such a burning obsession with her in the brief moments of their encounter?
"Xiao An, have you seen A Yao?" Liang Xiaohui called out to Liang An, who was lost in thought, and asked anxiously.
“Didn’t Ayao go back to her room? She said she had to do her homework. The teacher assigned a lot of tasks today,” Liang An replied.
"Yeah, I went to her room to call her for dinner, but I didn't see her. I thought she had sneaked out to play with you again. I'll go look for her outside."
They searched until dark, but still couldn't find Ayao.
The whole family panicked and called all of Ayao's classmates' and friends' phones.
"Could she have been kidnapped? The security has been so good these past few years. Where has my Ayao gone?" Liang Xiaohui cried, covering her face.
"Let's call the police first and have them check the surveillance footage. Searching aimlessly like this is just a waste of time." My uncle tried to remain calm, but his hands and feet were trembling involuntarily.
Liang An accompanied his uncle to the nearby police station to report the incident and waited for the police to retrieve the surveillance footage. Liang Xiaohui waited for news at the old house, hoping that A Yao had simply been playing late and that she would stay home and wait for A Yao to return on her own.
"Describe Chen Yao's height, weight, what clothes she was wearing when she disappeared, what color they were, around what time she was discovered missing, and where she was last seen?" At the police station, the police officers carefully inquired about various details.
As the uncle answered, the police officer quickly typed on the keyboard, recording the key information one by one.
After taking the statement, the police officer stood up and said, "Come with me to the monitoring room. We will retrieve the surveillance footage from your neighborhood during the time Chen Yao was missing. Please watch it carefully and inform us immediately if you have any clues."
The monitor screens in the control room emitted a cold light. Liang An rubbed his tired eyes. They had been staring at the screens for over an hour, still without any results.
"This is the last surveillance camera at the corner. If there are still no clues, you can only go home and wait for news."
As the police officer continued to scroll through the timeline, a bright yellow light suddenly caught his eye.
"Wait, it's Ayao," the uncle said, pointing to the screen. On the screen was a little girl wearing a yellow duck top, with the round duckbill pattern standing out prominently in the picture.
When the police zoomed in, they discovered that the girl was accompanied by a tall boy who looked like a high school student.
The girl held his hand and skipped along, occasionally looking up to talk, with a clear smile on her face, showing no signs of struggling or being afraid.
Gradually, their figures disappeared from the surveillance camera's view.
Do you know this guy?
Liang An's face turned deathly pale. He pinched his thigh hard and calmly said, "His name is Wen Zhi. He's been coming to our supermarket every day to buy snacks and drinks recently. We didn't know him before, and we didn't have his contact information. He seems to be a student at Haicheng No. 1 Middle School."
"Let's see if we can find his contact information at Haicheng No.1 High School."
"Uncle, can we check the surveillance footage to see where they went?"
"Sure, this street connects to Bromine River Road. There are usually few people there, and they just installed surveillance cameras recently."
The police pulled up the surveillance footage from the Bromine River section, quickly scrolled through the timeline, and soon Wen Zhi and Chen Yao appeared in the footage.
They walked to a stone bench by the roadside and sat down. Wen Zhi took off the large backpack behind him, and a fluffy head popped out of the backpack. It was an adorable little Shiba Inu.
Chen Yao happily teased the Shiba Inu, took dog treats from Wen Zhi and fed them to the dog, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Sigh, Yao mentioned wanting to get a dog before, but we didn't take it seriously," her uncle murmured softly.
Just as Liang An was about to comfort his uncle, he suddenly saw a silver-gray van without license plates cut in from a distance and abruptly stop in front of them in the surveillance footage.
The van's two doors opened simultaneously, and three men wearing black hoods rushed out.
They moved quickly and ruthlessly. One of them held Wen Zhi's shoulder tightly and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Soon, Wen Zhi collapsed into the other person's arms.
Another man quickly grabbed Chen Yao, knocked her unconscious, and carried her into the van. The thug who had knocked Wen Zhi unconscious then dragged him into the van as well.
The car door slammed shut and sped off into the depths of the road.
The uncle, barely managing to stay upright, said to the police officer, "This is a kidnapping. Quick, find that car!"
Liang An trembled all over, his mind echoing with the words, "It was me, it was me who brought misfortune to A Yao. A Yao took my place and was dragged into the swamp of fate by Wen Zhi."
Self-blame surged like a tidal wave, instantly engulfing Liang An. The image of A Yao being carried into the van in the surveillance footage kept replaying in his mind, each replay bringing a sharp, piercing pain.
Liang An knew that the most important thing at this moment was to stay calm. He pinched his thighs until they were bruised and purple, watching several police officers go in and out, busy with their work. The phone kept ringing, constantly stimulating his fragile nerves.
The police officers took Liang An and his uncle to the reception room and said, "We have already reported the situation. The higher authorities will coordinate with the surrounding surveillance to track the trajectory, arrange police forces to investigate, and actively contact Wen Zhi's family to confirm the situation. Please keep your phones on and we will notify you immediately if there is any news."
“Officer, we’ll wait here, waiting for A-Yao to come back…” the uncle said, covering his face and weeping.
"We've done everything we can now. The case has been transferred to higher authorities. There's no point in you waiting here," the police officer said helplessly.
Liang An's fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white, and his eyes were red and painful, but he pressed his lips together tightly, not letting a single sob escape his lips.
He reached out and supported his uncle's slightly cool arm, his palm pressing firmly against it, trying his best to maintain a steady pace, and helped him all the way back to the old house.
Welcome!
When Liang Xiaohui heard the doorbell ring, she quickly walked to the store entrance and silently shed tears as she looked at the two people who had just returned home.
“How is it? Ayao hasn’t come back yet. I want to go out and look for her, but I’m afraid she won’t see me when she gets home. I… sob sob sob…” Liang Xiaohui couldn’t help but burst into tears before she could finish speaking.
"Go inside first," my uncle said in a hoarse voice.
They sat down in the living room of the back house, and the uncle, suppressing his surging emotions, briefly recounted everything he had seen at the police station.
"Waaah, my Ayao..." Liang Xiaohui's defenses suddenly collapsed, and she could no longer hold back her tears.
Only broken sobs remained in the living room, a pervasive atmosphere of sorrow mixed with despair.
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