Starving ghost
Besides the case officers and other people awaiting processing, there were two other people with outstanding personalities in the office.
I don't know when the sky turned cloudy, but thankfully it wasn't cloudy inside the house.
The man and woman sitting on the silver waiting chairs appeared to be in their thirties. Their faces didn't show their age, but their mature demeanor gave the impression that they were over thirty. The man's suit was wrinkled, and the woman had crumpled a piece of fabric from the hem of her long dress in her hand.
Both men's gazes were fixed on the outside of the police station, their red eyes almost identical. After the police car led another vehicle in, the boy in the first car jumped out of the back seat, his eyes, as red as crabapples, also welled up with tears.
Their buttocks lifted off the chairs, and the woman in high heels stumbled toward the entrance of the office. She covered her mouth with her hand, but sobs still escaped through the gaps; tears soaked her fingers, and her blurred vision followed the approaching boy intently.
When Changxi came to her, the woman immediately knelt down and hugged him tightly. She didn't even have time to worry about etiquette or whether her actions would block other people from coming in or out.
She just buried her face in Changxi's shoulder and cried.
Changxi, still of school age, understood the idiom "sobbing uncontrollably" from his mother's actions. He swallowed hard, his tightly pursed lips trembling.
During the six months he was away from home, he was strong many times and remained strong for a long time; he was brave many times and remained brave for a long time.
The faint fragrance of his mother filled his nostrils, a scent he longed for. When he smelled it, his body knew he could rely on her, could let down his guard—could remove all the thorns from his body.
He raised his hand and hugged the woman, tears streaming down his face, his hoarse voice still choking back sobs: "Mom." I wonder if Dandelion's voice was as soft as his.
The only response he received was a woman's breathy voice, as if it were being squeezed out with great difficulty: "Changxi..." Besides that, there were only sobs and the damp breath falling on his shoulders and neck.
The man, his feet rooted to the spot, sniffed, his eyes red-rimmed. He pursed his lips, blinking as if trying to stop the tears from falling, but ultimately couldn't.
The separated family was reunited, and they sat back down at the prompting of the investigator.
The man in a suit, though looking extremely haggard, held Changxi's little hand and stroked it. He tilted his head slightly, gazing at the child he hadn't seen in a long time, and said in a hoarse, nasal voice, "It's Daddy's fault for not protecting you. I'm sorry."
Sitting between his parents, Changxi shook his head, grasped his parents' hands with both of his, looked around, and then lowered his head earnestly, saying, "I am very capable, very strong, and very brave."
Her eyes were fixed on her knees; the fleece-lined jeans were a purchase from Wen Dai.
Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe have now been taken to give statements.
Changxi, who had never set foot in Chizhengsuo before, raised his head blankly. He looked around at the furnishings inside Chizhengsuo. The incandescent lights embedded in the ceiling were shining because of the overcast sky, and the halo of light affected his eyes in circles. He suddenly loosened his grip on his parents' fingers.
"Why bring my uncle and sister in? Are you trying to arrest them? They're good people."
The female case clerk sitting at her workstation turned her head, put down her mouse, walked over and squatted down in front of Changxi, and said softly, "We all know that the uncle and sister just now are good people. We won't arrest them. We just need them to provide some information. This process is called 'taking a statement.' You will also have to take a statement later, little one, because we are going to catch the bad guy who made you disappear."
Changxi lowered his eyelids, and he pulled his parents' hands back onto his lap. In his unfocused eyes, the image that appeared was of his experiences before escaping.
His eyelashes fluttered twice, and Chang Xi looked up to meet the eyes of the female clerk in front of him. He nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."
Looking at the remarkably calm little boy in front of her, the female detective glanced at Chang's parents sitting on either side of him and said with admiration, "Your child is really impressive. If he's interested, pursuing a career in criminal investigation would be a great option for him."
After Chen Sizhe and Wen Dai came out, Changxi was exceptionally cooperative and didn't even need his parents to accompany him. However, Changxi's father and mother insisted on going into the interrogation room with him.
After a brief analysis of his condition, the investigator taking his statement stared into Changxi's eyes and asked, "Do you remember how you escaped?"
“They took me to a place I’d been to before to beg for money. The previous two times I’d pretended to be a beggar there, pretending my parents had died or a relative was seriously ill, and pretended I had no money for food and begged for money, and I’d gotten a lot. There were a lot of people there, so they rarely took us there. Every time we went, there would be six or seven people hiding nearby to observe. Three days ago, they took me to that place again. I saw a lot of people, and I walked through the crowd asking passersby for money. I slowly walked to the entrance of the mall, and when that auntie was talking to me and offering to give me money, I suddenly ran into the mall.”
Sitting in his chair, Changxi rested his hands on the table, rubbing his fingers together. His unfocused pupils stared straight ahead. "I ran upstairs first. When I saw the elevator open, I ran in and stood in a corner. I knew they wouldn't trust the elevator because it's a closed space, and they wouldn't stay in a place where they couldn't observe me. The mall has a basement level, so I went there first. There's a long elevator leading to the ground floor, so I took that elevator up and kept running and running."
“I don’t know which way I ran. When they took me back to the house, they blindfolded me, but I could sense whether I was going straight or turning because the feeling was different. But if I wasn’t on that road, I wouldn’t know which way to go. I only dared to glance at the road signs a few times because I was afraid of being caught. I didn’t dare to ask passersby for help. There was a woman who asked a passerby for help, but she wasn’t helped. Instead, she was discovered for delaying and was taken away by that group of people…”
The sound stopped abruptly, and Changxi's two hands gripped each other tightly, his arms shaking from the strain.
The skin on his cheeks trembled again as his taut jawbone expanded. Chang Xi suppressed his emotions with a force that almost crushed his teeth. His red eyes and the slight trembling of his fists on the small table indicated the shock of what he had seen.
He paused briefly, swallowing his unspoken words, and continued, "I kept running, turning corners, until my shoes were completely worn out. I saw a residential area, very dilapidated. I stood at the entrance and looked inside, and it seemed like there were very few residents. I'm afraid of places with few people, and I'm also afraid of places with many people. They would definitely think I was hiding in crowded places, that's their definition of a smart kid. I wouldn't stay on the street, I hid in the first house in this residential area, and it was as empty as I expected."
"I finally stopped on the sixth floor because I couldn't climb any further. On the sixth floor, I found a room full of cardboard boxes and plastic bottles. Opposite the room was a bathroom with running water. I stayed in that room, buried myself in cardboard boxes to rest, and went to the bathroom to drink water when I was hungry or thirsty."
Changxi remained relatively calm, but Changxi's father, who had come in worried about his child's emotional breakdown, was already wiping away tears.
Chang's mother covered her mouth and turned her face away, her flushed face and swollen eyes facing the side. Her crying was suppressed, with only a few breathy sounds occasionally escaping her lips.
The investigator's brow furrowed slightly as he rubbed his fingers across the mouse, pressing further: "Do you remember what those people looked like? Do you remember how many people like you were being held captive and controlled in the place you were in? Can you describe what their cars looked like?"
The parents' crying seemed to have no effect on Changxi. The little boy sat on a chair that was almost taller than himself, his eyes meeting those of the officer opposite him.
He nodded and said, "I remember most of them. I don't know how many. Some people are not in the same house as us. Sometimes we are split up and reorganized. Sometimes those people will make us watch what kind of punishment the disobedient people will receive. They will also select a few of us to punish the disobedient people together with them. If the selected people are unwilling, they will also be punished."
“Every morning from five to seven o’clock, we have to go to a small room to worship Buddha. We have to finish worshiping before seven o’clock. While worshiping, we have to say that we are following them voluntarily. If we don’t speak or say that we are unwilling, we will be punished. The car is black, a bit long, and very big.”
"What is the punishment?" The investigator shifted his gaze from the computer screen to his face.
Chang Xi, who had seemed to know everything just moments before, suddenly shut his mouth, wrinkles forming on his thin lips. He lowered his head, looking at his intertwined fingers.
The clerk turned around, his thoughtful eyes concealing his emotions, and he tried to soften his voice:
"What was the punishment? Do you remember? It's okay if you can't say. We just need you to cooperate with us to check the surveillance footage and confirm which car they were in, if you are able to. We need as much information as possible now to speed up the process of bringing the bad guys to justice. If you really can't provide it, your uncle can understand. We will investigate based on the information we have and will definitely try our best to rescue those who have been arrested."
“…Legs, cut them off; hands, cut them off. Make disgusting noises.” He wouldn’t say anything more. Changxi huddled in the chair, his small body trembling, almost convulsing.
The clerk taking the statement paused, and he quickly got up and called someone to fetch a psychologist.
After stopping her crying, Changxi's mother turned around and hugged him tightly. She stood up, picked Changxi up, and held him in her arms, gently patting his back. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Mommy's here. Mommy's here."
-
A deafening clap of thunder was followed by a flash of white light near the ground, and then a torrential downpour began. Wen Dai, who had not yet left Chizheng's residence, stood at the door.
The dust on the ground was washed up by the rain, and the cold raindrops flew onto my cheeks and head.
She touched the water droplets on her cheek with her fingertips, then pressed down hard with her fingertips. Wen Dai frowned and stared blankly at the rainy world.
Chen Sizhe sat in a chair with his legs crossed, leaning back against the chair. He had his arms crossed, and his face, turned towards the woman at the door, was as blank as a sheet of paper.
"There's no going back... I haven't even had lunch yet, I'm starving, it's almost dinnertime." Wen Dai clutched her stomach, heartbroken with regret.
She turned around and walked over with a bitter look on her face, then slumped into the chair next to Chen Sizhe like a limp bone. "I should have made some instant noodles for me when I made instant noodles for Changxi." She looked like she was about to run out of breath.
Glancing at the person beside him who was leaning back and craning their neck to look up at the ceiling, Chen Sizhe scoffed coldly. The slight upturn of one corner of his lips and the combination of his apple cheeks created a smile that made people want to punch him. "I ordered takeout. It should arrive soon."
Wen Dai, who was almost out of breath, suddenly regained her energy. She sat up straight in an instant, her eyes blinking brightly, and she looked at Chen Sizhe with expectation and joy.
"Really? Wow, you're quick on the uptake! No wonder you're Attorney Chen, your efficiency is astonishing, and you always consider everything so thoroughly. I hadn't even thought about ordering takeout. What did you order?" Her tone was much softer than before, with an element of flattery.
The person who was leaning to the side, almost touching his arm, Chen Sizhe tilted his body to the other side and said in a cold tone: "I didn't order yours."
I overestimated you.
The sudden drop in tone seemed to sever the connection with the person just moments before; the person with dimples, a smile, and bright eyes was replaced by a blank-faced, resentful, starving ghost.
Wen Dai slumped back in her chair, took her phone out of her pocket, and opened the food delivery app to browse through it.
Just as Wen Dai was battling wits with the food delivery coupons, Chen Sizhe's food delivery arrived.
In the heavy rain, a man in a full suit held a large black umbrella. When he reached the door, he pressed a button on the umbrella handle to close it. The way he put down the takeout box he was carrying on his shoulder could be described as elegant. The food inside was taken out by this man, who looked to be over 1.8 meters tall. He looked around at Chizheng Suo and finally his gaze settled on Chen Sizhe.
After Chen Sizhe gave him the last four digits of his phone number, the man smiled and handed him the food, saying, "Enjoy your meal."
Watching the delivery guy in the suit walk away, Wen Dai's finger hovered over the screen, her gaze fixed on Chen Sizhe carrying the wooden food box. She asked incredulously, "Are you some kind of super VIP on a food delivery app? Why is the person delivering to you wearing a suit? You probably didn't order takeout, did you?"
When asked about the situation, Chen Sizhe, the person involved, gave a perfunctory answer: "They're all about the same."
He placed the food box on the empty space on the other side, and stacked the trays of food he had pulled out. The rich aroma of the food wafted into Wen Dai's nostrils, who was about to starve to death.
She swallowed hard, her eyes secretly glancing out of the corner of her eye.
Glancing at the exquisite dishes he held in his hands, Wen Dai finally let out a sigh.
She silently gave up on using coupons to reach the minimum order amount, found a shop with decent food, gritted her teeth and selected the most expensive set meal. However, the estimated delivery time displayed on the page at the time of payment completely dampened her enthusiasm.
With the torrential rain, many people are likely to order takeout, which will probably slow down the delivery speed. Looking at the estimated delivery time displayed on the screen and then at the current time, the two-hour time difference made Wen Dai decide to starve to death.
Glancing at Wen Dai, who was slumped in a chair beside him looking utterly exhausted, Chen Sizhe shifted his gaze from her crooked face and slender neck, picked up the lunchbox and handed it to her. His fox-like eyes were turned to the side, not even glancing at her face out of the corner of his eye, and his tone was awkward: "I bought too much and can't finish it all, so you can have the rest."
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