"What?!!"
"You silly brat, why didn't you say so just now?"
"What happened? Who pushed you?"
Not only the villagers, but even the police officers nearby were taken aback. They couldn't get any information from either themselves, the villagers, or even their parents.
Everyone guessed that the children must have been playing and accidentally fell into the cave. Many of the children knew they had done something wrong and felt guilty, which is why they were unwilling to talk about it.
Who knows, it's not that I'm unwilling to talk about it, it's that I'm unwilling to talk about it to myself.
As soon as Lin Xiaoxiao came, the children became more willing to talk.
The people around were both amused and helpless; Lin Xiaoxiao's words were more effective than those of her teachers and parents.
But no one expected that these children had been pushed down.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, both the police and villagers asked the child what exactly happened.
"I... I didn't see his face clearly, his face was covered." Xiao Hu answered Lin Xiaoxiao's countless questions, and this was the only clue he could get.
The children usually play by themselves and don't have much contact with adults. Who would be so vicious as to hurt such a young child?
The child only wanted to talk to Lin Xiaoxiao, so asking the child questions became Lin Xiaoxiao's task.
Lin Xiaoxiao asked patiently, "Then tell your sister what you did yesterday?"
Mancang: "Yesterday morning I went with them to cut pig feed. After eating, I played with Dahei."
"Big Blackie, he's even trying to steal our stuff."
"We ran to the end of the village, and Dahei suddenly barked and ran away without paying any attention to us."
Xiao Hu: "We don't want to go home yet, so we'll just run away with Da Hei."
"We tracked them all the way to Gou Sheng's house."
"Dahei kept barking at the yard, and we just watched from the side."
Ah Gou hesitated before saying, "We...we saw an old woman come out of Gou Sheng's house at the east end of the village."
“We’ve never seen it before, so we asked Gousheng. Gousheng and the woman went inside and ignored us.”
"Later, Xiaohu and I stood inside and outside the house for a long time, but no one came out, so we went to play."
"When we got to the foot of the mountain, we wanted to collect stones to play with, but then... I don't remember."
Lin Xiaoxiao frowned upon hearing this, "Is this the same for you? Has anyone seen anyone?"
The three people shook their heads because the person was behind them and they couldn't see his face clearly.
When Captain Wang and the police heard the news, they frowned, and the villagers looked at each other in dismay.
Han Qiushi sensed something was wrong: "What? Is there something wrong with this Gou Sheng?"
Captain Wang shook his head: "Gou Sheng was with us looking for someone that day, but this child is an orphan. We've never heard of him having any relatives."
Someone stepped forward to explain: "This Gousheng grew up around us. When he was a child, he often went hungry, and many people in the village would give him their own food."
"But in the past two years, Gou Sheng has been wearing tattered clothes, but he no longer borrows food from everyone."
When this person said that, everyone realized it was true: "They used to come to my house often to borrow grain, and they would often go up the mountain to collect firewood and exchange it for food, but recently it seems like they've been doing it less."
“He rarely played with the other children in the village before. He always worked alone and picked up things to eat, so we didn’t pay much attention.”
This person always acted alone, was withdrawn and didn't like to talk, so he became a marginal figure in the village. When he was still in everyone's sight, people would mention him a few times, but as time went by and he faded from everyone's sight, people paid less and less attention to him.
Now that Ah Gou has mentioned it, everyone has remembered the child.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Han Qiushi exchanged glances, and many people said they wanted to go and see, perhaps this matter was related to Gousheng.
Gousheng's house is at the east end of the village, which is much more remote than Lin Xiaoxiao's house. However, people occasionally pass through that area when going up the mountain. Lin Xiaoxiao has passed through it a few times and has a general impression of the surroundings.
Upon arriving at their destination, Han Qiushi and Lin Xiaoxiao went up and knocked on the door.
I knocked for a while, but no one answered.
Han Qiushi stared at the dilapidated house, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
Lin Xiaoxiao stood beside him and also looked towards the courtyard: "Should we just go in?"
Han Qiushi nodded, took two steps back decisively, and kicked the door open.
After entering, the two glanced at the house. This was the first time they had seen such a dilapidated house since they came to Wangjia Village.
The house was an earthen house, and the roof tiles were missing a few here and a few there, with gaps in several places. You could imagine that whenever it rained, the whole house would be soaked.
The doors and windows of the house were all made of wood, and the wood was badly cracked. There were also many marks on the door panels, and the windows were covered with newspaper.
The furniture in the room was all crooked and looked like it was homemade.
The cotton quilt on the bed was so washed that its original color was no longer visible, and a lot of cotton was still sticking out from the four corners.
It's very dilapidated, but even though many villagers nearby are struggling, it's still much better than this place.
After observing these things, the two began searching the house for items or important clues, with the villagers following closely behind, examining everything bit by bit.
A few minutes later, the group reported the results of the search.
Many people were stunned as they held what they were holding.
Gou Sheng's family actually had rice and flour, as well as rare canned meat jars, and there was also half a jar of rendered lard in the kitchen.
When the drugs were found, the villagers couldn't believe their eyes. Had Gou Sheng struck it rich?
They used to struggle to even get enough to eat, but now they have the money to render lard and eat canned food?!
Han Qiushi looked around and said, "Judging from the signs of habitation, two people have lived here for many years."
“The child said he pushed them, so it must be related to them,” Lin Xiaoxiao added.
It seems they knew they would come looking for them, so they left beforehand.
They had just discovered a clue when the person disappeared without a trace. With so many suspicious points, Han Qiushi and Lin Xiaoxiao immediately became alert. He whispered a few words in Captain Wang's ear.
Captain Wang was a little incredulous and asked him in a low voice, "This...this child is just a bit withdrawn, it can't be, right?"
When the Party Secretary heard Han Qiushi say that Gousheng was connected with human traffickers, he said, "That's a serious charge. Should we wait for the police to investigate?"
"Not only should the police go looking for them, but we should also go looking for them together," Han Qiushi said seriously.
Captain Wang opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't say anything more. Both of them were capable people, and having one more person investigate would mean finding out the truth sooner and putting his mind at ease sooner.
Han Qiushi and Lin Xiaoxiao discussed it and decided that the two of them would go to the location where Lin Xiaoxiao had been yesterday, and the police could investigate the case in their own way.
They didn't want to bring anyone along because the police were much slower than them; they were definitely not as fast.
At this point, you need to be quick. Since Gousheng's people aren't here, they've definitely run up the mountain.
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