Chapter 83
"I can't say anything else, but after working in this industry for a long time, I've trained my eyes to be pretty good."
"For all these years, no one has ever stolen anything from my stall. Others don't dare to say anything for fear of offending others, but I'm not afraid. If they dare to steal from my customers, I'll be the first to disagree!"
The bald boss was talking excitedly when the lady boss came over with a bowl of sliced potatoes. She couldn't help but complain, "You don't agree? Why do you disagree? Do you think you disagree just because your eyes twitch and you cough a few times?"
The bald boss, whose true identity was mercilessly exposed, remained unperturbed. Instead, he lowered his head and chuckled, "Well, I'm pretty impressive. There aren't many people on this street who dare to warn their customers so openly."
"You're so awesome! You've overcooked all the food!" The proprietress cursed and pushed the person aside, then took over the job of blanching the food.
"Speaking of which, at the end of last year, I actually witnessed a stall owner here catching a thief in public!" Lin Jiafan said in an exaggerated tone, his face tinged with admiration. "The thief was just a child, only about ten years old. The stall owner grabbed him and took him to the police station!"
"Oh, you mean the one with Dongmian Kung Fu Fried Rice?" The proprietress asked the bald boss for confirmation without even raising her eyelids.
"Of course he is. There are many thieves caught, but he is the only one who was sent to the police station." The boss took a sip of tea, then shook his head and sighed, not knowing what he meant.
"Such a young child is stealing? He probably doesn't have any relatives and has to steal to make a living, right?" Luo Jingyao portrayed the image of a child who is indifferent to the sufferings of the world vividly.
Sure enough, the boss sneered again when he heard this: "Little girl, how can it be that simple? A little kid, stealing money is one thing, but where is he going to sell the stolen goods? Who would dare to do business with him?"
"From what the boss said, that child was also instructed by someone?" Lin Jiafan asked tentatively.
Unfortunately, this time, before the bald boss could even open his mouth, the boss's wife sent him away to get something from the box in the back.
It is obvious that the boss lady's intuition is much sharper than that of the bald boss. After all, the most important thing in doing business is to protect yourself.
In order not to arouse suspicion, Lin Jiafan did not continue to ask questions and instead concentrated on eating the spicy skewers with Luo Jingyao.
After a while, two more tables of guests arrived. While the proprietress was greeting other people, Lin Jiafan waved to the bald boss and asked for two bottles of soda.
"Damn, this bitch." As the bald boss came over to deliver the soda, he muttered, "Does she really think I'm afraid of her? I'm just giving her face!"
"That fried rice vendor you just mentioned was incredibly stubborn. He'd never been robbed before, but when he was robbed once, he refused to believe it and insisted on sending the child to the police. Many people tried to dissuade him, but he refused to listen."
"What happened? His stall was smashed within half a month. He won't go to the police station even if you tell him to."
"They are so arrogant. Who are they?" Lin Jiafan looked very angry and cooperated very well with the other party to create a storytelling atmosphere.
"I'm not entirely sure where it all started, but one night I had to pee urgently and didn't have time to go to the nearby public restroom, so I decided to go into the alley to relieve myself. Unexpectedly, I ran into a man beating up some little brats." The bald boss glanced around, making sure the area was safe before continuing in a low voice, "I guarantee you, I'm the only one on this street who knows about this."
As he spoke, a look of pride gleamed on the boss's round face.
Lin Jiafan climbed up the ladder and gave a thumbs up: "The boss is really amazing. Not only does he make the best spicy skewers, but he's also the most well-informed person on the entire street."
Luo Jingyao also sighed: "That kind of bad guy must look ferocious, right?"
The bald boss shook his head affirmatively: "It was too dark at the time, I couldn't see his face clearly, but he wasn't very tall, only about 1.7 meters tall."
"Don't be fooled by his short and skinny appearance. He was incredibly ruthless when he hit people. He beat those kids until they cried for their parents. He even scolded them for not having any sales. It's hilarious. Thieves run their business like a legitimate company. What kind of sales can they even talk about?"
"Oh, by the way, I also heard those kids calling him Tree Brother... or Rat Brother. Oops, I can't make it out because of the accent."
The boss was so excited that his saliva was flying everywhere and he was even gesturing with his hands. He was completely unaware of the danger approaching behind him.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the bald boss was hit hard on the back of his head by the plastic basin.
Turning around, I saw the sullen face of the proprietress. With one hand on her waist and a bowl in the other, she rudely shouted, "How many times have I told you to put on that lousy mask when you're talking to customers? And didn't you hear me yelling at you to get the vegetables?!"
After getting angry, the proprietress smiled apologetically at Lin Jiafan and Luo Jing, then dragged the bald boss away by his ear.
Within two minutes, when the proprietress's hands were almost smoking from blanching vegetables and noodles, the bald boss turned around and started chatting with another table of guests.
Retracting her gaze, Luo Jingyao stuffed a meatball into her mouth and spoke softly while chewing, "Officer Lin is indeed quite capable, as he was able to select such a large colander at a glance."
They hardly had to put in any effort, and the bald boss told them everything he knew.
"Judging from his facial features, he is a chatterbox and loves gossip." Lin Jiafan replied calmly.
Glancing at him in disbelief, Luo Jingyao opened her mouth and said, "You police officers, do you believe this?"
"It's what the country advocates. We should put more effort into it and achieve full development." After saying this with a smile, and after making sure that she was really full, Lin Jiafan got up to pay the bill.
It was not until they returned to the jeep that Luo Jingyao remembered that she was supposed to treat everyone to this meal.
She suddenly turned sideways and was about to speak when she was interrupted by Lin Jiafan's eyes.
The man took out his cell phone and called Pang Guang: "Check the system to see if there are any cases related to a man nicknamed 'Rat Brother'."
"Come on, you don't even have a proper name. Captain Lin, are you just playing cloze exercises here?" The young man on the other end of the phone sounded a little tired, but even though he complained, the crisp sound of the keyboard still came through the airwaves.
"By the way, there are no matches for the children in the other two photos in the national missing persons database. It is estimated that there is a greater probability that they are orphans or abandoned." Pang Guang also explained the progress of the unfinished work.
In response, Lin Jiafan just said "hmm".
After that, both ends of the phone fell into silence.
However, this silence only lasted for a few seconds. Soon, Pang Guang's somewhat incredulous voice rang out from the other side: "What the hell? Is it really true?"
"It was a burglary and assault case from over a decade ago. The investigative records from that time mentioned the suspect's nickname as 'Rat Brother.' The suspect's name was Lu Deshu. He was sentenced to four years in prison. He's had no new criminal record since his release seven years ago."
"How tall is it?"
"Let me see... Here's a medical report from before I entered the detention center... I'm 1.7 meters tall. I've sent you the photo. Do you have any other instructions?"
"Check what's under his name."
"He has three houses, all in good locations, and two cars, both of decent brands. He hasn't had a proper job since he got out of prison. How did he make so much money?" The young man began his signature mumbling: "Huh? He even rented a factory in Yongzhuang, Qinghe District."
Hearing this, Lin Jiafan frowned: "If I remember correctly, Yongzhuang is a village in the city?"
"Yes, the address has also been sent to your phone." Pang Guang said, and suddenly remembered something: "Oh, right, I'm on duty at work! I just heard that the leaders upstairs are holding a meeting to analyze a suspected child abduction case, and they are now deciding which department to assign to the case!"
"Captain Lin, thank goodness you're on annual leave, otherwise this mess would have fallen on us. I wonder which unlucky person would have taken over in the end..."
The tone sounded somewhat gloating.
And what responded to him was endless silence.
On the other side, Pang Guang, who had been laughing heartlessly for a long time, finally noticed something was wrong.
Hearing the noise coming from the receiver, the young man must have stood up from his chair instantly, speaking incoherently: "Lin... Captain Lin... those kids you just asked me to check... those kids are not..."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Luo Jingyao, who listened to the entire conversation between the two people, couldn't help it. Although the other party was not there, she still looked at the phone with a caring look as if for a mentally retarded person.
Sighing silently, Lin Jiafan reluctantly instructed, "Later, cooperate with them to complete the case transfer procedures. Then, contact the traffic police and borrow their traffic cameras to perform facial recognition on the three children to see if they can find any trace of them."
"I'm going to Yongzhuang now. I'll have Brother Guo and Sister Pan take a team to meet us near Yongzhuang."
"Got it." After a brief collapse, Pang Guang quickly recovered and responded without any ambiguity.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Jiafan glanced at the time on his watch. "It's been almost fourteen hours since Xiaozhe and Guoguo disappeared. The golden three hours have already passed. Now we can only gamble on the optimal rescue time of twenty-four hours."
Luo Jingyao's heart sank, and she lowered her head and silently fastened her seat belt.
The next second, the black jeep merged into the oncoming traffic at an extremely fast speed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com