Grandma Tan suddenly paused, touching her belly: "That's right... the baby..."
"Alive...no, it has to be...removed." Old Mrs. Tan's eyes gleamed with madness as she muttered to herself, fumbling with the doll she was holding, pulling it out with a knife and stabbing it into her stomach. "Remove it..."
When Tan Zhe rushed home, the nanny had already called the police, and the police were questioning her about the details of what had happened.
"How's it going, officer? Have you found my mother yet?" Tan Zhe asked anxiously, pulling the officer aside.
"Don't worry, Mr. Tan, we're still checking the surveillance footage. We believe we'll have news soon," the police officer reassured him.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Tan. I was cleaning the study at the time, and I didn't expect the old lady to walk out on her own. It was my oversight," the nanny said to Tan Zhe, crying.
Although Tan Zhe was upset, he knew that this was not her fault. Even he himself did not expect that his mother would be able to walk out on her own: "It's not your fault, Aunt Wang. I didn't expect that my mother would actually go out on her own. She has been sick for many years and has seen many doctors. This has never happened before."
The police officer thought for a moment and asked, "Has anything happened in Mr. Tan's family recently that might have upset your mother? Perhaps we can find some clues."
Tan Zhe's mind was a jumbled mess. He shook his head and said, "No."
"I heard Mr. Tan came back from country M. Did he study in country M?" the policeman asked again.
Tan Zhe shook his head: "I was born in Lanyuan. When I was seven years old, I went to the United States with my parents. So I grew up in the United States."
The policeman's eyes lit up, and he asked, "So, your mother was originally from Lanyuan?"
"Yes." Tan Zhe nodded.
"Does your mother have any relatives in Lanyuan? Maybe she went to visit them?" the police officer asked expectantly.
Tan Zhe shook his head bitterly and said, "My mother's family has been gone for a long time." Although he had occasionally heard his mother mention his father when he was a child, he guessed from the scattered experimental records left by his father that when his mother came, it was during the famine years there. It would be difficult for an old man with a mentally unstable daughter to survive, especially after so many years.
The police officer sighed regretfully and said, "In that case, we can only wait for the results from the surveillance footage."
The surveillance results came back quickly. The bad news was that when Grandma Tan arrived at Zhaohong Square, she disappeared into some corner, a blind spot of the surveillance cameras, and couldn't be found after that. The good news was that Zhaohong Square has a large flow of people, so they should be able to find witnesses.
"We're going to Zhaohong Plaza now to conduct an on-site investigation. We'll notify Mr. Tan as soon as we have any news," the police officer said, before turning to leave.
Tan Zhe quickly grabbed the man's arm, saying, "I'll go with you." His elderly mother was still missing, and as her son, how could he possibly stay at home?
The police understood his feelings and did not object.
When Tan Zhe arrived at Zhaohong Square with the police, he saw that it was not far from the abandoned cellar in the mountains.
Thinking of how excitedly he returned home last night and even mentioned it to his mother, Tan Zhe's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that his mother took his mention of the abandoned cellar and the door to heart and went to look for it on her own?
Tan Zhe dared not delay any longer and immediately rushed towards the other side of the mountain.
The police officers nearby had just finished assigning their tasks when they turned around and saw that Tan Zhe was gone: "Where is Mr. Tan?"
"I just saw them heading that way, they probably couldn't wait any longer," someone who saw them said.
"Then let him go." After saying that, the others also scattered and moved about.
Panting, Tan Zhe climbed halfway up the mountain and rushed into the abandoned cellar. Sure enough, he saw Old Mrs. Tan at a glance. She was holding a knife, her stomach had been slashed open, and she was lying unconscious in a pool of blood.
"Mom..." Tan Zhe cried out in anguish, rushed over, picked her up, and took her to the hospital.
Fortunately, she received timely medical attention and barely survived.
"The old lady is getting on in years and her health isn't good to begin with. This time, she was seriously injured. Although she was barely saved, if she has another moment of suicidal thoughts, even God might not be able to save her. You family members must keep a close eye on her from now on," the doctor warned Tan Zhe.
Looking at the still unconscious Mrs. Tan on the hospital bed, Tan Zhe nodded with a sorrowful expression, "I understand, thank you for your help, doctor."
The doctor had just left when the police arrived, having received the news. They glanced at Mrs. Tan and asked Tan Zhe, "Mr. Tan, where did you find your mother?"
"On the mountain over by the reservoir," Tan Zhe said, deliberately concealing the specific location of the abandoned cellar.
Unexpectedly, when the two policemen who arrived heard that it was in the mountains near the reservoir, they exchanged a glance and both had an indescribable expression on their faces: "Could it be near that abandoned cellar again?"
Tan Zhe's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at the police: "You also know about that abandoned cellar?"
“Of course, something happened there last year. A few young people were doing ghost-hunting live streams there, and they all went bust. Everyone says that place is haunted,” one of the policemen said.
No sooner had he finished speaking than another policeman nudged him with his elbow: "What nonsense are you talking about? You're a policeman, you can't believe in these superstitious things."
“But Master…” The policeman was about to say something when his master glared at him.
"Mr. Tan, has your mother ever had suicidal tendencies?" the police officer asked.
Tan Zhe's expression changed, and he subconsciously clenched his fist: "Yes, she suffered a trauma when she was young, and her mental state has been off ever since."
"Do you know why he chose to run up the mountain?" the policeman continued.
Tan Zhe's heart tightened, but he quickly shook his head and looked at the police, saying, "Thank you for your hard work today. Now that my mother has been found, I won't trouble you any further."
The young policeman was about to say something when his mentor stopped him, saying, "It's what we should do, it's about serving the people." After saying that, his mentor quickly pulled the young policeman away.
The police officer was still unhappy: "Why are you stopping me, sir? I think he was clearly hiding something just now."
His master glared at him: "Those are people's private matters, it's none of your business." Although he was quite curious himself.
Tan Zhe gently held his mother's cold hand on the hospital bed, and his heart also felt cold.
He knew perfectly well why his mother had gone up the mountain; she just wanted to go home.
His mother had just arrived in the 1990s. She was probably starving and searching for food everywhere when she accidentally met his father, who happened to be coming into the mountains.
His father was an educated youth sent to the countryside. He lived in Liujia Village and was a highly intelligent, somewhat psychologically disturbed mad scientist. While everyone else was scrambling to find ways to return to the city, he stayed behind for reasons unknown. After discovering his mother's secret, he imprisoned her.
His mother had finally escaped from his father and was already in the cellar, standing in front of the door, but she couldn't push it open because she was pregnant with him.
After that, she never left her father's side again until she was seven years old, when she and her mother were taken by her father to the United States.
However, Tan Zhe couldn't understand why she hadn't gone back when she was already at the door. She clearly didn't have him as a burden anymore.
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