Xing Zhaozhao's house wasn't big. Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao quickly looked around and found no place where people could hide, except for the locked cellar.
So they went back to find Fu Lan.
Fu Lan was with Grandma Qin, keeping the children company inside the house.
The room, which had been filled with laughter and joy, immediately fell silent once they entered.
Zhang Gong'an: "..."
Chen Hao: "..."
Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao felt like they were heinous villains, and they felt extremely uncomfortable standing there.
Only the oblivious Old Mrs. Qin, upon seeing Officer Zhang and Chen Hao, remained eager: "How is it, Officer Zhang? Have you found anything?"
Police Officer Zhang smiled and shook his head: "As of now, the house is safe, so you can rest assured for the time being."
"That's good." Old Mrs. Qin breathed a sigh of relief and said.
"By the way, is the cellar in the backyard always locked?" Officer Zhang asked, looking at Fu Lan.
"Yes." Fu Lan nodded, her face remaining calm throughout.
However, Zhang Gongan keenly sensed that the two little ones sitting to the side had become noticeably nervous, especially the younger one, who shrank back behind his older brother in obvious fear.
Children are children after all, and still so young. No matter how sensible they are, they can't hide some of their emotions.
Zhang Gong'an's eyes flickered as he looked at Fu Lan and continued, "Can we go in and take a look?"
“I can’t make that decision; you’ll have to ask the host.” Fu Lan shook her head and turned to look at Hong Fei.
Zhang Gong'an then looked at Hongfei, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and asked, "Is that alright?"
Hongfei straightened his little face, looked at Zhang Gong'an, and asked, "What do you want to see inside? Do you suspect there's someone hiding there? That's impossible. My cellar is always locked. You can't just go in."
Zhang Gong'an smiled and said, "We're just doing a routine check to make sure we don't miss anything."
"Alright," Hongfei said, then got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and went outside.
Zhang Gong'an was somewhat surprised, wondering if the little guy was so decisive because there really was no problem there, or because any problems had already been dealt with.
He followed Hongfei outside and watched as the little guy moved a stool, stood on it, took a bunch of keys from a nail on the wall of the main room, and then led them straight to the backyard.
Hongfei opened the cellar door, looked at Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao, and said, "Alright, you can go down and take a look now."
Zhang Gong'an took the lead and walked down the steps. Halfway down, he suddenly stopped, turned to Hongfei, and asked, "Aren't you coming down with us?"
Hongfei looked at Zhang Gong'an with a speechless expression: "You're all adults. Do you need a child to accompany you down to the cellar?"
Zhang Gong'an: "..." No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.
"Fine." Hongfei, looking like he couldn't do anything about it, followed them down into the cellar.
Police Officer Zhang: "..." I've been misunderstood. I should have known better than to ask.
The cellar wasn't large; once you entered, you could see almost the entire cellar clearly. There wasn't much inside, though there were quite a few sweet potatoes piled up. Some were in baskets, and others were piled up in small heaps in the corners. There was nothing special about them; they certainly couldn't hide an adult man, even though Chen Dachuan wasn't very tall.
Chen Hao suddenly noticed something flashing in the corner of the wall. He went over, picked it up, and his pupils contracted. He quickly stuffed the thing into his pocket and pretended nothing had happened.
Zhang Gong'an noticed Chen Hao's subtle movements, his eyes flickered, but he remained silent.
"Is that alright? Have you finished reading everything? Are there any problems?" Hongfei asked.
Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao exchanged a glance and shook their heads: "No problem."
"Let's go then," Hongfei said, turning around and walking out of the cellar first.
Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao followed closely behind.
"Do you know roughly when your mother will be back?" Officer Zhang caught up with Hongfei, who was walking very fast, and asked.
"I don't know, it's not certain," Hongfei said.
"Can we wait here for your mother to come back?" Officer Zhang asked.
"Whatever you want," Hongfei said, entering the main room. He stepped onto a stool, hung the keychain back on the nails, and then went back to his room to be with his younger siblings.
Zhang Gong'an and Chen Hao sat in the courtyard, each lighting a cigarette.
"What did you find in the cellar just now?" Officer Zhang asked.
Chen Hao took the item out of his pocket and handed it to Zhang Gong'an.
Officer Zhang took it and looked at it: "This is... a pen cap?"
Chen Hao nodded: "The pen cap I used to carry in my military uniform breast pocket..."
Zhang Gong'an frowned: "So, Chen Dachuan must have been in that cellar, then now..."
“It’s definitely gone; it can’t be hidden in that place,” Chen Hao said.
"Where do you think he is right now?" Officer Zhang asked.
Chen Hao didn't speak, but turned his head to look at the dense woods next to him.
Zhang Gong'an thought so too, but he still had doubts: "Although Chen Dachuan is not very tall, he is still an adult male. It must be difficult for Xing Zhaozhao to carry such a big person into the mountains. Is she very strong?" He had never seen Xing Zhaozhao.
Chen Hao shook his head: "She's so petite."
Zhang Gong'an was even more baffled. How could she dare to go into the mountains under such circumstances? And why weren't her family worried? Did she have accomplices?
"I'll go to the village below to inquire about Xing Zhaozhao's situation," said Zhang Gong'an after thinking for a moment, standing up.
Chen Hao glanced at the uniform on Officer Zhang's body and said, "I'll go instead. If you go like this, people might misunderstand. At least I have a relative's identity that can provide some cover."
Officer Zhang glanced down at his uniform, realized what was happening, nodded, and said, "That works too..."
Chen Hao quickly descended the mountain, but returned not long afterward.
Zhang Gong'an had just finished one cigarette and lit his second. He hadn't even taken two puffs when he saw Chen Hao suddenly return. He was stunned and asked in surprise, "Why are you back so soon? Didn't you ask?"
Chen Hao shook his head, looked at Zhang Gong'an, and said with a strange expression, "On the contrary, her glorious deeds are so outstanding that you can ask anyone and everyone knows about them."
"What glorious deeds?" Zhang Gong'an asked.
"She's incredibly strong. I heard she hunted a wild boar this big in the mountains just last month, and she carried it down all by herself," Chen Hao said, gesturing to show the size of the wild boar.
Zhang Gong'an's mouth dropped open, and he was stunned for a long time, not even noticing that the cigarette between his fingers had fallen.
It took him a while to come to his senses, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Amazing! No wonder..."
Zhang Gong'an didn't finish her sentence, but Chen Hao already understood what she meant.
"Fortunately..." Chen Hao said, also hesitating to finish his sentence.
Otherwise, he couldn't imagine what kind of scene they would see when they arrived.
When Officer Zhang realized what was happening, his face darkened. He instinctively pinched his fingers together, trying to put the cigarette in his mouth, but missed. Realizing something was wrong, he quickly looked down and found the still-lit cigarette on the ground. He bent down, picked it up, and muttered, "Damn it." It was unclear whether he was cursing the cigarette on the ground or something else.
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