Chapter 26 Chapter 26 The Second Drawing
The meal was tasteless.
The two senior high school students were in a hurry, so after finishing their meal, they said hello to Pei Qing and Xu An who were sharing the table with them, and quickly returned to school.
Only after they left did Pei Qing look at Xu An.
"According to what they said, it seems like he ran away from home due to family conflict."
Xu An took out his cell phone and looked through his address book.
Pei Qing: "What are you looking for?"
Xu An said without even looking up: "Let's get in touch with old classmates."
Pei Qing realized: "Your old classmate works at the local police station?"
Xu An nodded: "Yes."
It didn't take him long to find Jia Yang's name and he made a phone call.
Pei Qing listened to him chatting with someone on the phone. After chatting for about ten minutes, Xu An hung up.
"Let's go to the police station."
Xu An’s old classmate is named Jia Yang, who is currently a police officer at Anliang Police Station.
Before going to the police station, Xu An picked some fruits and took them to the police station.
As soon as Pei Qing drove the Volkswagen to the gate of Anliang Police Station, he saw a dark and thin man standing at the door.
This person is Jia Yang.
Pei Qing said to Xu An: "Your old classmate is really dark."
Xu An got out of the car carrying the fruit and explained to Pei Qing: "He tanned himself. He used to be very fair, even fairer than you. He was teased a lot in the police academy, so he got angry and tanned himself into a charcoal black."
Pei Qing didn't understand: "What's wrong with being a little whiter?"
Xu An: "You don't understand. Men, if they are a little white, people will laugh at them."
He waved to Jia Yang. Jia Yang saw him, strode over, rubbed his hands, and said, "Hey, you're here, what else do you want to bring?"
Xu An pretended to put the things in the car: "Okay, I'll put them back."
Jia Yang quickly reached out and pulled the bag of fruit over.
"I've brought them here, there's no point in taking them back. Come in, it's just in time for your lunch break. Hey, who is this?"
Xu An introduced: "My sister."
Jia Yang: "Oh, your sister. First time meeting you. Hello, hello. Come in."
He warmly invited them in.
After walking to the office and putting the fruit on the table, Jia Yang said before Xu An asked, "What's the matter with you? You care about me for the first time in eight hundred years? I'm a little scared that you care about me so much all of a sudden."
Xu An: "Then don't eat it."
Jia Yang picked up a banana, ate it in a few bites, and then looked at Xu An provocatively.
"Okay, we're done eating. What do you want to know? Our police station only handles trivial matters every day, nothing major. When I first answered the phone, I was wondering why you came to me?"
Xu An: "Isn't there a student from a school nearby who is missing?"
Jia Yang was picking apples and paused when he heard this.
"Missing? Oh, you mean Xu Qianyu."
He looked like he had a headache.
"Why do you want to know this?"
Xu An: "I have a relative who is studying in Anqing and asked me to find out about him."
When he heard that the question was about Xu Qianyu, Jia Yang withdrew his hand that was picking apples.
Xu An: "I am grateful for the food I have eaten."
Jia Yang: "Okay, okay, okay, this matter has annoyed our director so much, and you come to ask again today. There is nothing hidden. We know what we know from asking Xu Qianyu's neighbors."
Pei Qing was very tactful and handed him a rosy apple, which Jia Yang took.
Jia Yang: "Thank you, sister. Xu Qianyu, this is the third time she has run away from home."
Pei Qing: "Tell me in detail?"
Jia Yang scratched his head. "Her parents both have some problems. Which parents would get divorced when their children are in their senior year of high school? Even if they did, they would keep it a secret. But Xu Qianyu's father is different. He lived with his lover before the divorce certificate was issued. He even had a child, a son."
He said with a toothache: "It happened last year. Since then, I have received calls from Xu Qianyu's mother every few days. But this little girl is also quite amazing. She ran away from home, but her grades are quite stable, which is also amazing."
Pei Qing: "Then where did she go when she ran away from home? Wasn't she found back the first two times?"
If he wasn't found, how could he run away from home for the third time?
Jia Yang: "The first time I found her was in a black internet cafe. As soon as I found her, her mother rushed over. Fortunately, I was quick to pull Xu Qianyu over, otherwise she would have been slapped by her mother."
Pei Qing: "Xu Qianyu has a bad relationship with her mother? Did she go to find her father?"
Jia Yang: "Why are you looking for her? Her father's new son is only a little over one year old this year. He is so precious to her that he has no time to care about her."
Xu An: "What about the second time?"
Jia Yang: "The second time was in a hotel. The hotel was not formal. No ID card was swiped. Xu Qianyu gave cash. She was quite smart. After she ran away from home for the first time and was found, she was afraid that we would find her by locating her phone the second time, so she directly pulled out the SIM card and did not use the bank card. Later, we visited every house to find her.
She is using her brain to compete with her mother. I have to say that Xu Qianyu's mother and Xu Qianyu have very different personalities. Her mother has a bad temper. She either scolds or cries. Now, when we see her, we all have a headache. Xu Qianyu is the opposite. She doesn't shout when something happens, but always thinks about it in her heart. "
Xu An: "Is there anyone who would say that to you?"
Jia Yang's words carried a hint of resentment: "If you have people come to your house to make trouble for you three times a day, and people treat it as a spectacle, you won't be much better. And you're still blaming me, how much better can your temper be than mine?"
Xu An was speechless.
Pei Qing looked around and asked, "Didn't Xu Qianyu's mother come today?"
Jia Yang: "She came to make a scene this morning and asked us where her daughter is for three days. We have been looking for her everywhere!"
Jia Yang scratched his fingers and said, "I searched everywhere, including the homes of her good friends, the black internet cafes in this area, and some small hotels. I even went to the relief station in the city, but couldn't find her!"
Pei Qing looked at his dark face which was turning purple due to anger, and hurriedly asked him to sit down.
"Let me get you a glass of water."
She found the water dispenser and poured a cup of warm water for Jia Yang.
Jia Yang looked at her for a few seconds, then said to Xu An, "It's great to have a sister. My brother only knows how to complain to me about his poverty."
Xu An kicked his chair.
"Don't think too much. I see you're not in a hurry. Are you so sure Xu Qianyu is fine? What if she runs into some bad guy when she runs away from home..."
Jia Yang doesn’t think so.
"Didn't the city bureau issue a notice before, asking for more patrols to protect the lives and property of residents? In fact, the public security in our area is quite good. During the days when Xu Qianyu disappeared, we also visited many places and didn't hear of any incidents."
He patted Xu An and said, "Tell your relative not to be afraid. Xu Qianyu is very smart. This little girl is not someone who will be bullied by others. She must be hiding somewhere."
Xu An: "You are quite confident in an 18-year-old girl?"
Jia Yang chuckled a few times: "Kids nowadays are as smart as ghosts. Xu Qianyu is not that stupid. You will know it after talking to her for a few words. Although the black Internet cafes and small hotels she found do not check ID cards, they are all monitored. I don't think she will run to some remote ghost place.
I just don’t know where this damn girl is hiding. In the past two days, not only her mother came, but also her class teacher and classmates came to the police station to ask questions. She seems to be quite popular. It’s really not easy for her class teacher. His hair has turned white.
Pei Qing pinched his index finger and asked again: "What if he was kidnapped..."
Jia Yang: "Don't worry about that. She ran away from home to find a place to stay. She didn't need to go out to buy food or drink. She never left the house. How could she be kidnapped?"
As they were talking, the police officer on duty brought someone over.
"Brother Jia, Teacher Qian is here."
Pei Qing looked back and saw a little old man with half white hair, walking in with a worried look on his face.
She heard Jia Yang complaining beside her.
"This is our homeroom teacher, Xu Qianyu."
He picked out a few peaches from the fruits bought by Xu An and stuffed them into the arms of Teacher Qian who came in.
"Teacher Qian, you are here again. Come, sit down."
Teacher Qian didn't expect that there would be someone here at Jia Yang's place at noon.
The old man was embarrassed: "Excuse me, excuse me, I——"
Jia Yang: "It's okay, this is my old classmate, come to chat with me."
He pulled Xu An, pointed at him and said, "This is the City Bureau's Serious Crime Squad."
The old man's face changed, and he asked tremblingly: "Did something happen to our Qianyu?"
Xu An hurriedly shook off Jia Yang's hand and explained to the old teacher who had taught for many years: "No, I just wanted to ask him something. It has nothing to do with Xu Qianyu. We just chatted for a few minutes."
Pei Qing dragged a chair over and asked the old man to sit down.
"Please sit down."
The old man sat down: "Thank you, thank you. Are you a policeman too?"
Pei Qing: "No, no, no, I just came with my brother to check it out."
She observed the little old man in front of her and felt that he was really vicissitudes of life. The job of a class teacher was indeed not easy.
The old man put the pear on the table and asked Jia Yang: "Officer Jia, our Qianyu..."
Jia Yang: "Right away, I'll send the people away and then I'll take people to continue looking for her. Don't worry, we will definitely try our best to find her. You can relax too, Xu Qianyu is a very smart child..."
The old man was also worried: "She is too opinionated. I told her before that she is already in the third year of high school and should study hard. If she really doesn't like home, she can choose a university far away. But she didn't listen to me. With her grades, she can go to any university."
Pei Qing found the scene a little strange when he saw Jia Yang and the old man facing each other and worrying together.
She asked, "Has Xu Qianyu ever considered living on campus?"
I lived in the school dormitory during high school and went home once a week, which helped to ease my relationship with my family a little.
The old man: "I also mentioned that she doesn't live on campus. She doesn't like group life. The boarding students are indeed strictly managed, and Qianyu doesn't like it."
So that's it.
Pei Qing and Xu An didn't stay long. After asking for Xu Qianyu's home address, they left the police station.
When we went to Xu Qianyu's house, Xu An drove.
While driving, he said to Pei Qing: "It seems that Xu Qianyu has been away from home so often that Jia Yang has become desensitized."
Pei Qing: "The story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is timeless and still makes sense."
She stared at the suitcase in the drawing again. It was an ordinary suitcase and not a brand name.
What happened between the man in the raincoat and Xu Qianyu?
Xu An: "It hasn't rained yet, right? There's still time, don't panic."
Pei Qing: "But I checked the weather forecast, and it's going to rain the day after tomorrow."
Xu An: "Then let's move quickly."
He turned the steering wheel, turned a corner, and soon arrived at a residential building with dense buildings.
Xu An parked the car on the side of the road. Pei Qing got out of the car and looked at the numbers printed on the side of the building. She walked while looking for it, and finally pointed to the building in front and asked Xu An to hurry up.
"Right over there, Building 4."
Jia Yang just said that Xu Qianyu lives on the third floor of Unit 2.
After locking the car, Xu An and Pei Qing walked towards Building No. 4.
There are old buildings here. I heard Jia Yang mention that Xu Qianyu's house was inherited from her grandparents, so the houses in the community are old, and there are many neighbors, and she knows everyone upstairs and downstairs.
The two walked to Building No. 4, passing by a row of vegetable fields in the middle. Several old people were busy working in the fields, full of the breath of life.
Xu Anduo looked at it for a few more times and said to Pei Qing, "This is to turn the green belt into a small vegetable garden."
Pei Qing: "How nice! They are all green. Why be so particular? When you get older, it's good to find something to do."
Xu An: "If the municipal government is serious, these vegetables will have to be pulled out."
Pei Qing said suddenly: "It's okay, the old man just needs to lie on the ground."
Xu An was speechless: "How come you are so good at thinking of solutions?"
The two of them walked quickly to Unit 2 of Building 4 and met an old lady coming down the stairs.
Pei Qing and Xu An made way for the old lady, and waited until she came downstairs before finding an opportunity to ask, "Hello, is anyone from the Xu family on the third floor home?"
The old lady said, "Hey, are you asking about Hongmei? Hongmei has gone to work."
It is indeed an old neighborhood and all the neighbors know each other.
The old lady looked at Pei Qing and Xu An again and asked, "Do you have something to do with Hongmei? Then wait a minute. Hongmei doesn't get off work until around 7 or 8 in the evening these days."
Pei Qing thought, that’s really great.
She didn't want to run into Xu Qianyu's mother.
Xu An: "She's not here, can I ask her something?"
Grandma: "Okay. Everyone knows about Hongmei's family. She has a miserable life. Her husband is a worthless person. Now her daughter has run away from home. She is the only one at home. I saw her crying secretly yesterday. What a miserable life!"
Pei Qing did not comment on this.
Xu An: "Her daughter hasn't been found yet?"
Grandma: "No, children are so willful nowadays. It's not easy for Hongmei either. She feels bad too. Life is hard for women..."
Pei Qing changed the topic from women's miserable lives and asked, "Do the mother and daughter upstairs often quarrel?"
The old lady nodded: "Isn't it? They quarrel every other day, and they are like crickets. Why are you looking for Hongmei?"
Xu An took out his police officer ID, but due to his old age and poor eyesight, he could only see the black leather.
"Police, you're looking for Qianyu, right? Ouch!"
She turned around and climbed upstairs, inviting Xu An and Pei Qing to come to her house and sit down.
"You're welcome. I'll call Hongmei."
Pei Qing stopped him: "No, no, it will delay her work. She is going to look for her daughter. She often takes leave for work. It's not an important matter today. Don't call her back. If there is any problem at work, it will be bad."
The old lady thought so too.
"She's working at 8 o'clock, but she has to work until 8 or 9 o'clock. It's not easy."
She walked into the room, and Pei Qing saw the floor mat and wanted to take off his shoes.
The old lady waved her hands and said, "No, no, I haven't mopped the house for a long time. I'm old and my energy is not as good as before. Come in. A woman's feet can't be frozen."
Pei Qing and Xu An walked in. They didn't walk around but sat down on the wooden sofa.
The sofa back was very hard and Pei Qing was a little uncomfortable with it.
After Xu An sat down, he chose a topic and asked, "Xu Qianyu is missing. Has her father come to look for her?"
The old lady poured two cups of water from the teapot. After hearing this, she shook her head and said, "He won't come. He has a son now, so how can he care about his daughter? But it's a good thing that he doesn't come. If he comes, Qianyu will have to quarrel with him."
Pei Qing: "Qianyu has a bad relationship with her parents?"
Grandma: "It was fine at first. Although we quarreled, we could still get by. But last year, when Qianyu found out that Lao Xu had a son, the family started to get in turmoil."
Pei Qing was surprised: "Did Xu Qianyu find it?"
Grandma: "Yes, Lao Xu didn't come home during those days, so Qianyu went to look for him, and later she found the son."
She slapped her thigh and shouted, "Qianyu has been very capable since she was little. She even brought the child to Hongmei's workplace to show her, but Hongmei still didn't believe it. She is much dumber than Qianyu."
ah?
Pei Qing became curious: "How could she bring this child here?"
The old lady: "Qianyu has her own way. She is very smart. Humph, the woman that Old Xu found is also a fool. Her own son was taken away right under her nose. She is much worse than Hongmei..."
Xu An coughed a few times and continued to ask, "Did Old Xu cause trouble to Xu Qianyu after he found that woman?"
The old lady said: "How dare she? She didn't have the brains to do that. Hongmei and Lao Xu hadn't divorced yet, and I don't know what Lao Xu saw in her."
Pei Qing whispered, "You've taken a fancy to your son, right?"
The old lady got angry again: "Our Qianyu has been smart since she was little. How can that child who can't even speak compare to Qianyu!"
Pei Qing nodded: "Yeah, yeah."
Xu An asked again: "Besides the woman that Old Xu found, who else doesn't like Xu Qianyu?"
Grandma: "No, everyone likes Qianyu. Qianyu has been beautiful since she was young, has good grades, and is sweet-mouthed. All the neighbors like her. Her father is blind and black-hearted. He even sold Hongmei's gold jewelry. He has no use for it himself and he stole his wife. In my opinion, Hongmei will have a better life if she divorces."
As he was cursing, there was a sound of the door opening.
A girl in a skirt walked in. Seeing someone in the living room, she looked unhappy and asked, "Grandma, who is this?"
The old lady said: "Hey, this is the police, come and call someone."
The girl was unhappy: "It's the police again. Our house is not a police station. The police come every few days. If they want to find someone, they should go upstairs. What does this have to do with our house? Grandma, I told you not to let anyone into the house casually!"
The old lady looked embarrassed.
"My granddaughter is a little willful."
She waved at her granddaughter again: "I was talking to the police about Qianyu. Qianyu hasn't been found yet. How can I not be anxious?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the girl's face became even uglier.
"Tiantian Qianyu Qianyu Qianyu, you like her so much, let Xu Qianyu be your granddaughter! Let's see if Xu Qianyu will pay attention to you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she rushed into the bedroom with her schoolbag and slammed the door.
The room was silent.
Pei Qing pinched his ears. Just now, this grandmother said that all the neighbors liked Xu Qianyu, but her granddaughter didn't seem to like Xu Qianyu at all.
Xu An coughed, breaking the awkwardness in the room.
The old lady touched the chair and then the table, not knowing what to do.
She explained: "The child is ignorant, sorry for making fun of him."
Pei Qing said cautiously: "Your granddaughter doesn't seem to like Xu Qianyu very much."
Grandma: "Alas, they often played in the mud together when they were young. I don't know why they suddenly became estranged after growing up. They live upstairs and downstairs, and they don't say a few words to each other."
Having just been given the cold shoulder, Pei Qing and Xu An didn't feel comfortable sitting there any longer, so they found an excuse to leave.
As soon as he got downstairs, Xu An couldn't help but say, "Children nowadays are really powerful. When we were young, we didn't dare to slam the door on our eldest brother."
Pei Qing: "Children don't think so much."
The two were about to walk out, but after a few steps, they noticed a flash of light on the right.
Xu An looked up and saw the curtains on the second floor fluttering in the wind, and a figure flashed behind the curtains.
Pei Qing: "Is that a flash? Isn't that the direction of the girl's bedroom? Why is she taking pictures of us?"
Xu An: "This kid is interesting. She's not happy to see us, but she still wants to take pictures of us. Who is she taking pictures for?"
Pei Qing: "Go up and ask?"
Xu An: "Why bother with that? We have nothing to do anyway. Jia Yang has taken people to look for Xu Qianyu. Let's just wait here and see what this kid is going to do. Let's go, let's go. If we don't leave, she won't dare to show herself."
Pei Qing wanted to look back, but Xu An pulled him forward.
Pei Qing: "Is Xu Qianyu's disappearance related to her? She is so young, it's impossible."
Xu An: "Maybe we can think about it in a positive way."
Pei Qing: "Ah? Oh, you mean she did it on purpose, Xu Qianyu hasn't been found by Jia Yang for so long, because someone sent her a message?"
Xu An: "It's very likely. Xu Qianyu has run away from home several times and has plenty of experience. Jia Yang is not bad either. He has been a policeman for several years and has a good ability to judge people. Maybe it's true as he said, Xu Qianyu has found a place to hide."
Pei Qing: "But why?"
The two got in the car, Xu An moved the car to another location, and then began to wait.
Xu An: "We both gave our eldest brother too much worry. We couldn't understand what these rebellious kids were thinking."
Pei Qing: "Can you please not bring me along when you're bragging about yourself?"
The two of them squatted for two hours before the girl from the second floor came down.
She threw away the garbage in her hand first, then rummaged through her pockets, took out a few bags of snacks and walked out of the community.
Pei Qing: "Let's go, let's go, follow me."
Xu An: "Stay away, don't get discovered."
The two men followed the girl at a distance and saw her strolling into the park. Before she could call out, several stray cats walked towards her.
She scratched their chins one by one first, and then she opened the snacks and fed them one by one.
Pei Qing and Xu An watched her feed the cat, which took more than half an hour.
After feeding, she clapped her hands and walked out of the park.
Pei Qing and Xu An didn't rush to catch up, but first looked at the stray cat lying on the lawn.
Pei Qing: "It seems that they are not afraid of people."
She walked a few steps closer and took a look, and then she found a black cat with a red bell around its neck.
Only this black cat has it.
She pointed it out to Xu An.
"Did the black cat just now have a bell around its neck?"
Xu An thought about it and said with his excellent eyesight: "I don't remember."
The two of them stared at the red bell.
Being watched by two humans, the black cat licked its paws and then quickly squeezed into the bushes.
"Why?"
Pei Qing quickly followed, but found that she could not walk the same path the cat had walked. In a few seconds, the black cat disappeared.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
