“Who knows? She was badly frightened and has already been taken to the hospital. The police contacted the person she had spoken with most frequently recently, and that person just went to see her.”
Shen Nanyue thought for a moment.
“You mean Xu Ping?”
Shen An’an nodded.
“Xu Ping really does care about her.”
Shen Nanyue wasn’t particularly concerned about that.
What struck her as strange was Gu Linlang’s appearance at the Chen family residence.
“An’an, take me to the police station.”
“Aren’t you going home to rest?”
“We’ll talk about that later. Let’s go to the police station first.”
Unable to argue with Shen Nanyue, Shen An’an drove her there.
……
At the police station.
After explaining the circumstances surrounding her father’s death, the police simply reassured her.
“If it’s the truth, we’ll uncover it.”
Shen Nanyue requested to see Chen Tianming, but the police rejected her request.
“The suspect’s crimes are extremely serious. Visits are not permitted.”
Shen Nanyue gave up.
Then, as if remembering something, she turned back to the officer.
“Officer, I can provide a lead. Meng Yan, the current chairman of Meng Group, previously worked with Chen Tianming. At an exchange event organized by the Meng family some time ago, Meng Yan sold a girl he had purchased from Chen Tianming to another group of people.”
“In the past few days, Meng Yan has signed several major contracts and solidified his position within the company. If you investigate those deals, you should be able to identify the people involved in the transactions.”
The officer’s eyes lit up after hearing her statement.
“The information you’ve provided is extremely helpful. Thank you.”
Shen Nanyue said it was nothing.
She and Shen An’an stayed at the station a while longer to give additional statements before finally heading home.
After helping Shen Nanyue back to her bedroom to rest, Shen An’an left the Shen residence.
She drove directly to an old, run-down apartment complex.
Passing through a maze of narrow alleys and turning several corners, she stopped beneath a six-story residential building.
Looking up, she saw that the red paint on the walls had long since peeled away, the color faded with age.
Yet every balcony was decorated with colorful flowers or hanging laundry, giving the building a vibrant sense of life.
She entered the building and climbed to the top floor, stopping at the apartment on the right.
The door was tightly shut.
She raised her hand and hesitated for a moment before finally knocking.
A woman’s voice soon sounded from inside.
“Coming, coming. Who is it?”
A woman close to fifty years old opened the door.
She wore an apron and held a small garment covered in soap suds, clearly in the middle of doing laundry.
She looked at Shen An’an with confusion, though the young woman’s face seemed oddly familiar.
“You are…?”
Shen An’an smiled.
“Hello, Auntie. I’m Sun Ying’s friend, Shen An’an. I’ve visited your home before.”
Hearing Sun Ying’s name again, Zhao Yue no longer burst into tears as she had when her daughter first disappeared.
Lowering her eyes, she invited Shen An’an inside.
Sun Ying’s home was simple and warmly furnished.
Sunlight streamed through a flower-filled windowsill, illuminating the entire room.
The tables and chairs were all secondhand furniture.
One corner of the living room had been turned into a nursery area, where a baby slept peacefully in a small crib.
Shen An’an stopped in her tracks and turned toward Zhao Yue.
With a sigh, Zhao Yue tossed the soapy clothes into a nearby basin, picked up a clean cloth, wiped her hands, and slowly explained.
“Yingzi has been gone for three years. The chances of finding her are very slim.”
“Her father and I were too lonely.”
So they had chosen to have another child in their forties?
Shen An’an pressed her lips together and remained silent.
She wasn’t Sun Ying’s parent and couldn’t truly understand their feelings.
“Auntie, I came here to tell you…”
Suddenly, Zhao Yue seemed to realize why Shen An’an had come.
She rushed forward and grabbed Shen An’an’s hands.
“Is it Yingzi? Have you found her?”
Her voice trembled with excitement, and her eyes were already red.
Shen An’an quickly looked away, unable to bear the hope shining in Zhao Yue’s eyes.
“We found her, but…”
Holding Zhao Yue’s hands gently, she spoke in a soft voice.
“Auntie, you need to prepare yourself.”
A terrible premonition rose in Zhao Yue’s heart.
Her face turned deathly pale as she slowly released Shen An’an’s hands.
After Shen An’an told her what had happened to Sun Ying, Zhao Yue clutched her chest and broke into heart-wrenching sobs.
“I knew it… I knew it…”
“My daughter was never coming back…”
She crouched on the floor, even her sobs restrained and cautious.
Seeing this, Shen An’an knelt beside her and gently patted her back, yet she had no idea what words could possibly comfort her.
Sun Ying had been her middle school classmate and one of the few friends she had truly gotten along with.
Three years ago, Sun Ying suddenly disappeared.
Following the clues she uncovered, Shen An’an traced everything back to the Chen family.
So she began searching.
She never expected that search to last three whole years.
When the Chen family was finally brought down the previous night, she told the police everything she knew about Sun Ying.
After a long investigation, the police finally identified Sun Ying among the victims and confirmed that she had been murdered by Chen Tianming and his associates three years ago after resisting them.
Shen An’an remained at the police station for a long time before finally calming down with Li Che’s company.
Today, she had come to Sun Ying’s home for one reason only—to bring news of Sun Ying to Zhao Yue.
After crying for a long while, Zhao Yue gradually composed herself.
Her gaze fell upon the infant still sleeping in the crib.
The tears remained in her eyes, but her expression slowly became resolute.
“An’an, have they found Yingzi’s remains?”
Shen An’an shook her head.
“The police will probably contact you. Sun Ying died three years ago. The chances of finding her remains are very slim.”
Zhao Yue shook her head.
“I won’t be going to the police station.”
“Her father and I will take the baby back to our hometown and set up a memorial tomb for her there.”
Then she looked at Shen An’an sincerely.
“Thank you.”
After leaving Sun Ying’s home, Shen An’an couldn’t quite describe how she felt.
She only felt waves of sadness rising in her heart.
Sun Ying had been missing for only three years, yet her parents had already chosen a path forward for themselves.
To avoid personally confronting the pain of losing their daughter, they didn’t even want to visit the police station, much less continue searching for Sun Ying’s remains.
Looking at the countless messages from Bai Youwei on her phone, the barriers she had built around her heart gradually began to crumble.
After replying to a message from Li Che, she finally called Bai Youwei.
For the first time, the mother and daughter spoke across countries for more than three minutes.
After receiving Shen An’an’s message, the worry hanging over Li Che’s heart finally eased.
He had been afraid that Shen An’an would fall into a spiral of self-blame.
Afraid that she would somehow blame herself for what had happened to Sun Ying.
Fortunately, none of what he feared came to pass.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yushen finally woke up.
When he saw that Li Che was the only person beside his hospital bed, an inexplicable disappointment welled up inside him.
“Hey, what’s with that expression? I’ve been sitting here keeping you company, and somehow you’re still unhappy?”
Struggling, Zhou Yushen pushed himself upright.
Li Che kindly reached out to help him.
Zhou Yushen vaguely remembered how, before he lost consciousness the night before, Shen Nanyue had held him in her arms, looking so worried that she seemed on the verge of tears.
Before he could ask, Li Che spoke first.
“Shen Nanyue took care of you all night. She went home this morning to get some rest.”
Zhou Yushen’s face remained expressionless.
But inside, a trace of joy stirred.
So she really did care about him.
Li Che chuckled, then added in a mildly reproachful tone, “You really went all out last night. What exactly did you and Chen An talk about down there?”
— The end of the Chapter–
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