Five days passed, and Zhao Yan drew twenty talismans, stretching contentedly.
She thought that after earning a little more money, she would renovate the shop better, at least paint the walls in her preferred style.
"Sister Zhao, I found that guy!" Wu Jiaxin said, eating noodles while scrolling through videos on her phone.
Seeing the content of the video, she quickly tapped Zhao Yan's shoulder.
"Which guy?" Zhao Yan asked.
"Look." Wu Jiaxin handed her phone to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan leaned over.
She saw the news report from Nancheng.
"How many decades can one have in a lifetime? To find his biological son, this man spent over thirty years. Heaven rewards the persistent; he finally found him."
"The man's perseverance has moved many netizens. Today, we received enthusiastic cheers from the public and specifically came to interview this man."
In the video, a male reporter held a microphone. Behind him, many people surrounded a man in his fifties and a young man in his twenties, holding each other tightly. The older man's face was flushed with emotion, and his hands trembled as he held the young man.
The older man cried out to the young man, "I'm so sorry, child. I've only found you after all these years. If I had found you sooner, your mother could have seen you."
The male reporter walked over with the microphone and said to the older man, "Congratulations, sir, you've finally found your child. We are Nancheng News, and we rushed here knowing your story. May we interview you?"
The older man wiped his tears, tears of joy.
"Yes."
"Your story has deeply touched us. It seems you were searching for your child while collecting garbage. What kept you going for over thirty years without giving up?"
The older man said seriously, "I promised the child's mother that no matter how hard or tiring it was, I wouldn't give up. Our child being abducted was a deep worry for both my wife and me. Until this worry is gone, even if my legs were crippled, I would crawl to find him."
"Good!!" The surrounding crowd applauded.
The older man pointed at the camera, "Your news channel is broadcast nationwide."
The male reporter nodded, "We have accounts on many platforms. As long as people have a phone, there's a high chance they'll see it."
The older man patted his face to look happier.
He pulled the young man and brought him to the camera.
"Master, do you see? I found my son! Thank you! Otherwise, I don't know when I would have seen my son."
"I bow to you."
"Child, bow quickly."
The young man didn't understand, but he bowed towards the camera with the older man.
"Oh, no, please don't." Zhao Yan immediately got off her stool and quickly bowed to the phone.
"Sister Zhao, our followers have increased by fifty thousand, now at seventeen thousand."
"Ah!" Zhao Yan exclaimed in surprise and leaned closer to look.
"My goodness, they really did increase by fifty thousand followers."
In the latest post, the comments were all "Awesome!"
Many people urged Zhao Yan to start her live stream soon.
"Our private messages are exploding; we've been affected by this incident!" Wu Jiaxin said.
Zhao Yan was gratified. After thinking for a moment, she wanted to put the shop's information under her account and discussed it with Wu Jiaxin.
Wu Jiaxin felt it was not a good idea. If she put it there, many netizens would come. If they had genuine issues, it would be fine, but she was afraid of those who would cause trouble, which would only waste time.
Zhao Yan agreed. As she was thinking, a car pulled up to the entrance.
Zhao Yan thought it was a customer and looked towards the car window.
"It's Officer Qin."
Zhao Yan's first reaction was to glance at Wu Jiaxin.
"Sister Zhao, I've been at school these past few days. It's impossible that I've caused trouble."
Officer Qin quickly walked into the shop.
Zhao Yan stood up with Wu Jiaxin.
"Officer Qin, why are you here?" Zhao Yan asked.
"I visited your shop before and saw that you didn't have a business license. I was passing by today and wanted to inform you that there will be a major inspection soon. Please get your license as soon as possible," Officer Qin said.
Zhao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for making this trip. Please have some water."
Wu Jiaxin took the water and handed it to Officer Qin.
Officer Qin unscrewed the cap and took a sip. "Well, just don't forget about it."
After speaking, he turned and walked towards the shop entrance. As he reached the door, he turned back and said, "Oh, right, I have something very important to tell you."
"You two girls should avoid going out at night recently. There was a homicide in Nancheng District."
"A twenty-two-year-old girl was murdered, and the method was extremely brutal. The killer is very cunning, keeping us busy without any leads."
When Zhao Yan heard "Nancheng District," her heart skipped a beat. Could it be the girl from the live stream?
"Ah, that serious?" Zhao Yan said in a low voice.
"Yes, they've even formed a special task force."
"Alright, I'm leaving now."
Zhao Yan spoke up, "Officer Qin, what did the girl look like?"
"Her face was smashed beyond recognition with a brick, so we can't see clearly. We're currently verifying her identity." Officer Qin said.
"Someone called to report it earlier, and I instinctively thought it was you."
"Alright, I need to go now."
"Okay." Zhao Yan nodded.
Zhao Yan craned her neck to watch Officer Qin get into his car.
Seeing the car drive away, she quickly pushed her electric scooter towards the entrance.
"Jiaxin, quickly close the shop. We need to go too."
"Ah! We're going too?" Wu Jiaxin was stunned, closed the shop door, and quickly followed behind Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan handed Wu Jiaxin a helmet.
"I just have a feeling it might be the girl from the live stream. She seemed to be in Nancheng District too."
"Also, Officer Qin's facial features suggest he might encounter misfortune, and it's possible this is connected to the incident."
"He even came to remind us to get our business license today. He's a kind police officer. If I can help, I want to try and assist him."
She had few friends, and Officer Qin was one of them.
As she spoke, Zhao Yan asked Wu Jiaxin to hold her tighter.
Following closely behind Officer Qin's police car, which was driving fast, Zhao Yan increased her speed to the maximum.
"Sister Zhao, do you smell something burning?" Wu Jiaxin held Zhao Yan's waist tightly, feeling a strange smell that made her dizzy.
"Burning smell?" Zhao Yan muttered in confusion and quickly looked down.
"Holy cow, we're going too fast! The electric scooter is on fire!"
"Ah! What do we do? Sister Zhao, stop quickly!"
Zhao Yan slammed on the brakes.
"We're screwed! The brakes are broken too!"
"Ah! What do we do, Sister Zhao!"
"Head for the river, and hold on to me tightly!"
Zhao Yan steadied the handlebars and steered towards the moat on the left.
"Sir, please move aside!" Zhao Yan shouted at an elderly man walking on the sidewalk.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Ah!!"
Wu Jiaxin screamed from behind, and as they plunged into the water, a tragic cry echoed through the sky.
The old man looked back and exclaimed, "Oh, holy cow! These young people!"