"Officer Yang?"
Yang Shuang turned at the sound of her name and saw Chen Lishu smiling and nodding at her.
Chen Lishu stepped forward, looking at Lu Yang, who was crying uncontrollably and calling for his mother. She frowned and said, "I recognize this child. What's going on here?"
"You recognize him?" The suspect had escaped, and she and her colleagues were wondering how to find a home for this child and locate his family.
"We suspect this child was trafficked. We've apprehended the two people who bought the child, but the two suspects who sold him, a man and a woman, accidentally got away."
In fact, upon seeing the man and woman in handcuffs, Chen Lishu had a rough idea of what was happening. Even a tigress wouldn't eat her cubs, so she couldn't fathom Lin Xiaohui being so heartless.
"Could I trouble you to come back with us to assist with the investigation?" Yang Shuang asked her.
Chen Lishu nodded. "Alright."
"Third Sister-in-law?" Gu Xingye called out as she was about to leave.
Chen Lishu turned back. "I'm going with them. Fourth Brother, you should go back first."
Gu Xingye nodded. Watching Chen Lishu leave with the officers, he turned and headed back to the construction site.
"The person we're looking for today is named Qiu Peng. We've been tracking him for a long time. The city bureau previously apprehended two individuals, one of whom was named Wang Er Biao. Do you happen to remember him?"
Wang Er Biao?
Chen Lishu suddenly remembered that she had an accident in May while preparing for her overseas studies. She hadn't expected so many things to be connected to it.
Yang Shuang continued, "Actually, you met this Qiu Peng a long time ago. He's just very good at disguise, and his appearance makes it hard for people to remember him."
She had met him a long time ago?
Chen Lishu looked at her in confusion. How could she not remember?
Without waiting for her question, Yang Shuang provided the explanation: "Two years ago, you rescued Rui Rui from him. Qiu Peng's wife was arrested, but he escaped. Perhaps because his wife is here, his movements have been confined to the vicinity of the provincial capital."
Chen Lishu was surprised. She hadn't expected it to be him!
Yang Shuang continued, "However, he can't run for much longer. All local police stations now have his information, and checkpoints have been set up at train stations and bus stations. We'll catch him soon, and we might even find out about Rui Rui's background and help find his biological parents."
When Qiu Peng's wife was interrogated back then, she knew nothing. Once the person himself was caught, they could rescue more children.
Rui Rui's... biological parents?
Chen Lishu felt a buzzing in her head. The news was too sudden, striking her so hard that her hands and feet went numb and her vision blurred. She heard nothing more of what Yang Shuang said.
"Chen Lishu?" Seeing that she hadn't responded for a long time, Yang Shuang looked up. She saw Chen Lishu staring blankly with a pale face and called her name again, asking with some concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
...
By the time Lin Xiaoyue and Wu Zheng arrived after receiving the news, Lu Yang had cried himself to sleep on the police station's bench. A kind police officer had lent him a uniform to cover him, and Chen Lishu was quietly keeping watch.
"Sister-in-law?" Lin Xiaoyue looked at her, then at Lu Yang, and asked with concern, "Where's Xiaohui?"
Afraid Lin Xiaoyue would worry, Chen Lishu hadn't provided many details over the phone, only saying that Lu Yang was almost kidnapped and fortunately discovered by the police, asking them to come over. She hadn't revealed anything else.
Now, hearing her question, Chen Lishu glanced at Wu Zheng, then back at Lin Xiaoyue, and said softly, "Sister-in-law, Xiaohui was there when the police arrived, but she ran off afterward."
Xiaohui was there and ran off...
Lin Xiaoyue felt her breath catch. Filled with fear and anxiety, she asked, "Sister-in-law, what do you mean Xiaohui ran off?"
In her heart, she prayed it wasn't what she was thinking.
"Lin Xiaohui intended to sell Lu Yang. The police discovered it during the transaction."
"Xiaoyue!"
Lin Xiaoyue swayed, almost falling. Fortunately, Wu Zheng caught her in time. "Don't worry. Let's sit down over there and talk about it slowly."
Lin Xiaoyue's tears began to flow uncontrollably. She let Wu Zheng help her to a chair nearby, her lips trembling, unable to speak for a long time. Finally, she covered her mouth and cried suppressedly, "How could Xiaohui be so foolish? It's my fault as her elder sister for not teaching her properly. What will happen now?"
Chen Lishu felt bad seeing her like this and said, "Fortunately, nothing major happened. The police said that if the person voluntarily returns to admit their mistake, they'll be sentenced to at most two to three years, and their sentence can be reduced with good behavior. She should realize her mistake through this."
Wu Zheng patted Lin Xiaoyue's hand. "Did you hear what Sister-in-law said? Don't be too sad. We need to find Xiaohui quickly and have her turn herself in."
Comforted by Chen Lishu and Wu Zheng, Lin Xiaoyue cried for a while and finally managed to regain her composure. She wiped her tears and nodded. "Yes, the first thing is to find Xiaohui."
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Lu Yang, sleeping soundly on the bench. Her expression showed a hint of difficulty. They still had to find someone, and it would be inconvenient to travel around with a child. However, she already had two children at home, and her mother-in-law was looking after three by herself, which was too much.
"Sister-in-law, it must be inconvenient for you and Brother Wu to travel back and forth. Why don't I take the child back first? You can pick him up later if you find her."
"Sister-in-law, thank you so much." Thinking of Lin Xiaohui's mistake, Lin Xiaoyue felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, and her tears almost fell again.
After Lin Xiaoyue and Wu Zheng went to the office to get more specific information from the police, they split up to look for Lin Xiaohui.
Chen Lishu then took Lu Yang home.
However, all the way home, she couldn't stop thinking about what Yang Shuang had told her.
If Qiu Peng was indeed captured, it was highly likely that Rui Rui's parents would be contacted. The thought of Rui Rui leaving her made her heart feel as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, causing her such pain that she could barely breathe.
She even harbored a selfish thought: perhaps Rui Rui's parents had already given up, or they couldn't be contacted.
But, putting herself in their shoes, how heartbroken and devastated would Rui Rui's parents be to have lost their child?
When Chen Lishu arrived home with Lu Yang, Rui Rui had already returned from school and was picked up by Zhao Qiuyue.
The moment she walked through the door, the first thing she saw was Rui Rui sitting obediently at the table doing his homework. Chen Lishu's eyes welled up, and she almost burst into tears.
Rui Rui looked up and said happily, "Mom, you're back?"
Blinking rapidly to force back the tears that threatened to spill, Chen Lishu smiled and nodded at him. "Where's your Aunt Xiaoyue?"