Chapter 3
Chapter 3
July 21, 2020
“What do you mean by that?”
The little boy was startled by my sudden outburst.
He said timidly, “I mean, she never actually ate it.”
“How is that possible! She came to buy them every day. She said my red bean cakes were sweet! She even said the thing she looked forward to most every day was…”
“But Mister,” the boy interrupted me.
“Did you actually see her put it in her mouth?”
Those words were swallowed by the roar of traffic,
Becoming a recurring, hauntingly vivid dream for the rest of my life.
In those dreams, I find myself replaying the scene of Ding Yutong coming to my stall to buy red bean cakes, over and over again.
She would appear exactly when the kindergarten dismissal bell rang.
A little girl who always wore a blue pinafore dress.
Her clothes were a bit worn, but they were always clean and bright.
She would politely say goodbye to her teacher.
She would skip over to my stall,
Becoming my first loyal customer for red bean cakes every single day.
She would give me a sweet smile,
Then gaze longingly at the cakes in the pan, smacking her lips.
“Mister, I’d like a red bean cake, please.”
She would press two coins into my hand.
“Thank you, Mister!”
Once she had the red bean cake, she would cradle it in her palms like a precious treasure.
Then, she would walk carefully toward her mother.
Finally, she would get into that new energy vehicle.
She never once ate that red bean cake in front of me.
Not even once.
Not even a single tiny bite.
Chapter 6
August 6, 2024, 10:30 AM
“I asked you to help organize the files, not to dig up old grievances!”
The Captain slammed Ding Yutong’s case file onto the desk.
“But Captain, it’s been four years. If we don’t figure it out soon, she’s going to be declared dead.”
“You think I don’t know that? Do you need to teach me my job?”
I didn’t dare say another word.
The Captain picked up his mug and took a sip of tea.
“The bureau has never given up on finding this girl over the last few years.
Several special operations turned up nothing.
Besides, her parents haven’t exactly been proactive in looking for her.
You know how parents are these days… once they get the settlement money and enough time passes, they stop caring about anything…”
“Captain,” I said, my voice tinged with a plea.
“Could you do me a favor, considering I’ve been working around the clock these past two days?”
“What is it?”
“Let Brother Liu, the one who was in charge of the case back then, go over the clues with me one more time.
Just for today. Is that okay?”
On the case file, the person listed as responsible was Liu Shujun from the Third Squad.
“She’s been missing for so long. What use are the old clues now?
Don’t tell me… you suspect her parents?”
I didn’t answer. I just stared at him.
“It’s not that we didn’t suspect them at the time,”
“But back then, the kindergarten had no evidence to prove they hadn’t lost the child.
Her parents blocked the gates and started posting short videos.
It caused an explosion online. Everyone was blaming the kindergarten.
The Bureau of Education and the city officials were pressuring us,
Telling us to get results quickly, settle the compensation, and quiet the public outcry…”
“I know that, Captain.”
“Sigh… Fine, I’ll give you one day.”
Before I left, the Captain patted me on the shoulder.
“There are some things you’ll come to understand once you’ve been in this line of work long enough.”