Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After watching Chenchen leave, I saw that Captain Liang and the others had already reached the entrance of the residential complex.

Captain Liang said to me, “Early this morning, we went to Wu Ruoxi’s school and spoke with her teachers and classmates.

“They all said everything had been normal with her before.

“But on the way here, I noticed something.

“Yesterday, we checked. Second Experimental Primary School is about six kilometers from this complex.

“But after actually making the trip, I realized it was much farther than I’d imagined.

“If Wu Ruoxi takes the bus to school every day, she’d probably have to ride ten, maybe twenty stops.

“And I found out that basically none of her classmates live around here.

“I just had a colleague look into it. This complex isn’t in Second Experimental Primary School’s school district at all.

“Tell me, if the couple are that busy, why would they send their daughter so far away for school?”

“Could they have lived somewhere else before?” I asked.

“No. Wu Ruoxi is in fourth grade now. Their family has lived here for six or seven years.”

“So you think there’s something wrong here?”

“I think there has to be a reason.

“Come with us to her home in a bit.

“After all, you seem pretty invested in this girl’s case.

“To Zhou Xia, you’re not a police officer, and you’re a familiar face. That might lower her guard.

“Today, I plan to ask Zhou Xia exactly what is going on-

“about what everyone said yesterday, that she’s Wu Ruoxi’s stepmother.”

Hearing Captain Liang say that, I suddenly felt a little nervous. Once they asked about that, it meant the police were already suspicious of Zhou Xia.

“All right. I’ll go with you.”

None of us expected it at the time.

While everyone was on edge, searching everywhere for the missing girl,

Zhou Xia had begun putting up missing-person notices for Wu Ruoxi all over the area.

It was more than an hour later before we finally found Zhou Xia.

By then, we had already discovered that the complex, including several streets nearby, had been covered with the notices she had posted.

In the photo on them, Wu Ruoxi was smiling like a flower in bloom.

But with several sheets pasted together, the photos overlapping one after another in our line of sight, it looked somewhat horrifying.

Captain Liang was a little displeased. After all, since yesterday, word of Wu Ruoxi’s case had been spreading like wildfire. By plastering these notices everywhere, she was essentially continuing to create panic.

The pressure on the police to solve the case would only grow heavier.

But when Zhou Xia lifted her head and he saw her exhausted, vacant eyes, Captain Liang could no longer bring himself to reprimand her.

“Can we talk at your place?”

“Okay.” She gathered up the remaining stack of papers in her hands and led us back.

“We just knocked on your door, but no one answered. Where’s your husband?”

“He should be home. He was out looking all night last night, and this morning he drank a little and fell asleep.”

After entering her home, I noticed that the security bars that had been pried open had been tied back together with iron wire.

In Wu Ruoxi’s bedroom, the sheets and quilt had been folded neatly.

Captain Liang got straight to the point.

“We mainly came to see you today. Regarding Wu Ruoxi’s disappearance, you’re definitely the one who knows more about the situation.”

“I know. This is all my fault. I was too tired during the day the day before yesterday, and I slept so deeply at night that I didn’t hear a thing. If I’d heard something, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Yes… We came today mainly to ask about your family.

“How old was Wu Ruoxi when she started sleeping in a separate room from you?”

“After she started elementary school, we had her sleep separately.

“After all, I’m not her biological mother. In the past, she was a little distant with me, but not anymore.”

I hadn’t expected her to bring it up on her own.

“What year did you and Wu Xing get together?”

“In 2012. Ruoxi was not yet six at the time.”

“How did you two meet?”

“We met when I was running a food stall back in my hometown. He was working on a construction site there at the time and came to buy braised noodles from me. Later, he started pursuing me.”

“Then before the two of you met, who was taking care of Ruoxi?” The thought occurred to me, and I asked Zhou Xia in confusion.

“Before I married him, her grandfather helped raise her for several years.”

Captain Liang and I exchanged a glance.

All day yesterday, whether from the couple themselves or from the neighbors,

we had never heard anyone mention Ruoxi’s grandfather.

I asked, “Does her grandfather still live around here?”

“He does. Not far from our place. But generally, aside from holidays and special occasions, he rarely comes to our home.”

Captain Liang asked, “Does he know Wu Ruoxi is missing?”

“No. We didn’t dare tell him. We were afraid the old man wouldn’t be able to take it.”

“Since he’s nearby, please give us the address. We’ll also go over later to learn what we can. We’ll try our best not to let him know the child is missing.”

“All right. I can do that.”

“Do you know why Wu Xing and Wu Ruoxi’s biological mother divorced?”

Zhou Xia’s expression suddenly turned disgusted.

“That heartless woman didn’t want to take care of the child after giving birth. She said she wanted to go out and earn money, and later we couldn’t get in touch with her at all.

“When I first came into this family, Ruoxi would hide whenever she saw people, and she cried every night.

“A child without a mother is very easily made insecure. Later on, I slowly coaxed her out of it.”

“Yes. In everyone’s eyes, you’re a very responsible stepmother.”

Captain Liang used the word “stepmother” with Zhou Xia.

I stared closely at Zhou Xia, watching to see how she would react.