Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 272 Xiao Qi's Whereabouts

Zhou Yi felt the voice on the phone sounded familiar, but couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, I am Zhou Yi. And you are..." He recognized me from the voice; we must know each other.

"I am Wang Dequan."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi felt ashamed: "It's Director Wang."

The person on the other end of the phone was Director Wang of the Yong'an Township Police Station.

"Zhou Yi, I have good news for you. We've caught that human trafficker, Cai Jinhua," Director Wang said with a smile.

"Really!" Zhou Yi was overjoyed. "That's wonderful!"

"Furthermore, we also found that little girl named Xiao Qi, who is Jiang Yue."

This is truly one good thing after another.

"However... the situation is a bit tricky now, sigh..." Director Wang sighed deeply on the phone.

Zhou Yi was startled by what the other party said and hurriedly asked what was going on. Director Wang then explained the details.

Since the arrest warrant was issued for Cai Jinhua, Director Wang has been keeping an eye on her home, since she has a son.

Even when the entire city's police force was deployed to blockade and search for Long Zhiqiang, Chief Wang had a backup plan and left one policeman to continue watching Cai Jinhua's house.

This decision ultimately led to Cai Jinhua's arrest.

On the day the city was locked down, Cai Jinhua's son suddenly developed a high fever and was taken to the county hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia and admitted to the hospital.

The police officers on surveillance noticed that after settling the children, Cai Jinhua's father-in-law made a phone call from a public phone, looking somewhat wary and glancing around as he dialed.

This action aroused the suspicion of the police.

After the lockdown ended, the police reported the matter to Chief Wang. After analyzing the situation, Chief Wang believed that the old man was most likely calling Cai Jinhua.

It is very likely that her family has always known her whereabouts, but they are simply unwilling to betray their own family.

Director Wang decided to wait and see, and to stake out Cai Jinhua at the hospital. Once spotted, she would be arrested on the spot.

Some police officers questioned whether Cai Jinhua would risk showing up under these circumstances.

Director Wang felt that since the old man had called her, it was possible.

Therefore, they deployed police forces at the hospital.

Just last night, when I was about to give up, a strange woman dressed as a peasant walked into the target ward.

The astute police officers immediately sensed something was amiss and sent the on-duty doctor in under the guise of making rounds to identify whether the person in the photo on the police wanted poster was the same person.

After the on-duty doctor confirmed the arrest, they immediately rushed in and made the arrest.

They were brought back to the station overnight and interrogated personally by Director Wang.

It wasn't until late at night that Cai Jinhua couldn't withstand the intense interrogation and confessed to her crimes.

According to her confession, the next day, Director Wang personally led a team to the outskirts of Taicheng and found the family that had bought Xiaoqi.

Originally, Director Wang and his team went there in anger, since buying and selling children are both illegal and criminal acts. They decided to prioritize rescuing the child and then notify the Taicheng police to cooperate in the case.

But when they actually found it, Director Wang was in a dilemma.

Xiaoqi's adoptive parents were a middle-aged couple. The man drove a tractor to transport goods in the area, and the woman ran a small shop. They were both honest and law-abiding people.

They were unaware of the child purchase, because when Cai Jinhua approached them, she lied and claimed that Xiao Qi was the child of a distant relative of hers, whose family was too poor to raise him and wanted to adopt one for them, asking if they were willing.

If you're willing, take three thousand yuan as a loan for the child's father's medical treatment. When Xiaoqi grows up, she can repay the money for her parents.

Of the three thousand yuan, Cai Jinhua kept one thousand and gave two thousand to Jiang Aqing.

Of course, the so-called adoption in rural areas can't have any legal procedures; it's purely an agreement between the two parties, based on mutual consent.

When the police found them, they were shocked and had no idea that they had bought the child.

But that's not the point. The point is that Director Wang and his team discovered that Xiao Qi was living very well in this family.

Wearing new clothes and shoes, with two small braids, each with a bow headband, she was clean and her face was fair and tender, not at all like a child who had been abducted.

Moreover, he was very close to the couple. When he saw these strangers, he would hide behind them and hold onto the woman's clothes.

Even when Chief Wang said he was a police officer and there to help her, and told her not to be afraid and to come over, she just shook her head.

This completely baffled Director Wang and his team.

Logically speaking, an eight-year-old girl is not a good choice for trafficking, because she is too old and already has her own thoughts, memories and cognition, and she is a girl.

They wouldn't choose an eight-year-old child because they're hard to manage. With this in mind, Director Wang and his team didn't take any forceful measures. They questioned the couple and visited the surrounding villagers.

It was eventually learned that the couple adopted Xiaoqi because they had a previous child, a girl, who drowned in the river when she was six years old.

The couple tried many times afterward, but were unable to conceive again, so they decided to adopt a baby girl.

Although Xiaoqi is eight years old, due to the harsh living environment and malnutrition since childhood, her height and weight are not up to the standard of an eight-year-old child, and she looks like a six-year-old child.

She also lacks cognitive abilities, so saying she's six years old wouldn't be inaccurate at all.

After seeing the photos Cai Jinhua gave them, the couple felt that Xiaoqi looked a lot like their drowned daughter, and immediately decided to adopt her.

After Xiaoqi entered this family, the couple treated her like their own daughter.

Xiaoqi was very well-behaved, never making a fuss. After realizing how good the two of them were to her, one night she suddenly called out "Dad" and "Mom".

The couple was overjoyed and hugged and kissed Xiaoqi repeatedly.

The villagers confirmed their words; they were indeed very good to Xiaoqi.

Furthermore, we have already made arrangements with the nearby primary school, and we will send Xiaoqi to first grade in September.

When Director Wang got to this point, Zhou Yi already knew what was troubling him.

Xiaoqi's original family was already broken. Her father was waiting for sentencing in the detention center, her mother was receiving treatment in a mental hospital, and her older brothers and sisters were probably not able to support themselves. The eldest one was disabled.

The family that bought her treated her like their own daughter, where she could eat well, dress warmly, and live like a normal child.

Logically speaking, it would be the best outcome for Xiaoqi to stay with the couple in Taicheng.

But for Director Wang, this was, after all, a human trafficking case, and if he simply let it go, he would be failing in his duty as a police officer.

However, forcibly "rescuing" Xiaoqi according to regulations and then sending her back to her original home would go against his conscience.

That's why I was caught in a dilemma, and I told him that things were a bit tricky.

"Director Wang, I guess you didn't bring Xiao Qi back today, did you?" Zhou Yi asked.

"The main problem is that the child doesn't want to come with us. If we force the child to come with us, then... wouldn't that make us the bad guys?"

Zhou Yi smiled; this was indeed the Director Wang he knew.

"Zhou Yi, do you think there's any way to resolve this?"

The solution Director Wang referred to was, of course, how to properly settle Xiao Qi and make the adoption of Xiao Qi legitimate.

After all, staying with that family was the best outcome for the little girl.

"Director Wang, I think that the couple was definitely unaware of the situation and were deceived by Cai Jinhua. You see, they said that Cai Jinhua's excuse for asking for money was to lend it to Xiaoqi's father for medical treatment. Lending money is not illegal, it's just that there was no specific agreement on when it would be repaid."

"Hmm..." Director Wang nodded thoughtfully on the other end of the phone.

"Then, Xiaoqi's parents are now clearly unable to raise their children, and Jiang Aqing's family doesn't have any close relatives. Forcibly sending the child back would be harmful to both parties."

"Yes, yes, yes." Director Wang nodded repeatedly.

"In general, in this situation, we can apply to the civil affairs department to appoint a guardian. At that point, we definitely have to respect Xiaoqi's personal wishes, since she's already a big girl with her own judgment. We'll let her choose for herself—whether she chooses that couple or the welfare home—we have to listen to the little girl herself. Director Wang, do you think what I'm saying makes sense?"

On the other end of the phone, Director Wang beamed and nodded frantically: "That's right, that's right, that's right! Oh, Zhou Yi, you're absolutely right, that's exactly it. We'll do it your way, we'll do it your way."

Zhou Yi told Director Wang that after they had dealt with this matter, he would find some time to pick up Xiao Qi and her adoptive parents and visit Hu Zi at the juvenile detention center.

After all, he had promised him, but things had turned out like this, especially with Xiao Qi disappearing. Under these circumstances, Zhou Yi didn't know how to explain it to Hu Zi.

Now that Xiaoqi has found a good home, it couldn't be better. It will also encourage Huzi to be a good person.

Although Yang Xiujuan's identity has not yet been verified, the capture of Cai Jinhua and the discovery of Xiao Qi have brought a gratifying outcome to the matter of Sanpo Village.

Upon hearing this news, Zhou Yi's mood immediately improved.

He happily picked up the phone and called Wu Yongcheng.

The phone rang for a long time before Wu Yongcheng answered, "Hello, this is Wu Yongcheng."

Zhou Yi said impatiently, "Captain Wu, this is Zhou Yi. I have two pieces of good news to tell you."

"Two?" Wu Yongcheng was taken aback.

Then Zhou Yi gave Wu Yongcheng a detailed report on how the case in Donghai Community had been solved.

After listening, Wu Yongcheng fell silent. The case was not complicated, but it was heartbreaking, especially since the victim was a newborn child.

"Sigh, although the case has been solved, I still feel like this isn't exactly good news," Wu Yongcheng sighed.

(End of this chapter)