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

Chapter 316 The Little Girl and the Old Lady

"The old lady is the child's creditor? That's unheard of. Boss, what's going on?"

The restaurant owner then recounted the whole story between the old man and the young man, saying that everyone in the neighborhood knew about it.

About a year ago, the little girl's mother fell seriously ill. In order to pay for his wife's medical treatment, the little girl's father emptied the family's savings, making their already poor situation even worse.

Ultimately, the little girl's mother succumbed to the illness and passed away a few months ago.

Only the father and daughter remained, relying on each other for survival.

The old lady was a widowed woman who had a husband, but the two had no children.

Later, the old man tripped and fell on the road, hitting his head. He spent three days in the hospital, but eventually passed away.

While sorting through the old man's belongings, the old lady found an IOU written by the little girl's father, in which he had borrowed two thousand yuan from the old man.

The old lady was known for her bad temper in the neighborhood; everyone in the surrounding area knew about it.

So the old lady took the IOU and went to the little girl's house in a menacing manner to demand the money.

But when they arrived, they found that there were no adults at home, only the little girl.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi's professional instincts kicked in, and he asked, "The little girl's father isn't missing, is he?"

The boss stared wide-eyed in surprise and asked, "You've heard of this?"

Zhou Yi shook his head, but the boss's reaction proved that he had guessed correctly.

"I knew you were a policeman, you really guessed right," the boss praised.

Then she said that when the old lady arrived, she found the child alone at home. When she asked the child where her father was, the child kept shaking her head and saying she didn't know.

The old lady originally planned to visit again the next day, but seeing the bare walls of the house and the little girl who was thin and pale from hunger, she couldn't bear it. When she asked the child, she said that she hadn't eaten for three days and had been drinking tap water when she was thirsty.

From that day on, the little girl stayed with the old lady.

The old lady tells everyone she meets that her father owes her money, but since she has her daughter with her, she's not afraid he won't pay it back, unless he doesn't even want his daughter anymore.

But the old lady didn't have any money either, and she usually lived frugally. Later, the boss took pity on the two of them and saved up some leftover scraps of food to give to them, which is what Zhou Yi just witnessed.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi suddenly realized why he had found the two strange earlier; it turned out there was something else going on.

However, my impression of the old lady changed drastically; she was a classic case of a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

If the old lady were truly heartless, she could have simply walked away and left the little girl to fend for herself.

However, it seemed that the little girl's father was in grave danger.

A man who is willing to go bankrupt to pay for his wife's medical treatment should be a responsible and affectionate man, and it is unlikely that he would abandon his five or six-year-old daughter and leave.

But it's unclear whether it was an accident or a case of foul play.

"Did you call the police?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Huh?" The boss was taken aback.

"I said the little girl's father is missing. Has anyone called the police?"

The boss shook his head and said, "Probably not... This is a family matter, how can outsiders just call the police? Besides, everyone says the child's father must have owed too much money and refused to pay it back, which is why he ran away."

Did he borrow a lot?

"Anyway, there are quite a few. This place is three hundred, that place is five hundred, and the old man's two thousand is the most."

"Were they all borrowed to pay for his wife's medical treatment?"

The boss shook his head: "That's what they say, but we don't know the specifics."

Zhou Yi immediately asked the old lady where she lived, intending to go and find out more about the situation.

This disappearance is quite unusual, and incredibly, no one has reported it to the police yet.

But thinking about it carefully, you can't really blame anyone. The older generation has a weak sense of law, and the younger generation doesn't know anything. As for outsiders, as the boss said, everyone is an outsider, and without any evidence, who would call the police for no reason?

Thinking about this kind of thing is truly terrifying.

The restaurant owner gave Zhou Yi directions, and Zhou Yi, who was about to leave, turned back and asked the owner to cook a few dishes to take away.

The boss understood immediately and praised Zhou Yi as a good person.

Zhou Yi said, "No, we just met by chance. You're the real good person, boss."

Zhou Yi was carrying a bag containing several dishes that the owner had just cooked.

Following the directions given by the restaurant owner, Zhou Yi found the old lady's house, a dilapidated little house hidden behind an old building.

The small house was not big, and the white plaster on the walls had long been worn and mottled by the wind and frost of time.

The door was wide open, but there were no lights. A single candle was lit on a table against the wall. To be precise, it was just a stub of a candle, and there were several other stubs of varying lengths on the table.

On the dark table, there were traces of melted and then solidified candle wax everywhere.

The little girl I just saw was sitting behind the table eating with a spoon, but the bowl in front of her was dark and I couldn't see what it was.

Zhou Yi stood at the door and looked around. He didn't see the old lady, only the little girl staring at him curiously without making a sound.

The little girl suddenly asked a question. Although she spoke in dialect, Zhou Yi still understood her. The little girl asked him, "Who are you?"

"Little friend, can you speak Mandarin?" Zhou Yi asked with a smile.

The little girl looked bewildered, as if she didn't know what Mandarin he was speaking was.

Just as Zhou Yi was about to give up, the little girl said in Mandarin, "You speak just like the people on TV."

Zhou Yi was overjoyed: "Yes, that's what people say on TV! So you can say that!" "My mom taught me," the little girl said, taking a bite of her food. "Are you looking for a grandmother?"

Then, without waiting for Zhou Yi's reply, she continued, "Grandma went to collect firewood."

By the dim light of the candle, Zhou Yi looked around the small house. There was an earthen stove on the right, a water vat next to it, and a table where the little girl ate on the left. Behind it was a bed, or more accurately, a bed made of bricks and planks.

Despite such difficult conditions, the old man still lent his two thousand yuan savings to someone for medical treatment; he was truly a good person.

Zhou Yi walked into the room and looked at the food in the little girl's bowl. It was just some blanched and boiled vegetables, without even a trace of oil.

Zhou Yi took out several dishes from the bag, along with a box of tightly packed white rice.

"Little friend, eat this. It's delicious and nutritious."

The little girl stared longingly at the food in front of her, swallowing hard, but didn't touch the spoon in her hand.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

"Dad said we shouldn't eat things given to us by strangers."

Zhou Yi took out his ID and said, "Your dad is right, but I'm a policeman. Look, this is my ID. So you can eat what I give you, it's okay, understand?"

The little girl nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Here, give the spoon to Uncle, and Uncle will put some rice in your bowl."

Zhou Yi prepared some rice and vegetables for the child and put them in a bowl, saying, "Try it."

The little girl took the spoon, took a bite, and smiled, saying, "Delicious."

Then they started wolfing down their food.

"What's your name?" Zhou Yi asked, patting the little girl's head.

"My name is Lele."

"Lele..." This name clearly reflects her parents' expectations for her, hoping that she can always be happy.

Ironically, her life now and in the future is unlikely to be filled with happiness.

"Lele, where's your dad?"

"Dad went to work. He said he can buy me delicious food when he earns money from work," the little girl said innocently.

Where does Dad work?

The little girl shook her head.

Did Dad tell you when he'll be back?

The little girl shook her head again, but her eating became a little slower.

"Lele, is Daddy usually good to you?"

The little girl answered without hesitation, "Okay."

"Then...do you miss your dad?" Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment when he asked this question because he knew that this question might hurt the child.

However, there is currently no indication that the little girl's father may have been murdered, and the police cannot locate him without the family's permission.

Moreover, he was handling a case in another city. If he were in Hongcheng, he could simply call back to the bureau. But this was Anyuan, and he didn't have the authority to view or access the files here; he needed Pan Hongjie's permission.

But Pan Hongjie is now clearly focused on Li Youqiang's case. This kind of missing person case, where neither the person nor the body is found, may not even qualify for filing a case.

The little girl said timidly, "I want to..."

"How about the policeman helps you find your dad?"

"Okay!" the little girl said excitedly.

"How about Uncle takes you to the police station tomorrow morning?"

Zhou Yi's idea was to first go to the local police station to file a report in the child's name, and then have the police station check the household registration information so that he could analyze the problem based on the situation.

If you find anything amiss, then contact Pan Hongjie; this bottom-up approach will be more natural.

"What is a police station?" the little girl asked innocently.

"It's a place where many police officers work, and they will help you find your dad."

Just as Zhou Yi finished speaking, a series of grumbling and cursing sounds suddenly came from outside the door.

Zhou Yi turned around and saw the old lady wielding a broom, aiming it at him.

It startled him, not so much because he was afraid of being hit twice, but because the old lady looked to be in her seventies or eighties, and he was worried that if something happened to her, it would be a big problem. Just like her husband, at this age, a fall could put many elderly people's lives on the countdown.

Zhou Yi didn't dare to dodge and quickly said that he was a policeman, but he still got hit twice with a broom.

Covered in mud.

The old lady was speaking in her local dialect and clearly couldn't speak Mandarin, but she should be able to understand Zhou Yi.

His eyes, sunken deep in their sockets, were filled with suspicion.

Zhou Yi could only look to the little girl for help.

The little girl quickly spoke a few words to the old lady and pointed to the food on the table. Zhou Yi understood two of the words: "Delicious."

The old lady looked at the food on the table, then at Zhou Yi, before finally putting down the broom.

(End of this chapter)