Animal Detective

Chapter 204 I Want To Too
Shen Xin stopped his bike when he reached the main road, in a place where he couldn't see the road.

Lead the tiger stripe out of the car.

"Tiger Stripes, how many people are in there?"

Shen Xin squatted down and asked with a serious expression.

When Shen Xin put on that serious face, Tiger Stripe immediately tucked its tail between its legs and barked.

Does she mean "a lot"?

Ding Yuwei hurriedly inquired, and then pressed for details about what "many people" meant.

【a lot of】

Shen Xin heard Tiger Stripe's inner thoughts.

He nodded, then asked again with a serious expression, "Are there many children inside?"

The tabby barked.

【Yes】

Ding Yuwei's expression changed drastically, and she hurriedly asked, "Shen Xin, what do you mean by 'child'?"

Shen Xin stood up, his expression extremely serious, and said in a deep voice, "When that guy came out, he kicked something into the junkyard. I secretly looked, and it was one of those small carts that disabled beggars often use."

Ding Yuwei's eyes widened. Only then did she understand why Shen Xin had grabbed her hand, preventing her from speaking, and why he had let the old lady go so easily.

"Shen Xin, do you suspect it's that kind of thing?" She frowned, not continuing.

That is, harvesting and cutting raw meat.

Shen Xin took out his phone and said, "Whether it is or not, we can find out by checking. I just hope we didn't alert them."

As he spoke, Shen Xin called Chen Chao and explained the situation.

On the other end of the phone, Chen Chao cursed "beast" and told Shen Xin to wait, saying he would be right there.

Shen Xin asked him to bring his car and the collar from his drawer as well.

Ding Yuwei immediately realized that Shen Xin was using Da Mei for reconnaissance.

"Then I'll ride my electric scooter, it's not far," Ding Yuwei said.

Shen Xin quickly stopped her: "It's not an apartment I rented. I brought Da Mei home. How are you going to get there by electric scooter? Never mind, I'll have my sister bring it to me."

Ding Yuwei hurriedly said, "No, I'll go instead. It's New Year's Eve, don't let your sister wander off."

Ten minutes later, Chen Chao and Lao Qian arrived by car.

Ding Yuwei drove Shen Xin's car to Shen Xin's house to pick up Da Mei.

Chen Chao then inquired about the situation in detail.

“Tiger Stripe admitted that he had seen many children inside,” Shen Xin said, pointing at Tiger Stripe.

The tabby immediately barked.

Chen Chao glanced at him. He knew that Tiger Stripe was very smart, smart enough to go shopping, so he had seen a lot of things about children and could be trusted.

"Damn it, I thought the security situation had improved in recent years and there wouldn't be any more beasts like this."

Chen Chao cursed.

In his mind, such a person was no different from a beast.

……

Inside a waste recycling station.

The man stood outside the iron gate, watching Shen Xin and the other person disappear at the end of the road, heading out of the village. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and quickly close the gate.

"Do you want to die? Why are you causing me this kind of trouble!"

He changed his previous timid and flustered expression, and rushed fiercely to the old lady, shouting at her sternly.

The old lady trembled with fright.

The woman glared at the old lady before trying to persuade the man, "Alright, I reckon it's nothing. Those two policemen are pretty stupid; they probably didn't find anything. They came because of that dog."

"Damn it, what kind of dead dog is this? A police dog? What kind of police dog runs around like that?"

The man shoved the woman away and yelled, "What business is it of yours why the police dog is running around? Anyway, we're police officers. Let me tell you, if the police find out, every single one of us will go to jail."

Then, pointing at the old lady, he said, "This is your own aunt. You better keep an eye on her. If she causes any more trouble, I'll be very rude to her."

He went back to his room grumbling.

The woman glared at the old lady and scolded, "You're crazy too! It's just a dog, why do you care about it? Feeding it needles, how could you even think of that?"

After saying that, he went back to his room, grumbling and cursing.

As soon as the two left, the old lady's humble expression vanished, replaced by a gloomy look. She stared at the door of their room, muttered a few words silently, and went back to her own room.

The scrap yard consists of a row of four single-story houses.

The man and woman shared a room. After returning to the room, the man would drink and eat at a small square table while watching a variety show, while the woman continued to count large amounts of change.

The old lady lived in a room by herself.

Another room was used to store miscellaneous items.

There was one last room, with the door locked from the outside. The small window was covered with plastic film and weighed down with bricks to keep out the wind, while the sliding window inside was jammed shut with screws and could not be opened.

Through the gaps in the plastic film, a pair of tiny eyes were looking outside.

He was a thin boy. The room wasn't big; a large communal bed was made of bricks and planks. He would peer through the small crack in the window at the fireworks exploding in the distant sky.

He turned his head and nudged the child next to him.

There were three children lying on the communal bed: two boys and one girl.

The child who was pushed was older and thinner, with long hair that was cut very haphazardly, like it had been chewed by a dog.

He wasn't asleep either, and looked up at his companion.

A skinny boy uses sign language.

They had a fight.

The long-haired boy also responded using sign language.

Ignore them

The police arrived, and I overheard them talking about the dog. It seems my mother-in-law fed the dog an injection. She's so mean. I hope the dog is alright.

She was bad to begin with.

A flash of malice crossed the long-haired boy's face as he continued gesturing: "The dog's fine, that dog is very smart."

Clearly, he wasn't asleep; he was listening.

The skinny boy nodded, thought for a moment, and then gestured.

The police don't know us.

His gaze dimmed slightly in the flashing light of the fireworks.

It's no use, we can't escape.

The long-haired boy gestured and reached out to ruffle his companion's hair.

The skinny boy hesitated for a moment, then gestured again: "Will that dog come back? It's so smart, can we tell the police and they'll come and rescue us?"

After hesitating for a moment, he made another hand gesture.

I miss my mom.

The long-haired boy's eyes flickered, and he forced a smile.

You don't even remember what your mother looks like.

The skinny boy made a face and gestured defiantly.

I want to too.

【Go to sleep】

The long-haired boy paused for a moment, then gestured and covered himself with the blanket.

The thin boy huddled under the covers, facing the window. Outside, fireworks continued to flash intermittently, looking exceptionally beautiful.

……

On the other side, Ding Yuwei drove quickly and soon arrived at Shen Xin's home.

The light is still on.

She knocked on the door urgently.

"Hey kid, didn't you bring your keys?"

Zeng Wenyi opened the door cursing.

When he opened the door and saw Ding Yuwei, he was stunned for a moment.

“You…you’re Xiao Ding, Shen Xin’s colleague, right?” Zeng Wenyi’s eyes lit up as she peered out to look for Shen Xin.

Ding Yuwei quickly apologized, saying, "Auntie, Shen Xin has some things to do and can't come back for the time being. I'm here to take care of Da Mei."

Zeng Wenyi said "Oh" before realizing what was happening and quickly led Yuwei inside.

Soon, Shen Haolin, Shen Shuang, and Shen Xin's grandparents all gathered around.

Ding Yuwei was extremely embarrassed.

"Well, Auntie, Uncle, I have something urgent to attend to. By the way, Happy New Year to you both, and to Grandpa and Grandma, I wish you good health and all the best."

Ding Yuwei was so nervous that her words were incoherent, and then she asked where Da Mei was.

"I'll find it."

Shen Shuang hurriedly picked up Da Mei and carried her over.

"Uncle and Aunt, I have something to attend to. I'll come back to visit later. I'll be leaving now."

Ding Yuwei didn't dare to stay any longer and hurriedly took her leave, hugging Da Mei tightly.

The family saw them off at the door.

Shen Yongming patted his son and asked, "Is this Shen Xin's girlfriend? She's quite pretty. When did you start dating her?"

Shen Haolin said casually, "I don't know either, it seems like they're colleagues."

Zeng Wenyi glared at Shen Haolin and said, "So what if we're colleagues? If we spend a lot of time together, we'll naturally fall for each other. Anyway, I really like this girl."

Shen Shuang complained, "Mom, you like any girl."

(End of this chapter)