The group of five drove toward Xianghong Village.
Everyone who worked the night shift was back, so it was the perfect time to start canvassing.
On the way, Shen Xin thought it over and decided to tell Zhang Jian about his discovery.
"So you're saying the suspect was feeding a stray cat." Zhang Jian crossed his arms.
Shen Xin nodded and recounted what he had learned during his visits earlier that day.
"That's still useless," said an officer named Wukaishan, shaking his head after hearing Shen Xin's account. "The person moved away; they're not going to take a stray cat with them. And even if they did, how would we find it?"
The others nodded in agreement.
"Xiaoshen, we know you like cats and dogs. And it's true you stumbled upon Tian Yongjun while looking for that stray's kittens, but you can't keep focusing on every cat and dog you see. It's useless," another officer reminded him.
The group chuckled, none of them taking Shen Xin's discovery to heart.
Zhang Jian waved a hand to silence them. "Don't say that. At least Xiaoshen is making real observations and finding things."
He turned and offered Shen Xin a word of encouragement.
But it was clear he didn't think much of Shen Xin's discovery either.
Shen Xin wasn't too bothered by their attitude. Even he felt the clue was probably worthless.
Arriving at Xianghong Village, the group split up to begin their work.
Shen Xin sighed and reluctantly headed toward Wu Zhicun's house.
On the way, Shen Xin decided he couldn't show up empty-handed. He bought a watermelon, and seeing that it was almost dinnertime, he also picked up two orders of fried rice.
He then entered the courtyard, bags in hand.
"Officer Shen, you're back?" He Cuimei was still there. She worked in housekeeping, so her hours were irregular.
Her husband, Zhang Wenjun, was out on a drive, and her son hadn't left for work yet.
It was the first time Shen Xin had seen their son, Zhang Qi.
Shen Xin gave him a few extra glances.
'Just as I figured.' He held a cigarette, sported two dark circles under his eyes, and had the world-weary look of someone society had chewed up and spit out.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shen Xin carried his things inside.
The first thing he did was turn on the light.
The three funeral portraits facing the door were genuinely unsettling.
He stepped into the inner room, only to quickly retreat.
Wu Zhicun was on the toilet. SPLASH.
Shen Xin shivered violently and cursed the designer under his breath. 'If you're going to put a toilet inside the room, at least put up a screen or something.'
'It's convenient for Wu Zhicun, but what about everyone else?'
He flicked on the light.
Wu Zhicun fumbled his way toward the bed.
"Uncle Wu, my name is Shen Xin. I'm the police officer from the station who came by yesterday. I just wanted to come and check on you," Shen Xin said, stepping forward to introduce himself.
Wu Zhicun must have heard him come in. He sat on the edge of the bed and held out his hands. "Did you bring the cuffs?"
His tone was as aggressive as ever.
"Uncle, I didn't bring cuffs, but I brought food. Let's eat first, shall we?" Shen Xin approached him.
'Great,' Shen Xin thought. 'Eating in front of the toilet.'
Wu Zhicun, however, wasn't one to refuse. Without a hint of politeness, he heard Shen Xin had brought fried rice, mumbled something indistinctly, and pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, telling Shen Xin to go to the braised meat shop at the intersection and buy half a braised duck.
The man was blind, but Shen Xin could feel his contempt.
Telling himself not to get angry, Shen Xin pulled out a fifty-yuan bill and headed out.
When he returned, the old man had already brought the fried rice out to the main room and was eating by himself.
The half a braised duck cost 32 yuan, so there was 18 in change.
Shen Xin handed the change back, but the old man didn't take it.
"It's a tip."
Ha!
Shen Xin almost laughed out of anger.
Placing the money on the table, Shen Xin started eating too.
He went for the duck leg first.
Although he no longer had to eat facing the toilet, eating in front of three funeral portraits still felt unpleasant.
After a couple of mouthfuls of rice, Shen Xin took the initiative to start a conversation, asking Wu Zhicun how his wife, son, and daughter-in-law had passed away.
Shen Xin was also quite curious about Wu Jiawang's disappearance.
Wu Zhicun didn't seem to find the question offensive and answered directly.
"Drove a truck. Drowsy driving on the highway, truck flipped. The couple died together. My old woman couldn't take it, drank pesticide. Couldn't save her."
He recounted the most tragic of stories in the simplest of words.
After he finished speaking, he wiped the corners of his eyes. He was crying.
But no tears came out.
After so many years of blindness, he had long since lost the ability to cry tears.
Shen Xin sighed, placed a piece of duck in Wu Zhicun's bowl, and then asked about his grandson.
"Uncle, why are you so sure your grandson was harmed by someone?"
'Is it really just that his guilt created this obsession?'
At the mention of his grandson, Wu Zhicun's emotions flared. He slammed his hand on the table and said, "He came to me in a dream! He said he was murdered."
Shen Xin gave a wry smile. "Uncle, a dream doesn't count as a reason."
Wu Zhicun continued, "And after my grandson disappeared, someone started lurking around my house. It must be the murderer, trying to tie up loose ends!"
Shen Xin was slightly surprised and immediately asked how he knew someone was lurking outside his door.
"I heard them, of course." Wu Zhicun pointed to his ears. "I may be blind, but my hearing is sharp. I can hear people's heartbeats. Some people have wicked hearts, and I can hear it."
He said this grimly, his atrophied eyeballs staring forward.
Shen Xin shivered for no apparent reason, feeling as if the draft blowing through the room had turned chillingly cold.
"Uncle, that can't be used as evidence either."
Shen Xin figured that Zhao Shouchuan and the others had probably already investigated this.
Besides, it wasn't necessarily someone lurking outside his house; it could have just been a passerby.
He couldn't see, after all.
"Uncle, do you have any other evidence?" Shen Xin asked again.
"Yes! The dog!"
Shen Xin paused. "What dog?"
Wu Zhicun said, "Jia Wang picked up a puppy on his way home from school and raised it. That dog was incredibly attached to him, followed him everywhere. Then, after Jia Wang disappeared, the dog vanished too. You tell me, if a human trafficker abducted Jia Wang, they wouldn't have taken the dog too, would they?"
Shen Xin put down his chopsticks.
'He's not wrong,' Shen Xin thought. 'That piece of evidence actually makes some sense.'
"Not necessarily. Maybe the traffickers killed the dog," Shen Xin offered as a reasonable guess.
The dog was with Wu Jiawang. When the traffickers made their move, the dog might have rushed forward to stop them, and they killed it on the spot. That was a strong possibility.
Alternatively, after Wu Jiawang was forced into a vehicle, the dog might have chased it for a long way and ended up getting lost.
"Hmph. You're just like the others. You think I'm talking nonsense. That's my grandson! I can feel it. He was harmed by someone!" Wu Zhicun pushed his bowl away, too angry to eat anymore.
Shen Xin gave a wry smile. 'Now you're just going by feelings,' he thought.
Everything has to be based on evidence.
The three reasons Wu Zhicun had given clearly didn't hold up.
Besides, Shen Xin didn't believe Zhao Shouchuan and his team hadn't looked into it. If their investigation turned up nothing, it probably meant there was nothing to find.
"Uncle, why don't you go give a blood sample later? The crackdown on human trafficking is very strong right now. A lot of children are being rescued all over the country, and they've set up a DNA database. You could get your DNA tested against it. You might get a match and find Jia Wang," Shen Xin suggested after a moment of thought.
'Let's just assume he was abducted for now.'
But the hope was slim. The main reason was that Wu Jiawang was already eight years old when he was taken. He would have clearly remembered where his home was. It was probably as Zhao Shouchuan had said: he was unable to return.
Or he had already met with some accident.
"I'm not going! Jia Wang was harmed by someone, and I have to find the murderer!" Wu Zhicun said through gritted teeth.
Shen Xin sighed. He felt that Wu Zhicun had become a bit obsessed.
It was probably just extreme guilt that had caused him to get stuck on this.
After they finished eating, Shen Xin cleaned up and then cut the watermelon.
The watermelon was large, and Wu Zhicun didn't have a refrigerator. Figuring there was more than enough to go around, Shen Xin took half of it next door to He Cuimei and her son.
After delivering the watermelon, he came out and was about to head back when something suddenly caught his eye.
He focused his gaze and saw a cat that had abruptly appeared on top of the wall.
It was solid black, save for four snow-white paws.
Shen Xin felt a jolt. 'It's the tuxedo cat the suspect was feeding!'