Chapter 43

Chapter 43 The Missing Playmate.

“Kind of…”

Snap.

Accurately locating the source of the sound, Jian Qing quickly pressed the shutdown button on the pet surveillance monitor.

The device was palm-sized and shaped like a chubby little bear. At first glance it looked like a cute ornament, perfectly hidden among a pile of clutter.

Perhaps because it heard its owner’s voice, the bedroom door suddenly opened a small crack, revealing a black cat with its tail held high, almost blending into the background.

Their eyes met.

The phone in his pocket buzzed. Jian Qing looked away first.

Without a doubt, it was Huo Linfeng: 【The rain is heavy.】

【Wait until it stops before leaving.】

Jian Qing subconsciously looked toward the balcony he had tidied up. Outside the window, the world had blurred into a curtain of water, indirectly proving the impulse that had brought him here.

Unbeknownst to him, that seemingly composed person had also just been held back by a friend.

The next day, after returning from a business trip, Huo Linfeng unexpectedly met Tong Tong’s parents.

To have been able to buy a house on Qingshan Road twenty years ago, the Tong family’s financial situation should not have been poor. Yet the couple dressed very modestly, appearing even more aged than their peers.

Shortly after Tong Tong went missing, a shocking massacre occurred on Qingshan Road. The originally well-inhabited villa district became increasingly deserted, until in the end only the couple remained, guarding the place for decades.

When Huo Linfeng and Wang Lai entered the office, Song Xiaotong was handing tissues to the tearful Mrs. Tong, while the latter tightly clutched a photograph showing a small, lonely skeleton lying in the weeds.

—All these years, the Tong couple had never given up searching for their daughter, clinging to even the slightest possibility of reunion. Yet in the end, it became a permanent farewell between life and death.

According to forensic examination, Tong Tong’s remains had been buried for at least twenty-two years, and had also been moved at some point. In other words, the disappearance and death occurred very close in time.

The partially undecomposed clothing on the remains also supported this: it matched exactly the description the Tong couple had provided to the police when their daughter went missing.

A princess dress paired with small leather shoes, made of synthetic fabric that was popular at the time.

Flesh dissolved, erasing countless traces and becoming nourishment for the weeds. Aside from a minor impact injury on the skull, the forensic team had no further breakthroughs. Based on current evidence, “accidental death” seemed more likely than “murder,” but in any case, there would always be a hidden perpetrator.

A corpse cannot bury itself.

“…I read the earliest police report,” Yan Qiuyu said after finally finding the dusty paper file in the archives. After the Tong couple’s emotions had stabilized slightly, she asked, “Tong Tong went missing from home, correct?”

Tong’s father nodded.

“It was a Thursday during summer vacation, July 18th,” he said, gently holding his wife’s hand for comfort. “I left early for work. At home, only my wife and Tong Tong were there.”

“Children get sleepy after eating. Tong Tong always took a nap, but when my wife went upstairs as usual to wake her, the bedroom was empty.”

“At first, my wife didn’t pay much attention. She thought the child was just being mischievous and had slipped out to play. The yard gate was closed, and there were few residents on Qingshan Road—everyone knew each other. But she searched the entire garden and still couldn’t find Tong Tong. Several familiar neighbors also said they hadn’t seen her.”

“That’s when she started to panic and quickly called me back from the company.”

Huo Linfeng raised an eyebrow at that.

He had read the documents Yan Qiuyu shared in the group chat: there were no signs of forced entry in the villa. Without a doubt, the girl had left the house on her own.

In the early years, surveillance was not widespread. None of the main cameras on Qingshan Road captured Tong Tong. The perpetrator must have been very familiar with the area—very likely a case involving someone known to the family.

However, this path was blocked by the investigation results from twenty-two years ago.

After half a month of police visits and screening, all qualified relatives and acquaintances—including villa security guards and kindergarten teachers—were completely cleared of suspicion one after another.

Tong Tong disappeared just like that.

Like a drop of water, silently, without sound or color, evaporating into the sea of people.

At the time, the police had also considered kidnapping and human trafficking. After all, Tong Tong came from a well-off family, and she was cute and delicate in appearance. The villa district was designed in the style of classical garden landscapes, with winding paths and multiple exits. If she had gotten lost by accident, it was very possible she could have bypassed the security guards and walked out unnoticed.

But afterward, Tong Tong’s parents never received any ransom calls, and in recent years, anti-trafficking crackdowns by the Bei Jiang police had also never uncovered any trace of the girl.

Until the white bones beneath the abandoned warehouse were finally exposed again.

It was no wonder the couple looked so haggard. Twenty-two years had passed, yet the Tong family still had no other children, which clearly showed how much they valued this daughter.

“It’s my fault… it’s all my fault,” the last strand of hope that had supported her shattered, Mrs. Tong sobbed and murmured, “If I had gone with Tong Tong back then… if I had been stricter with her…”

Yan Qiuyu let out a faint sigh: “You and your daughter always slept in separate rooms?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Tong quickly wiped away her tears as she recalled, “Tong Tong was very independent—she was smart and well-behaved, rarely caused trouble for adults.”

Yan Qiuyu: “Before she went missing, did anything unusual happen?”

Mrs. Tong shook her head.

Everything that happened that day had been replayed countless times in her mind. If there had really been anything abnormal, she would have already told the police long ago.

But Mr. Tong then asked: “Does arguing with a friend count?”

“I’m not sure,” Yan Qiuyu said rigorously, “but you can tell us first.”

Mr. Tong straightened his posture seriously:

“It was Jian Qing.”

Silence fell.

Completely unprepared for this case to actually involve that person, Wang Lai quickly glanced at Huo Linfeng. The latter calmly met his gaze in return.

The emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is.

Wang Lai thought to himself that Huo Linfeng in work mode was truly cold and unfeeling, then belatedly realized he had also insulted himself.

Mr. Tong did not notice the small exchange between the two.

“Survivor of the 213 family massacre case, Jian Qing,” worried he hadn’t made himself clear, he added, “you should know him.”

Wang Lai: Know him.

They knew him far too well.

There was even a special water cup for him on Huo Linfeng’s desk.

“We lived close to each other, and the children were about the same age, so we would sometimes visit each other,” Mr. Tong continued after seeing no objection from Yan Qiuyu. “After a few interactions, Tong Tong especially liked him. She would always save good food and fun things for Jian Qing, often sticking behind him like a little tail.”

“That child, Jian Qing… was like a little adult. He always stayed at home reading books. At first, Tong Tong was rejected many times before she could slowly get him to come out and play.”

The veteran reader Song Xiaotong’s fingers paused slightly: good heavens.

Iceberg and little sun—this is textbook salvation-romance development.

But what does this have to do with Tong Tong’s murder?

“Later, when Jian Qing went out to play with Tong Tong, he fell,” as if realizing he had added too much buildup, Tong’s father cut straight to the point, “he scraped a bit of skin on his forehead, nothing serious, but from that day on, Jian Qing increasingly distanced himself from Tong Tong, which made Tong Tong cry several times.”

“As fellow parents, we could also understand how precious children are. Although Tong Tong said Jian Qing had tripped on his own, we still brought gifts to visit and apologize.”

“But Jian Qing always avoided Tong Tong.”

“Tong Tong snuck out every time; eight out of ten times, she went next door to look for Jian Qing.” Repeatedly rubbing the photo in the forensic report of the skull with faint cracks, Tong’s father asked, “Officer, doesn’t this injury look like Tong Tong was pushed?”

Qing Xiaotian gave the same answer as Wan Lai: “Jian Qing was only six years old back then.”

“That’s exactly why it was an accident,” the more he spoke, the more reasonable it seemed. Tong’s father looked up, “Maybe he just wanted to play a prank, wanted Tong Tong to fall too, but ended up taking my daughter’s life.”

The villas on Qingshan Road all came with private gardens. If Jian Qing’s parents had intended to cover it up, they could have buried Tong Tong there—no one would have known.

Qing Xiaotian said helplessly, “You’ve lived on Qingshan Road for half your life. You should know the police thoroughly searched that house many times.”

“Not to mention a hidden body—even a single drop of unidentifiable blood would not be overlooked by us.”

Tong’s father fell silent.

Wan Lai secretly typed a line to He Linfeng: 【Looks like President Jian was pretty aloof as a kid too.】

Putting himself in their shoes, he could more or less understand Tong’s father’s thinking—his daughter constantly followed a “bad boy,” got rejected by that “bad boy,” and what father would be happy about that?

These small, ordinary childhood conflicts had become a dead knot because of Tong Tong’s disappearance. That bit of resentment must have accumulated in his heart for a long time, and today it finally surfaced indirectly through a forensic report.

“If you insist, we will also ask Jian Qing for clarification later,” seeing that Tong’s father clearly did not accept his conclusion, Qing Xiaotian said, “Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

……

Just last week, after being lectured by his aunt, Jian Qing had been leaving work on time.

He could cook, but rarely made dinner for himself. His apartment did not have a housekeeper, and Jian Qing was fairly homebound, so he mostly just picked up food from his favorite restaurants and brought it back.

He casually projected a news channel, changed his clothes, washed his hands, and picked up his bowl and chopsticks in the faint light.

“Knock, knock.”

Someone knocked on the apartment door.

The rhythm was unhurried, carrying a distinctly lazy signature feel.

The female news anchor was speaking in crisp, standard Mandarin. Pretending no one was there was already a bit late. Jian Qing paused, stood up, and as expected saw He Linfeng standing outside through the peephole.

Through the door, he asked, “What is it?”

“President Jian really likes those two words. Can’t I come find you without a reason?” As always turning the tables, He Linfeng stepped back two paces and lifted the bag in his hand toward the peephole. “Thanks for going to see Mimi. Today it’s my turn to feed you.”

“Hotpot, homemade base.”

The person inside said nothing.

After a long moment, the lock clicked softly and opened a narrow gap:

“You wash the dishes.”

He Linfeng couldn’t help but let out a low laugh.

Familiar with the place, he casually pulled out a pair of disposable slippers from the cabinet, squinted as he adjusted to the dimness of the apartment, and carried the ingredients into the kitchen that hadn’t been turned on.

Luckily he had brought candles.

With a peculiarly unconventional train of thought, He Linfeng sincerely praised him—living with Jian Qing must really save electricity bills.

The next second, warm yellow light softly spread over his shoulders.

“Afraid you’ll cut your hand off.” The young man lightly raised his hand, shielding his brow with his fingers, his tone indifferent:

“I don’t have the habit of eating human flesh.”