Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Her Problems Are Huge!

Chen Xiao sat on the bed and turned on the bedside lamp.

He looked at the empty room besides him, his eyelids drooping.

He remembered that dream very clearly now, even remembering every step.

It’s just that it seems like every dream is like this, as time goes by the memory gradually fades.

Chen Xiao could vividly recall the pale, thin hands that reached out with the rag doll, yet he couldn’t remember the outline of the person extending the hands.

It seemed like Xiao Diandian, yet somehow it didn’t.

Shaking his head, Chen Xiao dismissed the thoughts from his mind.

The appearance of this dream must have a reason.

The old saying goes, what you think about during the day, appears in dreams at night.

He had looked at Xiao Diandian’s missing person notices almost all day, her appearance practically engraved in his mind.

But this dream left a very unsettling feeling in Chen Xiao’s heart.

He felt that Xiao Diandian appearing in his dream at this time was like a premonition.

“I hope it’s not what I fear it is, but I should go to Qingsha Town first thing tomorrow morning, and personally visit the house where Xiao Diandian was born.”

With the plan in mind, Chen Xiao no longer overthought it, laying down again and closing his eyes to rest.

Chen Xiao never had another dream after that and slept soundly until the morning.

Luo Dali and his team never delayed the tasks Chen Xiao assigned.

Early in the morning, they went to print several bundles of missing person notices and then drove out to distribute them to other locations.

Seeing it was about time, Chen Xiao also drove to Qingsha Town.

Upon arriving at the Qingsha Town police station, Chen Xiao got out of the car and saw a woman standing at the entrance of the station.

The woman seemed to recognize Chen Xiao and walked over immediately upon seeing him.

“Hello, Mr. Chen. My name is Wen Baohui, an officer from the Nanxi County Bureau’s criminal investigation team; I’ve been assigned to assist you in investigating the disappearance of the girl, Xiao Diandian.”

Wen Baohui wasn’t very old, her physical appearance suggesting she was about the same age as Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao glanced at Wen Baohui and smiled as he shook hands, saying, “Hello, Officer Wen. With the county bureau’s assistance, it will be much easier for me to investigate.”

Wen Baohui was slightly excited: “Mr. Chen, you’re too kind. I feel so lucky! You wouldn’t believe how many people at our county bureau wanted to attend the press conference in the city yesterday. But, surprisingly, I get to meet you today!”

Chen Xiao smiled lightly: “Since you’ve been waiting for me at the police station, you must have already informed the village committee where Yang Ziping is. Let’s head out now.”

“Sure, I’ll drive.”

Wen Baohui deftly got into the driver’s seat, and Chen Xiao joined her without hesitation.

Throughout the drive, Wen Baohui did not engage in much conversation with Chen Xiao, only exchanging brief pleasantries.

Upon arriving at Sifang Village where Yang Ziping resided, Wen Baohui spoke again, “Before meeting Mr. Chen, I’ve already informed the village committee. No one from the village will come to disturb us before Mr. Chen wishes to see them.”

“That’s perfect, let’s head straight to Yang Ziping’s house.”

As Chen Xiao spoke, Wen Baohui led the way.

Quickly, the two arrived in front of a two-story small villa.

The door of the small villa was open, and Chen Xiao asked tentatively, “Has Yang Ziping returned from yesterday evening until now?”

“I’ve already asked, Yang Ziping hasn’t appeared in the village from yesterday until now. I asked the village committee to open the door first. They wore gloves as instructed and ensured no one entered Yang Ziping’s house.”

Chen Xiao looked at Wen Baohui somewhat surprised: “Was this the instruction given to you by the county bureau leadership, or was it your own directive?”

Wen Baohui paused: “The leaders didn’t instruct me; I just thought since Mr. Chen was coming, we should follow strict procedures.”

Chen Xiao nodded with a smile; he now believed the reason Wen Baohui was assigned to assist him was due to her astuteness.

“Let’s go inside and take a look.”

After Wen Baohui agreed, she noticed Chen Xiao had already put on shoe and foot covers.

Once they entered the house together, as Wen Baohui was about to start examining the place, she saw Chen Xiao standing still in the main room.

Wen Baohui also stood for a while, and then couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Chen, what are you looking at?”

“Officer Wen, what kind of case are we investigating now?”

“Missing person case.”

“Since it’s a missing person case, what should we investigate most?”

“We should investigate the last place the missing person was seen. According to Yang Ziping, Xiao Diandian went missing while sleeping at night.”

“What was Yang Ziping doing at that time?” Chen Xiao asked again.

Wen Baohui replied, “She was in the backyard doing laundry. She regularly brings her daughter back here every so often. She takes out the clothes piled up for a long time and washes them all. Then, after drying them the next day, she returns to work in Qingxi again.”

“Alright, now you go fetch a basin of water and do laundry in the backyard, while I lay in the bedroom for a while and see if I can hear you doing the laundry.”

Without worrying about what Wen Baohui thought, Chen Xiao went straight to the bedroom.

The bed in the bedroom was already quite messy.

But Chen Xiao didn’t mind and laid down, closing his eyes and emptying his mind.

The surrounding world seemed to fall completely silent at this moment.

As time passed by, Chen Xiao did not hear any noise.

Subsequently, he got up, opened the bedroom door, and went to listen carefully again.

He still didn’t hear any sound of laundry.

He trusted Wen Baohui was following his instructions, and since he couldn’t hear anything, it meant that Xiao Diandian, upon waking, wasn’t aware of her mother’s whereabouts.

So she could have gone out searching for her mother and gotten lost.

That timeframe was post 10:30 at night.

Why so late?

Yang Ziping had said that Xiao Diandian refused to sleep that night, and she only managed to coax her into sleeping until after ten o’clock.

Chen Xiao walked towards the backyard.

Sure enough, Wen Baohui was there doing laundry.

Chen Xiao didn’t call out to her but quietly watched her washing actions.

Soon, inspiration struck him.

“Officer Wen, there was a very important question that you didn’t ask.”

Chen Xiao suddenly spoke, causing Wen Baohui to twitch instinctively.

After taking a deep breath, Wen Baohui mentioned with a bitter smile, “What question?”

“Did Yang Ziping discover Xiao Diandian’s disappearance after finishing the laundry or during it?”

Wen Baohui immediately fell into contemplation.

A few seconds later, Wen Baohui’s eyes widened as she exclaimed, “Mr. Chen, this question of yours….”

Chen Xiao didn’t reply, speaking to himself:

“I can very confidently tell you, Yang Ziping discovered Xiao Diandian’s disappearance during the laundry.”

“Why is that?”

“Haven’t you mentioned the answer before? From time to time, Yang Ziping would come back home to wash and dry the clothes stacked in the wardrobe. Given this, was the laundry amount large or small?”

“Large!”

“When did Yang Ziping start doing the laundry?”

“She said after ten at night.”

“When was Xiao Diandian discovered missing?”

“After ten thirty.”

“Let’s take it as ten o’clock, you’re a woman. Let me ask you, can you wash all the old clothes in the wardrobe within half an hour?”

Wen Baohui shook her head, eyes wide, “Impossible.”

“Then why aren’t there any dirty clothes in this backyard, nor any clothes drying in the entire house? Yang Ziping wasn’t mentally unstable due to the huge shock of Xiao Diandian’s disappearance, was she? Could someone mentally disturbed and anxious about her child’s whereabouts have the heart to do laundry and hang clothes?”

Chen Xiao’s calm questioning left Wen Baohui so shocked that she couldn’t help but gape.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep