jdhmnovel Chapter 15 Qin Wenyu Disappears
Chapter 15 Qin Wenyu Disappears
After resolving Yuan Qiwen's issue, the two hurriedly rushed to catch the bus back home.
As soon as he got off the bus, he saw a large crowd gathered at the station. Qin Xiuwen immediately ran over to him and told them, "Wen Yu is missing!"
The two were startled and quickly asked what was going on.
“Wenyu didn’t come home for lunch like he did the past few days, so I went to the school to ask. The teacher said that Wenyu had already gone home,” Qin Xiuwen said.
"Yes, he came to school this morning and attended several classes. After school, all the students went home, and we thought he had gone home too. It was only when Qin Xiuwen came looking for us that we realized Wenyu hadn't gone home," Qin Wenyu's teacher explained.
Back then, children went to and from school on their own; no parents ever picked them up or dropped them off. Even those living several miles or more from school would travel to and from school by themselves. For children like Qin Wenyu, who lived on the street not far from school, the idea of being picked up or dropped off was even less relevant.
"We searched all afternoon but couldn't find it."
"We've searched every corner, but we just can't find it."
"I asked the children, and they said they hadn't seen Qin Wenyu."
……
The neighbors all came and told them what had happened.
"When I went into town today, I think I saw a child. I wonder if it was your child," a person who was on the same bus as Qin Yanlin said to him.
"Where did you see it?" Deng Xiuzhen grabbed the person and asked nervously.
"On the shuttle bus..."
"Why didn't you bring him back?" Deng Xiuzhen was practically yelling.
"Hey, are you being reasonable? I just saw a child standing there with adults around. How am I supposed to know whose child he is? What right do I have to take him away?" The man was a little angry. After all, he was just trying to help by sharing what he knew. Why was he being yelled at for trying to be kind?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we misspoke. I hope you won't be offended." Qin Xiuwen quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.
"Do you remember what that child looked like?" Qin Yanlin asked. He was anxious, but he also knew that this matter might not be related to the other party. They had no obligation to take your child back, and besides, they might not even know your child.
"The child looked about five or six years old, carrying a small schoolbag, with short hair, a round face, and big eyes. The schoolbag was, I think, light yellow. The clothes were, I think, gray." The person tried hard to recall.
"What time is the train?" Qin Yanlin asked. The man's description confirmed that the child was Wen Yu. He was extremely anxious. But he knew he couldn't panic, because panicking would be useless.
"I took the bus around noon, around 12 o'clock, but I don't remember the exact time."
"Quick, let's go ask which buses left at noon, let's ask who saw them, and see if the drivers and ticket sellers remember them!" Qin Xiuwen said as he ran towards the bus stop.
Back then, the shuttle buses would drop people off at the station entrance or intersection, and then drive to a fixed location to park.
I quickly found a bus that would depart at noon. Two buses ran between 12:00 and 1:30, and the drivers had all gone home. Fortunately, the bus drivers all lived on the street.
Everyone quickly went to find those two families. Back then, the shuttle buses weren't government-owned; they were all privately owned and operated by one family. Most of the time, the husband drove the bus and the wife sold tickets. Sometimes, the son drove and the mother sold tickets.
One of the ticket sellers recalled that there was indeed such a child. The bus was crowded, so she hadn't noticed him, but the child almost fell when getting off. She helped him up, and the child politely thanked her. She then glanced at the child a few more times.
"Was someone with him at the time?" Qin Yanlin asked.
"Well, it's hard to say. He got out of the car by himself, no one was holding his hand, but a woman followed him after he got out of the car. I don't know if she was the one who was with him."
"Why didn't you stop him from getting on the bus? And that woman didn't hold his hand, and she didn't even help him when he fell. She's definitely not his parent. Why didn't you pay attention?" Deng Xiuzhen's heart was pounding, and she was extremely anxious.
"What do you mean? Am I wrong? Children don't buy tickets, and they get on the bus with other people, so I won't stop them."
Besides, there were adults all around him on that bus. How was I supposed to know if he had anyone with him? I should have known better than to tell you! The ticket seller was angry.
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. She's just anxious. Her child is lost, so she's worried. Please be more understanding and forgiving," Qin Xiuwen quickly reassured her.
"Do you know where he went after he got off the bus?" Qin Yanlin asked.
"At the time, we were heading in the direction of Puzhong, but I really don't know where we ended up..."
"Come on, let's go to the city to look for her!" Qin Yanlin quickly pulled Deng Xiuzhen and prepared to walk out.
“Yanlin, let’s rent a car. The longer we’re gone, the harder it will be to find someone,” Qin Xiuwen said.
“Yes, rent a car!” Qin Yanlin turned to the driver and said, “Can you take us to Pucheng right away? We’ll rent a car and pay the taxi fare.”
The driver readily agreed, after all, finding a child was a big deal, and he understood the parents' feelings at that moment.
The driver immediately set off, speeding along the way. The journey normally takes more than an hour, but that's because he had to pick up passengers along the way, so he kept stopping and starting.
This time it only took half an hour.
There were only a few people going into the city together: Qin Yanlin, Deng Xiuzhen, Qin Xiuwen, and two others who were particularly close to Qin Yanlin's family, plus the driver, making a total of six people.
They agreed to split into three teams and search from three directions, asking shopkeepers and residents along the way. They also agreed to meet at the station at 7 p.m. regardless of whether they found the item or not.
More than two hours later, the six people reunited, but they had not obtained any useful information.
Qin Yanlin's heart sank to the bottom: the bus arrives in the city around 2 p.m., and he gets back to his village around 5 p.m., which is three hours in between. He just spent another two hours looking for the bus, so it's been a total of five hours.
In such a big city, several hours have passed, and there's no way to find the child.
Moreover, there are many human traffickers. If someone is taken away by human traffickers, they will probably be far away from Pucheng by now.
Deng Xiuzhen wanted to curse, to curse the current case filing system, which only files a case for missing persons after 24 hours or more. In other words, the police station will only send someone to help you search after 24 hours or more.
If someone has been abducted, they can be sent to some remote mountain village within 24 hours!
If they were to kidnap someone to beg...
That would mean pulling out their tongue, cutting off their hands and feet!
Deng Xiuzhen is going crazy.
She regretted it.
If her rebirth meant the disappearance of her son, she would rather not be reborn; she would rather suffer life after life.
"Yanlin, let's wait for the police station to help us. It's too difficult for us to find the child on our own," two acquaintances advised.
"Yes, the streets are full of people, and there are houses everywhere. There's really no way for just a few of us to manage," the driver said.
Qin Yanlin and Deng Xiuzhen remained silent. They knew in their hearts that what they were saying made sense, but they did not want to give up. However, others were only helping, and they could not let others help them forever.