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"Old Hu said, 'This situation, the child has no way of coming back. Just look at how difficult the road is. A few years ago, the village requested to repair the road. You have computers now, yet the road is still in such bad shape. Once it rains or snows, no one can return.'
At this point, Gu Chen's Father also felt a bit angry and said, 'Exactly. Every year we need repairs, but every year nothing gets done. It just drags on year after year; the efficiency is too low. We don't hold much hope anymore, and I don't know what they are thinking.'
Old Hu glanced at Gu Chen's Father and replied, 'Ah, you don't understand this. Our village may not be big, but it's not poor either. We can't say we are well-off, but we have enough to eat and drink. We can buy a television or a computer if we want. But this road... even though we've requested repairs many times, it always gets delayed. You don't understand the reasons behind it.'
'You know?' Gu Chen's Father asked.
Old Hu smiled and said, 'Of course I know. The welfare in our village is pretty good; we receive rice and flour every year.'
'It's alright,' Gu Chen's Father replied. 'I don't know how other villages are doing.'
Old Hu continued, 'It's not bad at all. Do you know why we get so much? It's because of this road. As long as this road isn't repaired, we can be considered poor. If this road gets fixed, everything will change. This is just a way to fool those above us into giving money every year. You and I—don't let this get out.'
Hearing this, I finally understood. I had previously heard that Zhi Li Village was a poor village, but upon arriving here, I realized that households could afford computers and televisions. Yet this road had never been repaired, and it seemed that everyone in the village was self-sufficient; there was more to the story.
I had heard about such things before but never witnessed them firsthand. Old Hu seemed quite knowledgeable about these matters, which reminded me of my friends in Dongxing City—people who could discuss everything from national affairs to literary works and life philosophies; there was nothing they didn't know.
Old Hu seemed to have forgotten why we were here, and Gu Hui's death didn't seem to affect him much; his expression showed no signs of sadness. Gu Chen's Father wore a gloomy face, lost in thought; after all, it wasn't his granddaughter who had died.
People can empathize with others' misfortunes but can never truly feel their pain.
While Old Hu discussed these matters, I was mentally measuring the distance from the windowsill to the ground. The households in the village seemed to have a similar structure; it should be about the same distance. However, at that moment, a question arose in my mind.
As Old Hu rambled on, I pondered quietly. Noticing my silence, Gu Chen grew impatient and coughed a few times before speaking up: 'Old Man Hu, let's talk about these things later. What about Hu Ning? Is she still at school?'
Only then did Old Hu realize he had strayed off topic. He replied, 'She's at school during the week; her parents bring her back on weekends—didn't you know?'
Just then, the phone rang, and Old Hu's partner went to answer it."
Gu Chen nudged me, and my thoughts finally returned to reality. I asked again, "After that incident, did Hu Ningning have any other reactions? Like losing interest in school or being scared of something?"
"No," Old Hu replied. "Not at all. She's just a girl; she probably thinks that incident was just like playing house. I feel like she's already forgotten about it. Kids have short memories."
I shrugged and said, "Then I don't have any more questions."
As soon as I finished speaking, a thunderous clap of thunder echoed outside, startling everyone into looking out the window. After a few rumbles, a torrential downpour began, drumming against the ground with various sounds. Although the thunder was frightening, the rain washed away the oppressive heat, making the house feel pleasantly cool, prompting a sigh of relief from us all.
A flash lit up the sky, followed by another deafening roar of thunder. The thunder faded, but inside the house came a loud thud. We quickly turned to see Old Hu's partner had collapsed on the floor.
"What happened to you? Did the thunder scare you that much?" Old Hu said as he got up and walked over to his partner. "You really are too jumpy."
"It's not that!" Old Hu's partner exclaimed. "No, it's the phone, the phone!"
I furrowed my brow, suddenly feeling an ominous premonition.
Old Hu's partner continued, "Ningning is missing! Ningning is missing!"
"What?" Old Hu looked unsteady on his feet as Gu Chen hurried to support him.
Old Hu's partner pointed at the phone and said, "The call was from Teacher. After school, they haven't seen her anywhere. The students haven't seen where Hu Ningning went either; now the whole school is looking for her."
"Is the line still open?" I asked.
"It is, it is," Old Hu's partner replied.
I nodded and took the receiver. "Hello, I'm Officer Wu, here to handle this case. I just heard about this call. What exactly happened? When did Hu Ningning go missing? Who was the last person to see her?"
A crisp female voice spoke on the other end, "Hello, Officer Wu. I am Sun Qingqing, Hu Ningning's homeroom teacher. This afternoon at five o'clock, when the children finished school, Hu Ningning was temporarily arranged to stay at school, so she was waiting quietly in the classroom. It's been almost a week now. Previously, we had another teacher who accompanied her to do her homework, but today we have a big meeting that all the teachers must attend."
After a pause, Sun Qingqing continued, "Since all the teachers have to participate, naturally no one can keep an eye on Hu Ningning. I asked her to stay in the classroom and do her homework. Afterward, I would take her to where she is staying at school. She usually stays with another female teacher."
"Because the Education Bureau is coming for an inspection, this meeting will take some time—at least over two hours," Sun Qingqing explained further. "I was also anxious to go back and check on Hu Ningning; after all, leaving a child alone in the classroom for over two hours isn't ideal."
"Then what happened?" I asked.
At this moment, Sun Qingqing sounded a bit anxious. "When I returned, it was already past seven. I noticed the lights in the classroom were off and thought Hu Ningning might have fallen asleep. So I tiptoed in and turned on the lights. To my surprise, there was no one inside. I found it strange—where could Hu Ningning have gone?"
"Hu Ningning is a good student and always listens to her teachers; she never misbehaves. I thought she might have gone to the restroom, so I waited for a while, but she still didn't come back. Then I noticed that her backpack was missing from the classroom, and that’s when I realized something was wrong. A child wouldn’t take their backpack just to go to the restroom."
"At that point, Hu Ningning had disappeared?" I asked.
"Exactly," Sun Qingqing replied. "We searched the school thoroughly but couldn't find her anywhere. Eventually, we reported it up the chain and checked the surveillance footage. However, because of the Education Bureau's visit today, the cameras were undergoing maintenance this afternoon and weren't operational. We had no idea where Hu Ningning had gone."
I frowned and asked, "Did you report it to the police?"
"Of course we did," Sun Qingqing said. "The police checked the surveillance and found that Hu Ningning left the school around five o'clock. At that time, many children were leaving as well, and no one noticed whether she had a parent picking her up or not; she just left like that. We still don’t know what happened next; they are still investigating."
"The police followed the surveillance and found that Hu Ningning walked north after leaving school, but then there was no more footage available, so we have no idea where she went."
"Alright," I said to Sun Qingqing. "I understand the situation now. Please cooperate with the local police investigation. If Hu Ningning isn't found by tomorrow, we will get involved in the investigation ourselves. Have you informed Hu Ningning's parents?"
"Not yet; I was just about to notify them," Sun Qingqing replied.
I nodded and then provided her with Gu Chen's phone number. "This is my contact number; if you have any further developments, please call me."
"Alright." Sun Qingqing hung up the phone.
At that moment, Old Hu's Partner was still on the ground, her face pale, mumbling, "Why is my life so miserable? Why is it so miserable? First, my granddaughter was violated by a beast, and now she's gone. Why does your family treat my granddaughter like this? What did she do wrong?"
I furrowed my brows and asked, "When was Hu Ningning taken away?"
Old Hu frowned and said, "The twenty-seventh, I think."
I nodded; that was indeed the day after Gu Hui had died.
Old Hu finally managed to get his partner onto the bed. As she groaned in pain, she said, "Officer, you must find my granddaughter and bring her back to us."
"Yes," I replied softly.
Outside the window, thunder rumbled and rain poured down in torrents, seemingly endless. In such a stormy atmosphere, where could Hu Ningning have gone alone?
Suddenly, the phone rang again. Checking the number, it was still Sun Qingqing.
"Hello, Officer Wu, are you there?" Sun Qingqing asked.
"I'm here," I quickly replied. "Did you find her?"
Sun Qingqing said, "No, another child has gone missing..."
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