Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Qian Xin went missing yesterday. The Public Security Bureau and the Qian family had been searching for an entire day without any leads.

Someone mentioned that there was a person named Tang Qingqing who was particularly skilled at finding people and objects. After Li Guifen found out about her, she hurriedly brought her relatives to personally seek Tang Qingqing's help.

Tang Qingqing looked at the photo with surprise. "Him?"

Upon hearing this, Li Guifen became instantly excited. "Comrade Tang, have you seen my son?!"

Tang Qingqing replied, "I saw him two days ago when I went to eat at the Sichuan restaurant next to the cinema. He seemed to be treating many classmates to dinner."

Li Guifen nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, that was my son! That day he said he wanted to treat his classmates to dinner. It's almost the end of the term, and he wanted them to help him with his studies."

Su Rong, who was accompanying them, frowned upon hearing this.

Their family's financial situation was considered quite good in the entire city of Yangshi, but they didn't indulge their child to such an extent.

How could a young child use money to treat others to meals, and moreover, it sounded like he treated quite a few people.

Su Rong usually only heard about 'nouveau riche' because her social circle was fixed, so she rarely encountered such behavior. This was her first close encounter, and she felt the stark difference.

Tang Qingqing asked, "Does your son often treat others to meals?"

"It's just children playing around; each time it doesn't cost much. Whenever his father gives him money, he still has plenty left when he comes back. As long as the child is happy."

Tang Qingqing and Su Rong were at a loss for words. How quickly they had become wealthy, yet they were already living in such an impractical manner.

A younger woman beside Li Guifen said, "Qian Xin is the only child of Sister Li's family, so they spoil him a bit more."

At the mention of this, Li Guifen couldn't help but wipe away tears.

"This child was hard to come by. We had three daughters before finally having a son. Without a son, my husband and I couldn't even hold our heads high in the village. Back then, we couldn't even pray to the gods. It was truly heartbreaking."

"For the sake of this son, I tried countless remedies. If I can't find him, I won't be able to live either!"

The more Li Guifen thought about it, the more frightened she became, and her crying grew louder.

Su Rong stepped in and said, "Stop crying. We're still looking. Tell us clearly what happened, and we'll find the child sooner."

Upon hearing this, Li Guifen immediately stopped crying and began to recount the situation through sobs.

Nowadays, raising children was more laissez-faire. Even though their family loved Qian Xin very much, they didn't watch him constantly and raised him rather roughly.

Both Li Guifen and her husband, Qian Suijui, were busy with business, leaving little time to look after Qian Xin.

They often ate out, buying whatever the child wanted.

The couple didn't think eating out was unhealthy; instead, they believed it was a matter of pride to dine at restaurants.

Their own cooking was far inferior to that of restaurants.

Therefore, Qian Xin liked to run around after school and only return home after eating out.

If he didn't want to eat out, his grandmother could cook some noodles for him at home.

"He often came home late. His grandmother is old and not very clear-headed, so she didn't notice anything wrong. When we returned from work and found the child hadn't come back, we realized something was amiss. We searched everywhere, including his friends' homes and places he frequented, but no one had seen him."

Although Qian Xin had a lot of freedom to roam around, he usually didn't go too far after school.

"Who did he leave with after school? Who was the last person to see him?"

Li Guifen replied, "He had to do cleaning duty today, so he left school alone."

Tang Qingqing was puzzled. "Isn't cleaning duty usually done by at least two people?"

"He didn't do his cleaning duty properly before, so he was punished. The teacher made him do it alone today. Oh, why is this child so honest! He had money in his pocket; why didn't he pay someone to help him?!"

Li Guifen was filled with regret and resentment towards the class teacher.

"Did anyone see him leave the school?"

Li Guifen answered, "The security guard saw him."

When Qian Xin left the school, there were hardly any people left.

After he left the school, no one saw him again.

Tang Qingqing asked some more questions and then told Li Guifen to go home, promising to assist the Public Security Bureau in finding her son.

As Li Guifen was leaving, she was reluctant. Tang Qingqing reassured her:

"Since I promised you, I won't break my word. Tomorrow, I will visit the Public Security Bureau branch handling the case to get more details. Working together with them will make it easier to find the child. They will report any progress to you immediately."

Tang Qingqing wasn't arrogant enough to believe she could find the child on her own. A child disappearing near the school and being missing for a day meant that any footprints would have been destroyed.

She knew she needed to work with the authorities to solve the case.

Li Guifen stood up and took out a wad of large denomination bills.

"Comrade Tang, please take care of this. I only have this one son. If he's gone, I can't live either! We haven't dared to tell his grandmother he's missing; we've lied that he went out to play. Otherwise, she wouldn't survive!"

Li Guifen and her husband had abandoned their business and led their staff to search for their son for a whole day and night without returning home.

If Li Guifen hadn't come to seek Tang Qingqing's help, she would still be searching outside.

Tang Qingqing quickly pushed the money back. "What are you doing? What do you take me for? Put it away!"

Li Guifen was still trying to refuse, and the people around her were also persuading her to stay.

Tang Qingqing said sternly, "If you don't take it, I won't bother with this matter anymore. I'll go back to my hometown tomorrow!"

Li Guifen had no choice but to take the money back and left the Tang residence reluctantly.

Tang Qingqing went upstairs to pack and then came down with her bag.

Su Rong: "It's so late already. Why don't you wait until tomorrow?"

Tang Qingqing shook her head: "Time is very precious now. The longer we delay, the harder it will be to find the child. Besides, I've had enough fun these days; it's time to do some work."

During this period, no one disturbed her, giving her a rare holiday.

Tang Jixue: "Wait for me, I'll go with you."

"No need. Li Gang and the others can handle it. You have to go south in a few days, and there are many things here that need handling. Don't worry about me."

Tang Jixue wanted to say more, but Tang Qingqing smiled and said:

"Third Brother, I've been accepted into the Public Security University. After graduation, I'll be a real public security officer. Can you always follow me around?"

"That's for the future."

Tang Qingqing patted his shoulder with a smile. "Alright, I'm leaving. I probably won't come back tonight, so don't wait up for me."

Tang Qingqing first went to the Qingcheng District Public Security Bureau, where her affiliation remained. Other bureaus would contact her through this bureau.

To participate in another district's case and get more information, she needed to follow the same procedure for smoother operations.

Tang Qingqing wasn't very familiar with the bureau handling Qian Xin's case, as they hadn't cooperated much before, so she needed an introduction from her own bureau.

Shi Pengfei was on duty. Upon hearing about the case, he immediately knew what it was about. The missing person notice for the child had been posted extensively at their bureau.

"The child's parents made a lot of money from business. They started hustling even before the reforms began and moved directly from the countryside to Yang City after the reforms. At first, they had many conflicts with local thugs, and his father was detained several times for fighting."

It was not easy for outsiders to start businesses in new places, especially for those from the countryside moving to the city.

But this family dared to take risks and managed to establish themselves in Yang City within a short time.

"Their eldest son-in-law is still in jail."

Qian Xin's eldest sister married into Yang City, and when Qian Sigu came to do business, the eldest son-in-law helped out and acted as a bodyguard.

Tang Qingqing didn't expect the situation to be so complex. "It seems like this family has offended quite a few people?"

"In today's business world, it's inevitable to have rivals."

"This suggests a high possibility of acquaintance kidnapping."

Qian Xin is almost eleven years old, and a boy of this age is usually too old to be a target for human traffickers. No one wanting a son would buy such a big kid, as they wouldn't bond easily.

Of course, there could be other uses, such as forcing him to beg after being beaten up.

This scenario is relatively rare, as traffickers prefer abducting young children and women.

"As far as I know, from his school to the surrounding area, there are shops and pedestrians. If he was abducted by traffickers, there would have been some commotion, which might have been noticed. However, it's possible he was lured away."

Since Shi Pengfei wasn't responsible for this case and it wasn't handled by their bureau, he knew only a little about it. He called the officer in charge of the case, explaining Tang Qingqing's situation.

The officer welcomed Tang Qingqing's involvement, as more hands meant more help, especially given her expertise.

Shi Pengfei: "We haven't received any ransom notes yet, so we can't determine the nature of the case. We're still investigating the family's social connections to see if we can find anything."

Finding the child requires deploying manpower, while investigating the family's complex relationships demands more time and effort.

The officer in charge of the case was eager to have Tang Qingqing join them, almost offering to pick her up personally.

Of course, that was just talk; there were no idle police cars available.

When Tang Qingqing arrived at the bureau, upon hearing her name, the officer immediately presented all the collected materials.

Not just one file, but a stack of documents was placed in front of Tang Qingqing, and the officer bluntly said:

"Since you're here, why not take a look at these cases as well?"

Tang Qingqing: "..."

No wonder Shi Pengfei's eyes had a mysterious glint when she left; he must have anticipated this!