Chapter 513: A Clean Sweep (Part 1)
"No, Mom, that person was Miao Zhi."
Su Li was stunned. "Miao Zhi?"
"Yeah, Miao Zhi." Little Tang Mo nodded. "Tongtong was hungry that day, so I took her out to buy some sweet potatoes. After eating them, she got thirsty, so I took her to buy something to drink."
"We ran into Miao Zhi on the way back. She saw it was just the two of us kids and asked why you weren’t with us. Then she offered to walk us back."
"When I told her we were just at the library and that you were coming back to get us, she didn’t say anything else. We said goodbye to her, turned around, and then we were..."
Little Tang Mo pressed his lips together. "Mom, the people who grabbed me seemed to be the same ones who kidnapped you last time. They were in a car and just suddenly grabbed us."
"The same ones who kidnapped me?" Su Li was very surprised.
"Yes. Tongtong and I were snatched up in an instant. I wanted to scream, but my mouth was covered right away, and then I don’t remember anything after that."
Little Tang Mo and Little Tongtong were just children; they could be carried off with a single grab, not to mention the kidnappers had a car.
The car was parked by the roadside, clearly staked out. Scooping Little Tang Mo and the others into the car would have been all too easy.
Su Li gritted her teeth as she listened, hugging Little Tang Mo tightly.
"What about Miao Zhi? Did she not see you get taken?"
Little Tang Mo shook his head. "I don’t know. I think I might have heard her voice trying to stop them, but maybe not."
Hearing this, Su Li’s brow furrowed tightly.
’That girl, Miao Zhi... she was doted on by Father Miao. Her personality was a bit too direct. She was impulsively righteous and a bit reckless, which also made her something of a blockhead... the type to be easily used by others.’
’Even though she’s young and seems to put love above all else, which doesn’t quite align with my own values, she was raised by a man like Father Miao, so her fundamental nature is good.’
’No, that’s not it. She’s a warm-hearted and righteous person. Little Mo even said she was worried when she saw him and Little Tongtong alone and offered to take them home.’
Given the circumstances, it stood to reason that if Miao Zhi had seen it happen, she wouldn’t have stayed silent.
Even if she couldn’t have saved Little Tang Mo at that moment, she shouldn’t have remained completely silent this whole time. There had been no word from her at all.
This didn’t make any sense...
Su Li and Little Tang Mo looked at each other, and both saw the worry in the other’s eyes.
Su Li thought for a moment. "Little Mo, I’m going to try and contact Miao Zhi’s family."
Little Tang Mo nodded. "Okay, Mom. I’ll go with you."
"Alright," Su Li agreed.
The two of them borrowed a phone and called Aunt Chang’s home in the family residential compound.
Back in the family compound, Aunt Chang’s home was one of the few that had a phone installed early on. Since Su Li hadn’t been in touch for so long, it was the only number she had.
Aunt Chang picked up the phone quickly. "Hello?"
"Aunt Chang, it’s Su Li. Do you remember me?"
Aunt Chang let out a laugh. "How could I forget? Is something wrong, Su Li?"
Su Li and Aunt Chang hadn’t been in contact for a long time. A sudden call from Su Li naturally meant something was up.
"There is something I wanted to ask. Aunt Chang, has Miao Zhi been home recently?"
"Miao Zhi? Why are you suddenly asking about her? Did she do something?" Aunt Chang wondered.
"It’s nothing, I just wanted to know if she’s home," Su Li replied.
Aunt Chang said, "No, she’s not. I haven’t seen her these past few days."
Su Li immediately pressed, "She’s not there? Then where did she go? Did something happen to her?"
Aunt Chang quickly replied, "Nothing should have happened. Her dad hasn’t said anything. I just haven’t seen her around. Maybe she’s visiting relatives."
Su Li let out half a sigh of relief, but still felt uneasy.
"Aunt Chang, could you please do me a favor and ask where Miao Zhi is?"
Aunt Chang was puzzled but agreed anyway. "Alright, I’ll go ask. I’ll call you back when I find out. Give me your number."
Su Li agreed and hung up.
Half an hour later, Aunt Chang called back.
"Su Li, Miao Zhi has run away from home... no, that’s not right. Her dad said she went to her maternal grandmother’s house. Whenever Miao Zhi gets upset, she usually goes to stay with her grandma for a few days, so they never contacted her, just assuming she was there."
"But after I asked, her dad called over there, and her grandmother said Miao Zhi never went. Su Li, what’s going on? You asked if she was home... do you know where she is?"
"Her dad got anxious right away. Miao Zhi is an obedient girl. Other than her grandma’s house, she never goes anywhere else. If she’s not at her grandma’s and she hasn’t come home... then... then did something happen?"
Aunt Chang spoke extremely quickly, laying out the whole situation in a rush.
Su Li’s heart sank. She had a bad feeling. Just as she was about to speak, the phone on the other end was snatched away.
Father Miao’s voice came through the receiver.
"Is this Su Li? Su Li, why are you suddenly asking about Zhi Zhi? Do you know if something happened to her?"
Hearing his frantic voice, Su Li took a deep breath.
"Uncle, please calm down first and listen to me."
"Here’s what happened. Little Mo was recently abducted, and at the time..."
Su Li quickly explained the whole story from beginning to end, also mentioning her own suspicions and confusion.
"I picked up Little Mo today and asked him what happened. I thought it was a bit strange, so I called to ask..."
Su Li never would have expected this. Of all the rotten luck, Miao Zhi was supposed to be going to her grandmother’s, which is why Father Miao hadn’t even noticed she was missing after all these days without contact.
The moment Father Miao heard "human traffickers," his legs went weak.
"My Zhi Zhi... my Zhi Zhi couldn’t have... couldn’t have been taken too, could she? Do they only take children, or... I’m sorry, Su Li, that’s not what I meant... I..."
Father Miao was rambling incoherently, his mind in complete chaos.
Su Li understood how he felt. "It’s okay, it’s okay. Uncle, you don’t have to apologize... About this... please don’t panic. First, call the police. Then start asking around and searching. Maybe she’s at a friend’s house..."
Su Li tried to comfort Father Miao, but in truth, she didn’t believe it herself. The hope was just too slim.
Father Miao knew this as well, but at that moment, he was willing to cling to that slim hope.
He had been at work when Aunt Chang suddenly showed up to ask where Miao Zhi was. At first, he was just confused and puzzled, but he still called his mother-in-law.
His mother-in-law’s house didn’t have a phone, but their neighborhood office did. After waiting a moment, he heard her say that Miao Zhi hadn’t come. His mind went blank, followed by disbelief.
’How could he believe it? How could Miao Zhi not be at her grandmother’s? If she wasn’t there, where could she have gone?’
He was in a daze. It wasn’t until he heard his mother-in-law’s trembling voice asking what was wrong with Miao Zhi, if something had happened, that reality began to set in.
After the confusion, helplessness, and disbelief came a fear that threatened to swallow him whole—the same state of mind as the countless other parents who have just lost a child.
After hanging up the phone, he was drowned in that immense, helpless fear.
’Miao Zhi... Miao Zhi... She’s a grown girl. In the old days, someone her age would already be married with children. She’s not an ignorant child. She wouldn’t just disappear without a reason, and she wouldn’t intentionally play a disappearing act.’
So where did Miao Zhi go?
Was she really taken by human traffickers?
Trembling all over, Father Miao stood up to go search for her.
And on the other end of the line, Su Li, having hung up the phone, felt her heart sink deeper and deeper.