Skin - Chapter 36

Chapter 36 – Xu Yulin’s Disappearance

　”Who knows…” Zhou Qiyang guessed, “Could it be that she had an appointment with someone there?”
　　”And her behaviour is a bit abnormal,” Meng Zhao leaned over and dragged the video to quickly review it again. “According to Xu Yingying’s habitual behaviour, for such a long distance, she should have chosen to take a taxi. Why did she walk there…? Did you check the surveillance cameras of the several roads connected to the alley?”
　　”I just saw this alley, I’ll have to keep looking…”
　　”I’ll watch it with you.” Meng Zhao walked to another computer and sat down, then asked, “What did Brother Bin say about Xu Yulin?”
　　”Xu Yulin’s parents have been out of town for the past two days. They got news that there were many women in the countryside of S City who were trafficked there a few years ago, so they went there to look for their daughter. They won’t be back until tomorrow.”
　　”Yes,” Meng Zhao responded, and then asked Cheng Yun, “Xiao Cheng, can you tell me about your visit to Lin Lang’s parents? Did you fail in finding out the reason why Lin Lang is mentally ill?”
　　”Hmm…” Cheng Yun turned the swivel chair towards Meng Zhao, with a trace of guilt on her face, “Lin Lang’s parents told me that the police had gone to inquire about it yesterday. It seems that because of this, they have become particularly vigilant. How strange, we didn’t send anyone over yesterday, right?”
　　‘Is it Lu Yang?’ Meng Zhao frowned. Lu Yang had promised him several times on the phone that he would not interfere in the case, but he was still investigating secretly behind the scenes. He was very good at pretending to obey but secretly disobeying…
Meng Zhao continued to ask Cheng Yun: “Didn’t they say that Lin Lang had a boyfriend before the accident? Have you found him?”
　　”Lin Lang’s parents said that they didn’t know if Lin Lang had been in a relationship, and she had never had a boyfriend… However, I went to Lin Lang’s old neighbours to confirm it again. An old lady downstairs said that she had indeed seen a boy sending Lin Lang home at that time. The two were holding hands, so they must have been in a relationship. But the old lady didn’t see the boy’s appearance clearly, she only said that he was a head taller than Lin Lang…”
　　‘Were Lin Lang’s parents really unaware of the relationship, or were they deliberately hiding it?’ Meng Zhao thought for a moment, then looked up at Cheng Yun: “The results of your investigation are not bad.”
　　It could be seen that Cheng Yun had really tried her best to deal with Lin Lang’s parents. If Lin Lang’s parents had prepared their statements in advance and waited for the police, it would be difficult to find the flaws… Moreover, this morning, Cheng Yun took the initiative to verify the clues given by Lu Yang. As a young trainee, she had done a good job. There is really no reason to blame her.
　　”Cheng Yun, go home first. Xiao Zhou and I will continue to watch the surveillance,” Meng Zhao said, “to figure out where Xu Yingying went after she came out of the alley.”
　　At 1:30 in the morning, Zhou Qiyang yawned, “No, Brother Zhao. We searched all the roads leading to the alley, but Xu Yingying never came out of the alley… Do you think she had an accident in that alley? Moreover, this alley is too narrow for cars to pass through, and there is no sign of moving the body. Could it be that the murderer directly buried her body in the alley after killing her?”
　　”This alley is a shortcut with a fairly large flow of people. There are also residents living around here. If the murderer chose to kill and bury the body in such a place at around 3:00 p.m., don’t you think he’ll be afraid of being discovered?” Meng Zhao raised a question. “Also, after Xu Yingying left the sanatorium, why did she walk into this alley? She didn’t check her phone for the way nor make a phone call. It seems like she was heading for this alley from the start…”
　　”Could it be that the person she was visiting at the sanatorium sent her there?”
　　”Did the sanatorium staff say who she visited?”
　　”I asked about it and they said she was brought in by a staff member. So, her visit was not registered with the gate guard.”
　　Meng Zhao leaned back in his chair and made a decision: “After daybreak, ask the police station in Wenzhao District to search the alley to see if there are any signs of recent burials. You go to the sanatorium and find the staff member who took Xu Yingying inside. I will go visit Xu Yingying’s parents.”
　　”Okay,” Zhou Qiyang yawned again, “Are you still going home, Brother Zhao?”
　　”I’m not going back. I’ll sleep in the duty room.” Meng Zhao stood up and stretched his shoulders and neck.
　　”If we had the luxury to live in Yuhu Bay, why would we need to sleep in the duty room…?” Zhou Qiyang walked to the window and looked at the tall buildings in Yuhu Bay not far away. “The location is like the dormitory of the Municipal Bureau, but the house price is so high. Who in the police system can live there? Director Xu? Even if he could, it would be too eye-catching to live there…”
　　”Don’t dream,” Meng Zhao laughed, picked up his coat and walked out, “Take a shower and go to bed. It’s good that I didn’t let you sleep in the duty room of the old city bureau.”
　　”Hey, doesn’t your classmate live in Yuhu Bay? Brother Zhao, if you get on good terms with him, maybe occasionally you can stay with him for a night…”
　　When Zhou Qiyang mentioned Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao thought of the slightly cool but bone-chilling temperature on his wrist and those bony fingers.
　　Meng Zhao raised his other hand, held that spot on his wrist, and rubbed it gently with his thumb.
　　The author has something to say:
　　To summarise briefly, at this stage, we are actually investigating three girls: 1. Lin Lang, Zhao Tong’s neighbour and classmate, who suffered from mental illness and stayed at home ten years ago. 2. Xu Yulin, disappeared ten years ago before Zhao Tong was bullied at school. 3. Xu Yingying, who was related to the cause of Zhao Tong’s bullying, disappeared ten years later (present). The copywriter has written this suspense theme, not a unit case, and follows the main line.
Chapter 40 (Pure case without Xiao Lu)
　　At eight o’clock in the morning, the sun was blindingly bright, and two cars drove out of the Municipal Bureau office one after another.
　　Xu Yingying’s parents lived in the suburbs of Wenzhao District, which is a remote area and takes more than an hour to drive from the Municipal Bureau.
　　Before leaving, Meng Zhao checked the information and found that there was a high school nearby called No. 14 Middle School, which had a low admission score and a correspondingly average enrollment rate. The teaching quality in the suburbs of Wenzhao District was poor, and most students could only go to No. 14 Middle School.
　　It can be imagined that Xu Yingying and Lin Lang, who had no family background and were admitted to Wenzhao High School based solely on their junior high school entrance examination scores, must have had outstanding grades in high school.
　　Compared to Xu Yingying, who now lives in the vicinity of Mingtan City’s CBD, the grey and white six-story building where her family lives seemed a little too plain.
　　Meng Zhao and Cheng Yun went downstairs and looked around the building, trying to judge the living conditions of Xu Yingying’s family.
　　The two walked upstairs and arrived at the door. Meng Zhao raised his hand and knocked.
　　The door opened and a thin woman poked her head out. She looked as if she was in her forties or fifties, only as tall as Meng Zhao’s chest. Because her face was too thin, her teeth looked even more obvious.
　　Judging from the appearance, the woman is not at all similar to Xu Yingying. Meng Zhao’s mind flashed with the image of Xu Yingying in the live broadcast camera.
　　”Who are you looking for?” The woman looked up at Meng Zhao.
　　”I’m a policeman,” Meng Zhao showed the woman his ID, “Are you Xu Yingying’s mother?”
　　”What’s wrong with Xu Yingying?” A look of alert appeared on the woman’s face.
　　”Who is it?” A man’s voice came from inside, and then the man walked out. The man was slightly taller than the woman, but only as tall as Meng Zhao’s chin.
　　”Police,” the woman turned around and said to her husband, “They are here to question Xu Yingying.”
　　”Do you know where Xu Yingying is right now?” Meng Zhao asked the couple in front of him.
　　When he heard that the person who had arrived was a policeman, Xu Yingying’s father showed a vigilant expression on his face: “Has she committed any crime?”
　　‘Something is not right,’ Meng Zhao thought to himself, but he didn’t show it on his face.
　　The old couple in front of them not only did not show any concern for Xu Yingying, but instead they seemed to be afraid of getting into trouble because of Xu Yingying.
　　”She’s been missing for almost a week,” Meng Zhao observed the two’s expressions, “You didn’t know anything about it?”
　　”Missing?” Xu Yingying’s mother was a little surprised. She looked at her husband and said, “How could we know? She doesn’t even contact us unless it’s necessary.”
　　The almost indifferent attitude was really unreasonable, so Meng Zhao asked directly: “Is Xu Yingying your biological child?”
　　The two people opposite them suddenly looked embarrassed. After a moment, Xu’s father spoke first: “Police, what do you mean by that? Xu Yingying is of course our daughter…”
　　Even if there is a conflict between parents and children, after hearing the news of their daughter’s disappearance, their first reaction should have been worry rather than rushing him to leave. Meng Zhao looked at the old couple in front of him…
　　Xu Yingying is 1.7 metres tall. Although her appearance could not be considered extremely stunning, judging from the photos, she is quite outstanding in the crowd. The average height of the two people in front of him is about 1.6 metres. As for their looks…unless Xu Yingying had a genetic mutation or had plastic surgery later, it is really a godsend for the couple to give birth to a daughter of such beauty.
　　”You know that human trafficking is illegal, right?” Meng Zhao said more directly.
　　”Mr. Police officer, you must be held accountable for your nonsense,” the man opposite seemed to be immediately angered by Meng Zhao, “We have never participated in any human trafficking!”
　　”Just a reminder.” Meng Zhao said calmly, “Don’t get excited.”
　　”We are not engaging in human trafficking,” said Xu Yingying’s mother, who was panicking. She explained to Meng Zhao, “Xu Yingying is the child that my cousin gave to us for adoption.”
　　”Adopted…” ‘No wonder she didn’t look like a biological child,’ Meng Zhao thought.
　　The woman nodded and continued, “We couldn’t have children at that time. My cousin’s family had three girls and one boy, so he gave his second daughter to our family for adoption. It was definitely not human trafficking… We didn’t pay any money.”
　　”After Xu Yingying was adopted, you gave birth to another boy?” Meng Zhao had read Xu Yingying’s information. Xu Yingying had a younger brother who was four years younger than her. He thought that her family was an ordinary family that favoured boys over girls. Unexpectedly, Xu Yingying’s position in her family was even more awkward.
　　Seeing the other party nod, Meng Zhao sorted out the relationship between Xu Yingying’s family and began to cut into Xu Yingying’s disappearance case: “I just asked where Xu Yingying was, and your first reaction was to ask if Xu Yingying had committed a crime. Does she usually do any unconventional work?”
　　”That’s not the case…” Upon hearing Meng Zhao’s question, Xu Yingying’s mother looked even more embarrassed. “It’s just that every time Yingying returns, she tells us that she can earn more than 100,000 yuan a month. Her brother also said that the bag she carries costs tens of thousands of yuan each and she uses the latest cell phone. We have never seen a job that makes so much money. When we ask her what she does, she refuses to tell us, just…”
　　”So, you think her money comes from an illegal source?” Looking at the couple with somewhat harsh expressions, Meng Zhao felt a little disgusted. No matter what Xu Yingying did, such kind of malicious speculation without any basis was really vicious.
　　Xu Yingying was probably used to being exploited by her family since she was a child. After she made money, she began to show off to her family. It wasn’t hard to imagine how this biological family of three discussed Xu Yingying behind her back…
　　”So, Xu Yingying hasn’t been back for a long time?” Meng Zhao suppressed his disgust and continued to ask questions related to the case, “Do you know anything about her love life?”
　　”We don’t know. She hasn’t told us anything.”
　　”Has Xu Yingying ever mentioned anything about a sanatorium or a nursing home?”
　　”She would never mention that.” The man said in a bad tone.
　　The other party knew nothing about anything. It seemed that after Xu Yingying became financially independent, she almost cut off ties with this family.
　　”Where’s your son?” Cheng Yun, who was standing next to him, glanced into the house and asked, “Isn’t he home?”
　　”He is working in another place,” answered the woman.
　　Cheng Yun asked about the workplace of Xu Yingying’s brother and the whereabouts of the old couple after Xu Yingying disappeared.
　　After she finished asking all the questions, the two of them left Xu Yingying’s parents’ home.
　　After going downstairs, Cheng Yun speculated, “Brother Zhao, do you think Xu Yingying’s disappearance has nothing to do with the bullying case from ten years ago, rather related to her family? A young girl with a good income is targeted by a mean family of origin. Do you think it is possible?”
　　”From the perspective of the timing, it’s a bit too coincidental,” Meng Zhao said after thinking for a while, “It’s unlikely. But to be on the safe side, let’s ask the local police station to investigate.”
　　Cheng Yun agreed, and then called her colleagues at the Municipal Bureau, asking them to arrange for people from the local police station to check whether Xu Yingying’s family members were suspects of the crime.
　　When he returned to the Municipal Bureau from Xu Yingying’s hometown in the countryside, it was almost two o’clock in the afternoon. The afternoon sun was warm, and it was not yet May, but the air was already filled with the scent of summer.
　　Meng Zhao drove the car into the Municipal Bureau, took off his coat and held it in his hand as soon as he got out of the car.
　　After going upstairs, he pushed open the door of the criminal investigation office. The smell of steamed buns hit him in the face. Several people in the room who had just returned from work were busy eating buns.
　　”Captain Meng, Xiao Cheng, come here quickly,” the colleague in the office waved to Meng Zhao as soon as he saw him, swallowing a mouthful of bun and saying, “If you don’t come fast, your share will be divided up by them.”
　　”I’m full,” Ren Bin finished his buns, raised his head and took a big gulp of water, then looked at Meng Zhao, “Come and eat quickly while the buns are still hot.”
　　”Brother Bin is back?” Meng Zhao threw his coat on the table. “Cheng Yun, eat first. I’m not in a hurry. Brother Bin, tell me about Xu Yulin’s situation first.”
　　Seeing his decisive attitude, Cheng Yun knew that because there was no breakthrough in the case, Meng Zhao’s desperate enthusiasm for solving the case had returned.
　　”Alas, Xu Yulin’s parents are so pitiful,” Ren Bin put down the cup in his hand and sighed, “When I mentioned her name, they started crying. They have been looking for Xu Yulin for the past ten years ever since she disappeared, but there is no clue at all. Her father said that even if she is dead, it would be better for them to at least see the body than wondering about her whereabouts…”
　　After Ren Bin spoke, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy. It is conceivable that a 17-year-old girl suddenly disappeared and there was no news for ten years. No one knew whether she was alive or dead. Such a situation must have been a great torture for her parents.
　　”Was there anything unusual before Xu Yulin disappeared? Do her parents have their own speculation about her disappearance?” Meng Zhao asked again.
　　”Before Xu Yulin disappeared, she had a quarrel with her parents because her mother went to clean up her room while she was taking a shower and accidentally saw some text messages on her mobile phone. She found out that Xu Yulin seemed to have a boyfriend at school. According to her mother, she originally wanted to talk to Xu Yulin about this matter, but as soon as she started talking, when Xu Yulin heard that the content of her text messages had been read, she didn’t listen to her mother’s explanation at all. In the end, she had a big quarrel with her mother. The quarrel between the two was so intense that it directly led to Xu Yulin running away from home, and she never came back…” Ren Bin sighed here, “Because of this incident, the relationship between Xu Yulin’s parents had long been broken. Both of them felt that the other was more responsible for their daughter’s disappearance. Two years after Xu Yulin disappeared, the two divorced and started their own families, but they would still go together to look for Xu Yulin when they heard any news. When they mentioned this incident this morning, the two still quarrelled in front of me again…”
　　”Captain Meng, do you think the cases of these three girls are really related to Zhao Tong’s bullying case?” Ren Bin asked, and raised his own question, “Just looking at the situation of Xu Yulin running away from home and disappearing, could she have been abducted by human traffickers? Wasn’t there a missing person case a few years ago with such a situation?”
　　The room fell silent, and several people fell into a state of deep thought.
　　‘Could it be, as Ren Bin said, that this was another independent case?’ Meng Zhao’s pen began to spin again. Ten years ago, Zhao Tong committed suicide and Xu Yulin disappeared from his class. Ten years later, Zhou Yan was killed and Xu Yingying, who was in the same class, disappeared. Four cases, including Zhao Tong’s neighbour Lin Lang who did not leave her house during the ten years because of mental illness. Could it just be a coincidence caused by bad luck?
　　‘No,’ Meng Zhao held the pen, and the pen immediately stopped at his fingertips. He had a strong intuition that there must be some connection between these three girls.
　　The clue provided by the mysterious text message was ‘report cards, and the person who disappeared from the report card was Xu Yulin. In other words, Xu Yulin’s case could not be an isolated incident, and she must have been related to the school bullying incident that year.
　　Xu Yingying disappeared ten years later. Many other things may have happened in the past ten years. So although Xu Yingying was related to the school bullying incident, her disappearance may have other reasons…
　　As for Lin Lang and Xu Yulin, the commonality between these two girls is…
　　Meng Zhao raised his head and asked, “Did you ask who Xu Yulin’s boyfriend was before her disappearance?”
　　”Yes, I asked,” Ren Bin took out the graduation photo he brought with him, “After her disappearance, her parents also went to inquire about her boyfriend. They wanted to ask the boy whether Xu Yulin had looked for him before she disappeared, but the boy told them that she hadn’t.” Ren Bin pointed to the upper middle position of the graduation photo, “It’s this boy, his name…it’s… Wait let me recall, I remember his name…”
　　Meng Zhao took the graduation photo and looked at the boy that Ren Bin was pointing at.
　　Perhaps it was because the sun was shining brightly when this photo was taken, and the students were facing the sun, most of them squinted their eyes, with a look of bitterness and hatred on their faces, but even in this situation, the boy that Ren Bin pointed out still stood out.
　　Meng Zhao’s expression suddenly became solemn, not because of the boy’s appearance, but because… he had seen the person before!