Chapter 274: Investigate

"It’s been seven days and she’s still not found. My Qiaoqiao—"

Mrs. Qin’s eyes were red from crying.

She hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days.

Whenever she closed her eyes, it was as if she could hear the child crying.

A pall of grief hung over the Qin family.

This was when Qin Wenhao returned.

The moment he walked in the door, he immediately called out to the two elders, "Grandpa, Grandma—"

At his call, every member of the Qin Family turned to look at him.

"Why are you back?" Elder Qin was worried about his health. "How’s your injury?"

"Grandpa, I’m fine. The doctor said I could be discharged. By the way, have they found Qiaoqiao?"

Qin Wenhao felt the question was pointless.

One look at their faces—and he could guess the child hadn’t been found.

His face darkened. "It’s been this many days, and there isn’t a single clue?"

Mr. Qin shook his head. "No. It’s like she just vanished."

"What about Lan Qingman?" Qin Wenhao asked.

"It’s no use. The police have summoned her several times, but they got nothing useful out of her."

The one who spoke this time was Qin Wenze.

He looked terribly gaunt.

From worrying excessively about his daughter, he had lost a shocking amount of weight in just a few short days.

Qin Wenhao no longer knew what to say to him.

After all, seeing him like this—as his brother, it was painful for him to watch.

"I’ll call Mingxue first."

He called the military base directly, asking the signals operator to go to his in-laws’ home and speak with his mother-in-law.

"You’ve been on the train for so long. Go wash up and rest for a bit. You can come down for dinner later." Mr. Qin was still worried about his younger son’s health.

"We can talk about everything else in a little while."

They had been anxious for so many days; a little more waiting wouldn’t make a difference.

Qin Wenhao decided to go upstairs and wash up first.

He hadn’t showered since the day he was hospitalized, and now he had been on a train for three days.

He stank by now.

Besides, his wound needed to be cleaned and the dressing changed.

Zhao Liang hadn’t come with him to the Qin home.

Zhao Liang was also from Beijing City, so Qin Wenhao had told him to go home first.

Half an hour later, Qin Wenhao came downstairs.

When Aunt Li saw him come down, she announced to everyone, "Dinner is served!"

Elder Qin stood up. "Then let’s eat first."

"You all go ahead and eat, I’m not hungry—" Mrs. Qin had been listless these past few days, her spirits terribly low.

If she wasn’t forcing herself to keep going, she probably would have collapsed by now.

Qin Wenhao shot a look at his nephew.

Qin Yue immediately went over to her. "Grandma, you have to eat. If you don’t eat, Yu Yu will be sad, and then Yu Yu won’t want to eat either!"

Mrs. Qin doted on this grandson of hers, so how could she bear to hear that?

"Alright, Grandma will eat. Yu Yu has to eat too."

This time, the whole family went to eat.

This time, no one spoke at the dinner table.

No one was in the mood.

After they finished eating quickly, Qin Wenhao called his older brother, Qin Wenze, into the study.

About half an hour later, Qin Wenhao left the house—

He went to the police station first.

He had an acquaintance at the station.

After learning about the disappearance, the acquaintance told Qin Wenhao—it was highly likely the child had already been taken out of Beijing City.

If the child had been taken to a remote mountain village, then the chances of finding her would be slim—

After all, there are so many remote mountain villages in the country. Who knew where she could have been taken?

Qin Wenhao was lost in thought for a long moment, then he spoke, "You’ve investigated Lan Qingman, so let me see the files from that investigation. Also, all her relatives, and who they’ve been in contact with recently—I want to see everything you have that’s connected to her."