When she saw that the child was getting more and more confused, Liu Qi's face almost turned stiff from smiling. What sort of bad idea did Yue come up with?!
She noticed that the phone in the child's hand was a Xiaomi Mix2s, which probably belonged to his parents.
However, Yue asked her to inquire about Zhao Ling and observe the couple's situation.
At this moment, Madam Zhao walked over to them. She couldn't help but berate her son, "Jiacheng, why aren't you greeting your teacher? How rude!"
"Hello, Teacher Liu." The little chubby boy hurriedly greeted her, but his small eyes were still filled with confusion.
However, seeing Teacher Liu's gentle smile, the little chubby boy also smiled at her.
"Teacher Liu, my son is just a little slow-witted. He doesn't like to greet people." Madam Zhao chuckled and said very politely.
Seeing that there was no drama, the others continued to play cards.
Madam Zhao was a gentle-looking woman. She wore some simple silver jewelry and didn't wear any makeup on her face. Her simple smile looked quite amiable.
"No, Jiacheng is very well-behaved in kindergarten." As she spoke, Liu Qi looked at the little chubby boy with a smile and asked, "Jiacheng, didn't you tell me that you have a sister? Why aren't you playing with your sister?"
When they heard this, Madam Zhao's face stiffened. Even Mr. Zhao stopped what he was doing and looked over from the corner of his eyes.
The chubby boy answered without thinking, "Teacher Liu, my sister was..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Madam Zhao. She smiled and said to Liu Qi, "His sister is sick. She is resting upstairs."
Madam Zhao pulled Zhao Jiacheng up as she spoke. She grabbed the phone and scolded, "All you know how to do is play with your phone. Go inside and do your homework!"
"Oh..." the little boy entered the shop reluctantly.
After the little chubby boy left, Liu Qi stood up as well. She still had a gentle smile on her face as she watched the little chubby boy enter the apartment. It was as if she wanted to see through the apartment.
Then, she retracted her gaze and looked at Madam Zhao. In a gentle voice, she said, "Ma'am, don't be too harsh on the child. I gave him a parent-child interactive homework task, which is helping his mother wash her feet. Did Jiacheng do it?"
All the teachers in the country would probably give him homework tasks like this.
"Yes, he even washed his father's feet," Madam Zhao replied cheerfully, but her gaze was a little guarded.
Liu Qi could naturally sense Madam Zhao's wariness. If she was a kindergarten teacher in the city, why would she come here?
Therefore, she quickly thought of an excuse so that Madam Zhao could relax.
"Madam Zhao, let me ask you. Where can I find a cheap apartment to rent around here?" Liu Qi asked.
"A cheap apartment?" This question that came out of nowhere stunned Madam Zhao.
Liu Qi smoothed her hair behind her ear. She said a little embarrassedly, "It's like this. My sister just had a heart transplant. She's most afraid of being disturbed. The city is very noisy, and the rent in the suburbs is expensive. I spent a lot of money on my sister. Recently, I've been short of money. I heard that the prices here are cheap and the environment is quiet, so I came here to look for an apartment."
This explanation was indeed unconvincing, but Liu Qi's awkward and embarrassed tone made Madam Zhao feel that she was indeed here to look for an apartment. She even felt a little embarrassed when she mentioned that she didn't have much money.
It turned out that Teacher Liu's life was far from being as glamorous as it appeared on the outside.
Otherwise, why would she come all the way here to look for an apartment?
Madam Zhao immediately said, "You want a cheap one? Here, the most expensive ones are up to 600 a month and the cheapest ones are 200 a month."
"Then it'd better be 200." Liu Qi acted a little anxious. Then, she smiled a little embarrassedly, and her ears were a little red.
However, in Madam Zhao's eyes, this kind of behavior was the embarrassment of city people when they were down and out.
Liu Qi didn't expect Madam Zhao to think so. She was just trying to cover up her lie.
"Yes, just up ahead. Turn right. There's an old woman's wonton restaurant. She lives alone and wants to rent out the second floor." Madam Zhao showed Liu Qi the way enthusiastically. As she spoke, she even brought her to a corner.
Madam Zhao pointed to the front. "That one. Teacher Liu, you can ask around."
"Okay, thank you." After saying goodbye to Madam Zhao, Liu Qi really went to the wonton restaurant.
A few minutes later, she called Yue and said, "Hello, Yue, come around and have some wontons. I'll send you the location."
"Okay, wait for me."
Not long after, Yue stopped her car at the entrance of the wonton restaurant and walked in.
The old woman brought Yue's wontons over and smiled without saying anything.
"How is it? What did you see?" Yue lowered her head and drank the wontons while waiting for Liu Qi to explain.
Seeing that the old woman was far away, Liu Qi said, "The phone model is right. Also, Zhao Ling's mother and father seem to be very afraid of the mention of Zhao Ling."
"Yes," Yue Qing replied.
Then, Liu Qi continued to say in a low voice, "Jiacheng originally went to Baishun Town kindergarten. It was after Zhao Ling's accident this year that they sent their son to the city. I saw that the jewelry on Zhao Ling's mother's body had a very new luster. It should have just been bought not long ago, and even the air conditioner in the room is new. So, they must have known what happened to Zhao Ling."
"Yes." Yue still answered lightly.
Jiang Feng and Yang Fan would pay each victim between 30,000 and 80,000 to keep their mouths shut. This money was indeed enough to buy these things.
Half an hour later, Liu Qi used 600 yuan to rent the second floor of the old lady's apartment for a quarter.
However, Yue smiled at Liu Qi and said, "It's not necessary."
"It's all for show." At this point, Liu Qi suddenly frowned and asked, "Will the matter of us asking about Zhao Ling be..."
"No!" Yue denied it.
They asked old men who were all lone wolves. There was no need for them to say anything.
Yue suddenly said, "Your medicine is in the car. It's noon."
The two of them took the opportunity to go to the second floor of the wonton restaurant. It was very clean and spotless.
It was the same as the wonton restaurant below.
It seemed that this old woman loved cleanliness.
After Liu Qi took the medicine, she saw Yue sitting on the sofa and looking at a tablet, so she went over as well.
"What are you looking at?"
On the screen, there was Zhao Ling's apartment, but it wasn't the same as it looked now. Immediately after, the window on the second floor was opened. A little girl sat in front of the window in a daze for a while, then left again.
"Surveillance footage from the early years." Yue cut to the next day's footage. The little girl was still sitting in a daze in front of the window.
Liu Qi was a little surprised. "Where did you get this?"
Yue only glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes before continuing to stare at the screen.
..
She was momentarily at a loss for words and could only watch quietly.
As she sped up, the screen jumped to February of this year. The day the little girl had an accident looked very normal. She would still sit in a daze in front of the window after she returned.
After May 7th, the little girl never appeared in the window again.
Had she been sent away? That wasn't right. The little girl could be seen coming back, but there were no traces of her leaving. How could she have disappeared?
If she hadn't left, then how could a person suddenly change their habits?
The little girl's login location for yesterday was in Baishun Town. Perhaps the range was a little too wide.
The screen was frozen on June's surveillance footage. She couldn't see any more surveillance footage.
Yue turned off her tablet, leaned back on the sofa, and slowly closed her eyes.