Street Hustler and His Policewoman Wife-Chapter 53: Only the River Flows

Chen Xiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Captain Zhang, the owner of this shop is keeping a photo wall for Si Ying. Could Si Ying have left something for us? You know she left very suddenly, very hurriedly!"

Chen Xiao’s words made Zhang Xian freeze for a moment, then he slapped his thigh: "Oh dear, how didn’t I think of that!"

This realization momentarily cleared Zhang Xian’s chaotic and heavy thoughts, as if Chen Xiao had suddenly opened up his mind. Without needing Chen Xiao to say more, he dragged Chen Xiao to Si Ying’s parents’ house.

On the way to Si Ying’s parents’ house, Zhang Xian was extremely excited.

Even though he wasn’t talking, nor was he making any erratic movements.

Yet the cigarette butt in his mouth, as Chen Xiao could see, had already been chewed into an unrecognizable shape.

The car finally sped through the streets and alleys and reached downstairs of Si Ying’s parents’ apartment. After parking, Zhang Xian quickly headed upstairs.

Upon arriving, Si Ying’s father opened the door.

Seeing Zhang Xian, Si Ying’s father was surprised: "Captain Zhang, is there anything else?"

The two elderly people had just come back from the Criminal Police Squad not long ago, so they were naturally surprised to see Zhang Xian again.

"Sir, we thought of some things last minute, so we came over to discuss them with you."

"Is that so? Please come in then," the gentleman invited them inside.

After sitting down, Si Ying’s mother brought a cup of tea to both Chen Xiao and Zhang Xian.

Chen Xiao accepted it and took the opportunity to stand up and observe the entire room.

Zhang Xian noticed his actions and said, "Sir, Madam, I’ll get straight to the point today. I want to ask if before Si Ying lost contact did she take anything away?"

The two elders shook their heads simultaneously: "This is exactly what’s strange. She called us saying she was about to go abroad. We were thinking of preparing her luggage, but Si Ying said no need and hurriedly hung up."

"That’s really strange; who goes abroad without packing a suitcase?" Zhang Xian sighed, and the elders nodded repeatedly:

"Indeed, she wasn’t just going a couple of hundred kilometers away; she was going abroad."

Zhang Xian looked at Chen Xiao, seeing him still sizing up the room, continued to ask, "Then, you didn’t throw away Ms. Si’s belongings, right?"

"How could we throw them away? Even when moving here, we packed them all and locked them up."

"Could you let my colleague and me take a look?"

The two elders were eager for the police to investigate matters related to Si Ying; only by starting investigations could they know whether their daughter is alive or dead.

"Captain Zhang, please come this way. We stored all of Si Ying’s things in one room. Her mother even arranged them the same way as in the old house, cleaned them up meticulously."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao shifted his gaze and followed the elders to the room.

When the door opened, a smell of air freshener immediately greeted them.

The curtains were closed, yet they were of a simple and elegant pink-white color. The embroidered lotus flowers made the room look exceptionally fresh.

Chen Xiao walked in and could tell the floor was spotless.

However, the neatly made bed made a sigh well up from within him.

The room was certainly not slept in, yet it contained everything.

The neatly arranged furnishings and spotless bedding all told of a pair of elderly people waiting for their daughter to return home.

But, could their daughter still come home?

Chen Xiao had no answer; even if he did, he didn’t have the courage to say it.

Quietly approaching the desk, Chen Xiao softly asked: "Is there anything in the room that we shouldn’t touch?"

"Feel free to look at anything. The arrangements are the same as in the old house. Everything you see now is how Si Ying’s room looked after she left."

Saying this, Si Ying’s father pulled his wife away.

The latter walked away while wiping tears, trying to hold back a sound she was about to utter until Si Ying’s father silenced her.

Zhang Xian also became a bit sentimental, but now was not the time for sentiment; doing business was the priority.

"Where do you think, if she left something, it would most likely be?" Zhang Xian asked, while opening a cabinet.

Chen Xiao shook his head: "I’m not sure either, but from the people we’ve contacted so far, it’s clear what kind of person Si Ying was. Her personality was gentle but probably paid much attention to her image. On the wall in the beverage store, all her photos were beautiful, even though she was over forty now."

"Such women usually have delicate and quiet minds, which could be understood as introverted. But no matter what personality one has, unless she’s transcended the mundane world, she would have deeply hidden joys and sorrows. She loves beauty, her close friend captured countless beautiful moments for her, and she didn’t refuse it. Could this mean she liked recording things?"

As Chen Xiao analyzed, he looked toward Zhang Xian after finishing.

The latter gave a thumbs-up: "I knew working with you would definitely make things twice as effective!"

With that, Zhang Xian began searching for anything used for recording.

In 2006, people didn’t have many options for recording life.

Back then, while computers were becoming common, not everyone with financial means would buy one.

For example, Si Ying’s room didn’t have a computer, which was still considered a valuable item at the time.

If there was one, Si Ying’s parents surely would have brought it to the new home.

Since there wasn’t one, it meant Si Ying didn’t have a habit of using a computer.

As for mobile phones, Si Ying had been missing for a year now, and even then phones weren’t convenient for recording people’s wonderful lives.

Otherwise, why would the drink shop owner bother to take photos with a camera and develop them?

So Chen Xiao had a very clear goal, to see if Si Ying had the habit of keeping a diary!

She had a desk and books on it.

Some were about love, mostly novels by Zhang Ailing. Others were about life, mostly works by Yu Hua.

Among them, a book unrelated to love or life, also a work by Mr. Yu Hua, was a detective novel—"Only the River Flows."

Seeing the book, Chen Xiao instinctively pulled it out of the stack.

By observing the newness of the cover and pages, Chen Xiao could tell Si Ying had read it frequently.

Chen Xiao sat in the chair and began reading, and as he read, it seemed he was here not to find clues left by Si Ying but to read the novel.

Zhang Xian kept searching for the imagined diaries or similar items but found nothing.

Feeling perplexed, he glanced at Chen Xiao, only to see him flipping through the book page by page, prompting Zhang Xian to call out: "Hey, what are you doing here, playing the intellectual?"

Chen Xiao raised his finger: "Quiet, don’t speak."

Zhang Xian frowned: "What do you mean? Since you’re reading, I’ll read too. What’s it about?"

"A fictional detective novel by the author. An elderly man who sheltered a lunatic was murdered and found by the river. A witness found him and called the police. But during the investigation, the witness discovered the deceased’s head again, becoming a suspect himself, and even started deeply doubting himself. He then hallucinated about seeing a third victim’s head, and in the end, his hallucinations meshed with reality, unable to bear the pressure the witness committed suicide."

"The protagonist, through repeated investigations, various judgments, and assumptions, finally realized there were always hints pointing to the madman raised by the old lady! But the madman couldn’t be prosecuted for murder, so the protagonist ultimately shot the madman."

Chen Xiao recounted the story, prompting Zhang Xian to smack his lips: "Pretty interesting, but did you find any clues left by Si Ying?"

Chen Xiao shook his head, which caused Zhang Xian to disappointedly pick another book from the desk.

Seeing the words "In the Mood for Love" on the cover, Chen Xiao chuckled: "You sure know how to choose; you picked a classic one."

"Is it very classic? I’m not much into novels."

Chen Xiao was about to explain but quickly realized.

In 2006, the book hadn’t been adapted into a movie yet!

Thinking of this, Chen Xiao chose silence, continuing to read "Only the River Flows."

But as he read on, Chen Xiao’s brows furrowed tighter.

He seemed to comprehend, as if something dawned on him.

What he understood formed in his mind just as if Si Ying were narrating herself...