Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 642 The truth is so cruel
The knocking sound was quite loud in the quiet hallway.

Ai Yun shuddered as if startled, then hesitated before walking quietly behind Zhang Yong, bending slightly and looking ahead out of the corner of her eye.

After a while of knocking, there was no response from inside. Zhang Yong patiently knocked twice more, and only then did Lin Ge hear the sound of slippers inside, the slow footsteps of slippers scraping the floor getting closer and closer to the front door.

This short period of time made Lin Ge a little nervous, his eyes fixed on the door.

As the doorknob was turned, a grating creak echoed from the bearings of the door and frame, as if the door hadn't been opened in a long time. Soon, an elderly woman with a full head of white hair peeked out, her eyes filled with deep sorrow rather than wariness. Then came a series of weak coughs, as if her throat was about to burst, filling the house with a suffocating sense of decay.

"What's wrong with you?"

The old woman paused, surprised to see the man in a police uniform. She didn't notice Ai Yun hiding behind Zhang Yong, and said coldly, "We don't have elderly alarm systems at home, nor do we use smartphones or the National Anti-Fraud Center app. If you need anything, speak quickly; my patient is waiting for me! Also, if you are a real police officer, please state your name and rank so I can call 110 to verify your identity..."

"Hehe... Hello! Sir, I am Zhang Yong, a police officer from Zhanghe Police Station in Zhangzhou City, Chu Province, police number 0711**. This is my ID!"

Zhang Yong wasn't angry. He first showed the old woman the police badge on his chest, then took out his police ID from his pocket and handed it to her with a smile.

"Zhangzhou City, Chu Province?"

The old woman muttered something in confusion, but still took Zhang Yong's police ID. She glanced at it briefly, compared the photo with Zhang Yong himself, and carefully examined the stamp on the ID. Only then did her wariness dissipate.

After returning the police ID to Zhang Yong, the old woman saw Lin Ge walking up from behind, standing close to Zhang Yong's feet, and looking up at her.

A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, and she said softly, "Excuse me, officer, what can I do for you? There's no one else at home, just two elderly people. I've never been to Chu Province before. What brings you here?"

"Oh! I learned from the files of the Zhuzhou Municipal Bureau that you used to be a math teacher at Zhuzhou No. 2 Middle School, right? I would like to confirm if your name is Fan Weiping. There is something I would like to ask you."

Zhang Yong wasn't angry at being blocked outside the door; he continued to politely communicate with the old woman.

The old man paused again, but nodded and said, "That's right, I am Fan Weiping, and I did teach at Zhuzhou No. 2 Middle School before. May I ask what happened? Could it be that one of my former students...?"

Thinking of something unpleasant, Fan Weiping showed a helpless expression.

'Poke~'

Ai Yun didn't know why Zhang Yong was dawdling and hadn't gotten to the point yet, so she quietly hid behind him and poked him in the back.

Zhang Yong's lips twitched, and he could only helplessly cut to the chase: "It's like this! I heard something, that you lost a child more than ten years ago, a daughter who was about twenty years old. Is that true?"

Before she could finish speaking, Fan Weiping's body suddenly stiffened.

It was as if time around her had frozen; Fan Weiping remained motionless, her hand still pulled back, her eyes fixed on Zhang Yong.

If it weren't for the growing fear in her eyes, Zhang Yong would have thought the old woman was joking. He could only patiently ask her again, but the next second he saw the old woman shudder and tremble violently as if she were a leaf.

"Where...where did you...find this?"

Fan Weiping, who could barely stand, stared at Zhang Yong through gritted teeth, her eyes seeming as if she wanted to kill him.

This attitude surprised Zhang Yong and also astonished Lin Ge. The reactions were completely different from what he had expected—either admitting or denying, but this attitude, as if the truth had been revealed and they were threatening to kill him to silence him, was utterly unexpected.
Zhang Yong quickly calmed down, his expression remaining indifferent, and simply replied, "I'm a police officer, so I naturally have my channels. Ms. Fan, could you please answer my question first? Has your family ever lost a daughter?"

"..."

Fan Weiping fell silent. Perhaps she was unwilling to lie, perhaps she was unwilling to face the truth, or perhaps it was for some other reason. She simply turned her head away and stopped looking at Zhang Yong.

At this moment, an even more violent coughing sound came from inside the room, so violent that the person seemed to be coughing up their lungs. Fan Weiping instinctively wanted to turn around to take care of the person inside, but seeing Zhang Yong still in front of her, she could only open the door.

Her intention in inviting him was quite obvious, but she didn't say anything and hurriedly ran back to her room.

Soon, Lin Ge heard the sound of someone patting his back, and an elderly man in a weak voice asking what was happening outside, whether Junjun had returned, and so on.

"Junjun? Aiyun?"

Lin Ge was stunned for a moment. It shouldn't be such a coincidence to run into someone with the same name, right?

In other words...

Lin Ge turned to look at Ai Yun, who was peeking out from behind Zhang Yong, eagerly peering into the house. She had an inexplicable urge to go inside, but Zhang Yong stopped her from barging in alone.

"excuse me!"

Zhang Yong called out to the house and then stepped inside first.

Lin Ge followed him inside and looked around. He found the living room to be very simple and old. There were very few decorative details in the room, the walls were yellowed, and there were messy things piled up in various corners.

The house was typical of the 1980s, square and boxy, with the living room serving as the dining room, adjacent to the kitchen. A wooden sofa was badly peeling, with a coffee table in the center and a row of cabinets opposite it holding a television. A large, yellowish-brown mahogany table next to it occupied most of the living room space, forcing the way to other rooms to detour around it. Lin Ge smelled steamed buns on the table, but even more so, a strong aroma of traditional Chinese medicine. Next to the dining table against the wall was a large bookshelf filled with various old books. The covers were greasy and yellowed from the grease and the passage of time; but their fluffy appearance suggested they had been carefully read before.

I need to use the restroom!

Ai Yun suddenly tugged at Zhang Yong's shirt, whispered something behind his back, and then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

The toilet is located in a small room further inside the kitchen. Unless you are familiar with the house's layout, you should never be so confident that you can find out.

Not only Lin Ge, but even Zhang Yong noticed something was amiss. Ai Yun, who was clearly socially awkward and shy, showed no nervousness whatsoever after entering the house. She went to ask for the toilet as soon as she arrived at someone else's house without even greeting the host—that was unheard of.

"It can't be such a coincidence, can it? The very first target we found was the perfect match?"

Zhang Yong rubbed his chin as he watched Ai Yun turn and disappear behind the partition wall inside the kitchen.

Just then, Lin Ge heard rustling sounds coming from the room. It seemed that Fan Weiping was helping her husband get dressed. This gave the impression that her husband had been bedridden for a long time, and he wondered what was really going on in the house.

Lin Ge was still wondering about something: Fan Weiping's attitude just now was really strange.

When most people lose their children and the police come to their door, it means the child has likely been found, and they should be eager to reunite with their child! Why is it that Fan Weiping seems somewhat resistant?
Could it be that Ai Yun wasn't kidnapped, but sold by her?
Lin Ge suddenly thought of another possibility.

Before he could think any further, a limp came from inside the room. As the footsteps grew closer, an elderly man with white hair, supported by Fan Weiping, came out, leaning against the wall. He gave Zhang Yong a forced smile.

"Hello! Officer, I'm so sorry for the poor hospitality... cough cough..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man couldn't help but cover his mouth and cough violently. He coughed so hard that his back bent over, and even Fan Weiping's forceful patting of his back couldn't completely relieve the cough.

"Are you okay?"

Zhang Yong quickly stepped forward and took the old man from Fan Weiping's hands. He gently patted the old man's chest while Fan Weiping tapped and patted his back with both hands.

"No...it's nothing! It's an old ailment, I won't die!"

The old man coughed for a while before catching his breath. He wiped his mouth, looked up, gave a sheepish smile, and gently patted Zhang Yong's arm to express his gratitude.

"Is there something you need?"

The old man was helped to sit on the sofa by Fan Weiping. He rested his head on the back of the sofa, and his face regained some of its gentleness. He did not look like the kind of bad person that Lin Ge had imagined.

“Actually…” Zhang Yong repeated what he had just said to Fan Weiping to the old man.

"Lost? No, no! Although I did have a daughter, she wasn't lost, much less abducted. It's just that I have a godfather who's doing better than me in America! Haha... I'm just a bookish teacher, earning a meager salary that barely supports me, with no hope of promotion, let alone the ability to provide my daughter with a better life and education. So back then, I had my daughter find a godfather and asked my brother to take her back to live a better life."

The old man named Chen Dongzhi chuckled, and seeing that Zhang Yong seemed not to believe him, he reiterated, "My brother called me last month and said that my daughter is living a good life abroad. The only pity is that she married a foreigner, otherwise it would be perfect."

"You haven't come back to visit in all these years, what kind of fulfillment is that?"

Fan Weiping had been rubbing Chen Dongzhi's chest, and upon hearing this, she muttered something indignantly, seemingly harboring resentment about the matter.

"Cough! Cough~"

Chen Dongzhi was provoked by his wife and couldn't help but cough twice. His pitiful appearance finally made Fan Weiping unable to bear to scold him anymore. She silently opened her mouth and said a few words, then rubbed his head again and tidied up his messy white hair.

Zhang Yong and Lin Ge watched the devoted couple silently, unsure of what to say.

If Ai-yun is indeed the couple's biological daughter, then this fact is far too cruel for them. The person they trusted betrayed them, not only failing to fulfill their expectations of providing their daughter with a happy life, but also completely destroying her.

"Why...do you insist on sending your daughter to America? Isn't China good enough? It's developing just as well as America now, isn't it?"

Zhang Yong couldn't help but raise questions.

"Ha ha……"

Chen Dongzhi looked slightly embarrassed and said shyly, "Back then, all kinds of magazines, TV dramas, and news were promoting the American Dream. Our two generations lived and were educated in this atmosphere. At that time, we didn't think about how far China could develop in the future. After all, we were two hundred years behind the United States, and catching up wouldn't be easy. Hehe... Who could have imagined that the country would develop so quickly while the United States was declining? Anyway, at the time, we were definitely thinking of what was best for our daughter, and that's why we finally found this opportunity. Now that I think about it... America is just like that! All sorts of chaos, inequality, discrimination, and so on. Even if our daughter says she's happy and free outside, only she knows whether she's actually suffered. Perhaps the reason she hasn't contacted us all these years is because she still has some grievances in her heart?"

At this point, Chen Dongzhi's expression turned slightly bitter, and Fan Weiping glared at him with a sour face.

Perhaps it was a decision made together by the two of them back then, but now Fan Weiping regrets it and will definitely blame her old man for the mistake.

"..."

Lin Ge was unsure how to evaluate the two elderly people's actions; at least one thing was certain: they had indeed lacked consideration in this matter.

He even speculated that the American Dream craze might have blinded the two elderly people, leading them to easily trust the so-called American sworn brother. If it weren't for the man's American citizenship, the old couple certainly wouldn't have entrusted their daughter to him so easily.

Looking at Zhang Yong, he seemed to have similar thoughts, and even began to hesitate about whether to tell the two elderly people this cruel truth.

For over a decade, they clung to the unwavering belief that their daughter was living a happy life. Even though they expressed concern and worry about her being taken advantage of abroad, they never considered the possibility of anything happening to her. Perhaps in their hearts, a little hardship for their daughter in America was insignificant, as long as it was better than living in China. To some extent, they were even happy that their daughter went abroad, believing it was a good future for her…

Unfortunately, the truth is so cruel.

"Oh, by the way! Officer, you came all the way from Chu Province, is there something you need? Fan Weiping said that one of our good-for-nothing students from back then might have done something bad?"

Chen Dongzhi took the initiative to steer the conversation back on track.

"This……"

Zhang Yong's lips twitched.

Why did you think it was your student who had the accident, and not your daughter? Just because that so-called sworn brother told you on the phone that your daughter was doing well?

Trust is so cheap.

‘Crack! ’

The bathroom door suddenly made a sound, and Ai Yun let out a sigh of relief as she walked around from the kitchen.

She had even washed her hands, and now she was rubbing them together, trying to dry them. Then the silence in the living room startled her. She looked up at everyone in the living room, and her eyes met those of Chen Dongzhi's parents. She was immediately stunned.

"This is……"

At first, Chen Dongzhi didn't recognize Ai Yun and just smiled, wanting to ask Zhang Yong about the identity of this suddenly appearing woman. But upon closer inspection, an inexplicable sense of familiarity made him suddenly speechless.

Chen Dongzhi suddenly felt a pain in his arm. He looked down and saw his wife's withered hand gripping his arm, with veins bulging.

She gripped so tightly that her nails dug into her skin. Looking up again, he saw his wife's face contorted in disbelief, her teeth clenched and eyes wide. She was even beginning to sway, her body trembling violently.

"I...I'm...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have used your toilet without permission. Um...Miss?"

Ai Yun didn't recognize the couple; she was just startled by their exaggerated expressions and actions, and quickly turned to Lin Ge for help.

Lin Ge looked at Ai Yun and then at Chen Dongzhi and his wife, and was momentarily dumbfounded.

That silly woman, she came out at the worst possible time.

"She is……"

Chen Dongzhi couldn't believe the identity of the woman in front of him, and slowly turned his head to look at Zhang Yong.

"..."

Zhang Yong didn't know what to say, so he just nodded to the couple, indicating that this woman was the reason he had come today.

The room fell into complete silence.

Ai Yun stood there, bewildered, wanting to hide but not knowing where to go, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say. She had absolutely no recollection of the two elderly people in front of her, only that they looked...kind?
Fan Weiping gritted her teeth, her throat gurgling but unable to utter a single word. She stared intently at Ai Yun, her body trembling and her eyes gradually turning red, yet she still couldn't open her mouth.

Chen Dongzhi stood there dumbfounded for a long time, looking at Zhang Yong, then at Ai Yun, and even at Lin Ge squatting on the ground. He looked at it over and over again, as if he might still be dreaming, as if his thoughts were manifesting in his dreams.

"I...I want to go home!"

In the end, it was Ai Yun who spoke first. The atmosphere made her flustered, and she looked at Lin Ge with a pout, unwilling to stay here any longer.

"Go...home? Go...which home?"

Fan Weiping gritted her teeth, glaring at Ai Yun as she said, word by word, "Where is your home? If you don't want to come back, then... what are you doing here? If life is good abroad, then go back abroad and don't worry about your parents' lives!"

"I……"

Ai Yun felt increasingly wronged. She didn't seem to have said anything wrong. Abroad? What abroad? My parents' lives or deaths? I'm Luo Jue's mother! Luo Jue wouldn't abandon me!

Thinking of Luo Jue, Ai Yun suddenly became proud and puffed out her chest arrogantly.

"Gulu!"

With difficulty, Chen Dongzhi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his eyes rolled back, and he fell backward.

(End of this chapter)