Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 94 The Missing Child

After carefully inspecting the food, the owner nodded and smiled, "Okay, you two handsome gentlemen can eat with peace of mind. Call me if you need anything!"

The boss turned and left. Jiang Jin, seeing Li Ruoxi's bewildered expression, burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, handsome... handsome guy... hahaha..."

"Laugh! Laugh again and I'll tear you apart!" Li Ruoxi was actually pretty used to it. She had an androgynous appearance, and her buzz cut was shorter than most men's hair. Her figure was also quite flat, which led many people to mistake her gender at first glance.

Jiang Jin nodded, picked up the beer on the table, opened the bottle, and poured himself a glass.

"Let's not talk about that now, let's have a drink, it's all in the wine."

Jiang Jin was genuinely grateful to Li Ruoxi. The spicy hot pot bento she ordered for him after get off work that day prevented him from having to fight ghosts on an empty stomach during the first horror dungeon.

"Okay! Cheers!"

The two clinked glasses and each drank it down in one gulp.

Comfortable!

This beer is so much better than the bottle of Western red wine my brother brought.

"Oh right, I haven't wished you a speedy recovery and a proper breakup yet, Mr. Jiang," the female forensic doctor said with a forced smile while eating skewers.

"Thank you." Jiang Jin said with an indifferent expression.

Surprised? Not only did I not break up with her, I've already gotten married to her!

Li Ruoxi was stunned. Something about this reaction seemed off. Could it be… utter despair? Or was he being sarcastic?

"Hey, don't be upset. I think Liu Yan is too kind. She waited until she got promoted before breaking up with you! Actually, someone as honest and simple as you, who doesn't know how to cultivate relationships and has an ordinary family background, is someone whose future is predictable. Besides, with the high housing prices in the outer ring of Muxu City, with your position, you probably won't get much housing subsidy."

New lamb skewers continued to be served, their aroma of chili powder filling the air.

Li Ruoxi picked up a skewer, took a bite, and said, "Mmm, not bad, theirs is still the best!"

Jiang Jin ignored him and continued eating, continuing to play the role of a "heartbroken man": "Big sister, this meal is on me today. I've already 'broken up,' aren't you here to comfort me?"

Li Ruoxi immediately made an exaggerated expression and said, "Oh, don't you know what I'm thinking? It's so fake of me to go to all this trouble to comfort you. Why don't you call Liu Yan over? I'll immediately switch to being a considerate and understanding person. I'll say whatever you want to hear, and I'll even allow extra time, all night long!"

"Ma'am, could you please stop saying such ambiguous things in public? If the boss hears you, he'll go and tell your grandpa again..."

"Oh, where did your mind wander off to? Tell me about it."

Jiang Jin knew Li Ruoxi was always so irresponsible, and more importantly… he also understood why she seemed so gloating over his breakup with Liu Yan. Calling Liu Yan over? Dream on!
The two teased each other and clinked glasses again.

"Alright, let's get down to business. Actually, I didn't eat this meal for nothing tonight. My real purpose isn't to comfort you, no, or rather, it really is to comfort you. My birthday is coming up soon, and my brother wants to throw me a party for my friends. You need to prepare a nice gift for me, and I'll give you a new girlfriend in return. How about that?"

Don't be like that, buddy, I'm a married man now.

Jiang Jin exaggeratedly teased her: "Big sister, today isn't April Fool's Day. You shouldn't be worried about not getting married, right? We promised to be brothers for life, right? Besides, aren't you 'that'?"

"Pah! Pah! Pah!" Li Ruoxi kicked Jiang Jin in a fit of embarrassment and anger. "Who's interested in you, kid? I'm saying I'm inviting a few of my girlfriends over! A lot of them are definitely rich and beautiful. I'm planning to introduce them to you and see how it goes. How about that? Loyal, right?"

Jiang Jin immediately leaned back tactically to avoid Li Ruoxi's second kick, then picked up the wine bottle and refilled her glass. He wondered to himself, "She hasn't even drunk that much, so why is she talking nonsense? And do you think I don't know what you're up to? Didn't you just say I'm a lowly police officer who can see thirty years into the future and doesn't know how to scheme? Now you're introducing me to your rich and beautiful best friend?"
Jiang Jin raised his glass and laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, Miss Li would never do something like calling me out so late at night just to tease me! Unless someone is secretly plotting something else!"

Li Ruoxi didn't understand Jiang Jin yet, and tapped the table with the bamboo skewer from the barbecue: "Hey, hey, hey, Old Jiang, I'm serious, please open your dog eyes and look at my serious face!"

Jiang Jin scrutinized the face repeatedly under the red light of the neon lights: "Hmm... a standard persimmon-shaped face. It's alright with makeup, but it would probably be a disaster without it, especially after drinking. It looks... even flatter than usual..."

"Damn it, have you got some nerve? You dare to challenge me to a drinking contest and see whose face turns into a persimmon first!"

"Bring it on, do you think I'm afraid of you? What's the point of a drinking contest with beer? Boss, bring me some baijiu!"

The two then began a drinking contest, taking turns drinking, and soon their faces were flushed red.

"Again...again! I can still drink!"

"Heh, are you sure? You forgot that with your head shape and body type, what if you need to go to the toilet later? I remember that eight out of ten times you go to a public restroom, you're mistaken for a pervert and sneak into the women's restroom to peep! You might as well surrender now!"

"Hmph! You little brat, do you think you can last that long? You still dare to challenge your grandma? Isn't it better to be alive?"

After a few more rounds of drinks, Li Ruoxi became increasingly drunk and said, "Hehe, Old Jiang, you're right. I really am like Xiang Yu dancing with his sword... my intention is to 'Liu Bang'. Didn't you just say that I am 'that'..."

"That's right, I'm the only one in the bureau who knows about this." Jiang Jin thought to himself: If I didn't know you were "that kind of person," would I, a married man, break my male virtues and come to drink with a woman like you in the middle of the night?

"Now that you and Liu Yan have broken up, hehe...doesn't this give me a chance? I'd better nip any signs of you getting back together in the bud, otherwise, how can I take advantage of the situation?" "Damn it!" Jiang Jin pretended to have a sudden realization: "You persimmon face, you're actually so cunning! How come I never saw through you before!"

"I will take care of your wife and children, so don't worry!"

"Get lost! I'll take care of my own wife! Don't even think about me, you cuckold!"

And so, two hours later...

"This young lady has definitely gained weight again."

Jiang Jin stretched his neck, after all, he had just carried the completely drunk Li Ruoxi back to the police station dormitory with all his might.

He got back into the taxi, closed the door, and while rubbing his temples which were throbbing with pain, said to the driver, "Driver, go to Fuyou Residential Area, Changhong Road, Yunjue District."

There were no subways running at that time, and since I had been drinking, it wasn't a good time to ride a bike, so I had no choice but to take a taxi.

The taxi sped along the deserted streets. Jiang Jin rolled down the window a third of the way and felt his head feel a little better after a while.

Looking out at the sparsely lit buildings of varying heights, he sighed softly, recalling his brother's earlier mention of wanting to buy a house in Changming District. In this era, memetic contamination is like a sword of Damocles hanging over humanity's head, ready to fall at any moment. Everyone must be prepared for the worst, and only by striving to relocate to urban areas can they obtain a higher level of security.

And... can you see the next thirty years at a glance?
Haha... Persimmon face, you can imagine it a thousand times, but you still can't guess what I'll be like in the next three years. Either I'll be hunting Ash Ghouls in the Annihilation Layer, or I'll become an NPC in the Isolation Zone.

Forget about all that, let's think about buying a birthday present for that persimmon-faced girl first. We're not short of money now; a single crystal of resentment could buy a Bugatti Veyron. But given her family's power and status, we can't just consider the price; we also need to consider the style...

As he pondered this, feeling an immense weight on his eyelids, Jiang Jin leaned against the car window and fell into a deep sleep, until he was awakened by the sound of the driver's phone being played out loud while driving.

On the phone, a middle-aged woman asked, "Old Chen, are you still seeing off guests?"

The driver replied, "I'm taking a passenger to Changhong Road. Is the child asleep?"

The woman complained, "Sleep? In the middle of the night, that old woman from the orphanage next door is searching for the children with a flashlight. It seems like a few kids ran away and haven't come back yet. Ugh, what a mess! Our son has an exam tomorrow. After you finish this delivery, why don't you come back earlier? You know the area well, you can help them look for the kids."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible."

The driver turned off the phone and stepped on the gas again.

Having understood the gist of it, Jiang Jin opened his eyes: "Master, I happen to be a policeman. Let's go to your neighborhood now. Finding the child is the priority."

The driver was taken aback, then realized that the place he had just taken his companion to seemed to be the police station. He immediately thanked him profusely and said that he would definitely take the police officer home for free after everything was over.

Jiang Jin thanked him, thought for a moment, and asked, "Master, there are thirteen public orphanages in our city. I wonder which one is near your neighborhood?"

"The Ciguang Orphanage in Xin'nan District has an estimated 100 to 200 children."

Jiang Jin opened the police map on his phone, found the orphanage, surveyed the surrounding area, and remained silent as he walked.

Forty minutes later, the car arrived at the driver's residential area.

After asking the security guards of several nearby residential areas, we finally found the old woman who was still searching for people late at night in another residential area a few hundred meters away from the driver's residential area. She was sitting on a roadside flower bed, leaning on her cane and resting. She looked old and anxious, and appeared to be in her sixties or seventies. Beside her was a young girl in her early twenties with a flashlight.

"That old man is the director of the orphanage, I think his surname is Lin!" the security guard at the gate of the residential compound introduced.

Jiang Jin walked over and took out his police ID: "Dean Lin, I am a police officer. I heard that a child went missing from your hospital? I need to find out more about the situation."

The old man was overjoyed upon hearing this. He tried to stand up shakily, saying hurriedly, "It's a police officer! That's wonderful, thank you so much..."

Jiang Jin quickly stepped forward and pressed him down. He saw that the other person's legs were trembling, and he was probably not feeling well. Moreover, he had been looking for people for most of the day. He said, "Please sit down and talk. Don't rush. I'll ask you a few questions, and you can tell me what you know."

As he spoke, Jiang Jin turned on the recording function on his phone.

"How many children went missing in total? What time did you discover they were missing?"

“Four children, um… they must have disappeared after dinner,” the old man replied.

"Please provide their age, gender, and physical characteristics such as clothing today."

"The oldest, A-Jie, is a boy, 15 years old, with a buzz cut... Xiao-Yu is a girl, 12 years old this year, with a ponytail... Xiao-Hai and Xiao-Ya were both adopted... Xiao-Hai is probably around 11 years old, a chubby boy, he's mute... Xiao-Ya is probably around 9 years old, a girl, with two small red birthmarks on her right cheek and the back of her neck. As for their clothes, you can ask Qing-Qing, I left very early today," the old man recalled with worry.

　Dear Draft Maker, what's wrong with you?! Dear Draft Maker, what will I do without you?!

　　Draft Editor: I think I can still be salvaged...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)