Rebirth 78, the beginning of the marriage was broken off by the female educated youth

At the Hu family's old house, the wooden door was pushed open by Li Xiangnan amidst a tooth-grinding sound.

The space, sealed for twenty years, was frozen in place. As if it knew the intentions of the newcomer, even the dust motes dancing in the light began to dance happily.

A mixture of heavy musty smells, earthy smells, and some indescribable, chilling aura that seemed frozen in time hit them, causing Li Xiangnan and Wang Defa, who had stepped in first, to cough violently at the same time, and then instinctively hold their breath.

"Holy crap, cough cough cough, so much dust... Everyone be careful!" Wang Defa pulled Li Xiangnan back, and only dared to step inside after the dust had cleared.

The courtyard was even more dilapidated than I had imagined.

The weeds were already waist-high, the walls of the three or four adobe houses facing south were cracked, one corner on the west side had collapsed, the roof was leaning westward and about to fall, revealing the black rafters and the gray sky behind.

The wooden windows had long been corroded into dust by insects and ants, leaving only a few dark holes, like the empty eye sockets of a blind person.

"Keep an eye on the search, don't overlook any suspicious clues!" Qi Zhiyuan waved his hand and instructed the surrounding police officers.

"Yes!" Everyone cautiously dispersed in all directions.

Li Xiangnan's eyes were sharp as he looked down and slowly moved towards the main house, inch by inch.

The door was not locked; it was half-open and half-closed, as if the homeowner had left in a hurry and might return at any moment.

The house was bare, with only a few pieces of furniture.

A small square table with a sprained leg, two long benches, a chest of drawers lying on the ground to one side, and a few low wooden stools—that's all.

Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs, but the spiders were gone, as if even they disliked this lifeless home.

"Here you go!" Fan Deting handed over a pair of gloves, which Li Xiangnan took and carefully examined inside the room.

Twenty years have passed, and it's hard to believe that anything can still be found here.

Li Xiangnan looked around with pity in his eyes, trying his best to pay attention to every trivial detail.

Soon, amidst the ruins, they actually managed to spot something different.

In the corner of the completely collapsed earthen bed in the inner room, under the dim light of a flashlight, he found some scattered, clearly handmade small objects.

The small cart, made of iron bearings and wires twisted together, likely came from the mines of yesteryear.

The blocks have their edges polished smooth, without any splinters or sharp corners.

In the small dustpan on the ground, there were also cloth dolls sewn from old scraps of cloth. Although they were extremely dirty, you could still vaguely make out that they were shaped like small animals.

These things, full of childlike fun, are completely out of place in this bare-walled home.

Although they are rough, they embody a clumsy yet sincere sentiment.

Li Xiangnan's heart sank suddenly, and a bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.

Did Hu Jianjun, or rather his entire family, still hold onto hope... during those arduous and challenging days twenty years ago, preparing to welcome the arrival of a new life?

Li Xiangnan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Is it...

Besides his wife, sister, and mother, Hu Jianjun also has a young child who was hurt in this incident.

But why didn't Hu Jianjun say that?

Li Xiangnan was puzzled, but he didn't voice it. However, this guess felt like a thorn piercing his heart.

"Dean!"

At this moment, Wang Defa called out from outside. Li Xiangnan went out and saw him pull out a piece of paper carefully wrapped in plastic from under a pile of rotting clothes.

The plastic wrapping was so brittle it was practically unusable, but the writing inside was still clearly visible.

[Comrade Hu Jianjun: If you see this message, please report to Gangshan Police Station immediately to cooperate in understanding the situation of your family member's disappearance.]

Li Xiangnan examined it carefully and saw that the signature was from Gangshan Police Station and the date was shortly after the Hu family's disappearance.

This waterproof and dustproof note also silently proves that, twenty years ago, this case was not ignored.

However, given the conditions they faced back then, they ultimately failed to penetrate the thick fog.

Li Xiangnan silently handed the note to Fan Deting and continued the search.

A door opened in the northwest corner of the main room, leading to the kitchen at the back. When he went inside, there were already people squatting there, searching for suspicious items.

The thick stove was covered by the mud from the collapsed adobe house, the two overlapping.

The iron pot still had the earthy smell of the previous day's autumn rain mixed with the undried soil.

Just as Li Xiangnan was about to look away, a color that stood out starkly against the surrounding gray and black hues from an inconspicuous crack on the edge of the stove caught his eye.

He reached out and picked up a chopstick, poked around in it, and dug a few times. He pulled out a palm-sized purse made of coarse indigo cloth.

The purse was covered in stains and embroidered with countless blooming lotus flowers, but it was still in relatively good condition.

What startled Li Xiangnan was that the character "安" (peace/safety) was embroidered in silk thread on the front of the purse.

"Is this a name or a meaning?" Wang Defa leaned over and asked.

Safety?

Is it a name? Or perhaps it carries a meaning?

Li Xiangnan shook his head and patted the dust off his head.

He almost immediately recalled that twenty years ago, under the dim light of an oil lamp, a woman sat by the stove, stitching her simplest wishes into this purse, hoping it would bless her family with peace and happiness.

This small object carries the tenderness and hope of a family before it was broken.

Li Xiangnan looked at it, and perhaps it could penetrate twenty years of time and touch the softest part of Hu Jianjun's heart!

Stepping out of the kitchen leads to the backyard.

The backyard was more desolate and overgrown with weeds than the front yard.

Perhaps they raised chickens and ducks, and built brick sheds around the yard, but there's nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

However, there is a mound of earth that is noticeably higher than the surrounding ground near the back wall.

A lone jujube tree, as thick as a bowl, grew on the mound, its branches and leaves incredibly lush, laden with golden fruit, forming a stark contrast to the withered grass around it.

"What's wrong?" Wang Defa followed him out and noticed that his gaze lingered on him, so he asked.

"It's nothing, it just feels a bit abrupt!" Li Xiangnan walked over, circled the jujube tree three times, and glanced at the kitchen door.

The character "木" (wood) inside a door forms the character "困" (trapped).

In their hometown, this is a taboo; generally, no one would plant a tree directly opposite the door!

Something's strange!

"Perhaps the Hu family doesn't have this custom," Li Xiangnan shook his head.

Having gained nothing, the team prepared to return home. Li Xiangnan, feigning thirst, went to the old lady's doorstep to ask for water, deliberately leaving two cents so the old lady would see it.

"Young man, you're just trying to help, you're really too kind of me!"

Li Xiangnan smiled slightly, "Old man, I'm sorry to have troubled you!"

"No, no, you'd better hurry up and drive the ghost away!"

As Li Xiangnan was about to leave, he deliberately paused again and asked casually, "Oh, right, old man, may I ask, when Hu Jianjun's family went missing, how many months pregnant was his wife?"

"I don't know that yet. His family is from out of town and they don't interact much with the people in town, so they don't have a good relationship with them... But he's probably pregnant. I saw him pull out some cloth, so he was probably making diapers!"

"Thank you!" Li Xiangnan noted it down in his heart before turning around and following the main group back to the Municipal Bureau.

"Director Qi, I need to see Hu Jianjun urgently!" As soon as he got out of the car, Li Xiangnan opened his palm and picked up the purse. "I think this should help Hu Jianjun remember where his family is!"

Inside the interrogation room, Chen Hanguo remained listless with glazed eyes, as if yesterday's exhaustion had completely dispelled his second personality.

But when Li Xiangnan placed the purse embroidered with the character "An" on the table in front of him, something unexpected happened.

Chen Hanguo was terrified, his eyes fixed on the purse as if he had seen the most incredible thing in the world.

He reached out his hand, trembling, wanting to touch it, but immediately withdrew it as if scalded by boiling water.

Tears welled up at that moment, but instead of the previous violent roars, they turned into the man's suppressed sobs.

“Xiao An…this is…embroidered for the baby…the baby…by his mother…”

Hu Jianjun was incoherent, overwhelmed by immense grief.

as predicted!

He does have children!

Li Xiangnan seized the opportunity to ask, "Hu Jianjun, did Xiao An also have an accident back then?"

"No...he...he wasn't even born yet..."

"..." Upon hearing this, Li Xiangnan's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and his throat tightened. After closing his eyes briefly, he patted the other man's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Hu Jianjun, tell me, where are your wife, sister, and mother? Did they die with you back then?"

Hu Jianjun abruptly raised his head, his eyes filled with endless pain and fear. He suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the Hu family's house, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate the walls, and shouted with all his might:

"In the backyard, they're in the well!!! They're all there... my family... sob sob sob..."

But there's no well in the backyard!

井？

Li Xiangnan closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly opened them, turned to look at the observation room, and mouthed, "Jujube tree!"

"Quickly!" Qi Zhiyuan roared, "Go to the backyard and dig up the tree! Quickly! That jujube tree!"

After shouting those words, Hu Jianjun seemed to have all his strength drained away, and he slumped into his chair.

Li Xiangnan handed him a cigarette, sat opposite him, gripped his hand tightly, and asked, "Hu Jianjun, can I know what exactly happened back then?"

Hu Jianjun raised his eyes, his grief filled with pain, and suddenly tears streamed down his face.

"That day, I went home from get off work as usual..."