The Missing Daughter – CH 008

Chapter 8. Daughter 2

“Wait, Dr. Sun… are you still taking medication? Can I ask… what kind of illness do you have?”

The man in front of me stopped typing and looked up at me.

I was a little anxious. “Officer He, my illness has nothing to do with my daughter’s disappearance. Can you help me find her as soon as possible? She’s been missing for many days!”

He Chenghui looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze. “Ms. Lu, regardless of whether there’s a connection or not, I hope you won’t hide anything from us. Otherwise, any information that affects our judgment could lead to problems. Do you understand what I mean?”

I lowered my head under his oppressive gaze. After a long while, I said, “I have mild schizophrenia and anxiety. This Dr. Sun is a senior whom Yu Nu and I met in the student union at the university, but he is closer to Yu Nu. I don’t… trust his judgment; I’ve seen other psychiatrists too.”

I paused, then looked up and said, “Officer He, believe me. Although I have…this kind of problem, I don’t have delusions!”

I was afraid He Chenghui would treat me like a lunatic, like the others, so I explained a lot. Finally, I said firmly, word by word, “Xiaoxiao definitely exists.”

He Chenghui frowned. Clearly, after learning I had schizophrenia, his trust in me had begun to wane. However, he didn’t show it directly. Instead, he asked me, “You said you checked the property management’s surveillance footage. Did it capture your…daughter?”

My gaze dimmed. “No…”

**

The door to the property management office was ajar.

When I arrived, I overheard two people talking inside.

“Is the ghost story real? I work the night shift, and I’m a little scared.”

“How could there be ghosts in this world? You’re overthinking it.”

“You know the 24-hour supermarket over there in our building, right? The sales clerk said that someone went in to buy something in the early morning a while ago, and they used ghost money!”

“The sales clerk accepts ghost money? Maybe they stole money and made up the story.”

“That’s the weird part. They accepted the money with normal currency, but when they sorted it out afterwards, they found it was ghost money.”

“These days, everyone uses mobile payments. Why would anyone use cash?”

“Yeah, otherwise, they’d say it was a ghost buying things!”

“Looks like an old ghost. His family didn’t even burn a cell phone or something for him.”

Laughter erupted inside.

I pushed open the door and stated my purpose directly.

They immediately stood up, tense, one of them even screaming in fright.

It was probably because I suddenly barged in and they were discussing some kind of scary topic that they were quite frightened.

Actually, the property management initially refused to show me the security footage.

But I insisted.

Finally, under my pleading gaze and earnest words, they were persuaded.

“If my daughter were kidnapped in this community, you’re all responsible!!”

“The property management lets people in like this. I told you something bad would happen. If you don’t show me the footage, I’ll smash this place up!”

“I’m a resident. I have a million reasons to complain! Don’t even think about leaving this place until you show me the security footage!”

“Fine, fine, you can see it, you can see it. Brother Duan, you and this crazy woman… no, you and this lady go check the security footage. Remember, only you can operate it. Don’t let her touch anything. If something like last time happens again, you can expect to be fired.”

Duan Xiqun was a bit overweight and in his thirties. I knew him; I heard from others that he got the job in this community through a relative’s introduction.

Duan Xiqun looked at me with a hint of fear. “Ah? I go with her?”

The other person clearly didn’t want to stay any longer. “Um… I’m going off work now. Besides, you’re on the night shift anyway. You stay with her, and once you’re done, send her away! Don’t cause any trouble!”

Duan Xiqun looked at me. “Okay… I’ll take you, but um, Ms. Lu, could you… put the knife down first?”

I gripped the handle of the fruit knife tightly. “It’s okay, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I just want to find my daughter.”

Duan Xiqun was on the verge of tears. “I know you’re pointing the knife at yourself, but it’s still quite dangerous. It isn’t that we won’t show you the surveillance footage, but a missing child is a serious matter. You don’t need to do this…”

I simply asked him. “Where can I watch the surveillance footage?”

If the knife was pointed at me, they would be afraid to take responsibility; if the knife was pointed at them, they would call the police, and I would be arrested. I wasn’t stupid.

The property management at Anquan Residential Complex had day shifts and night shifts. The night shift staff wasn’t on duty all night; they were there from 6 PM to 2 AM. He led me to the security room. “The property management only saves the footage for seven days, but I can only show you the last five days.”

I stared at him, gripping the knife tighter. “Why?”

“Ms. Lu, don’t worry; let me explain… It’s like this: a young man came on the day shift a while ago. He wasn’t careful and accidentally formatted all the previous security footage. But don’t worry, he’s been fired.”

What a coincidence!

I needed to find my daughter, and the security footage just happened to be gone.

I asked him, “What’s that person’s name? What’s their phone number? Where do they live?”

“Well, that’s employee privacy information. I definitely can’t give it to you, and I don’t have the authority to access it. I only remember he was thin and tall. I don’t know where he lives. By the way, don’t you want to see the surveillance footage? It only has two days missing; is that okay?”

He quickly pointed to the surveillance folder, afraid I might do something else. “But even at double speed, five days of footage is enough. And our community has many surveillance cameras. Do you want to see them all, or just the four exits?”

I said, “Let’s see the exits first.”

Duan Xiqun watched for a while, then became hypnotized, almost dozing off in front of the computer. I had to remind him to switch to another video.

Duan Xiqun rubbed his sore eyes. “I can’t take it anymore; my eyes hurt. Why don’t you take a look yourself? This is speed-up, this is fast-forward, this is…”

Although there were many surveillance videos, the image quality wasn’t good, and he didn’t recognize my daughter. I pushed him away and sat down to watch the footage myself. He watched for a while. Seeing that I was genuinely just there to check the security footage and had no intention of doing anything to it, and not wanting to stay any longer, he went out to the outer office for some fresh air.

Before leaving, he also took my fruit knife.

I didn’t care; I had many more at home, so he could have it if he wanted.

I watched the security footage from each exit of the complex. I’d been keeping watch downstairs at the building for the past two days, but I couldn’t possibly watch all the exits by myself. So, after watching the footage from the first two days, I watched the footage from the last two days as well.

I had been watching until now.

I watched every single camera very carefully. I observed everything about the people going in and out and what they were carrying—anything that could fit a child—and recorded the entire segment.

The video from my phone wasn’t very clear, but it was the best I could do.

On the first day, a suspicious person dragged a large suitcase out of Exit 1, but it wasn’t Yu Nu or Qiao Ni, nor was it anyone I knew. The people going in and out at other times were all different, but I didn’t find Xiaoxiao or any other suspects.

It was already 10 PM when I finished watching the surveillance footage of the exits. I called Duan Xiqun, who was dozing off outside, in to help me pull up the surveillance footage from the other cameras.

“What kind of surveillance footage do you need?”

“I need all the surveillance footage from Building 8 and the area around it. Do you have the footage from the Building 8 elevator?”

Duan Xiqun, seeing that I seemed genuinely looking for my child rather than a pervert spying on the entire neighborhood, and wanting to get rid of me as soon as possible, pointed to other folders. “Look, these are all numbered. This is all the surveillance footage from Building 8. But if you want the footage from the area around Building 8, you’ll have to find it yourself.”

The folders for the internal surveillance footage of Building 8, the entrance to the building, and the elevators clearly had the number 8 on them, but the footage from the street outside wasn’t clearly labeled.

Six days ago, I took Xiaoxiao out to play, but the footage from six days ago was gone. I could only look at the footage from five days ago. She must have been going to school during those many days, but…

Whether it was the elevator footage from Building 8, the surveillance footage from the building exit, or the street footage, I watched until 2 AM, but to no avail.

There was also surveillance footage from other buildings. I insisted on watching all the footage, but Duan Xiqun just wanted to get off of work. If I didn’t leave, he couldn’t leave.

Finally, seeing my determined expression as I sat in front of the computer, he sighed and stopped urging me to go home.

After reviewing all the surveillance footage, it was almost dawn.

This was why I insisted my daughter had been missing for five days—no, it was dawn—she had been missing for six days.

Because there was no trace of her in the six days of surveillance footage.

I also found the person with the large suitcase; they came from another building, just a passerby.

So, Xiaoxiao must have disappeared at least six days ago.

But since the surveillance didn’t capture her leaving the complex, she’s still there. Yu Nu hid her, not wanting her to see me, wanting her to forget me.

Duan Xiqun, who had been sleeping on the sofa outside, woke up and, upon hearing my findings, looked somewhat conflicted. Finally, he cautiously asked, “Could it be that the child actually left six days ago, but the surveillance didn’t capture it? Have you asked any other relatives or friends? Was the child sent to your parents’ house?”

Yes!

Yu Nu’s mother!

She’s never liked me, and she thought I often visited Xiaoxiao after her son’s remarriage because I wanted to break up his new family. They were definitely working together to lie to me and make me give up. And Dr. Sun, he was in cahoots with Yu Nu, too. I couldn’t take the medication he prescribed anymore.

I took the medication out of my bag and threw it all into the toilet and flushed it away.

The moment I stepped out of the toilet, I felt dizzy and collapsed.

Before losing consciousness, I heard Duan Xiqun’s panicked voice. “Ms. Lu, what’s wrong? Damn it, I told you never to stay up late! We aren’t young anymore! No way, you’re not going to die here, are you?”

He talked too much.

**

The park was crowded.

I sat on the grass, watching Xiaoxiao squatting and playing. Her rabbit balloon ran away. I wanted to chase after her, but as she ran further and further away, I suddenly felt something was definitely wrong and immediately got up to chase after her.

No matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t catch up with her; instead, I watched her get further and further away.

My steps faltered, and I stumbled and fell to the ground. The once clear sky suddenly darkened, and everything around me became blurry. A thick fog spread from afar, and ahead of Xiaoxiao was a lake. The balloon floated into the clouds, and I watched as she ran into the lake.

Suddenly, Xiaoxiao fell.

“Mommy, it hurts…”

“My leg hurts… my tummy hurts… my hand hurts…”

She started crying, and I quickly chased after her. Just as I was about to touch the child, a man walked out from the side and picked Xiaoxiao up before I could. “Xiaoxiao, don’t cry. Don’t fall next time. Why do you always run around like that?”

“Daddy, it hurts…”

The man turned around with Xiaoxiao in his arms, and I recognized Yu Nu’s face. Besides holding the child, he also held a bouquet of red roses, exactly the same as the one he held when he proposed. I remembered the ring, like starlight, hidden among the roses; I could see it at a glance. Starlight, a ring, roses, and a lover.

Xiaoxiao reached out her hand to me. “Mommy, Mommy’s here…”

I wanted to go forward, but my legs were stiff, like a statue, unable to move.

Then, Qiao Ni appeared, wearing a red dress, and took Xiaoxiao’s hand. She smiled and said, “Missed Mommy? Mommy’s here.”

Her dress was the exact same color as the roses.

I wanted to say something, but my throat felt muzzled, and I could only watch helplessly as the three of them walked further and further away.

I struggled desperately, trying to call Xiaoxiao’s name, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t utter a sound.

Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao!

**

I suddenly woke up, and it took me a while to realize that it was a dream.

This was a clean and bright hospital room; the other beds were empty.

Duan Xiqun was asleep in the chair next to me.

I pulled out the glucose syringe from my arm, saw my bag on the table next to me, picked it up, and checked the contents; nothing was missing.

It was already dark outside. I took out five hundred yuan and placed it next to Duan Xiqun. My phone was dead, and I didn’t want to turn it on.

After leaving the hospital, I bought some bread from a roadside vendor and hailed a taxi. The driver told me it was 9:30 PM. I had fainted in the early hours of the morning, but thankfully, I hadn’t been unconscious for too long.

Yu Nu’s parents lived in Luocai District. It would take at least half an hour to get there by taxi. Although it was past seven, the roads were busy, and there were red lights all the way. The longer it took, the more worried I became.

I arrived at the old neighborhood close to nine. Although Yu Nu’s mother had said on the phone that the child wasn’t with them, I didn’t believe her. I had to see it for myself.

This wasn’t my first time in this neighborhood. I went straight downstairs and saw the lights were on upstairs. I knew they were home. They weren’t worried at all about the child being lost; they were definitely conspiring to lie to me.

I found someone on the street, gave them 100 yuan, and told them it was a supermarket promotion. I asked them to open the door, and the moment it opened, I pushed past Yu Nu’s mother and rushed inside.

Yu Nu’s mother’s shrill voice rang out. “What are you doing?! You and my son are divorced! What are you doing here, causing such a scene?”

Yu Nu’s father was also surprised. “Xiaoyun, what’s wrong? Should we contact a doctor for you?”

“I’m not sick; I don’t need to see a doctor!”

My hysterical outburst probably frightened them both; no one dared to stop me. I searched every room, but there was no sign of Xiaoxiao.

While I was rummaging through the guest bedroom wardrobe, they closed the guest bedroom door and locked it from the outside. I could hear them talking.

Yu Nu’s father said, “I told Xiao Nu before that we should send her to a mental hospital.”

Yu Nu’s mother’s disgusted voice came through. “Call Xiao Nu and tell him to contact a hospital right away. Otherwise, if we let her run wild outside, who knows what might happen?”

“We are divorced, but she still clings to our family. Hospitalization will definitely cost a lot…”

“What can we do? They were husband and wife before. Now we can only accept this bad luck.”

Their windows had security bars; I couldn’t climb out. I couldn’t break open the door. Tomorrow, someone would take me to this so-called mental hospital.

I thought about it all night.

Where hadn’t I checked?

We didn’t have many relatives. Yu Nu had more friends than I did. I had not had a social life these past few years; everyone I knew was his friend and relative. Before my phone was turned off, I called everyone in my contacts. But were there still people who were not in my contacts?

Too many…

The school—that was it, the school!

Yu Nu told me that the child attended a school in a nearby neighborhood. We were divorced when we applied for enrollment. Although I never took her to school, I searched online and called all the nearby elementary schools, but no one answered when I called that night.

I couldn’t sleep at all that night.

After midnight, Xiaoxiao would have been missing for seven days.

**

“This morning, I lied to them and said I had a stomachache. After Yu Nu’s mother opened the door, I rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. They were afraid I might do something, so they had to let me go.”

“And then where did you go?”

“I came here! I waited for you at the door until now. At first, I thought they were conspiring to lie to me, but I couldn’t find Xiaoxiao anywhere. Xiaoxiao must really be missing. Officer He, you have to help me, you have to—”

A person came over. “Brother He, take a look at this file.”

The person handed over a thick stack of documents. I knew there had been quite a few missing persons in the city recently; otherwise, I wouldn’t have suspected Xiaoxiao had been abducted.

“Officer He, Officer He…”

“Don’t worry, rest for a bit. You don’t seem to be in good spirits; you haven’t been resting well these past few days. I’ve recorded everything you’ve said, and we’ll investigate. Go home and wait for news. However, I suggest you see a doctor…”

A doctor?

Why did even he think I was crazy?

Seven days had passed; I couldn’t wait any longer.

I gripped my bag tightly. It was a large bag filled with various things: bread, biscuits, and things I’d taken from Yu Nu’s mother’s kitchen.

I need to find Yu Nu.

Xiaoxiao existed; she must. But if he was lying, he must be hiding something.