Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

Chapter 700 Seeking Help

He Feng listened to her words, his brows furrowing more and more. When he reached the Jia family's door, he stopped, turned to look at her, and said with a serious expression, "I can't handle this alone."

Qin Huairu's heart sank, as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She instantly recalled her past shameful acts—stealing vegetables from the neighbor's house, being caught by He Feng while having an affair with He Yuzhu… Could it be that these things offended him, and he was deliberately holding back, refusing to help? Her legs went weak, and she knelt down before He Feng with a thud, her knees hitting the bluestone pavement with a dull thud that made everyone's heart tighten. "He Feng! I know I was wrong!" She cried, almost breathless, her chest heaving, her hands gripping He Feng's trouser leg tightly, her knuckles white. "I was so blind before, so foolish, I'm so sorry, but Jia Cai is innocent! He's only three years old, just learned to call me 'Mama'… He's my lifeline, if I can't find him, I really can't live! Please, please have mercy, help me…"

He Feng was taken aback by her sudden action, then realized she had misunderstood. He quickly bent down to help her up, saying, "What are you doing? Get up! The ground is cold." He pulled her up with a bit of force. "That's not what I meant." He shook his head, his tone becoming more serious and undeniably firm. "What I meant was, the child has only been missing for a short time, the situation is urgent, and not a second can be wasted. I can't handle everything by myself; I need to call the team for help immediately. After all, the child might still be in this courtyard, or hasn't gone far. We need to quickly cordon off the area and conduct a search; the more people we have, the greater our hope of finding the child."

Qin Huairu then realized her misunderstanding, her face flushing red and then pale, as if burned. She opened her mouth to apologize, but her throat seemed blocked, and she couldn't utter a word for a long time, simply letting He Feng pull her up. Tears continued to fall, landing coldly on the back of her hand, but in her sobs, there was less despair and more relief and hope, like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood.

He Feng looked at Qin Huairu's red eyes, the panic hidden behind the mist almost overflowing. He took a deep breath, his tone heavy as if a stone was pressing down on them: "Calm down and think carefully. Where was the last place you saw the child? Who did he talk to? Did any strangers enter the hospital? I'll go back to the station to get someone. I'll be back in half an hour at most. You wait here and don't wander around."

Qin Huairu opened her mouth, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton, unable to utter a sound. She could only nod forcefully. Once He Feng had turned and walked away, she could no longer hold on. She squatted down on the stone steps by the courtyard gate, hugging her knees tightly, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Her sobs, muffled in her arms, sounded like those of a wounded animal, making one's heart clench. Her mind was a jumbled mess, flashing images of Jia Cai's grinning face one moment, and her child's furrowed brow the next. She desperately hoped He Feng would arrive quickly with someone, even if it was just a tiny clue.

He Feng strode towards the police station, his leather shoes making a "thump-thump" sound on the stone pavement, but he was uneasy. Although this courtyard was always bustling with gossip—who encroached on whose land, who borrowed whose soy sauce and didn't return it—he couldn't immediately think of anyone audacious enough to steal a child. But this was no small matter. Even if the child was Qin Huairu's lifeblood, any ordinary family would be devastated if their child went missing. Even with only a one in ten thousand chance, the truth had to be uncovered.

He slammed the iron gate of the police station open, the bright incandescent light in the duty room glaringly illuminating even the shadows in the corners. Today, it wasn't Zhao Lei, who was on duty as usual, but Huang Jing from the third team. Huang Jing was hunched over his desk, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose, marking up a case file with a red pen. Seeing He Feng lift the curtain and enter, he quickly straightened up, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a harsh sound: "Chief? Weren't you supposed to be off today? What brings you here?"

“There’s no time to go into details,” He Feng said, getting straight to the point. His tone was so heavy it was almost suffocating. “There might have been a child abduction at my courtyard house. I need to get a few people to come with me and do a thorough investigation.”

Huang Jing's heart skipped a beat, and he almost dropped the red pen in his hand—child abduction was a huge case, involving human lives. He nodded hurriedly, his sleepiness instantly vanishing: "Chief, is this the courtyard where you live? I'll call them right away!" He turned and ran to the next office, returning shortly with five team members, each standing ramrod straight, carrying either a notebook or wearing handcuffs, their eyes gleaming with competence.

"Let's go." He Feng led the way out, and the group walked hurriedly, their leather shoes clattering on the morning street, startling a few sparrows perched on the wall.

Xiao Dang dragged her leaden legs back to the courtyard. Today, she had been embroidering a phoenix on her wedding dress at the Zhang family's house. The stitches were so dense they looked like fish scales, and her eyes were blurry from lack of sleep. Her arms ached so much that it was difficult to even lift them. But as soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Qin Huairu squatting on the ground crying, Jia Dongxu standing beside her with his brows furrowed in a knot, and his aunt wringing her hands helplessly. The air in the courtyard was oppressive, as if it were about to rain, and even the wind carried a gloomy smell.

Xiao Dang's heart skipped a beat, and her fingertips instantly turned icy cold—she knew, of course, what had happened. She had taken the child from the cradle in the yard while Jia Dongxu's aunt was in the kitchen getting water, and the child was now hidden in the woodshed in Grandpa Wang's backyard, wrapped in old cotton wadding, with a cloth stuffed in his mouth. But she didn't reveal a hint of her suspicion on her face. She quickly walked over, her voice carrying just the right amount of concern: "Mom, what happened? Why are you squatting here crying?"

As she spoke, she took out a cloth bag from the pocket of her blue cotton jacket, untied the knot, and inside were several crumpled small and medium-sized bills, the largest denomination being one mao. She handed the cloth bag to Qin Huairu: "Mom, this is the money I earned today. I embroidered two mandarin duck pillowcases for Zhang the landlord. He inspected the goods and paid me on the spot."

To everyone's surprise, Qin Huairu shoved her hand away with such force that Xiao Dang almost stumbled. Her eyes were red like a rabbit's, tears still clinging to the corners, and her voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper: "Where the hell were you during the day? Why weren't you home keeping an eye on things?"

Xiao Dang was prepared, and a wronged look immediately appeared on her face, her eyes reddening: "Mom, have you forgotten? I told you this morning when I left home that the Zhang family is in a hurry to finish the wedding dress, and they asked me to go to Dongdan to oversee the embroidery. It takes two hours to walk there and back. Has something happened at home?"

Seeing her like this, Qin Huairu's tears welled up again, and she choked out, "Xiao Dang, your brother... Jia Cai is missing! I've searched the whole yard, inside and out, even the outhouse, but I can't find him. I... I really don't know what to do..."