Animal Detective

Chapter 228 - 223: Case Closed, Time Capsule (Part 2)

Wang Qiang had finally calmed down, but the excitement on his face was impossible to conceal.

The joyous surprise had been unexpected, but it was undoubtedly the best possible outcome.

Beneath the entrance sign of the inpatient department, Wang Qiang and the others waited with eager anticipation.

A few minutes later, the sharp-eyed Wang Qiang suddenly pointed toward the hospital entrance.

A red, 6.8-meter box truck had appeared over there.

"They’re here, they’re here."

The nurses around him jumped up and down in excitement. The more sentimental ones even burst into tears.

Wang Qiang’s raised hand froze in mid-air.

He saw a color-printed canvas banner hanging on the side of the truck’s cargo container.

A missing person notice was printed on it, and in the most prominent spot was a photo of a child, cheekily holding a toy pistol.

’He could just imagine it. This couple, who weren’t even sure if they were his parents, had been driving this truck all over the country, trying to find him.’

Inside the truck, the driver seemed to spot the crowd under the entrance sign. He saw Wang Qiang, surrounded by nurses.

He slammed on the horn.

It was loud!

It was as loud as the frantic beating of his heart. It was as if he were shouting, ’Son, Dad is here to take you home!’

With a HISS of air brakes, the truck came to a stop.

The passenger door flew open instantly. A middle-aged woman with a thick braid scrambled out of the truck.

"My son!"

She called out, tears already streaming down her face.

On the other side, a middle-aged man with graying hair also jumped out, not even bothering to close the door as he ran toward them.

Wang Qiang stood frozen for a moment before the woman pulled him into a desperate, tight embrace.

She knelt on the ground, wailing loudly.

When he looked up, his eyes met the middle-aged man’s.

Wang Qingcong was just as Wang Qiang had described him: tall and broad-shouldered. But years of frantic searching had left him slightly stooped.

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes scanning Wang Qiang. Large, pea-sized tears welled in his eyes. He lunged forward and wrapped both his wife and the boy in his embrace.

"Mom, I found Sheng Yu! I found him... Mom..."

He cried too, his voice raw and strained.

Of the nurses present, several were already crying uncontrollably.

Shen Xin’s eyes stung.

’Now that they’ve met, it’s a sure thing,’ Shen Xin thought.

’It has to be them.’

’There was no need for a DNA test. The father and son looked so incredibly alike—the shape of their faces, their eyebrows, their noses—it was like they were carved from the same mold.’

At that moment, Shen Xin thought of his own plan and became even more determined to see it through.

’If I can find just one more child, prevent one more family from being torn apart, it will all be worth it.’

Although they looked very much alike, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

The hospital had equipment for DNA testing, but it couldn’t perform an official paternity test. For that, they needed a legally binding document from a specialized agency. This would also simplify the process of re-registering Wang Shengyu’s official residency.

As for Wang Shengyu’s ordeal, Shen Xin’s only advice was for Wang Qingcong to contact the parents of Tang Ziyi and the others to jointly sue Li Yihao and his accomplices.

Li Yihao and the other two had to be made to pay a sufficient price.

Shen Xin still had other business to attend to. Once things were settled here, he hurried back to the bureau.

He found Sun Zhao and the others in the observation room.

"They met?" Sun Zhao asked as soon as Shen Xin arrived.

Shen Xin nodded. "The father and son look identical. It must be Wang Shengyu’s parents."

"That’s great."

Sun Zhao nodded in satisfaction. This was probably the best news he’d had in the last few days.

But then he glanced inside and saw *that* person, and another wave of frustration washed over him.

"Are they still looking?" Shen Xin asked, glancing inside.

Inside the interrogation room, Ding Yuwei was holding a tablet, video-calling a colleague from the local police station on Zhongming Island.

Bai Jifei was deep in thought, recalling every little detail about when he and Jiang Qi met. He was trying to figure out why Jiang Qi would leave a riddle pointing him to that location.

Yesterday, Ding Yuwei had figured out the riddle. Only then did Bai Jifei finally start to cooperate, demanding to go to Zhongming Island to find the message his wife had left for him.

There was no way they were letting him go.

The only place he was going next was prison.

In fact, at this point, just as Lv Youwei had said, they could have just transferred him to a detention center.

’On a hunger strike? Wants to die?’

Once he’s at the detention center, they have ways of dealing with people like him.

And to be honest, Sun Zhao and Chen Chao didn’t want to waste any more time on Bai Jifei.

They ran into frustrating cases like this every year, so it was nothing new. But when you were actually in the thick of it, it was still sickening.

But this case involved Jiang Qi’s death. So, after some consideration, Lv Youwei decided they should see it through to the end and get to the bottom of it.

’That’s just police work, after all.’

They had to maintain the mindset of ’the public can abuse me a thousand times, but I’ll still treat them like my first love.’

So, early this morning, they had contacted the local police station on Zhongming Island and asked them to send people to Xisha Wetland to find whatever message Jiang Qi had left behind.

"My guess," Zhao Tianxing said, pursing his lips and shaking his head, "is that she just left some sappy love notes at the place they first met. Seriously, that sickeningly sweet stench of romance."

The air was thick with jealousy.

Shen Xin chuckled to himself. ’Looks like Zhao Tianxing’s heart has been wounded yet again.’

Just then, after a back-and-forth of guesses, they actually found something.

Bai Jifei recalled a time after he and Jiang Qi had fallen in love. They had gone camping at Xisha Wetland. Beneath a starry sky, they had talked for hours, discussing their future and even the children they might have.

Moved by the moment, Jiang Qi had an idea. She wanted to write some words for her future self, and for her future children, and bury them here.

So that in the future, they could bring their children here and dig it up.

Just like a time capsule.

Back then, they had each written a few words, placed them in a lunch box, found a tree, and buried it in the ground.