Animal Detective-Chapter 80: The Child

Shen Xin had spent a year at the local police station, so he knew you couldn’t be too nice to people like Shi Yanhua.

"Shi Yanhua, you’re not stupid. You know as well as I do that there’s only one way you’re getting any money: if we catch the killer."

"If this is your attitude, then we have nothing more to say."

With that, Shen Xin signaled to Ding Yuwei and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Sure enough, Shi Yanhua called out to stop him.

She gave a slight huff and sat down in the lobby’s lounge area.

"You’re Officer Shen, right? Spare me the lecture. All I know is this: Liu Laibin is dead, and you police haven’t caught the killer. So tell me, isn’t that your responsibility?"

"It’s been four years! We’re talking 2.34 million! For fuck’s sake, do you know how much interest I’d have if I’d just put that in the bank? You tell me what’s fair. Is asking for one million really too much?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Honestly, there’s no need to ask me anything. I’ve already told you everything I know. You’d be better off going back to your boss and talking it over. Just give me the one million, and I promise I’ll never come to your station and cause a scene again."

"As for Liu Laibin... let’s just say he had bad luck. He had it coming."

Shen Xin pulled out a recording device and set it on the coffee table. "I can relay your proposal to my superiors, but right now, I have a few more questions for you."

Just as Shi Yanhua was about to speak, her phone suddenly rang.

She glanced at the caller ID and answered impatiently, immediately launching into a tirade. "Wang Genping, what the hell do you want now? I’m fucking working!"

"What? Tingting is missing?"

She froze.

Shen Xin’s ears perked up instantly.

’Tingting?’

’That must be Liu Laibin’s daughter, Liu Yuting.’

Shi Yanhua exploded, screaming into the phone, "Are you fucking brain-dead? I ask you to watch one kid and you can’t even do that? And you’re asking me what to do? Go find her, you useless piece of shit!"

Muttering a string of curses, she hung up the phone.

She continued to curse, muttering about how no man could be trusted and they were all useless trash.

Noticing Shen Xin staring at her, she snapped impatiently, "What are you looking at? If you have something to say, spit it out. I have a client waiting."

Shen Xin suppressed the fire in his gut and asked, "What’s wrong with your daughter? Did she go missing?"

Ding Yuwei grew tense beside him.

Shi Yanhua pulled out another cigarette and lit it, showing no intention of getting up to search. "So what if she’s lost?" she spat. "It’d be better if she was dead. I’d be free, and she’d be spared the misery of sticking with me."

At those words, Ding Yuwei, who was standing nearby, could no longer contain herself.

Shen Xin held up a hand to stop her. In a heavy voice, he asked, "Shi Yanhua, what’s your current address?"

’Shen Xin had seen far too many women like her during his time at the local station.’

’They only saw themselves and money. Children were nothing but a burden.’

Detecting the anger in Shen Xin’s tone, Shi Yanhua huffed and recited her address.

It wasn’t far, about a kilometer away in Yangmu Bridge New Village.

Shen Xin immediately pulled out his phone and called Dong Yueming.

"Captain Dong, there’s a situation."

Shen Xin quickly explained the situation and asked Dong Yueming to send someone to check on Liu Yuting, just in case something had happened to her.

Dong Yueming didn’t press for details, saying he’d immediately dispatch a nearby patrol car.

With a nonchalant expression, Shi Yanhua got up. "If you’re done asking questions, I’m going to my client. He’s waiting."

Shen Xin slammed his hand on the coffee table. "I’d like to see you try!"

As he spoke, Shen Xin shot a look at the front desk manager.

’Go ahead, let her see her client. I dare you.’

Shi Yanhua’s expression shifted, and she sullenly plopped back into her seat.

The front desk manager quickly brought over two bottles of water, then shot Shi Yanhua a glare, silently warning her to cooperate.

Shen Xin took a deep breath to calm himself. After a moment’s thought, he asked, "Did Liu Laibin own a parrot?"

’Shen Xin was sure that Qin Chuanwang had already asked all the obvious questions countless times.’

’So he decided to try a different approach.’

"A parrot?"

Shi Yanhua blinked, then slapped her thigh. "Oh, right! The bastard did have a parrot. I heard him say it cost tens of thousands. So what happened to it? Where did you guys take it?"

"I’m the one asking the questions here," Shen Xin said, his voice heavy.

Shi Yanhua scoffed. "How the hell should I know? You’re ridiculous. Instead of asking about the killer, you’re asking about a damn parrot."

Suppressing his anger, Shen Xin said, "So, you’re saying you have no idea what happened to the parrot after the murder?"

"Obviously," Shi Yanhua shot back. "I should be asking you that! Liu Laibin doted on that parrot like it was his own son. I’m the one who wants to know where you people took it."

Shen Xin held up a hand to cut her off, then asked about Liu Laibin’s start-up capital.

"Haven’t I told you this already? He’d already struck it rich by the time I met him. He came to see me all the time. When I asked, he said he made his money flipping phones in Jiaozhou Province. I didn’t care about the details."

Shen Xin pressed her to think harder, but her story remained the same: she didn’t know.

She just said that Liu Laibin was a big spender and often took her out.

One thing led to another, and they just ended up together.

Shen Xin was about to ask another question when his phone rang.

It was his former colleague, Wei Yajun. He said they’d found the child, but that Shen Xin should come over if he could. The child had been hit.

Shen Xin frowned. "They found your daughter," he said. "You’re coming with me to take a look."

"What’s there to see? They found her, didn’t they? That’s good enough," Shi Yanhua said, her face a mask of annoyance.

Biting back his anger, Shen Xin stood and gestured for Shi Yanhua to follow him.

Shi Yanhua glanced from Shen Xin to the front desk manager, muttered a few curses under her breath, and followed them.

It wasn’t far. A few minutes later, Shen Xin had driven them to the location.

Yangmu Bridge New Village was also a resettlement community.

Apartment 201 in Building 78, a two-bedroom, one-living-room unit, was the apartment Shi Yanhua was renting.

A police car was parked downstairs, surrounded by a small crowd of onlookers.

When they saw Shi Yanhua get out of the car, they began to point and whisper.

Shen Xin went upstairs.

"Xiaoshen."

Wei Yajun, who was already on the scene, greeted him with a sigh and led him inside.

A young man in a tank top was squatting on the floor.

On the sofa next to him sat a frail little girl. Her left cheek was red and her nose was bleeding. An officer, Xiaotan, was crouching down, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Motherfucker, Wang Genping!"

The moment Shi Yanhua saw her daughter had been hit, she grabbed a vase from by the door and hurled it at the young man on the floor.

CRASH.

Terrified, Liu Yuting let out a wail and burst into tears.

Shi Yanhua paid her no mind, relentlessly beating Wang Genping with her handbag while screaming, "You useless piece of shit! You live off me, and this is how you repay me? You dare hit my daughter?"

With the police present, Wang Genping didn’t dare to fight back.

The guy had bleached-blond hair and arms covered in tattoos; clearly, he was bad news.

"Enough!" Shen Xin yelled.

To everyone’s shock, Shi Yanhua whipped around and slapped Liu Yuting across the face.

"Cry, cry, cry! That’s all you know how to do! What good are you for anything else!"

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Shen Xin rushed forward and pulled Shi Yanhua away.

Liu Yuting was only about seven or eight years old. She was very thin, wore a school uniform, and had her hair in a ponytail. The slap made her cry even harder.

Struggling free from Shen Xin’s grip, Shi Yanhua smoothed her hair. "Alright, Officer. The kid’s been found, and you’ve asked your questions. Can you all leave now?"

She pointed toward the door, gesturing for Shen Xin and his colleagues to get out.

Shen Xin’s frown deepened. It was especially heart-wrenching to see Liu Yuting clinging to the hem of her mother’s skirt, sobbing that she’d never run off again.

’But what could he do?’

’She was the girl’s biological mother!’

’Even if they took Shi Yanhua down to the station, it would be pointless.’

’Shen Xin had seen plenty of these fucked-up situations back at the local station.’

Wei Yajun sighed and gave Shen Xin a discreet tug on the arm.

Shen Xin took a deep breath and said gravely, "Shi Yanhua, we’ll be in touch if we have more questions."

Shi Yanhua just sneered, completely unfazed.

Downstairs, Shen Xin thanked Wei Yajun and saw him off.

"Let’s go," Shen Xin said to Ding Yuwei, ushering her into the car.

They drove out of the complex in silence. Suddenly, Ding Yuwei said, "Shen Xin, maybe we should call it a day. I can just grab a cab home."

Shen Xin was taken aback for a second, then nodded.

Shen Xin dropped Ding Yuwei at the intersection, then drove away.

But after driving some distance, Shen Xin circled back.

’He couldn’t police every domestic issue, but since he’d stumbled upon this one, he couldn’t just let it be.’

’He could at least give that Wang Genping a warning.’

’Shen Xin knew exactly what kind of scumbags these punks were.’

’Shi Yanhua would most likely go back to work.’

’And as soon as she was gone, Wang Genping would surely take it out on Liu Yuting.’

’The kid had done nothing wrong.’

’Shen Xin felt he had to warn Wang Genping.’

’Living off someone, in their home, and still beating their child... you can’t be that much of a bastard!’

As he circled back and pulled up to Shi Yanhua’s building, he looked up and was startled to see someone had just arrived at the entrance.

Ding Yuwei!

Shen Xin got out of the car. Their eyes met, and as they realized they’d had the same idea, they both smiled.