Chapter 288: Chapter 288

He hurriedly inspected the scene and found no obvious signs of a struggle. Immediately, he picked up his phone to call for backup and began coordinating an investigation in the surrounding area.

Mrs. Su was so anxious that she burst into tears. "Where exactly has my Meng Meng gone? Who would want to harm her?" Her heart felt like it was breaking. Her life had finally been looking up. Their housing issue had been resolved, and they were just about to renovate and move into their new home to start afresh.

And now this happened. Wasn’t this as good as sentencing her to death?

If Meng Meng couldn’t be found this time, how could she go on living?

Li Si quickly reassured her in a gentle voice, trying to calm her down. It was crucial that Mrs. Su didn’t collapse at this moment.

Leng Mochen frowned and glanced at Heizi, who was on the phone in the southern bedroom. He calmly analyzed, "The priority right now is to figure out what happened to Su Meng. Let’s ask the neighbors and see if anyone heard or saw anything!" Thɪs chapter is updated by novel-fire.net

Heizi had just finished his call and immediately agreed. The group split up to search the building floor by floor, leaving Mrs. Su at home to wait. Thankfully, this was a relocation apartment complex where people were busy with renovations, so there were residents on almost every floor. Eventually, when they questioned the family living in the west unit on the first floor, they obtained a useful piece of information from the woman of the household.

She said she had heard noises of a quarrel upstairs, as well as a woman’s screaming. Later, through the peephole, she saw several men and an elderly rural woman forcefully drag a young girl away.

Upon hearing this, the group perked up immediately. An elderly rural woman?

Li Si glanced upstairs. "Could it be... that..." He didn’t finish, but the others quickly pieced things together—was it that man’s mother?

Long Wu gritted his teeth and spat angrily, "If it’s really her, then her son better forget about ever seeing the light of day again!"

After Heizi’s earlier investigation cleared the man, Long Wu had dragged him out of Hebei and dumped him in a broken-down coal kiln in Shanxi, hiring someone to torment him daily.

Who would’ve thought that old wretch could track down Su Meng? He had been too soft. If it really turned out to be her doing, he should’ve sent the entire family to that hellhole back then—to suffer, to toil, and to take beatings as penance for their past offenses.

Everyone quickly mobilized. Li Si stayed back to comfort Mrs. Su, while Leng Mochen, Long Wu, and Heizi raced toward the village. After Heizi’s men arrived, they continued the investigation.

At Wangguan Village, Su Meng gazed at the surroundings, both familiar and strange. On her face was a red, swollen handprint—a slap from that damned old woman. Her mouth was stuffed with a dirty rag, yet she didn’t cry.

She knew crying wouldn’t solve anything. For now, they were just aiding that old woman in capturing her. They wouldn’t dare commit outright murder or any heinous crimes.

The three men, standing awkwardly, cast complicated glances at Su Meng, who remained upright with her hands tied. This woman was truly no longer the same as before.

Back then, everyone in the village knew about the strikingly beautiful woman whom Yang Dashun had brought back as his wife. She was the object of universal envy and jealousy.

Later, Mrs. Yang and the villagers claimed that the daughter-in-law had lost her memory. To prevent her from realizing she was an outsider and leaving, Mrs. Yang asked everyone to say that Su Meng was a local and that Yang Dashun had saved her life, making her part of the family.

Living in the same village and constantly crossing paths—plus Mrs. Yang’s aggressive and unreasonable demeanor—the neighbors went along with the story.

After recovering from her injuries, Su Meng went to the city to work. She turned out to be quite capable of making money. Everyone thought the Yang Family must have struck gold to have such a wonderful daughter-in-law.

But starting last year, this woman had disappeared from the Yang Family, and Yang Dashun had also gone missing. No one knew where he went.

Mrs. Yang searched high and low without finding a trace.

It wasn’t until a villager working as a mason in the city accidentally spotted and recognized Su Meng. Out of pity for Mrs. Yang, they mentioned this when they saw her. That led to today’s farce of forcibly bringing Su Meng back.

Now that they had helped capture her, the three men felt they had no further involvement. They were eager to return to the city for work. A short, skinny man among them rubbed his hands and said, "Aunt Yang, we’ve helped you find her. About the wages we lost..."

Mrs. Yang, dressed in a red-checked shirt and short, stocky build, had dark, weathered skin from years of labor and a pair of drooping triangular eyes. She glared viciously at Su Meng before turning to the three men with a forced smile, "Don’t worry. I won’t welch on my promise. Once my husband returns from work, I’ll send you the money!"

At her words, one of the men protested. "Aunt Yang, that’s not what you said before! We all know how often Uncle Yang comes back—once every few days at best. Our families have their own struggles; what are we supposed to do while we wait?"

In truth, their families weren’t that poor. But everyone knew Mrs. Yang was untrustworthy. If they let her delay payment, it’d be a hassle to get their money later.

The remaining two also chimed in agreement, making it clear they wouldn’t leave without being paid.

Mrs. Yang had no choice. With a look of anguish as though cutting off a piece of her own flesh, she dug into her pants pocket and pulled out a dingy handkerchief. Inside were only a few thin bills. Reluctantly, she extracted a 100-yuan note and handed it to the three men.

The first man who had spoken took the bill but still wasn’t satisfied. "We can’t split this evenly. You’ve got to give us another 50. At least 50 each—we’ve wasted an entire day’s work!"

The three of them were casual laborers, waiting daily for jobs. If they had taken regular work, they’d have made much more today. They only agreed to help because Mrs. Yang was a fellow villager.

Now, they felt uneasy about the whole thing. Initially, Mrs. Yang had convinced them by saying she just wanted to meet Su Meng and ask about her son’s whereabouts.

But after meeting Su Meng, Mrs. Yang threw a fit, demanding to bring her back. When the men refused, Mrs. Yang dropped to her knees and swore to take full responsibility if anything happened, assuring them they wouldn’t be implicated. In the end, they relented and transported Su Meng back in a covered tricycle.

Now, they weren’t sure if Mrs. Yang’s claims would hold up. Something about all this felt wrong.

With an exasperated eye-roll, Mrs. Yang reluctantly extracted another 50-yuan bill and handed it to the man. Her mind consoled her—once her daughter-in-law was back home, they would recoup the 150 yuan soon enough. It hurt, but she handed it over.

Just as the three men were leaving the courtyard, two cars, one of which was a police car, screeched up to the front gate.

A piercing sound of brakes, a loud "Screech!" The vehicles stopped directly in front of the house.

The three men’s legs went weak, nearly collapsing on the spot. The speed of the police’s arrival was astonishing! (To be continued. If you enjoyed this story, please visit Qidian.com to vote for it with recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, head to m.qidian.com to continue reading.)