Chapter 52: That Is the One

Hearing the conversation between the two, Jiang Zheng could not suppress the vivid scene that appeared in his mind. Just now, when he had come back looking for Zhou Quanyi, a middle-aged woman holding a child had bumped into him. At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now as he recalled the moment, he realized that the woman’s panic had seemed excessive. It wasn’t the flustered rush of someone with urgent business, but rather the furtive anxiety of someone afraid and trying to evade attention.

Thinking back even more carefully, Jiang Zheng remembered a detail he had overlooked before: the child in the woman's arms had a dark mark on their hand. Now, seeing the child before him, he noticed the same kind of mark.

He spoke up, “Does your child have a birthmark on his left hand?”

The man nodded hurriedly, “Yes, he does. There’s a birthmark on his left hand.”

“I think I may have seen the person who took your child,” Jiang Zheng said.

Suddenly, the man grabbed Jiang Zheng’s shoulder, his voice urgent, “Where did you see her? Tell me quickly!”

Jiang Zheng frowned; the man’s grip was strong, making his shoulder ache a little. “Calm down,” Jiang Zheng said.

The man immediately released him, drawing a deep breath. “I’m calm now, please tell me.”

Looking at him, Jiang Zheng could see that the man’s composure was only a pretense—inside, he was anything but calm. Jiang Zheng could understand; in such a situation, what father could truly remain collected?

He proceeded to describe where he had encountered the middle-aged woman. Upon hearing this, the man was about to rush off, but Jiang Zheng quickly stopped him.

“Wait a moment!” Jiang Zheng said.

“Let go of me!” the man shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. In this moment, anyone who stood in his way was an enemy.

“Listen to me first. If you go now, you probably won’t find her. She was in a hurry and heading toward the mall’s exit. Even if you search now, she’s likely already left the mall. Where will you look then?” Jiang Zheng reasoned.

The man gradually calmed down, his expression pained. “Then what should I do?”

“Call the police. When the officers arrive, they can access the mall’s security footage. At least then you’ll know which direction she went, rather than running around blindly,” Jiang Zheng advised.

It was as if the man had been struck awake. “Yes, yes, call the police! Call the police!” he exclaimed. Some things he wasn’t incapable of thinking of himself—it was just that panic had clouded his mind.

The man dialed the police, and before long, his wife arrived as well. The small group waited together. When the police showed up and asked what had happened, the man recounted everything, after which an officer turned to Jiang Zheng.

“What did the person look like?”

“I can’t recall the exact features, but if I saw her again, I’d recognize her,” Jiang Zheng explained. He’d only caught a fleeting glimpse; in a crowded mall, mothers carrying children were everywhere, and it was impossible to remember each one. Still, he was confident he could identify her if she appeared again.

“Let’s check the surveillance footage.” The officer led the way.

Mall security cameras weren’t accessible to just anyone, and even with a legitimate reason, retrieving footage could be difficult without official intervention. With the police present, the process was much simpler.

They entered the surveillance control room and, after notifying the appropriate manager, began reviewing the footage. There were many cameras in the mall, and tracking a single person was a considerable task.

As they watched, Jiang Zheng suddenly exclaimed, “That’s the woman!”

“Track her immediately—see where she went,” the officer ordered.

After some investigation, they saw the woman leaving the mall, but what she did next was unclear.

“We’ll pull footage from all the relevant routes and do our best to locate her as quickly as possible,” the officer assured them.

The man expressed his gratitude repeatedly. The police left to continue their investigation, while Jiang Zheng and Zhou Quanyi also departed—there was nothing more for them to do.

As they walked away, they seemed to hear the couple arguing in the distance. With a child missing, such quarrels were only natural. If the child was not found, it was likely that their relationship would not survive.

There was nothing Jiang Zheng or Zhou Quanyi could do in such matters.

“Sigh—human traffickers these days are brazen enough to snatch children in a mall,” Zhou Quanyi lamented.

Jiang Zheng frowned. “This trafficker was indeed bold. With so many cameras and people in the mall, even if she managed to take the child, she’d be found easily. She wasn’t very clever.”

“Now that you mention it, she really does seem foolish,” Zhou Quanyi agreed.

Jiang Zheng asked, “Boss, do you really think a trafficker would be that stupid?”

“Who knows? Maybe some really are that stupid,” Zhou Quanyi replied indifferently.

Jiang Zheng remained unconvinced; something about this trafficker seemed off.

“Don’t overthink it, Fourth. The police are handling it now—there’s nothing more for us to worry about,” Zhou Quanyi said.

Jiang Zheng smiled. “You’re right.”

He put the matter out of his mind. Whether the trafficker was foolish or not was no longer his concern.

That afternoon, the two returned to their hotel.

As Zhou Quanyi put it, they had already gone out in the morning, so the afternoon was better spent playing video games.

Jiang Zheng was a bit helpless—he would have liked to go out, to see the famous historical sites of Chang’an.

Thinking this, he said, “Boss, why don’t you stay here at the hotel while I go check out some of the sights?”

“What’s there to see? It’s all crowds and a bunch of old buildings and stones,” Zhou Quanyi replied.

“But since we’re here, we might as well see something—otherwise it’d be a wasted trip,” Jiang Zheng insisted.

“Fine, go if you want. I’m not interested,” Zhou Quanyi relented.

“Alright, I’ll head out then. Do you want me to bring you dinner later?” Jiang Zheng asked.

“We’ll see. Call me when you’re on your way back,” Zhou Quanyi said.

“Okay,” Jiang Zheng nodded.

He set out alone—there were plenty of places worth visiting in Chang’an, and he chose one that piqued his interest.

Traveling alone is a lonely yet romantic affair. As he gazed at the ancient buildings, he felt the weight of history within their walls—a testament to civilization and the passage of time. Each scar and mark told its own story.

Jiang Zheng wandered aimlessly, without a guide to explain things; he simply let himself feel the atmosphere. At every spot he visited, he would stand quietly for a while.

Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, the afternoon was over.