Chapter 8 Chapter Eight A Family Portrait

On the seat by the window of the fast food restaurant, Shen Ling chewed the hamburger slowly, looking up hesitantly from time to time.Cheng Che and Wu Ning each ordered a drink and sat opposite Shen Ling.As if he couldn't stand the atmosphere, Shen Ling turned his head, turned his gaze out of the window, and focused on the various pedestrians coming and going on the street. "Shen Ling, I want to confirm again. On the night Liu Huihui was killed, you came back from the remedial class after nine o'clock, but you didn't see anything unusual, did you?" Cheng Che held the paper cup with the drink in his hand and said seriously ask.

Shen Ling looked at him and nodded slightly, "I usually don't go to the garbage dump at all." "That's right, there are few people there, and it's not safe for you as a girl." Cheng Che said understandingly, "Then do you think your family will know some clues?" Hearing Cheng Che's question, Shen Ling felt like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and instantly bristled all over his body, frowned and said angrily, "You should ask them about this! How do I know?" Despite his preparations, Cheng Che was startled by Shen Ling's violent reaction, and the drink in his hand almost spilled.Wu Ning handed him a tissue and said calmly, "Xiao Ling, do you still remember your biological father?"

After Shen Ling was taken aback by her seemingly irrelevant question, a complicated expression appeared on her face, and she threw out two words, "A little bit." "Then he left you and your mother, do you hate him?" There was a little panic in Shen Ling's eyes, but Wu Ning kept looking directly at her, but her firm eyes did not allow her to escape.After silence, she replied softly: "I can't say well either." "I understand." Wu Ning leaned back in the chair slowly, but his attitude was no longer sharp, "It has been many years since my father abandoned me and my brother."

This time it was Shen Ling's turn to be surprised, "You too..." Wu Ning smiled at her, "But we should live actively and let them see, instead of being hostile to everything and trapping ourselves in it, unable to extricate ourselves." "I..." Shen Ling seemed to understand the meaning of Wu Ning's words, bit her lip and lowered her head thoughtfully. "Okay, it's almost time for you to go to the tutoring class, right?" Wu Ning raised his wrist and looked at his watch, "That's all for today, we won't force you." "You go back and remember it carefully. If you think of anything else, you can contact me at any time. This is my phone number." Cheng Che said, and handed a note to Shen Ling.

Shen Ling took the note, hurriedly opened the schoolbag and put it in, glanced at Wu Ning and Cheng Che again, nodded and stood up, and ran out of the fast food restaurant as quickly as if she had been pardoned. "I really don't understand what she is afraid of." Cheng Che looked at her back in confusion. Wu Ning also stood up, and teased him, "I'm afraid I'll be abducted by you, isn't there a lot of crimes against underage girls recently?" "Where do I look like a bad guy?" Cheng Che touched his face, "I think you looked like a kidnapper when you were at the school gate just now, and you still used the old trick of asking for dinner."

Wu Ning smiled nonchalantly, "You really don't look like a kidnapper, more like the kind who will be kidnapped." "I don't seem to have offended you..." Cheng Che was halfway through speaking, but was attracted by the corner under the table, "There is something on the ground." Wu Ning followed his gaze, and saw a pale pink wallet with cartoon rabbits painted on it, lying quietly under the seat where Shen Ling sat just now.She bent down to pick it up and held it in her hand, and Cheng Che came over curiously to check it out. "It should belong to Shen Ling. She left in such a hurry that she didn't notice that the wallet fell out." Cheng Che analyzed.

"Just take a look and you'll be sure." As Wu Ning said, he opened the wallet, there were very few items in it, but a family photo was placed in the most conspicuous compartment.The woman in the photo is the Zhao Lili they have all seen before, but she looks much younger. There is a young man beside her, and a girl who is only a few years old is nestled in the middle, with a round face, big eyes, and eyebrows. There is a faint image of Shen Ling's current appearance.All three of them had smiles on their faces, with joyful sweetness and happiness. "This man is not Shen Hong." Cheng Che pointed at the person in the photo.

"You can see that it must be Shen Ling's biological father." "However, Shen Ling must have resentment when his biological father abandoned them and went away alone. Why did he carry this family photo with him?" "You don't understand." Wu Ning closed the wallet and threw it to Cheng Che, "Sometimes people are so strange, with complaints and hatred in their hearts, but unwilling to find that there are some beautiful things that make it hard to hate Thoroughly contradictory, right?" When Wu Ning said this, a subtle softness flashed across his expression, which made Cheng Che have the illusion that she was not talking about Shen Ling, but pouring out her inner feelings.At this moment, Cheng Che vaguely understood why Wu Ning followed.She saw her shadow in Shen Ling. Maybe she wanted to help Shen Ling, or she didn't talk about the case, but just cared.

"Let's send the wallet back to Shen Ling." Before Cheng Che could ask any more questions, Wu Ning had already walked out of the fast food restaurant. "Now? Send it to the remedial class? But we don't know where the remedial class is." "Of course it's delivered to her home, but Shen Ling doesn't seem to like us showing up at her home, so we'll wait near her home." "It takes at least two or three hours for her to go to the remedial class, but twenty minutes is enough to drive to her house." Cheng Che emphasized. "I didn't say I'd go right away. I've provided you with such important clues as call forwarding. Should you treat me to a big meal? Don't just think about a drink." Wu Ning patted Cheng Che on the shoulder.

"It makes sense." Cheng Che touched his nose seriously, and burst into a bright smile, which made the whole baby's face shine brightly, "The team leader also praised me, okay, let's go to dinner, you can eat whatever you want pick." Wu Ning smiled knowingly and stepped out of the fast food restaurant.It was dusk now, and the setting sun fell on her body, reflecting a golden silhouette.If we really want to distinguish, Cheng Che is not the same kind of person as her. Compared with many people, although Cheng Che has troubles in appearance, his life must be mostly smooth sailing, so he has a heart like that. The face is also pure and hearty, just like his name, Cheng Che, clear, unlike her and Shen Ling, who carry too many complicated emotions in their hearts.

Turning to look at Cheng Che again, Wu Ning walked towards the car in a good mood until Cheng Che was full of doubts and embarrassment.Perhaps in many cases, simple is the best. As night fell, although the bustling street outside had not yet ended, the old residential building was already deserted and quiet.The hazy moon shadow swayed, and the moonlight shone on the mottled old building wall. The staleness that could not be concealed under the shadow seemed to exude a gloomy taste. "This place is really gloomy at night, and it's thanks to Shen Ling, a girl, who dares to go home by herself so late." Cheng Che stroked his arm. The window inevitably drilled in. Wu Ning raised the corners of her lips and squinted at him, "Are you afraid?" "Who, who said that?" Cheng Che let go of his hand and puffed out his chest. "Oh? There seemed to be a black shadow passing by from behind just now. Since you are very courageous, why don't you get out of the car and have a look?" "Isn't it just a shadow? It's no big deal, don't look at it." "That can't be done. Are you a policeman? You should be skeptical and not let go of any possibility." Wu Ning looked at him, looking like he was watching a good show. "In that case..." Cheng Che hesitated, and suddenly smiled cutely, "Why don't we go together, I'm afraid you may be in danger if you stay in the car." "You don't have to worry about me. You have seen my skills. Ten or eight big men can't do anything to me." "But……" Seeing his distressed expression, obviously a little scared but hard to explain, Wu Ning couldn't help teasing him, and said aggressively: "Don't worry, scientifically speaking, ghosts and the like don't exist, of course, It is not ruled out that in the dead of night, there will be dirty things with resentment coming out to wander, but we, Xiao Cheche, will not be afraid, will we?" "I..." Cheng Che was at a loss for words, knowing that Wu Ning was deliberately making things difficult for him, he rolled his eyes and abruptly changed the subject, "It's past half past nine, why hasn't Shen Ling come back?" "Maybe something has delayed it." Wu Ning didn't expose him, and replied along the way. "But it's too late." "Why are you as impatient as Xiaoxiao?" Hearing that Wu Ning classified him and Wu Xiaoxiao into the same category, Cheng Che immediately stopped his suspicions, held the steering wheel seriously and looked ahead, making a calm gesture, "Wait a minute." As a result, the two waited for another hour, and Shen Ling didn't show up until half past ten.In the end, Wu Ning stopped Cheng Che, who wanted to go upstairs to find out, and promised him to let Wu Xiaoxiao go to Shen Hui to inquire about it tomorrow, and then inform him of the result as soon as possible, Cheng Che gave up and drove Wu Ning back. home. Wu Xiaoxiao squatted in the corner of the school, secretly typing on her mobile phone.Although it was hard work, this feeling like a secret agent made him excited.Last night, when his sister mentioned to him that he wanted to inquire about the news, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He didn't expect that the mobile phone he had not long ago would come in handy so soon.Most importantly, he can also contribute to the investigation of the case again. "Hello, sister?" Wu Xiaoxiao deliberately lowered her voice and asked mysteriously. "Well, tell me, what did you ask?" When Wu Ning said this, he adjusted his mobile phone to the hands-free mode, and looked helplessly at Cheng Che's enlarged baby face full of expectations.Unexpectedly, Cheng Che was so impatient that he ran directly to the set to wait for news from Wu Xiaoxiao. His flickering black eyes made her feel uncomfortable. "Sister, I asked Shen Hui, and he said yesterday that his sister returned home from the remedial class at the same time as usual, and it seems that there is nothing unusual." Wu Xiaoxiao came from the phone clearly but pretended to be immature. A voice with a mature tone. Cheng Che couldn't help interjecting and asked, "Smile, why did you ask Shen Hui? You didn't make him suspicious, did you?" "Big brother?" Wu Xiaoxiao took a breath in surprise, and then drew a long tone, laughing, "Are you with my sister?" "Isn't that obvious? Answer the question." Wu Ning mercilessly interrupted his imagination and reminded him in a deep voice. "Okay, don't worry, I asked casually in the chat, Shen Hui won't think too much." "That's good, Xiaoxiao, you are very smart." Hearing Cheng Che's praise, Wu Xiaoxiao was obviously a little more proud, and said mysteriously: "Tell you, I also found out an important piece of information." "Don't be tricky, just say it." "Shen Hui said that Shen Ling's father actually returned to China long ago and found his home, but was kicked out by their mother. Shen Hui remembers it very clearly because his mother was still crying at that time." Hearing what Wu Xiaoxiao said, both Wu Ning and Cheng Che were a little surprised.Wu Ning thought for a while, then asked: "Then have they been in touch recently?" "Shen Hui said he didn't see it, but I don't think he would know about it even if it existed." Wu Xiaoxiao analyzed it maturely. "Okay, it's time for you to go to class." Wu Ning looked at his watch, "Remember to turn off your phone later, and I'll be back later today." "A date with big brother?" "Stop talking nonsense, I'm going to investigate, you can have dinner by yourself, or ask Brother Shang to take you to eat, that's all." After Wu Ning finished speaking, before Wu Xiaoxiao could refute, he quickly hung up the phone. "Should we go to Shen's house and ask again?" Wu Ning shook his head, "No, we'll just wait tonight." "Where are you going to wait?" "The road to the garbage dump, there are only two roads back to that building. We didn't wait for Shen Ling last night. If my guess is right, she should have taken another road to go home." "Okay, let's find out where Shen Ling went." Cheng Che clenched his fists, looking energetic. "Huh? Isn't this the beautiful boy I saw last time?" Accompanied by this voice, a slightly familiar woman walked towards the two of them and stood still in front of Cheng Che.Cheng Che's face immediately changed. This woman was one of those women who touched his cheek last time, causing him to lose his mind in the back alley of the set. "Sister Zheng, this is my friend." "I remember, I came to see you several times. How could I forget such a cute face?" Sister Zheng said, reaching out to Cheng Che's face again. Cheng Che was about to dodge, but Wu Ning raised his arm, blocking Sister Zheng's hand, moved, and blocked Cheng Che without a trace, "Sister Zheng, the director seems to be calling you." "Is there? I didn't hear it." "I heard it came from the director. Sister Zheng, you'd better go and have a look. You also know that the director is notoriously bad-tempered. If you offend him, we might all suffer." "I understand, I'll go now." Sister Zheng said, and left quickly. Seeing Sister Zheng walking away, Cheng Che heaved a sigh of relief, and turned to Wu Ning with a little more gratitude, "Thank you." "You don't need to thank me. If you transform here, I will be the one who will clean up the mess and explain to everyone. I don't want to cause trouble for myself." Wu Ning patted Cheng Che, "Find a safe place and wait. After filming, we will go to Shin Young’s house.” When the two came to the vicinity of Shen Ling's house again, it was night again, near nine o'clock, and the road next to the garbage dump was far weirder than the road they waited for yesterday.Because people died in the huge garbage dump, no one passed by. The piles of garbage rolled up and down into large and small hills. In the night, only the uneven black outline could be seen clearly, extending into the distance.In the obscured field of vision, it seems that something unpredictable will emerge at any time, which makes people feel a chill down their spine. Cheng Che's car was parked in an inconspicuous corner beside the road, together with the cars in the surrounding neighborhood, and there was no sign of anyone there after the lights were turned off.Cheng Che and Wu Ning waited quietly in the car in the dark. "This place is even more eerie than when I came to investigate the case during the day." "There is a murder case, this garbage dump will probably be closed sooner or later." "Does Shen Ling really go home from here every day?" Wu Ning shrugged, and lightly tapped the groove on the inside of the door with his fingers, "Obviously." "It's also because she's not afraid." Cheng Che subconsciously touched his head. How much courage does it take for a young girl, Shen Ling, to walk through the empty garbage dump at night? "Not everyone is as timid as you, Little Cheche. Some people pretend to be full of things in their hearts, so of course they don't have the time to think too much." Wu Ning shook his head handsomely, with short hair flying, "For Shen Ling, definitely There are more important things that overshadow the fear in my heart." "You mean, I'm simple-minded? What could it be?" Cheng Che said unconvinced. "Who knows, maybe the answer will come automatically in a moment." At this time, the time on the watch was approaching 9:20. From the road on the other side of the garbage dump, two figures appeared vaguely. They walked slowly, but in the dark night, it was difficult not to attract attention. "It seems that someone is coming." Cheng Che stared at the front with all his attention, and there was a hint of excitement in his tone after waiting for a long time and finally got something. "But how could it be two people? Isn't it Shen Ling?" "It's her right." Wu Ning's tone was extremely firm. "The person with her is..." While talking, the figures of the two got closer and closer, almost completely exposed to the moonlight. When they were a few meters away from the car, Cheng Che saw the other person clearly, ah He exclaimed in surprise, "He, isn't he the biological father of Shen Ling in the photo?" "Keep your voice down." "Why? I'm going to get out of the car to find out." As soon as Cheng Che moved, Wu Ning pressed him on the seat. Although he tried his best to break free, he couldn't match the strength of Wu Ning's years of martial arts practice. Wu Ning stood up slightly, crossed his arms across Cheng Che's body, and pressed him with half of his body, but his eyes fell through the window glass and fell outside the window.The two were in the small car, so close that they could hear their breath. With such an ambiguous posture, Qi Qi watched Shen Ling and her biological father pass by the car side by side, and stopped in front of the building. Looking from behind, you can't see the expressions on their faces, but you can see Shen Ling holding the man's arm, smiling and acting like a baby, the man touched her head affectionately, and after saying a few words, Shen Ling waved goodbye to him, Yiyi Reluctantly walked into the building. Shen Ling's biological father turned his head and walked back along the way. When he passed by the car, Wu Ning opened the car door quickly, stretched his long legs, and stepped out. The man obviously didn't expect someone to appear suddenly, and his expression was very surprised.Wu Ning just smiled slightly, "Hello, can we talk?"