C35 (1/2)

After the call connected, Brother Huang's voice could not be heard. I looked at the screen. The signal was too weak. I hung up the phone and led Liao Mengfann back the way she came. When we got outside, I dialed Brother Huang's number.

”Brother Huang, what did you discover?”

”Come on, along the tracks, I found the crime scene! I'll wait for you at the place where we separated earlier! ”

”Ah?” ”Wait for me, I'll be there soon!”

I led Liao Mengfann back the way she came from. More than ten minutes later, we reunited with the Brother Huang.

When he saw us coming over, the Brother Huang waved at me, and after we got closer, he pointed to the rut marks on the ground and said to us: ”That crime scene is about 500 meters away from here, it's an abandoned chicken farm.”

We followed the Brother Huang all the way to the east. As we walked, he said, ”The main accommodation of the chicken farm has almost been demolished. However, underneath the demolished house, I found a large basement.

”Huh?” I was a little surprised. It seemed that we really had to thank the rain or else we would have neglected this place. No one would have thought that the crime scene would be under a pile of rubble.

After walking for about seven to eight minutes, I saw the ruins of the chicken farm that Brother Huang had mentioned.

Although this place had been demolished, one could still smell the strong stench of chicken dung. It must be because of the rain, as the rain poured on the dried up chicken dung, the water evaporated, dispersing the smell.

I looked around and saw that there was a construction site about three or four hundred meters to the east, but the site wasn't fully operational yet. A few pile machines were standing in the site, but they weren't working.

There was a transformer not far south of the ruins of the chicken farm. There was a temporary electrical switchbox under the transformer, and when I walked over, I saw that the housing of the switchbox was broken. It looked like it had been there for a long time.

There was a wire leading directly to the site beneath the switchboard. At the junction of the wire, another wire was connected, and we followed the wire to the scene of the crime.

Due to the rain, the soil on the ground here is very soft. At the entrance to the basement, I saw many footprints. The footprints were moving in and out, and they were very clear.

At the same time, far away from the footprints, I saw some scattered bricks which were spread all the way to the basement. Looks like it was specially made by the Brother Huang, I smiled and looked at him: ”Brother Huang, you can think of this method even though you aren't a professional investigator.

”Ha!” Brother Huang laughed and said: ”My hometown is in the countryside, after the rain, I can't walk anymore. When I was young, if I wanted to go to school or play, I could only put some bricks together. Otherwise, my shoes would get wet.”

”Huh?” Curious, I asked, ”Why aren't you wearing boots?”

”Do you think all the kids in our village are like you?” As Liao Mengfann walked on the brick, she turned her head and said to me. ”A pair of boots back then would have cost me at least three yuan, enough for two children to spend three to four days. How can I bear to part with it?”

When I heard Liao Mengfann say that sentence, I felt a little ashamed. Although my life wasn't considered rich or expensive, I was able to live a life without worries since I was young.

I was upset. Three dollars would have been like lunch to me when I was a kid. I never thought about what life would be like for children in the mountains. Do they have toys and new clothes?

What was their school like? What were their dreams? Would they also be like the children in the city, where their parents and grandparents would come to pick them up and send them to school?

Looking at the tall buildings in the surroundings, I silently sighed in my heart. Perhaps, in the small minds of those children, what they craved most was not fresh toys or bright and beautiful clothes. What they wanted most, perhaps, was to be able to see their familiar and strange mother lying beside them every morning when they opened their eyes, saying, ”Child, Mom and Dad will never leave home again.”

Life is often mixed with a lot of helplessness, in order to live, we will always give away some precious things. Actually, I think about it, I'm pretty much the same as those kids. Since I was young, when I wake up every day, didn't I want to see my own mother as well?

I looked up and saw stars in the dark night sky, a bright meteor streaking across the horizon. At that time, I made my wish. Meteor, I hope you carry my wish and let me find my mother.

At that time, I suddenly saw that Liao Mengfann also seemed to be mumbling something when the meteor streaked across the sky. I was curious. What kind of wish would she make? Maybe I'll never know.

We used our cell phones and carefully walked through the brick walls. Ahead of me was a collapsed beam. Squatting down, I walked around the beam until I saw a dim light coming from inside.