Upon this thought, Nuo Xiaoxi suddenly beca anxious, fearful that sothing had happened to Mrs. Lin. She bolted out the door and ran along the highway, hoping to spot Mrs. Lin along the way. But as she ran, she didn't see a trace of Mrs. Lin.
She jogged along, sweat drenching her entire body in the scorching air. After running for over an hour, she arrived at the entrance of the Sanitation Bureau. The gates of the Sanitation Bureau had already closed, and the sanitation workers had gone off duty. The security guard at the gatehouse, seeing the anxious look on Nuo Xiaoxi's face, hurriedly asked, "Young girl, what... what's the matter with you?"
"I... I'm looking for my aunt," Nuo Xiaoxi said hastily.
"Looking for whom? Everyone has left work by now," the guard said with a smile: "There's nobody inside. Everyone has already left for ho."
"What?" Nuo Xiaoxi was stunned, then said, "But... but why hasn't my aunt co back yet."
"Why don't you call her?" the guard quickly suggested.
"I did, but her phone is switched off," Nuo Xiaoxi said in a hurry.
"Young girl, just go back and wait. A living person can't just disappear," the guard gently fanned himself, saying with a smile: "The world is in peace, no one disappears without reason. Maybe your aunt got held up and couldn't inform you in ti."
"No, that's not possible," Nuo Xiaoxi said, shaking her head, "If Aunt had sothing co up, she would definitely tell . She said she would leave work early today to buy groceries. But now, there's no sign of her."
"Then… then maybe you should call the police quickly?" The guard felt that the matter seed serious upon hearing this. If they had agreed on sothing, one would definitely return ho. Even in case of an ergency, one should inform the family. But it was already past eight and there was no sign of her – surely sothing had happened.
"Don't… don't scare !" Nuo Xiaoxi cried out in fear at the ntion of calling the police. Her face was pale as she said, "I hope my aunt hasn't had an accident."
"Young girl, don't cry," the guard, kind-hearted, hurriedly comforted her upon seeing such a pretty girl cry: "Does your family have anyone else? Quickly call them, let them co out and help search."
"I… I'll call," Nuo Xiaoxi quickly nodded.
She imdiately thought of Brother Lin and hurriedly dialed Lin Chuan's number from her phone.
At this mont, Lin Chuan was wandering down a pedestrian street with Tang Yung, having just finished dinner. Tang Yung was pondering whether to visit a clothing store and get Lin Chuan so well-fitting clothes. However, as she was about to bring it up, suddenly, the phone rang.
Beep beep beep...
A series of urgent ringing tones sounded.
"Brother Lin, sothing's wrong." Not waiting for Lin Chuan to speak, the voice of Nuo Xiaoxi, anxious and rushed, ca from the other end.
"Xiaoxi, what's wrong?" Lin Chuan felt a bit panicked.
It was the first ti he heard Nuo Xiaoxi sound so anxious and frightened. Scenes of Nuo Xiaoxi being kidnapped flashed through Lin Chuan's mind. Then from the other end of the phone ca Nuo Xiaoxi's tense voice: "Brother Lin, Aunt has disappeared, she… she's gone."
"Xiaoxi, don't panic," Lin Chuan hurriedly soothed, "Tell where you are? I will co to find you right now."
"I'm in front of the Sanitation Bureau," Nuo Xiaoxi said hastily: "Brother Lin, co quickly."
"Okay!" Lin Chuan quickly hung up the phone.
Upon hearing that his mother had trouble, how could Lin Chuan remain calm?
"Lin Chuan, what's wrong?" Tang Yung noticed that Lin Chuan's expression seed off.
"My mother has disappeared," Lin Chuan said urgently: "Xiaoxi probably couldn't find her anywhere before calling . I need to go check it out!"
"I'm coming too!" Tang Yung quickly said.
Without refusing, the two of them hurried back to the parking lot and sped towards the Sanitation Bureau.
At the entrance of the Sanitation Bureau, Nuo Xiaoxi was incredibly anxious, sweat never ceasing on her face, and the panic in her eyes never fading. She anxiously stood by the door, looking around the road, hoping to see Lin Chuan's car. From ti to ti she stared at her phone, hoping to receive a call from Mrs. Lin.
Twenty minutes later, a black rcedes-Benz swiftly stopped at the entrance of the Sanitation Bureau, with Lin Chuan and Tang Yung rushing out of the car.
"Xiaoxi!" Lin Chuan called out.
"Brother Lin…" Nuo Xiaoxi ran over quickly, her flowing dress billowing in the wind.
"What happened?" Lin Chuan asked: "Where's my mom?"
"Brother Lin, Aunt…," Nuo Xiaoxi burst into tears, "This afternoon Aunt called …"
While crying, Nuo Xiaoxi recounted the afternoon's events to Lin Chuan.
Seeing the pitiful Nuo Xiaoxi, her sweat falling drop by drop, Lin Chuan felt even more distressed. It was a good seven or eight kiloters from Changlin Factory to the Sanitation Bureau — the girl had actually run all the way. Lin Chuan quickly pulled Nuo Xiaoxi into his arms and consoled her in a gentle voice: "It's okay, don't cry. I'll have soone look for her right now."
"Lin Chuan, let's call the police," Tang Yung quickly said: "The police will speed things up."
"The station won't file a case for investigation within twenty-four hours," Lin Chuan replied, "They all go by the book. I'll handle this myself."
Having said that, Lin Chuan imdiately made a phone call to Zhou Kai and the others.
Zhou Kai and his group were gathering in twos and threes for a al. Of course, most of the brothers had already gone back to their own hos.
Upon receiving Lin Chuan's call, Zhou Kai imdiately threw down his chopsticks and said, "Fuck, there's trouble at Brother Chuan's ho, brothers, move it. Assemble the crew!"
"What happened?" Lu Dapao asked anxiously.
"Mrs. Lin is missing," Zhou Kai said in a hurry: "Quick, get the brothers to gather at the factory gate, it's extrely urgent."
"Got it!" Lu Dapao nodded.
Soon, they were making calls, sending ssages, and buzzing WeChat.
At Changlin Factory, in Liu Ergou's ho.
Liu Ergou was a typical case of impoverished second generation. Ever since Changlin Factory went bankrupt and they were compensated so tens of thousands of yuan, his father lost it all in business, had to work outside, and did odd jobs. Still, he sohow managed to raise Liu Ergou to adulthood.
Since Liu Ergou started hanging out with Zhou Kai and the others, he sent five to six thousand yuan ho every month, gradually improving the family's situation, making Mr. Liu and his family cheerful and harmonious.
That day, Mr. Liu's family had prepared dinner, braised pork ribs, spicy diced chicken… all dishes that Liu Ergou liked.
Liu Ergou was taking a shower, while the rest of the family waited for him to finish before starting dinner. Now, as the main support of the family, Liu Ergou was highly respected by all at ho.
Suddenly, the cell phone on the windowsill rang. Liu Ergou, still showering, glanced at it from a distance and his face imdiately turned grave.
"Fuck, sothing big has happened," Liu Ergou's face turned pale in an instant.
In the WeChat group, ssages were flooding in, all with lightning bolt emblems. To outsiders, this might just look like an ordinary lightning bolt, but within the group, to the young people of Changlin Factory, it was far more than just an emblem. It was an urgent rallying signal, indicating that sothing serious had occurred. The last ti the lightning bolt was used was when people from Heng'an Group ca for demolition. This ti, no one knew what happened.
Liu Ergou quickly grabbed his cellphone and, wearing just a wet pair of underwear, ran crazily outside. As he ran, he also grabbed the clothes he had worn from a basket outside and carried them with him.
"Er Gou, where the hell do you think you're going?" Mr. Liu shouted anxiously after seeing this.
"Sothing's happened, sothing big has happened," Liu Ergou shouted back in a hurry, "You guys eat first, I've got sothing to take care of."
"You damned kid, going out without wearing clothes properly, what a disgrace, what a disgrace!" Mr. Liu, clenching a tobacco pipe, yelled angrily.
At this mont, at the factory gate, a large group of people had gathered.
Three Jinbei vans had already arrived at the gate, headlights blazing.
Zhou Kai glanced at his watch and said, "Five minutes have passed, we can't wait any longer, get in the car!"
Whoosh...
Sixty to seventy people quickly squeezed into the vehicles. Every van was severely overloaded. The three vehicles sped toward the Sanitation Bureau entrance.
Soon, they arrived at the destination.
Lin Chuan's face was stern.
"Brother Chuan, where is Aunt Lin?" Zhou Kai hurriedly asked.
"I don't know," Lin Chuan shook his head, "Zhou Kai, you and the people from Unity Hall start searching around the east of the city, don't miss any corner. Lu Dapao, you and the people from Jvyi Gang go inquire in all the bars, and split so people to check out in all the big markets. Huang Bo, you and the people from Ren Yi Hall try to check the surveillance footage along this road. We must find her out. See what exactly happened to my Mom on her way back..."
"Yes!" Everyone nodded in agreent.
Soon, the three vans imdiately headed off in three different directions.
Zhou Kai led his group from the entrance of the Sanitation Bureau, carefully searching along the road of Changlin Factory, more than twenty people seriously checking the situation by the roadside, and also asking the shop owners who were doing business, as well as the street vendors, hoping that they might have so information.
"Lin Chuan, don't worry, Aunt Lin will be fine," Tang Yung said quickly in an attempt to comfort him.
Lin Chuan learned that his mom got off work at half-past four, and now it was almost half-past eight. It takes at most an hour and a half to walk from here to Changlin Factory. It's impossible that so much ti, four hours, has passed; his mom couldn't possibly not contact Xiao Xi or himself.
The worries inside him gradually turned into fear and dread.
"Brother Lin, Aunt Lin won't be in any trouble, right?" Nuo Xiaoxi was even more afraid, truly terrified.
"Don't be scared," Lin Chuan comforted her, "How about you go back and wait for news? You haven't eaten yet, right? Let Xiao Yu take you to get so food!"
Just as Tang Yung was about to speak, Nuo Xiaoxi resolutely refused, "No, I don't want to. I want to search with you."
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