Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 204 - 204 201 Brother Buy Me a Flower (Third Update)

Chapter 204: Chapter 201: Brother, Buy Me a Flower (Third Update) Chapter 204: Chapter 201: Brother, Buy Me a Flower (Third Update) Apart from the unclaimed body, other victims in the cases also did not match what Jiang Yan had described.

“Brother, where did you get this information?”

The two had been allies for many years, and he knew Zhou Youming well enough to know that he wouldn’t come to him over baseless rumors.

But Zhou Youming found it difficult to disclose the source of the information, considering Jiajia was only three years old then, and no one would believe such a young child could remember much of anything.

Moreover, besides knowing the gender and state of the victim, he knew nothing else, so it really wasn’t easy for Zhou Youming to say more.

He conveyed his comrade’s words to Jiang Yan and mentioned that he would go with Song Xiwen to the place where they had found Jiajia years ago to take a look that evening.

Thanks to the dragging feet and slow progress of Yunzhou City’s infrastructure projects, the dilapidated alleyway from fourteen years prior still existed.

“Is this the place?”

Zhou Youming switched on the high beams of the car, illuminating the dark alley that lacked even a single street lamp, glancing left and right. The closest light was almost one kilometer away, with more lights densely packed further down.

This section was part of the old district; since compensation for demolition had yet to be agreed upon, the area remained untouched. But the precariously unstable walls had long been unfit for habitation, prompting those with the means to move away.

Song Xiwen said, “I came here that day to look for a classmate, and I had run out of water. I saw a trash can in the corner and went to throw my bottle away when I saw Jiajia. She was huddled behind the trash can, her head and face covered in blood, with a deep cut on her arm, and her clothes were so dirty you couldn’t tell their color. My sister had just passed away, so when I saw Jiajia, I immediately picked her up and brought her home.”

Zhou Youming frowned, “Brought her home? Didn’t take her to the hospital?”

Song Xiwen looked down and said, “I didn’t dare, because my sister was still lying in the morgue, and I was afraid that if I took her there, she might also…”

Zhou Youming was at a loss for words but perhaps it was precisely because of her action that Jiajia’s life was saved. Anyone who dared to wield a knife on another person was certainly no ordinary human trafficker or bandit. What couldn’t such utterly ruthless people do?

Jiajia had escaped, and it was likely that they were searching everywhere for her at the time.

“You stay in the car; I’ll go down and take a look.”

Zhou Youming found a flashlight in the car and walked into the alley under the glow of the headlights.

The old alley was at most four hundred meters long, not very lengthy. The corner that used to hold a trash can had none, and the dark walls had long since faded from their original color. Objects of various colors were plastered on the mottled walls. Even in the cold of winter, there was a suffocating, pungent smell.

Zhou Youming shone the flashlight around and finally stopped the light on a small hole at the base of the wall, about twenty centimeters in diameter.

Meanwhile, Song Jiawen’s emotional state had begun to stabilize after the collapse.

She was stronger than anyone had thought. Even though she was still fearful inside, she still managed to pick up a pen with shaking hands, trying to draw the image of the woman.

Mu Chenyan couldn’t bear to see her so distressed, “Xiaosi, take your time, wait until you remember everything before drawing, okay?”

Jiang Yan didn’t join in with the comforting; he recalled the information Zhou Youming had someone look into—fourteen years ago, the body of a five-year-old girl had remained unclaimed.

He asked Song Jiawen, “Can you remember how old the little girl who escaped with you was?”

Song Jiawen tilted her head and thought, “Five? Or maybe six? I don’t remember very clearly.”

Jiang Yan sighed inwardly but also felt immensely relieved.

At eight o’clock in the evening, he took Yu Heng and Yu Feng out of the house.

“That place was demolished long ago. We went to look last year when we had just returned, and it was completely changed, nothing like it used to be.”

As Yu Heng drove, he said to Jiang Yan, “Even if you go there, you won’t find any clues.”

Jiang Yan did not speak. He propped an arm against the car window, looking outside. Occasionally, they passed shops with colorful neon lights; when light fell inside the car, it revealed the chilling coldness in his eyes.

Yu Feng thought for a moment, then turned and asked Jiang Yan, “Do you think, since they dared to commit crimes in Beijing, that this gang wouldn’t be easily eradicated, or that maybe due to the pressures of the situation they’ve temporarily relocated but will come back once the coast is clear?”

Jiang Yan glanced at him and honestly replied, “I don’t know, I’m not a criminal detective.”

Yu Feng: ….

“So what are you doing out here now?”

“I’m feeling uneasy; I need to do something about it.”

He looked at the two in the front seat and snorted, “What, seeing Jiajia in such distress, the two of you aren’t concerned?”

Yu Heng & Yu Feng: ….

Who isn’t concerned?

How could this kid be so annoying!

Before long, Yu Heng drove the car into a low-rise area filled with courtyard houses, then stopped on a road between the courtyards and a cluster of skyscrapers after about two kilometers.

He pointed to the soaring buildings and said, “This is the place. It used to be very run-down, but now it’s all been replaced with tall buildings.”

Jiang Yan glanced out the car window without much interest, then turned to Yu Heng and said, “Go to the train station.”

The two brothers turned their heads in unison and asked in surprise, “Where are you going? Back to Yunzhou?”

“Go back to Yunzhou my ass, don’t I have classes next week? Just drive when I tell you to drive!”

All day today, the kid talked to them in such a rude tone, but for some reason, they couldn’t say anything in return—not even a frown.

It’s really… infuriating!

Feeling gloomy, Yu Heng started the car, and half an hour later the three of them arrived at the South Square of the train station.

“That place is quite close to the train station,” Jiang Yan muttered to himself.

Yu Feng, who hadn’t heard him clearly, turned his head and asked, “What did you say?”

“Nothing, let’s go, take a look around.”

Both were baffled, not quite understanding why anyone would want to wander around a train station in the bitter cold and late at night.

Jiang Yan got out of the car first, followed by Yu Feng. Yu Heng was about to get out when his phone rang.

“Big brother, will you buy a bouquet for your sister?”

About ten meters ahead, a young couple was stopped by an eight- or nine-year-old girl. She wore a thin, torn cotton jacket, her little face red from the cold, and she held a bunch of nearly wilted roses in her hands.

“You expect us to buy these when they look like this?”

The woman from the couple took a look at the far-from-lively roses and showed her disdain.

“Big brother, buy a bunch, please. If I don’t sell them all, I can’t go home.”

Unperturbed by the woman’s refusal, the little girl insisted on blocking the man, trying to get him to buy.

“Alright, alright, I’ll buy, I’ll buy.”

Whether he was bothered by the pestering or had a change of heart, the man planned to buy one. While reaching for his wallet, he asked, “How much for one?”

“Ten yuan.”

“What?”

His movement to get the wallet stopped, and he stared at the little girl. “Don’t you know what these flowers look like?”

The girl looked up at him, seemingly innocently asking, “Big brother, don’t you even have ten yuan? Then why are you dating?”

The man: …

He snapped his wallet shut and was about to put it away when his arm was suddenly seized by the little girl. “Big brother, you said you would buy, you can’t go back on your word.”

“Let go!” The man tried to shake off the little hand in disgust but found that the girl was holding on very tightly, and he couldn’t shake her off.

He was both angry and agitated, and at last, could not take it anymore. He pulled out a ten-yuan note from his wallet and threw it at her. “Here, now let go!”

As soon as the little girl loosened her grip to pick up the money, the couple hurried away.

Standing ten meters away, Jiang Yan watched the scene; suddenly, he stretched out his long arm, hooked it around the neck of the six-foot-tall Yu Feng, and swiftly approached the little girl, looking at her.

The little girl, about to search for her next target, was suddenly blocked and looked up at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

Just puzzled, without any fear!

Jiang Yan suddenly bared his teeth in a smile, turned to Yu Feng and said, “Big brother, will you buy me a flower?”

Yu Feng: “???”

The little girl: “???”