Wandering in the vast darkness

Chapter 64 Going to Zhoupu

Yu Wenhao opened the WeChat group and saw that everyone in the group was spreading the word that an elderly person had gone missing and asking for help in finding them. They said that it was such a cold day and it was raining, and if the person was still in the wild, it would be terrible.

Some people said that the elderly man hailed a ride-hailing car at Pinghai Apartment in the evening, but then it was taken somewhere unknown, and the platform couldn't contact the driver. People in the group chat are saying, "Whoever picked him up, please come forward and say so."

Yu Wenhao felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly scrolled back through the chat window and saw that someone had posted a photo of the old man. Yes, it was the same old man he had taken to Shuangpu Town that evening.

Yu Wenhao quickly opened the phone with the driver app installed and saw dozens of messages from the platform looking for him. Yu Wenhao had registered this phone number with the platform, so they could only contact him through this number.

Yu Wenhao didn't have time to reply to the message, so she made a phone call and told the other party that she was the driver who picked up the old man at Pinghai Apartment in Hangzhou in the evening.

The other party said, "Oh dear, I've been trying to contact you for over an hour but haven't been able to reach you."

Yu Wenhao said, "I'm closing the app and going to sleep."

"Okay, call the Hubin Police Station right away and ask for Officer Zhou. I'll send you his number right away," the other party said.

After hanging up the phone, the platform immediately sent a landline number starting with 0571. Yu Wenhao called the number, and Officer Zhou answered.

After everyone introduced themselves, Officer Zhou first asked Yu to greet him and explain the situation of bringing the elderly man here that evening.

"No, I'm still outside, picking up guests in Huanglong."

"Okay, I'll be right there, bro."

Officer Zhou then asked Yu, "Mr. Yu, did you take him to Zhuantang, or somewhere else? The platform said the order was to Zhuantang, but the destination was Zhoupu. You then went to Yunqi Town and Kaixuan Road, and it seems you even left the city. Where did he get off the bus?"

Yu Wenhao thought about it and agreed. He said, "Okay, then hurry up. Oh, and don't wear high heels."

A few minutes later, Qiqi ran out of the gate, wearing a down coat and black high-top rain boots.

"Come here," Officer Zhou said. Yu Wenhao and Qiqi followed them into the guard room.

Officer Zhou asked, "Where did all these people come from?"

Officer Zhou asked, "Mr. Yu, have you gone home?"

"Oh, Master Yu, were you at Pinghai Apartment this evening...?"

"The security guards and volunteers from every unit nearby were organized during the epidemic prevention period. Fortunately, they can still be called upon in case of emergency, so they have all come over," the station chief said.

Yu Wenhao stepped on the accelerator pedal, increased the speed, and when he turned onto Zhoupu Old Street, he saw a police car driving with flashing lights on on the empty street ahead. Yu Wenhao followed it.

"Oh, we're right in front of you. We just arrived at Zhoupu Old Street."

"Oh right, right, our home used to be right there." Yu Wenhao heard someone say over there, who seemed to be a relative of the old man.

Yu Wenhao started the car and drove towards Zhoupu. When they were almost at Zhoupu Old Street, a phone call came in. Yu Wenhao asked Qiqi to answer it and put it on speakerphone.

"Alright, let's not worry about that now. We've confirmed that the old man went missing from here, so let's start our search from here, okay?" the instructor said.

After hanging up the phone, Yu called Qiqi and told her that an elderly man who had ridden in his car that day had gone missing, and that he was going to help look for him. He told Qiqi to call a taxi home herself.

The director said yes.

As Yu Wenhao approached the entrance of Zhoupu Middle School, he was startled. He saw that the school gate was crowded with people, the main gate was open, two police cars were parked in front of the guardhouse, and the guardhouse was brightly lit with several people inside.

"Yes, that's right, I saw the old man's photo. I was the one who pulled him away this evening," Yu Wenhao interrupted.

Yu Wen found it strange and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, Master Yu, could you do us a favor? We're heading to Zhoupu now, could you come along too? Let's meet at the entrance of Zhoupu Middle School. Could you tell us what happened? Look, it's so cold, old man..."

Yu asked and explained the situation to them. At the end, when he saw the old man walk into the alley opposite Zhoupu Middle School in his rearview mirror, the old man's son said:

Yu said, "I'm the driver you're looking for. My surname is Yu."

Officer Zhou nodded and asked, "Are all these people outside here to help find someone?"

Yu Wenhao said, "Something's not right. When I was holding Uncle's hand, he seemed a little off. He seemed very familiar with this place, yet also a little unfamiliar. I even asked him about it, and he told me that he was here yesterday, and that you picked him up to go to Hangzhou yesterday. That put my mind at ease."

Yu said yes.

Officer Zhou then asked, "Mr. Yu, did you see him walk into the school?"

Yu Wenhao and Officer Zhou's cars stopped one after the other. Everyone got out of the cars, and Officer Zhou looked in Yu Wenhao's direction and called out:

“My dad is like that, he has a problem here.” The son pointed to his brain and said to Yu Wenhao, “I took him to Hangzhou more than five years ago, and he hasn’t come back to Zhoupu for more than five years. The last time he came here was during the Spring Festival to visit the graves. We went to Qianjiang Cemetery and then went straight back. We didn’t come here.”

"Found him! Found him! The driver has been found!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have asked more questions," Yu Wenhao said. "But Uncle looks like..."

Qiqi opened the door and sat down. Yu asked, "Where did you get those rain boots?"

Accompanying Officer Zhou were an auxiliary police officer and the elderly man's son. Inside the reception room were the director and instructor of the Zhoupu Police Station. Before leaving, Officer Zhou had contacted the Zhoupu Police Station to ask for their assistance in organizing manpower.

"That's right, our house used to be across the street, but it was demolished a long time ago, several years ago."

"In Zhoupu, the elderly man got off the bus at the entrance of Zhoupu Middle School."

"No problem, I'll be right there," Yu Wenhao said.

Yu Wenhao said, "I'm almost there too, almost at Zhoupu Old Street."

"Is that Master Yu?"

Yu Wenhao opened the ride-hailing driver group, handed it to Qiqi, and said, "There are photos of the elderly people in there. Take a look and memorize their faces so you can find them later. We're going to Zhoupu now; the police from the police station and their families are there too."

"When it comes to finding people, the more people the better."

"Brother, I'm off work too. Wait for me, I'll be right out, and we'll go together," Qiqi called out.

Officer Zhou's voice came through the phone: "Master Yu, where are you? We're almost there."

"No, no, he didn't go into the school. The school gate was closed. He went into a small alley across the street and told me he was going home."

"At the entrance of Zhoupu Middle School?" Officer Zhou asked, then heard someone nearby exclaim, "That's right, that's right, that's right, he was a teacher at Zhoupu Middle School."

"It's not your fault, Master Yu. My father is like that. To outsiders, you can't tell that he has any problems. He can do everything perfectly normally. Only his family knows that he has a problem. His main issue is that his timeline is messed up. For example, he might say 'It's time to eat' when he has just finished eating, or he might say that something that happened years ago was yesterday or the day before. That's how it is."

The other person breathed a sigh of relief, and then, upon hearing the greeting, realized that he wasn't speaking to them, but rather to someone next to him holding a microphone:

"I borrowed it from the cleaning lady," Qiqi said.