My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

The little boy licked the ice cream stains from his lips and said haltingly, "Because...because you...have a scent...like Dad's."

"I thought...you were my father...that's why I followed you."

Zhang Ying was a little confused.

He looks a lot like the little boy's father.

No, the little boy used "aura," not "appearance." What is aura? Body odor? Demeanor?

"Haven't you ever seen your father?" Zhang Ying asked again.

The little boy shook his head.

"My father never came back when I was in elementary school." His voice lowered, and he placed his hands on the table, his fingers twisting together. "I've lived with my mother ever since."

Zhang Ying tapped his fingers lightly twice on the side of the coffee cup.

"Then why do you feel that I have the same aura as your father?"

The little boy thought for a moment, then frowned.

"You have a... peculiar smell." He used a rather vague word to describe it uncertainly, "It smells awful, very unpleasant. But it's also like... like ice, cool and refreshing."

Zhang Ying frowned slightly.

He didn't have any particular odor, at least he couldn't smell it himself.

The little boy wasn't talking about the smell.

It is yin energy.

This child can sense yin energy.

He also said that his father had the same aura, which means one thing.

Could it be that this child's father is also a demon tamer?

The thought flashed through Zhang Ying's mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

He did not ask any further questions about the little boy's father.

The more questions you ask, the more trouble you'll cause.

Who the child's parents are, where they went, and what their relationship is with the supernatural are none of his business.

He felt that if he continued to ask, he might get into more trouble.

"Do you know the way home?" Zhang Ying asked a different question.

The little boy shook his head.

Zhang Ying sighed and finished the rest of his coffee in one gulp.

……

Zhang Ying took the little boy to the nearest police station.

The police station was small, with two officers on duty inside.

When Zhang Ying led the little boy inside, one of the police officers looked up at him, while the other was still writing something with his head down.

After explaining the situation, the police entered the boy's information into the system and began contacting his family.

The wait wasn't long, about twenty minutes.

The little boy's family arrived at the police station. A bearded middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman with dyed red hair entered.

The middle-aged man wore a faded jacket, and his leather shoes were covered in dried mud. He hadn't shaved for at least three days, and his face was etched with fatigue, but his eyes revealed an urgent concern.

The red-haired woman walked behind the middle-aged man, wearing a black wool coat and heavy makeup, with her lipstick applied thickly. As soon as she entered the police station, she quickly walked to the little boy's side, squatted down, and looked him up and down, muttering things like, "Why did you run away?"

Zhang Ying stood aside, watching this scene, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.

The little boy had previously said that his father had never come back when he was in elementary school, and he had been living with his mother ever since.

Who is this bearded man? And who is the red-haired woman next to him?

The middle-aged man held Zhang Ying's hand; his hands were calloused and his grip was strong. He shook it vigorously twice, repeatedly expressing his gratitude.

"Thank you so much, young man. Thank you so much!"

Zhang Ying withdrew his hand and said, "It's nothing, I just did what I was supposed to do."

He paused, looked at the middle-aged man's face, and asked, "What is your relationship with the little boy?"

"I'm his uncle," the man said, pointing to the red-haired woman beside him. "This is my wife, his aunt."

Zhang Ying's brow twitched slightly.

"Where are his parents?"

The middle-aged man's expression darkened for a moment, and he sighed.

"This child lost his parents at a young age and has been living with us ever since."

Zhang Ying's eyes widened.

He remembered the little boy saying that he grew up with his mother. Why did his uncle say the little boy lost his parents at a young age?

There is a clear contradiction between the two statements.

Either the little boy is lying, or the man in front of him is lying.

Zhang Ying's gaze swept back and forth among the group. The little boy sat on a chair, his legs dangling in mid-air, the tear tracks on his face already dried.

The red-haired woman stood next to him, one hand on his shoulder, talking to the police officer.

The police officer's expression remained calm, showing no sign of anything amiss. After the boy's uncle and aunt presented their identification and explained their identities, the officer nodded, indicating that everything was correct.

Zhang Ying felt something was amiss, but both the police and the little boy said that the two people were indeed the little boy's family.

As an outsider, he had neither the standing nor the reason to continue asking questions.

sunset.

The sunlight outside the police station had turned orange-red, casting a slanting glow on the steps. The little boy's uncle and aunt held his hands, preparing to leave.

The little boy, holding his uncle's hand, walked a few steps, then suddenly turned around and waved to Zhang Ying.

"goodbye."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly in the evening air.

Zhang Ying stood on the steps of the police station and waved to the little boy.

"goodbye."

The little boy turned around and followed his uncle and aunt into the light of the setting sun.

His shadow was stretched long, and the three figures gradually shrank in the orange-red light.

Zhang Ying watched the little boy walk away, and suddenly his vision blurred.

He saw a woman's silhouette following behind the little boy.

The shadow was very faint, so faint that it almost blended into the light of the setting sun.

It followed behind the little boy, about half a meter away, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

The woman's outline was blurry; her face and clothes were indistinct, and only the vague shape of an adult woman could be discerned.

But then, the woman's illusory figure disappeared again.

It was as if a gust of wind had blown by, scattering that faint shadow.

Zhang Ying rubbed his eyes.

His eyesight was already poor, so what he saw just now could have been a hallucination caused by optic nerve damage, or it could have been that he actually saw something.

He swallowed hard.

Although he had already come up with a possibility in his mind, the current situation told him that no matter what the phantom was, the little boy had been taken away by his uncle and aunt.

If that really is something, then it's a matter within a family.

It's best not to meddle in other people's family affairs.

Zhang Ying looked away, took out his phone from his pocket, and sent a message to Shen Yugang.

Where are you? I'm coming to find you.