I put you in charge of the child, and you raised a monster!

After a morning had passed.

in the afternoon.

The atmosphere in the police station lobby remained somber.

No one spoke.

Even Chen Doudou, who usually loves to chatter, obediently leaned against Lin Jia, her little hands clutching the hem of her clothes, her face full of unease.

He Chuan looked at the camera, unsure how to continue the program.

Today's original plan was to experience the follow-up activities of the parent-child variety show.

But now.

Who can still laugh now?

Zhao Lei sat in a chair, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand, but couldn't open it for a long time.

Bai Sisi lowered her head, her eyes still red.

Yang Mi held Shen Ling'er in his arms and gently patted her back.

Shen Ling'er was also very quiet.

She was unusually quiet.

After a long while, Zhao Lei asked in a low voice, "Captain Qin, are we really completely without any leads now?"

Qin Zheng stood to the side, his eyes bloodshot.

He barely slept a wink last night.

I spent the whole morning looking for clues again.

He is now completely exhausted.

Hearing this, he remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"It's not that there's none at all."

Everyone looked up.

Qin Zheng continued, "Those two human traffickers are still under investigation, but they were indeed just intermediaries back then."

"They were responsible for taking the children from the train station and then delivering them to the next rendezvous point."

"They can't say for sure who the contact person was or what name they used."

Zhao Lei frowned: "How could they not explain it? They committed the bad things themselves, how could they forget?"

Qin Zheng's voice was cold.

"They've done far too many bad things."

These words caused a lump to form in everyone's throat.

Qin Zheng continued, "Fifteen years ago, there was limited surveillance coverage and a large flow of people at the station."

"At that time, many people used fake identities, cash transactions, and temporary vehicles."

"They changed cars and clothes along the way, and even deliberately took the children on a detour."

"We are searching for all the old documents we can find."

"But too much time has passed, and many clues have been lost."

He Chuan's throat tightened: "What about Xiao Bao..."

Qin Zheng looked towards the interrogation area.

"Still looking."

These three words carry great weight.

Also very powerless.

In the live stream, the comments slowly drifted by.

"Fifteen years is really a long time."

"My child was lost when he was five years old, and he's twenty now."

"You probably wouldn't recognize me from childhood photos, would you?"

"Yes, kids change so much as they grow up."

"Even if Xiaobao stood in front of Grandma Liu right now, she might not recognize him..."

"Don't say anymore, my heart aches so much."

Yang Mi looked down at Shen Ling'er.

Shen Ling'er nestled in her arms, her face buried in her chest, making it impossible to see her expression.

Yang Mi asked softly, "Ling'er, are you tired? Should we go back first?"

Shen Ling'er didn't move.

After a few seconds, she said in a muffled voice, "Mother."

"Um?"

"Has my dad not replied to my message yet?"

Yang Mi felt a pang of sadness.

She took out her phone and glanced at it.

No.

There is still no news.

Shen Fei seemed to have completely disappeared from the world's communication channels.

no phone.

No text message.

No location information provided.

There was nothing there.

Yang Mi lowered his eyes and said softly, "Not yet."

Shen Ling'er slowly clenched her small hands.

Zhao Lei heard this and couldn't help but look over.

He wanted to say something to ease the tension, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say anything.

In the end, he could only say dryly, "Ling'er, your father might... he might really be busy."

Shen Ling'er looked up at him.

Zhao Lei immediately added, "I'm not just talking nonsense. I think someone like your dad must be busy with something important."

Shen Ling'er stared at him for two seconds.

Then he nodded.

"Um."

Zhao Lei breathed a sigh of relief.

The next second, Shen Ling'er said, "You finally said something that wasn't a waste of my ears."

Zhao Lei: "..."

In the otherwise somber hall, someone suddenly couldn't help but chuckle.

Bai Sisi also stopped crying and started laughing.

He Chuan rubbed his forehead and said in a low voice, "Ling'er's mouth is really good at saving the day."

The comments section finally showed a hint of amusement.

"Zhao Lei received Ling'er's certification today: Not a waste of ears."

"Haha, she really knows how to pull people out of sadness."

"Sharp-tongued, but a lifesaver."

"Shen Fei's language style is definitely inherited, no, it's learned from a teacher."

Shen Ling'er did not continue her banter.

She looked down at her small bag.

Inside was the sketching pencil that Teacher Luo had given me.

She reached out and took out the pencil.

Yang Mi was taken aback: "Ling'er?"

Shen Ling'er looked at the pencil and didn't say anything.

She slowly got down from Yang Mi's arms and walked to the table next to her.

There was still a stack of sketching papers left by Teacher Luo yesterday on the table.

Shen Ling'er stood on tiptoe and reached out to draw a card.

Qin Zheng's eyes flickered slightly when he saw her movements.

"Ling'er, what do you want to draw?"

Shen Ling'er did not answer immediately.

She simply laid the paper flat and pressed down on the corners with her little hands.

Then he looked up at Qin Zheng.

"uncle."

Qin Zheng took a step closer: "Hmm?"

Shen Ling'er asked, "Where are Xiao Bao's photos?"

Qin Zheng was taken aback.

The female police officer next to her immediately went to find the file folder.

Soon, she brought over a photocopy.

That's a scanned version of the old photo that Grandma Liu took out yesterday.

The photo is indeed very old.

The image quality is blurry.

Xiao Bao is about five years old. He is wearing overalls, has a round face, big eyes, and a small scar near his left eyebrow.

However, due to its age and the fact that the original photo has been repeatedly handled, many details are no longer clear.

The policewoman said softly, "Aunt Liu kept the original document, and we didn't dare to force her to give it to us. We only scanned this one."

Qin Zheng added, "The archives also contain the transcripts from that year."

"Height, weight, eyebrow scar, missing teeth, clothing worn at the time, and the mother's description of the child."

Shen Ling'er looked down at the photo.

Looked for a long time.

Zhao Lei couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Ling'er, you wouldn't be thinking of...?"

Shen Ling'er looked up.

"Draw Xiaobao."

The hall fell silent instantly.

He Chuan was stunned: "The painting... of Xiao Bao now?"

Shen Ling'er nodded.

"Um."

Teacher Luo had just arrived from the technical team when he heard this and stopped abruptly.

He hadn't slept well last night, and his eyes were bloodshot.

But at that moment, he suddenly perked up.

"You want to perform an age projection?"

Shen Ling'er looked at him: "What do you mean by age projection?"

Teacher Luo was taken aback.

Shen Ling'er thought for a moment, then said, "Oh, that's what you call them."

Teacher Luo: "..."

He suddenly didn't know whether he should continue explaining.

Qin Zheng's expression turned serious.

"Ling'er, this is difficult."

Shen Ling'er nodded.

"I know."

Teacher Luo walked to the table, her voice even softer than before.

"Little friend, you drew the human trafficker based on Aunt Liu's memory yesterday, that was already very impressive."

"But this time is different."

"Human traffickers are adults, and their bone structure won't change much after fifteen years."

"But Xiaobao was only five years old back then."

"As children grow into adults, their facial proportions undergo tremendous changes."

"Baby fat will disappear, the jawline will lengthen, the bridge of the nose will become higher, and the brow bone will be set."

"Teeth, height, physique, and living environment all affect the final appearance."

He paused, looking at the blurry old photograph.

"Moreover, all we have is this one unclear photograph and the written records from that time."

"Even a slight mistake can completely change the appearance of the person in the drawing."

Zhao Lei became nervous upon hearing this.

"Is this more difficult than yesterday?"

Teacher Luo gave a wry smile.

"Much taller."

He thought for a moment, then added another sentence.

"This isn't a matter of whether or not one can draw."

"This is about pushing out the entire fifteen years of a child's growth."

Bai Sisi said softly, "How do we push this...?"

Lin Jia couldn't help but hug Chen Doudou tightly.

The barrage of comments suddenly became dense.

"Holy crap, Ling'er's going to draw Xiao Bao as an adult?"

"That's too difficult! Many children change completely as they grow up!"

"My childhood photos look nothing like my current appearance."

"Adult profiling is already outrageous enough, now they're even going to do child development projections?"

"Is this difficult even for professional portrait artists?"

"Teacher Luo's expression changed; it seems this is really difficult."

"Shen Ling'er is only five years old, can she really draw?"

Yang Mi walked to Shen Ling'er's side and squatted down.

"Ling'er".

Shen Ling'er turned to look at her.

Yang Mi said softly, "If it's too difficult, you don't have to draw it."

"You've already helped a lot."

Shen Ling'er looked at her.

After a few seconds, she whispered, "But Grandma is still waiting."

Yang Mi choked up.

Shen Ling'er looked down at the photo again.

"Five-year-old Xiaobao is not coming back."

"We need to find the current Xiaobao."

This sentence was spoken very softly.

But it struck a chord with everyone.