The male supporting character was actually myself.

Everyone in the village, even the cats and dogs, knows about it. Go ask them if you don't believe me!

After eavesdropping, the little white cat ran back and relayed the whole story.

“This source of information is indeed quite convenient. Go check their family and see if there is any concrete evidence.” Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair, pondering how to help the protagonist solve the case.

The little white cat hopped out as instructed, while Ye Xingluo continued to consult with the other animals.

"The missing baby was bought, that's been confirmed." He frowned slightly and walked with a cat-like gait atop the wall, carefully examining the small but very clean courtyard.

Beneath a large pear tree in full bloom with white flowers, there is a wooden rocking bed.

This should be the primary crime scene.

"Could someone have been eyeing the child all along?" Ye Xinglu looked out from the wall. Old Hu's house was located by a wide road. The neighbor on the left was a lonely old man in his seventies; the door of the neighbor on the right was locked. According to the stray cats, they bought a house in the city and only came back once every two or three months.

Across the road lies an endless expanse of wheat fields, with rows of shady, winding paths crisscrossing the fields, making it easy to spot someone walking through them.

There was the sound of a young woman crying inside the house.

"Stop crying, you son of a bitch!" a man yelled, smashing something with a clatter. "You can't even take care of a child properly, all you do is cry, cry, cry! What's the use of crying!"

You jinx! It's all your fault, and you still have the nerve to cry!

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Hard Work of Cooperating in the Performance

"Ha!" Ye Xinglu snorted coldly. How much affection could a child bought with money possibly have?

So, Xiao Hu is just worried about the money spent on buying the child.

"Stop arguing! So many people outside are helping to find the child, and the police said they are investigating, right? Can't you all just calm down?" The voice sounded like that of a confident rural woman.

She was clearly trying to suppress her loud voice, and she even glanced out the window while speaking.

The young woman was still sobbing with her head down;

The man sat impatiently at the doorway, smoking.

The mother-in-law walked into the kitchen with a long face, grumbling about her daughter-in-law as she tidied up and prepared to cook.

"Host, I found some information on their phones!" The little white cat quickly jumped back into the car and reminded him, "I've already forwarded it to your phone."

Jiang Chen opened her phone and saw a short video, which was dated four months ago.

A young woman is trying on a slightly revealing light blue camisole nightgown. The photographer is clearly her husband, Xiao Hu, who is jokingly saying, "It fits quite well. Go wash it and wear it tonight!"

The young couple were joking around when the mother-in-law, speaking in a low voice, said with displeasure, "What are you two doing? Aren't you afraid of being seen in broad daylight? Quickly tie your belly up!"

"Oh, the curtains are drawn and the front door is locked, what are you afraid of?"

"Wearing a fake belly all day long, your back and waist ache, just take a break."

"How dare you say that! If you weren't infertile and unwilling to move, would you have resorted to such a method?"

The video then started shaking and stopped.

"Host, I found this in Xiao Hu's encrypted files. Aren't I amazing?" The little white cat smiled and waited for praise.

Jiang Chenruarua praised with its fluffy little head, "Well done! You'll get an extra treat tonight!"

This video definitively confirms that the baby lost by Mr. and Mrs. Hu was not her own, but rather someone they adopted.

Since they went to great lengths and planned to fake a pregnancy, it means they had already secured a source of the baby beforehand.

Otherwise, if the baby's birth month doesn't match the due date, wouldn't it be easy to expose the deception?

The next screenshot shows that Xiao Hu's messaging app page has clearly deleted a large portion of the chat history, leaving only two brief messages.

【Li & Shang: How much longer do we have to wait?】

[Loyalty for the Rest of My Life: Just be patient, it'll be quick!]

The conversation took place at seven o'clock in the morning, and the two seemingly random sentences at this juncture are quite intriguing.

The little white cat is quite meticulous; it even took a screenshot of the "Leaving & Sorrow" information page.

The person listed their age as 21 in their personal profile, but their address was in Algeria, a foreign country, clearly because they thought it made them look more sophisticated.

The only valuable thing is the software contact code; you can try adding the other party's number.

"This matter doesn't seem to be so simple." Ye Xinglu returned to the car with a worried look on her face, completely unsure of where to begin.

Through his visits, he learned that the missing child had been bought; and that on the day of the incident, Xiao Hu went to work in the county town; his mother-in-law went to the market, and only Xiao Hu's wife, Fangfang, was at home taking care of the child and washing clothes.

There were no witnesses, not even cats or dogs.

One sparrow said that yesterday afternoon it was preening its feathers on a tree by the field when it thought it saw a white car stop not far away.

It doesn't remember if anyone stole the child, nor can it tell what kind of car it is.

Under the patient questioning of a group of stray cats, the sparrow pointed at the white van and then at a white electric car, chattering for a long time without providing any more valuable clues.

Baby trafficking should be a breakthrough point.

But Ye Xinglu was worried; how could she possibly get the information to the police?

"Missing me so soon?" Jiang Chen answered his girlfriend's call, teased her for a couple of minutes, and then steered the conversation back to revealing information to the main character, "I'm here."

It was almost noon, and the volunteers had been running around without even having a sip of water.

The police are also working hard to investigate.

However, I felt that this family was a bit strange. While everyone else was helping to find the child, the child's grandmother was calmly cooking!

Xiao Hu sat on the doorstep, smoking and looking at his phone.

Only his wife was crying so hard she was almost in a daze. It seemed like it was all the woman's family members who were urgently sending messages to find the child. The man's side... did nothing but complain about his wife.

I just overheard someone saying that if the child isn't found, the woman will be left with nothing.

It's pitiful to lose a child, but this family is truly disgusting.

There's no one to help when I'm doing laundry with the kids;

She lost her child and received no comfort; instead, she was kicked out.

what?

Someone online has alleged that the woman is having an extramarital affair?

That can't be!

Send me the exposé.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Chen read the link his girlfriend sent him, rubbed his temples, and muttered his deductions based on the clues he had gathered.

"If what's said online is true, the woman's extramarital affair and the abortion of the child were all orchestrated by her."

The only possibility is that the child is not Xiao Hu's.

Fearing that Xiao Hu's family would find out, they conspired with their lover to steal the child.

But in that case, she wouldn't be foolish enough to put herself in the spotlight.

Instead, she should take advantage of the time when her mother-in-law is taking care of the child, plan and direct a scene so that her lover can take the child away;

If Fangfang didn't have an extramarital affair, then this smear campaign against her becomes quite interesting.

They spoke so convincingly and logically that they must know someone there!

What is the purpose of throwing this bucket of dirty water?

Upon hearing his analysis, Ye Xingluo meowed, "No, no, it's definitely not Fangfang having an affair."

She wasn't pregnant at all!

Where did this lover and illegitimate child come from?

"Tangyuan, did you hear what those stray cats were saying?" Jiang Chen asked, feigning interest. "Do you think what they're saying online about extramarital affairs is true?"

"System, if Ji Jiangchen asks this question, would my nodding or shaking my head constitute a leak?"

[This does not fall under the category of collaborating with others to solve cases; it can also be considered completing the main storyline.]

After receiving a definite reply, Ye Xingluo boldly shook her head to indicate her denial.

"You mean, Xiao Hu's wife, Li Fangfang, didn't have an affair, so the loss of the child wasn't her fault?"

Ye Xinglu nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Those who spread rumors online about a mother who lost her child and felt sorry for her are despicable!"

He quickly pressed Ji Jiangchen's hand down with his paw, shaking his head and meowing, "That's not her child, it was bought!"

Remembering that Ji Jiangchen couldn't understand cat language, Ye Xingluo was anxious and paced around in circles. She then jumped onto the back seat, hugged the toy plush toy to her chest, licked it, and then picked it up and put it in his hand.

After completing a series of actions, Ye Xingluo looked at him expectantly.

The little white cat couldn't help but rub its forehead with its fluffy paws, "My host has had a hard time cooperating with the protagonist's low-skill acting."

Jiang Chen guessed, "Your baby, for me?"

Ye Xinglu was in a hurry, but she didn't know how to describe such a complicated process. After thinking for a moment, she patted Ji Jiangchen's belly, waved her paws, and finally picked up the doll.

"I don't have a baby, can you give me one?" He feigned sudden realization and lowered his voice, "You mean Li Fangfang doesn't have a baby, and that infant was adopted?"

clever!

Ye Xinglu nodded, really wanting to give him a thumbs up!

"You can't just say things like that without evidence." Jiang Chen glanced at the Hu family's courtyard. Xiao Hu had put down his phone and gone inside to whisper something to his wife. There was no one in the courtyard.

He said softly, "We need evidence to provide to the police. Could you go and get his phone to take a look?"

Chapter Twenty-Six: Apprehending Criminal Suspects

The big black cat was agile; it darted out of the car window and came back with Hu Xiaojun's phone in its mouth a dozen seconds later.

Jiang Chen pretended to look through it for a moment, then handed it to him, indicating that he should put it back before the other person noticed.

"Sending you a heart!" The little white cat winked at its host. "You're such a dedicated host! The protagonist's acting is so terrible, but you still cooperated so well!"

"Well, I guess I'm the best supporting actor," Jiang Chen said self-deprecatingly. "Little Bai, if you have any conscience, remember to come back to me as your host after you change jobs, so I can also experience the thrill of being the protagonist!"

Little White blinked its big, deep blue eyes and solemnly said, "Don't worry, Host, I will definitely find you in the future!"