Chapter 64: She’ll Leave Him Out
Shao Le had no choice but to recount what had happened earlier when he went to the factory department.
The matter involving Lu Qiaoge, Liang Aishu, and Shen Yun was not a secret; it was just that fewer people had been talking about it these past few days.
Sister Hua criticized Shao Le: “Your approach had serious problems too. When Cai Xiaohe questioned your colleague in an unkind tone about whether it was Lu Qiaoge, you should have sternly stopped her. How could you let her continue interrogating?”
Shao Le was also very regretful.
But who would have thought Cai Xiaohe had such a foul mouth.
It was like she had something wrong with her brain—why meddle in those three people’s affairs?
The factory leaders had personally stepped in to dispel rumors and apologize to Master Lu, and here she was jumping around showing off.
In the end, it was naturally him who angrily stormed off. Since they hadn’t given him face, he wouldn’t give them face either.
He’d settle accounts with them when he got home in the evening.
Sister Qiao smoothed things over: “Little Shao didn’t know they would meddle, but I’ll just say one more thing here. Although we have a clear conscience, some people think too much. Qiao Ge, Little Shao, you two should try to act separately from now on.”
They were all young people, and jealousy was inevitable, especially since Qiao Ge was too eye-catching.
Lu Qiaoge let out a light sigh and said helplessly: “Sister Qiao is right. We should try to act separately, otherwise it’ll cause more trouble.”
Lu Qiaoge knew that Director Hu’s original intention in always having her and Shao Le handle tasks together was good. After all, she was a girl, and having a male comrade go with her on visits and errands was still more secure.
Lu Qiaoge actually didn’t take it to heart.
There was nothing inconvenient about going out on tasks with Shao Le; she didn’t care about those few flowers at all.
She just wanted Shao Le to know that if he made her unhappy, she wouldn’t take him along anymore.
Because she knew Shao Le was willing to work with her.
Hearing Lu Qiaoge say this, Shao Le was indeed very disappointed. Others might not sense it, but he knew Lu Qiaoge had very strong work ability and always had unique ideas.
He said dejectedly: “Then don’t be angry anymore. They won’t dare to cause you trouble in the future. I’ve already warned them.”
Lu Qiaoge nodded noncommittally and smiled as she changed the subject.
Just then, someone stumbled in from outside the courtyard—it was actually Sun Qin. She had gone to the public security office, but there was no one inside. Lu Qiaoge heard her asking Cadre Liu where he had gone.
Shao Le hurriedly went forward to greet her: “Comrade, Cadre Liu is out on business. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Sun Qin spotted Lu Qiaoge standing up at once. For some reason, her panicked heart settled a bit, but she still said with trembling lips: “My daughter Zhao Xiubo left the school after her second-period class ended and hasn’t come back yet. I went to the police station, but they said the conditions for filing a case weren’t met, so I had no choice but to come find Cadre Liu at the neighborhood committee.”
Shao Le had a watch. He checked the time and said: “It’s been an hour and a half since your daughter skipped class. Could she have gone somewhere to play?”
To be honest, no one in the general office took it seriously.
Kids in this era were free-range; plenty would run off to play all day and not come home until they were hungry.
Going to school was the same—no parents picking them up; they walked no matter how far.
Sister Qiao said: “You should look around more carefully. Maybe she went home. My daughter just started first grade. During an exam, when she didn’t have an eraser, the teacher turned around for a moment and my daughter took her test paper home to get one.”
Several people burst out laughing. Lu Qiaoge said to Sun Qin: “Sister Sun, don’t worry first. I’ll call the school office.”
Phones these days still had to be transferred around, but it was much more convenient than running over to notify them.
Meanwhile, Director Hu also called the work units of Master Liu and his wife, telling them both to come to the neighborhood committee right away.
The two reluctantly agreed, but they also knew Old Hu was right—going to the neighborhood committee was much better than being questioned at the police station.
Especially since Military Representative Qin Hengzhi had already helped apply to retrieve the registration records from that year.
How could they dare not come!
At this moment, Qin Hengzhi was looking at the tea mug placed in front of him—this was the tea Lu Qiaoge had poured for him.
Director Hu didn’t have the exact date of Liu Xia’s adoption, but he knew the year and month.
What Qin Hengzhi had retrieved was the registration information from September that year.
Actually, he didn’t really need to come in person.
With a quick thought, Qin Hengzhi stood up calmly. Since the door was open, Qin Hengzhi heard an anxious voice from the general office.
Director Hu heard it too. He said to Qin Hengzhi: “Representative Qin, sit tight first. I’ll go see what’s up.”
But Qin Hengzhi frowned and said: “I think I heard someone saying their child is missing.”
The military compound was different from other places. Petty theft couldn’t be ruled out, but for kids going missing, unless they ran out themselves, no family in the military compound had ever lost a child.
Those human traffickers generally didn’t dare come into the military compound.
When they got to the general office, they learned that Sun Qin’s child hadn’t come back after class, and her classmates didn’t know where she had gone.
The teacher got anxious and called the research institute to ask Sun Qin if she had come home.
Lu Qiaoge, who had just hung up the phone, said to Sun Qin: “Sister Sun, don’t worry. She might really have run off to play somewhere. Come on, I’ll go with you to check.”
But deep down, Lu Qiaoge still had a slightly ominous feeling.
The children’s school said Zhao Xiubo hadn’t returned yet, but her schoolbag was still at the school.
Sun Qin hesitated to speak.
Lu Qiaoge glanced at her, then said to Director Hu: “I’ll go to the children’s school.”
Old Hu naturally nodded, then pointed at Shao Le: “You’re from the public security office—why aren’t you hurrying to follow?”
Shao Le immediately agreed happily and was about to go with them.
Lu Qiaoge gave Shao Le a faint glance but said nothing.
Shao Le couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Qin Hengzhi came out of the director’s office. He said: “Director Hu, I’ll drive them to the school.”
That was great.
Qin Hengzhi added: “I’ll borrow the telephone for a moment.”
He called the military representative office’s secretary Xiao Su and had him come to the neighborhood committee.
Qin Hengzhi handed a notebook to Director Hu: “This is the original record of entries and exits to the family courtyard from September.”
It couldn’t be said that the family courtyard was airtight with no unregistered outsiders.
If someone from inside led them, they could come in.
Director Hu hurriedly took the notebook, secretly wondering if Qin Hengzhi’s actions had anything to do with Lu Qiaoge.
But that wasn’t easy to figure out either.
By the time Qin Hengzhi drove to the children’s school, the principal and homeroom teacher were waiting at the main door.
Zhao Xiubo was in second grade—all kids around eight or nine. They asked them one by one, and almost none remembered.
Only a little boy seemed to suddenly recall and said: “She walked toward the main door.”
When asked what happened next, the little boy didn’t know.
Qin Hengzhi walked around once and stood at the main door.
The guard room was empty; the two newly hired school workers hadn’t started yet. The military factory children’s school had only opened last year.
Qin Hengzhi looked to the left and right, then walked straight toward the right side of the school main door. This was a sandy road lined with willow trees on both sides.
At the end of this road was the military factory staff hospital.
Lu Qiaoge, however, looked up at the grey pigeon perched on the eaves.
She asked the grey pigeon in her mind: “Grey pigeon, how long have you been on the eaves? Did you see a little girl walk out of the school gate?”
I’ve received so many recommendation votes today. The monthly passes are a bit few, but I’m still very happy. Even though you all don’t make a sound, I know you’re all following along. Thanks to all the reader babies—know that all of this is the motivation for me to keep writing. Love you all!
