Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 521 Reporting the Crime

Xu Xiaoyan's mind raced. This wasn't a normal "internal adjustment," it was an escape.

"Did you see the license plate of that truck?" she asked.

The barber shook his head: "I didn't notice. Do you need to see the boss?"

"I'm not looking for the boss, I'm looking for someone," Xu Xiaoyan said. "A girl, tall and thin, with slightly blonde hair tied in a ponytail, who works as a waitress in this shop. Have you seen her?"

This time, the barber didn't hesitate and nodded almost immediately: "I've met her, I've met her. That girl is quite nice."

Once, I was moving a shampoo bed at the door. The bed was very heavy and I couldn't move it by myself. She happened to be passing by and helped me without saying a word. She's a very kind girl.

"Did you see her yesterday?"

The barber thought about it again, this time for a longer time, and his expression changed from recollection to uncertainty: "Yesterday... I think I saw it yesterday."

"What about today? Did you see her?"

The hairdresser shook his head: "I didn't notice today. The shop was already closed when I came in this morning. That girl probably doesn't need to come to work anymore. If you want to find her, just go to her house, okay?"

"No one's home," Xu Xiaoyan said, "that's why I came looking for you."

She came out of the hair salon, stood on the street, and went to the noodle shop next door to ask.

The owner of the noodle shop was a plump woman in her forties, who was squatting at the door unpacking cardboard boxes. When she heard Xu Xiaoyan's question, she thought for a moment and said something similar to what a hairdresser would say.

A truck came to move things last night, so the store is closed today.

As for Lan Yue, the chubby lady remembered her, saying she was "a good girl, not very talkative, but always very polite whenever she passed by." But she wasn't sure if she had seen her yesterday or today, only remembering that "it seems like I haven't seen her in the last two days."

Xu Xiaoyan asked about several other shops next door: a breakfast stall, a general store, and a fish porridge shop.

The breakfast stall owner said he saw the shop open for business yesterday morning, but it closed at noon, and the roller shutter was pulled down in the afternoon.

The grocery store owner said he saw a truck last night.

The old man who ran the fish porridge stall said he didn't know anything. He closed his stall at five o'clock every afternoon without fail.

She thought of a possibility that even she found absurd: Could Lan Yue have been kidnapped?

Could they first spread false rumors about easing restrictions to confuse the public, and then take advantage of the chaos to kidnap people? It's a mass incident after all; isn't it normal for people to lose face?

No, it can't be as simple as just one person being lost; it must be several people who are lost!

During the day, the trading center is a place for trading goods, and at night, some areas still serve as administrative offices and public service centers.

When Xu Xiaoyan arrived, it was almost 7 p.m.

The door to the east hall of the trading center was still open. There weren't many people in the hall, only two staff members on duty sitting behind the counter, one looking down at his phone and the other yawning.

There was a row of empty plastic chairs in the corner, and a few pieces of waste paper on the ground that no one knew who had thrown them.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed open the door and went in. The woman who had been yawning looked up. She was a woman in her thirties with short hair, a round face, and wearing a dark blue uniform with the words "Comprehensive Services" written on her name tag.

When she saw Xu Xiaoyan approaching, she instinctively sat up straight, her face quickly switching to a standard businesslike expression.

"Hello, what service do you need?"

"I want to report this to the police," Xu Xiaoyan said. "I want to find someone."

The short-haired woman frowned slightly, but quickly regained her composure: "Looking for someone? How long have they been missing?"

"I couldn't contact her yesterday," Xu Xiaoyan said. "I have reason to suspect that something might have happened to her, or that she might have been taken away."

"What time yesterday?" The short-haired woman frowned even more. "Normally, a missing person report requires more than 24 hours of being out of contact."

"I know," Xu Xiaoyan interrupted her sharply, "Can you please let me finish?"

The short-haired woman glanced at her, then at her colleague who was looking down at her phone. After hesitating for a moment, she took out a form from under the counter and placed it on the table: "Tell me first, what's going on?"

Xu Xiaoyan took a deep breath, trying her best to make her narration clear, organized, and without too much emotion.

She spoke for about ten minutes, recounting every detail she could think of.

Lan Yue's appearance, height, hairstyle, where she lived, where she worked, what kind of shop her boss owned, and the things the barber next door and the supermarket owner said—she told them everything in detail.

The short-haired woman listened intently, her pen filling the form line after line, occasionally glancing up to ask, "What's her full name?" or "When was the last time you contacted her?"

Xu Xiaoyan answered them one by one.

"Regarding the situation you described," the short-haired woman put down her pen, looked up at Xu Xiaoyan, and said in a much more serious tone than before, "I suggest you come back tomorrow."

It's not that I don't want to process it for you, it's just that there aren't enough staff on duty today. In cases involving missing persons and merchants, approval from superiors is required, and it's not something I can handle alone.

"But she's already out of contact today," Xu Xiaoyan said. "Let's wait until tomorrow, just in case."

"I understand your concerns," the short-haired woman stood up and came out from behind the counter, lowering her voice slightly. "To be honest with you, I vaguely remember that shop you just mentioned."

What was the boss's last name again...? Zhou, right? There was a dispute before, he owed suppliers money and was complained about to us. We mediated once, but then it just fizzled out."

Xu Xiaoyan's heart sank.

"You mean, there's something wrong with that boss?"

"I didn't say that," the short-haired woman shook her head, her tone cautious. "I just said there was a dispute before. As for whether this is a normal closure or something else, we'll have to investigate to find out."

Leave your contact information, and I will report the situation first thing tomorrow morning and let you know when there is any news.

Xu Xiaoyan wrote her name, phone number, and address on the form. The short-haired woman put the form away, said, "Go back and wait for news," and then turned around and went back behind the counter to pick up her pen again.

Xu Xiaoyan stood in the hall for a while, lost in thought. She wanted to say something, but her lips moved as she realized that it would be pointless to say anything.

Before Xu Xiaoyan could turn around and walk out of the trading center, she heard hurried footsteps behind her.

"Hey! Girl! Wait a minute!" It was the short-haired woman's voice.

Xu Xiaoyan turned around and saw that the other person had stood up from behind the counter, holding the phone receiver in their hand, and their expression was completely different from before.

Her brows were furrowed, and her lips were slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin.

Xu Xiaoyan stopped in her tracks, her heart skipping a beat.

The short-haired woman waved to her, her movements so quick and abrupt that she nearly knocked the forms on the table to the ground: "Don't go yet."

"What's wrong?" Xu Xiaoyan walked back to the counter, her heart pounding. Had Lan Yue sent a message? Or had something happened?