Chew Slowly Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The stifling feeling in Chen Zongqian’s heart was hard to alleviate, and since he couldn’t smoke, he settled for unwrapping a mint to comfort himself. He watched the time; the day would be over in a few minutes. He opened tomorrow’s schedule, planning several items until the candy in his mouth completely dissolved, finally arranging his time clearly and logically.

He had found the information he needed. Chen Zongqian was about to leave with the documents, but before entering the room, he heard Kang Heying chatting idly with the young Police Officer he was mentoring.

Kang Heying was sitting improperly, legs crossed, sorting through reports. “Why didn’t I become a lawyer? Because I’m not suited for that line of work.”

He and Chen Zongqian studied the same major at the same university. When Chen Zongqian asked for his help, he always addressed him as “Senior.” But everyone has their own fate. That major wasn’t quite suitable for someone like Kang Heying, so after passing the bar exam, he tested into the Beiguan Town Police Station as a minor clerk.

“In that profession, having ability isn’t enough; you need connections and reputation to get good cases, otherwise, there’s no income. My circumstances were too far behind his. To get ahead, I’d have to struggle for years, and I didn’t have the time. I needed a stable salary immediately to pay off debts for my family.”

“Things like education and resources aren’t visible on the surface, but people take one look at him and know he’s not simple. It’s because of his imposing presence—the suit, the car, the watch—everything else is just gilding. If a person is young, capable, and has a brilliant resume, would you entrust a case that affects the entire fate of your company to him, or just anyone? Of course, more money means more work. Haven’t you noticed he still hasn’t been able to go home and sleep?” Kang Heying showed no jealousy, only a hint of veiled sarcasm.

The young Police Officer was handed a thought report to write, his face full of worry. “But Master, we haven’t been able to go home and sleep either, and our salary is just this much.”

Kang Heying laughed in exasperation, wanting to smack his head. “Can’t you show some awareness?”

Chen Zongqian entered to collect the documents. The records of Lu Xiaoyun and Xu Jian’s cross-city travel over nearly fifteen years had been printed out and thoughtfully bound together. He said thank you, and the young Police Officer blushed slightly, looking quite flattered.

This irritated Kang Heying, who scolded him again, “Can’t you show some ambition?”

Whose fault was that? It was Chen Zongqian’s fault for being so handsome and refined. Chen Zongqian smiled and politely said to Kang Heying, “Goodbye, Senior.”

Kang Heying stopped his furious writing, his tone melancholy. “Oh, I thought you were going to treat your Senior to some barbecue.”

Today was truly inconvenient. Kang Heying was on a 24-hour night shift, and Chen Zongqian had to rush around for the case. The barbecue was relegated to a promise of “another day.” After Chen Zongqian left, Kang Heying leaned back in his chair, acting out a dramatic sigh. “Everyone’s busy. Being busy is good.”

Halfway through writing the thought report, the young officer still couldn’t figure something out. He looked up from the computer and asked Kang Heying, “Since he’s such a formidable lawyer, how can Xu Jian afford him? He didn’t take out another loan, did he?”

Kang Heying was annoyed by the documents in front of him. He opened his cigarette box only to find a single stick left. He idly rubbed his fingers, eventually tucking the box back into his chest pocket. The image of a gambler floated into his mind, and Kang Heying couldn’t shake it off.

“That’s right! He specializes in civil and commercial law… even if he started with criminal defense, this has nothing to do with Xu Jian.” Only after being reminded did Kang Heying realize why something felt wrong. The strangeness lay in why Chen Zongqian would possibly accept Xu Jian’s commission.

Kang Heying heard the young man exclaim excitedly, “Criminal defense! No wonder he’s so familiar with us. Criminal defense and civil/commercial law are so far apart. Why did he switch? Is it more profitable?”

“It’s not about money,” Kang Heying said, shaking his head as he recalled past events. “It’s because he’s actually a coward.”

In the following days, Chen Zongqian rushed around constantly, visiting Guantang Village several times just to investigate an old matter.

It was still the Xu family’s old house. Chen Zongqian asked the neighbors. The elderly people remaining in the village didn’t have a deep impression of the child’s disappearance back then. Only after prompting did they recall Xu Qiaochuan running off to play, causing the adults great worry.

After Xu Qiaochuan was found, he was watched very closely. Granny insisted that the young boy was simply naughty, and once confined at home, he stopped running around.

Chen Zongqian felt something was wrong. Neither the mother nor the son had mentioned a disappearance, and according to their account, Xu Qiaochuan should have been seriously ill at that time.

Granny couldn’t recall the details of the disappearance, nor whether Xu Qiaochuan had actually been sick. “Maybe he was sick. He became thin and small, and his face was pale…”

Memories were hazy. After all, Lu Xiaoyun had moved out with the boy a long time ago. The only thing about Xu Jian’s family that served as gossip fodder was that Xu Jian had caused the deaths of his blind and miserable parents. He was a gambler who kept gambling even after his wife left, his family scattered, and his home was ruined.

The Xu family elders had long passed away, and Xu Jian lived in town and didn’t return, leaving the old house empty. Chen Zongqian looked through the iron gate of the outer courtyard. The old house still clearly bore traces of Xu Qiaochuan’s life. There were charcoal marks on the door frame, likely used to measure his height as he grew older.

Leaving Guantang Village, Chen Zongqian located Lu Xiaoyun’s maternal home. Her parents were still alive, and her two older brothers still lived together. One was a butcher from the slaughterhouse, and the other was a bricklayer. Chen Zongqian learned from the villagers that the “pork seller” had good business every day, while the bricklayer was busy sometimes and idle others, mostly staying home.

When he arrived at the Lu family home, he indeed only saw the bricklayer who was currently at leisure. But this time, Chen Zongqian hit a wall. The man became impatient when he mentioned Lu Xiaoyun and quickly chased him away after only a few words.

Just as Lawyer Yao had said, Lu Xiaoyun had a terrible relationship with her family. She hadn’t returned home for many years, nor had she sent money home for many years. Perhaps this could no longer be considered her home.

When did Lu Xiaoyun break ties with her family? Could Xu Qiaochuan really have run all the way from Guantang Village to here alone? It took Chen Zongqian a long drive to get there. These questions remained unanswered.

Even though the facial features were similar, even though the child in the photo looked almost identical to Xiao Ran, even sharing the minor ailment of being unable to drink milk, Chen Zongqian did not rashly assume he was Xiao Ran.

But because of these similarities, he genuinely cared about Xu Qiaochuan. The more he cared, the more he felt a natural familiarity and closeness with him. Rationality told Chen Zongqian not to trust intuition, but to trust evidence. Were all the subsequent occurrences just coincidences?

He would never forget the year and date Xiao Ran went missing, and he had always been haunted by it. The closing date for Xu Qiaochuan’s disappearance case happened to be exactly one week after Xiao Ran went missing.

Was the child Lu Xiaoyun brought back that year truly hers? Chen Zongqian’s head ached from thinking. He had been busy and rushing around these past few days, with pitifully little rest, yet he didn’t feel tired. He leaned on the steering wheel and opened his phone. The screensaver was still a photo of Xiao Ran. The child was smiling happily at age five. What about after age five?

“Is it you?” Chen Zongqian whispered, receiving no response.

The answer was clearly not hidden deeply, yet he insisted on choosing the most difficult, most complicated solution.

Fifteen years filled with regret had passed. Growing up to this point, Chen Zongqian realized he couldn’t accept an unsatisfactory outcome. He was afraid that Xiao Ran truly lived as Xu Qiaochuan, and he was also afraid that he hadn’t found Xiao Ran at all.

Afraid of this and afraid of that, hesitant and indecisive—he was still just a coward, after all. He hadn’t made any progress in all these years.