Midnight Bookstore

The girl’s eyes were devoid of any spirit. She was an adorable and exquisitely beautiful little girl, but the feeling she gave people was that of a senseless corpse.

Zhou Ze was not a person who was full of love. Many times, he appeared to be selfish and mean. Even if he did good deeds occasionally, it all still depended on his mood at the time.

However, at this moment, Zhou Ze’s heart was still tugged. Humans would naturally have intimate and alluring fantasies about beautiful things. But for this girl, such fantasies were completely shattered.

“Where is your home?” Zhou Ze asked.

The girl was silent. She was not afraid, she was just numb as if she had accepted her fate.

Domestic violence wasn’t a rare thing in China. Most people had heard about it in their own lives whilst growing up. Many people had even experienced it.

Some countries in Europe and the United States have already established laws to protect children, but the sad truth is that domestic violence against children prevailed. From time to time, huge scandals would break out.

Moreover, in China, where domestic violence had always been a peace-loving issue, the Chinese people had always believed that family scandals should not be exposed. Most of the people’s silence, including the silence of the victims themselves, were part of the accomplice to a certain extent.

“What’s Wrong?” Zhang Yanfeng came, he felt that he didn’t do anything today. He just kept going in and out of the study room and then leaving. In just half a day, he had already returned three times.

There were a few local police officers around Zhang Yanfeng. A few small police officers did not put on airs in front of Old Zhang and let him walk in front.

“Oh right, I have brought the couple who cheated the donation back to the police station. Don’t worry, I won’t let them off easily. The sum of money they cheated was quite large. What happened this time?” Old Zhang pushed open the operating room door and walked in.

“Child abuse,” Zhou Ze said.

Old Zhang was stunned for a moment. He reached out and lifted the blanket covering the girl’s body. Upon seeing the tragic scene and the heinous act afflicted onto the girl’s body, even the seasoned criminal investigator, who was used to such scenes, could not bear to look at it.

“Which animal did this?” Old Zhang asked.

The eyes of the criminal investigator were very sharp. Looking at the clothes and shoes the girl was wearing, he deduced that the child couldn’t be abducted. It was very normal for abducted children to be abused. But the situation had gotten better over the years.

More than ten years ago, when Old Zhang had just become a criminal investigator, there were criminal gangs that abducted and trafficked children all over the country. Some broke their legs or gouged their eyes out and forced them to beg, whilst some forced the children to rob people.

“I don’t know. You can check it out. Also, the child fainted at the pedestrian walkway on South Street and was sent here by someone. You can pull up the surveillance footage to take a look.”

Zhou Ze took off his white coat and took a wet towel from Fangfang to wipe his forehead. As Zhou Ze walked out of the operating room, he saw a female police officer in her uniform sitting at the front desk of the pharmacy.

The female officer smiled at him, whilst Zhou Ze also returned with a smile and immediately turned around to look at Old Zhang. It was obvious that this female officer came with Old Zhang. Looking at the rank on the female officer’s shoulder, she wasn’t a small errand girl for Old Zhang. Old Zhang was more or less the small errand boy for her.

Could it be that Old Zhang had a second life?

She was quite good-looking, a girl could look good in a police uniform, which was equivalent to a man who was still handsome even if he shaved his head bald.

Although this woman might not be very young and was probably almost 30, she was peachy… ahem.

However, she was still not as good-looking as his Yingying, she was also not as good-looking as Director Lin. Hmm… the Doctor’s uniform felt better, and he was more familiar with the style of the hospital theme.

“Mr. Xu, are you comparing me with your female confidants?” Officer Chen asked directly.

Zhou Ze’s gaze froze, he believed that he had already restrained all of his emotions when he looked at her. It must be known that when men secretly sized up women, they would often pretend to be very serious.

For example, when men peek at a girl’s legs on the street, or when they pass by a hair salon, they would pretend to be righteous and quickly glance at her, not daring to stare too long.

Moreover, Zhou Ze was someone who had died once. If he was willing, he would have long been able to hide his emotions. But this policewoman was very authoritative.

At this moment, Old Zhang walked out and said to Zhou Ze, “I got her name and I asked someone to check it out. Later, I’ll send someone to her house to take a look.”

“Did you see the needles on the tray?” Zhou Ze asked.

“Needles? What Needles?”

“There were several needles on the girl’s arms. I just took them out. They were stabbed by someone.”

Old Zhang took a deep breath. “How about this? I’ll bring someone with me later.” Zhou Ze nodded.

At this moment, Fangfang walked to Zhou Ze’s side and took out a notice. She said, “Boss, this is an invitation from Tongcheng Art Academy. They hope that our clinic will send someone to stay with them for a week.”

“It seems to be military training for freshmen. They need to be equipped with some doctors.”

“You guys can go,” Zhou Ze said.

Fangfang shrugged. She thought her boss liked to go, so she deliberately asked. The Art Academy. Ah! It was obvious that there were many cheerful and lively girls present, there were also many handsome and adorable looking little dogs.

“This place is not for military training. They arranged a police training with our police station,” Zhang Yanfeng interjected, “In recent years, there has been an increasing number of incidents of university students being deceived and killed. Therefore, they specially arranged for US police officers to go for training, to practice fighting techniques, and to pass on some experiences. You can go with us.” Old Zhang invited Zhou Ze.

“Why?”

“I’m not worried about your medical skills.”

“We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

In this place, because there were outsiders around, it was not convenient for Old Zhang to call Zhou Ze boss. For a criminal investigations captain to call a bookstore owner “Boss” was quite shocking to the onlookers.

At this moment, Old Zhang’s cell phone rang, which he then answered. After answering a few times, he asked someone to send the things to his WeChat. Upon hanging up the phone, Old Zhang said directly, “I found the information about the child’s home. She lived in West City’s scenic garden. Her father is a well-known dentist.”

West City’s scenic garden was not far from South Street as it was within walking distance. It was considered a relatively expensive area in Tongcheng. Only the rich or noble was able to afford to live in such an area

“Let’s go together,” Old Zhang suggested.

“Let Mr. Xu come with us. Mr. Xu can be the informant,” Officer Chen said.

Zhou Ze hesitated for a moment but still agreed.

Old Zhang drove, and Zhou Ze sat in the front passenger seat, while Officer Chen sat in the back, followed by a local patrol car.

Child abuse could be looked at as a major or minor offense, but the key was still in the attitude and determination of our law enforcers.

Perhaps… this girl was lucky that… Zhang Yanfeng was the kind of good cop who did things with total contempt.

Zhou Ze, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, curled his lips at Old Zhang. He meant to ask… “what was the relationship between Officer Chen and you?”

Before Old Zhang could answer secretly, Officer Chen, who was sitting at the back interjected and said,

“Before he went on an undercover mission, he called me to confess his love. He said that if he came back alive after completing the mission, he would want me to be his girlfriend.”

“…” Old Zhang.

“…” Zhou Ze.

“Hehe, did you agree?” Zhou Ze asked.

“I refused,” Officer Chen replied, “Because I think this method is too melodramatic. It’s not like we’re filming a bitter police drama.”

“That’s right. Normally, a successful blue-collared protagonist would sacrifice the eve before the mission is completed.”

After teasing him, Zhou Ze fell silent, he suddenly felt that he had made a joke that was not as humorous as he initially thought, because that respectable police comrade of his, the real Wu Jingze, had indeed sacrificed the eve before the mission was completed.

Huh?… Old Zhang’s hand that was holding the steering wheel, trembled slightly as Zhou Ze reached out and lightly patted Old Zhang’s shoulder.

“Seize the opportunity.” Zhou Ze said.

Although Officer Chen had rejected Wu Jingze back then, this time, she was willing to take the initiative to meet him again and get into his car. This was another way of expressing herself.

Looking at his high police rank, she didn’t need to curry favor with a criminal investigations captain of a local city bureau.

Old Zhang smiled bitterly, his child already had a girlfriend, and he was also prepared to fight hard to resist the aging society and respond to the call of the country. Old Zhang was not a rash person when it came to matters between men and women.

But could he accept this “Kindness” as if it was nothing?

They had arrived at their destination. Since it was a high-end residential area, the security guards did not allow anyone to enter. The local patrol officers who followed behind went to show their identification badges to the security guards.

Zhou Ze and Old Zhang got out of their vehicle first to have a smoke, whilst leaving Officer Chen to wait in the car.

“Don’t look so glum. You’re no longer a bald old man who’s almost fifty years old. You’re only thirty years old now, and you’re in the prime of your life.”

Old Zhang rolled his eyes at Zhou Ze.

“The female police officer is not bad looking. She’s both capable and beautiful. To be honest, it’s a pity to miss her. You don’t have to feel guilty for the original owner of your body.”

The female police officer was smart and rational. She tried everything first. She could tell if he was the type that she liked, and she wouldn’t let her emotions get the best of her.

“If she likes you, it means that she likes you, Zhang Yanfeng, and not Wu Jingze.”

“Do you see women so accurately?”

“It’s okay.”

“Then I heard from the Old Priest that you were an old bachelor in your previous life?”

“…” Zhou Ze.

“I don’t plan to think about emotional matters. Of course, she is indeed a good woman. I can feel it.” Old Zhang exhaled a smoke ring, his expression somewhat sorrowful.

Zhou Ze reached out and hooked his arm around Old Zhang’s shoulder, “Old Zhang, there’s a problem. I feel that I need to discuss it with you. This problem once puzzled me.”

“What problem?”

“That is, you’ve changed your body now. Your DNA and fingerprints have all been changed.”