Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 953: Charles

The woman before him was clad as if she were an undercover agent, and Zhou Tao almost saluted her, but then he remembered that he was off duty and put his hand down.

"Hello, if you don't mind, can you please pull down your mask?"

"I mind," Anna said. Then, she turned around to leave, but Zhou Tao followed her.

"I remember your voice. Is that you? Your name… isn't it Anna? You suddenly went missing; just where did you go?"

Since Zhou Tao had already seen through her disguise, Anna took off the mask on her face and asked, "Officer Zhou, is there anything wrong?"

"So it really is you! Miss, just where did you go? Uncle Liu and I were really worried about you," Zhou Tao said, smiling with relief upon confirming that the woman before him was the same young woman at the time.

When he noticed Tobba in Anna's arms and her severed arm tucked into her sleeve, the smile on Zhou Tao's froze. It had only been a year, but it seemed like Anna had been to hell and back.

"That baby is..." Zhou Tao trailed off.

Of course, Anna knew what Zhou Tao was thinking. Her eyes suddenly became filled with warmth as she gently rocked Tobba in her arms. "My son. Isn't he cute?"

Zhou Tao felt immensely regretful at the sight. He felt like he was looking at a perfect work of art that had been splashed with mud.

"What about his father?" Zhou Tao probed.

Anna chose not to answer that question. "Officer Zhou, I don't think I have to disclose to you my personal affairs, do I?"

Anna was feeling a bit disgruntled. Zhou Tao noticed that and patiently replied, "Miss, I sincerely want to help you. Having a child is monumental, and you're too young. At your age, you ought to be studying in school."

Upon saying that, Zhou Tao couldn't help but blame himself. If he had kept an eye on her at the time, perhaps her bright future wouldn't have been ruined.

Zhou Tao didn't wait for Anna's reply before asking, "Have you had breakfast yet? There's a nice place to have breakfast nearby. The food there is delicious.

"I know people your age hate being lectured, but I promise you this—I'm not going to bother you again once we're done eating. So what do you think?"

Anna sized him up with furrowed brows. Eventually, she nodded. She was afraid that if she were to refuse his proposal, he'd start investigating her in private. The IMF had to be tracking her down at the moment.

Anna knew that she couldn't behave as she did before and deal with those who were annoying to her.

Zhou Tao brought Anna to a roadside stall two streets away.

The two sat down, and two steaming bowls of fish noodle soup were served to them. The milky white broth was topped with pale yellow noodles garnished with vibrant green vegetables and slightly burnt poached eggs.

The milky white soup emanated a delicious aroma capable of making anyone's mouth water.

"Try it. This restaurant has been open for thirty years now, and the fish noodle soup here is simply unbeatable. Anyone living in this city surely has gotten a taste of this stall's signature dish."

Anna briefly scanned Charles' memories and found that he had never eaten this fish noodle soup. However, Anna had no idea whether it was because her human brain had forgotten or Charles simply didn't like eating noodles.

Zhou Tao ate a few bites before noticing that the woman in front of him hadn't even touched her chopsticks.

"Officer Zhou, if you have something to say to me, then go ahead. I still have something to do."

"Well… does your family know? I mean, about your child."

"They're dead."

Zhou Tao instantly understood what was going on. It was no wonder she gave birth to a child at such a young age. Zhou Tao believed that if her family were still around, Anna wouldn't go through such hardships.

Zhou Tao was afraid of triggering the rebellious nature of teenagers within Anna, so he spoke in a gentle voice, asking, "Can you tell me who the father is? Is he around your age, or is he much older than you?"

If Anna were deceived, Zhou Tao would step forward to seek some child support or compensation for her from the child's father.

"Hm, my husband is much older than me. He's a madman blind in one eye. As soon as my child was born, he disappeared into thin air," Anna replied.

Zhou Tao felt immensely sorry for Anna. A scumbag actually managed to defile an angel? God was truly unfair, as toads often manage to eat swan meat nowadays.

Zhou Tao proceeded to ask a few more probing questions, and Anna casually brushed them off.

Upon seeing the empty bowl before him, Zhou Tao knew that it was about time for him to leave. Anna also seemed like she didn't want to talk to him, so he'd definitely do nothing but annoy her if he were to insist on staying any longer.

He was a police officer, so he knew that there were issues that couldn't be resolved by the law. Moreover, they weren't exactly close; they were just acquaintances, not even friends.

Zhou Tao approached the female stall owner by the stove and asked her for a pen and paper. "Miss, this is my phone number. If you encounter any difficulties, please feel free to contact me."

With that, Zhou Tao paid the bill and left.

"Are you not going to eat? If you're not going to eat, then feed me. These noodles smell so good," Tobba remarked. He had been pretending to be a baby all this while, so he was feeling restless.

Anna had never been picky about food. In her eyes, consuming food was just a way to replenish one's energy.

Anna started feeling a bit hungry as she stared at the bowl of fish noodle soup in front of her. In the end, she took a light sip of the broth and was instantly taken aback.

The warm and delicious broth had inundated her mouth in an instant.

It was a delicious dish.

Anna picked up the chopsticks and proceeded with her meal. She made quick work of the bowl and smacked her lips. Then, she turned to the steaming iron pot on the stove and shouted, "Boss, give me another bowl!"

Anna proceeded to follow Zhou Tao in the next few days. Upon seeing for herself that Zhou Tao wasn't doing anything suspicious, Anna finally felt at ease. They changed residences several times while Anna was observing Zhou Tao.

Their peaceful yet nerve-wracking life lasted for a month until it was broken by a phone call from Wang Jianshe.

"Come here. We've found the people you're looking for."

The computer in Wang Jianshe's spacious office displayed the faces of the people whom Anna wanted to find. Wang Jianshe and his people managed to find several people who looked similar to Charles' family.

They secretly filmed those people as they went about their daily lives, and Wang Jianshe presented those videos to Anna.

Anna set aside Charles' parents and focused on the "Charles" that Wang Jianshe had found for her. He truly looked identical to Charles when the latter was still young.

Wang Jianshe had found a total of three "Charles." They were all elementary school students, and Anna saw how they went about their school life through the videos that Wang Jianshe's people had recorded of them.

Anna clicked on the mouse, replaying those videos over and over again. Thirty minutes later, she shook her head slightly at Wang Jianshe and said, "No, these three people aren't him."

They looked extremely similar to Charles, but the finer details, like personality and accent, were off. If one were to take a closer look, one would notice subtle differences in their appearances.

In other words, none of these three children were Charles.

Just then, Anna recalled Zhou Tao, and her heart trembled as she asked, "Have you looked into the household registration database and the database of the public security system?"

"My connections far exceed your imagination. We searched there, and we even looked through places that are difficult to comb through," Wang Jianshe replied. Then, he added in a low voice, "I'm not really interested, but I've put so much effort into the search, yet we still can't find him, so let me ask you this…

"Are you sure he even exists in the first place?"