After 29 years, it was perfectly normal that the police officer in charge of the case had retired.

It must have been Tang Hongen who requested a reinvestigation five years ago. Old Tang hadn’t taken his position in Pengcheng yet at that time. However, the investigation from five years ago yielded no results, and since then, Old Tang could only temporarily set this matter aside.

The wound had healed, and as long as you didn’t touch it, you could pretend it didn’t hurt – this was why Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan wanted to investigate on their own before involving Tang Hongen. If there was no progress, there was no need to poke at Old Tang’s heart-

Zhou Cheng pulled some strings to access the old case files. In 1959, the police station was still very diligent, keeping unsolved case files until the present day. The officer in charge of the case back then was Police Officer Chen, who was now in his sixties and long retired. Zhou Cheng obtained his address, and together with Xia Xiaolan, they went to visit him.

At the entrance of the residential building, Xia Xiaolan unexpectedly ran into someone she knew.

“Chief Ma, you live here too?”

The world was indeed small – Xia Xiaolan had run into Chief Ma from the Xidan Police Station. Chief Ma had once had feelings for Liu Fen. He was the type of pursuer who appeared fierce but quietly protective. He hadn’t lasted long against Tang Hongen, who seemed gentle but was domineering and full of tricks. In the end, he gracefully withdrew – he had no choice anyway. After Liu Fen attended Ji Ya’s wedding with Tang Hongen, she understood her feelings and clarified things with Chief Ma upon returning to Beijing from Pengcheng.

Later, Liu Fen married Tang Hongen, and Xia Xiaolan went abroad as an exchange student. The mother and daughter didn’t spend much time in Beijing, naturally growing distant from Chief Ma.

Running into Chief Ma at Officer Chen’s door today was truly unexpected for Xia Xiaolan. Chief Ma was equally surprised. Despite his intimidating appearance with his broad face, he was a very kind person.

“You used to call me Uncle Ma, now it’s Chief Ma?”

Xia Xiaolan immediately corrected herself to Uncle Ma, then gestured to Zhou Cheng: “Uncle Ma, this is my husband Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng, this is Chief Ma from the Xidan Police Station.”

Chief Ma looked Zhou Cheng over, “Not bad, the young man looks quite capable. A special unit, right?”

Ordinary people wouldn’t carry themselves that way – nothing could escape the notice of an experienced police officer like Chief Ma.

Zhou Cheng nodded and shook hands with Chief Ma, “I’ve heard from Xiaolan about how you looked after her and my mother-in-law. I never had the chance to thank you!”

Chief Ma waved it off, “No need to thank me for such small favors. Who are you here to see?”

Chief Ma was an open-minded person; failing to win Liu Fen’s heart hadn’t turned him hostile.

When Xia Xiaolan mentioned they were looking for the retired Officer Chen, Chief Ma sighed:

“You’re here to ask about an old case? Come in, just don’t get your hopes up.”

Xia Xiaolan’s heart skipped a beat, “You and Officer Chen—”

“He’s my maternal uncle. We’re a big family, quite a few of us are in law enforcement!”

Chief Ma explained briefly.

Xia Xiaolan thought it was quite a coincidence, but as Chief Ma explained, it made perfect sense. Children often follow their elders’ career paths. It was like those state-owned enterprises where three generations of families would contribute to the same factory, with family members scattered across different positions!

It was the weekend, and Chief Ma had come to visit Officer Chen and his wife.

He skillfully took out his keys to open the door. In the living room, an elderly man sat in a wheelchair, listening to Beijing opera on the radio — this was Chief Ma’s uncle, the retired Officer Chen. He was delighted to see Chief Ma:

“Zhenxing, you brought friends today? I’ll have your aunt buy you some popsicles!”

Old man, are you serious?

Offering popsicles to her and Zhou Cheng?

The old man was very serious. As a retired police officer, his temperament was unusually good.

The problem was with his cognition; he alternated between lucid and confused speech.

Ma Zhenxing was also helpless, quietly telling Xia Xiaolan, “The doctors say it’s dementia. It’s such a cruel disease. My uncle solved many cases when he was young and taught me so much!”

Xia Xiaolan felt heavy-hearted.

Dementia?

She wasn’t just disappointed about potentially not getting any useful leads; the disease itself was just… sigh, it seemed today’s visit would be fruitless.

Zhou Cheng gestured for her to be patient, “We don’t mind making several trips. When Officer Chen is lucid, we might learn some useful information.”

It turned out that Officer Chen and his wife had no children. Now that Chen had dementia, Ma Zhenxing’s aunt, being around the same age as Chen, couldn’t manage to care for her husband alone. The relatives had agreed to take turns helping out, doing the household chores so the old lady only needed to cook for Chen, making things much easier.

In this world, some people are unfortunate enough to have difficult relatives, while others are lucky to have harmonious relationships with family and friends.

When Ma Zhenxing’s aunt returned, she found two young people had joined them at home.

Though they were here to ask her husband about a case, Ma Zhenxing knew them, and when he helped his uncle bathe, Zhou Cheng volunteered to help. The old lady took a liking to them both:

“I remember the case you’re asking about. A few years ago, before Old Chen got sick, someone came to ask about this case. It’s been several years since then, I thought your family had given up searching. Wait a moment, let me look for something.”

Ma Zhenxing’s aunt went to find her husband’s work notes.

Officer Chen had a habit of keeping a diary. Having been a police officer for many years, he would record any unsolved or particularly notable cases in his diary. He couldn’t have foreseen his dementia, but this was a form of work summary, afraid he might forget those temporarily unsolved cases… It showed his conscientious dedication to his work, and in this era, people like Officer Chen weren’t rare.

Officer Chen alternated between lucidity and confusion, and today Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng had clearly caught him at a bad time – the old man had barely said anything coherent.

But the old lady found his notes.

This case wasn’t particularly big or small – just a little girl who went missing on National Day during the grand military parade in ’59. The timing was rather special, and someone had reinvestigated the case five years ago. Officer Chen had written two detailed sets of notes about it.

One was written 29 years ago, and the other was compiled 5 years ago.

“Five years ago, someone came to ask Old Chen, and he wanted to help. His mind was still clear then, though his body wasn’t so good anymore. The notes he compiled ultimately weren’t used. If you still want to find the person, Old Chen can’t help much in his condition, these two sets of notes are all I can give you.”

The old lady pushed the notebook into Xia Xiaolan’s hands. The notebook itself wasn’t heavy, but it carried another kind of inexplicable weight.

“I’ll make copies and return the originals to you. After all, these are Officer Chen’s work records, they must have special meaning for you.”

The old lady paused but didn’t object.

After staying at the Chen residence for a while, as they went downstairs, Ma Zhenxing couldn’t help asking:

“Who are you looking for? A family relative?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “It’s Uncle Tang’s missing little sister. Oh, Uncle Tang is now with my mom…”

Alright, no need to say more, it hurts!

Ma Zhenxing knew exactly who this “Uncle Tang” was!