Chapter 48 Collectibles

— — Zzzzt. Static crackled from the car's radio. Xiao Zhang's voice came through, sounding pleasantly surprised.

After several hours of meticulous investigation, they had finally found someone who had seen Liu Gang and Xiao Nuan last night.

It was worth enduring the scorching midday sun while going door-to-door asking questions.

Laifu Supermarket was a small shop in a prime location at an intersection with heavy foot traffic. A freezer stocked with various brands of drinks sat outside, while inside, the shelves were packed with chips and snacks. To the left was a checkout counter.

At this moment, the shop owner stood behind the counter, recounting what he had seen last night with a serious expression.

"It was around nine o'clock last night. I heard someone shouting on the street, so I went out to take a look."

"What did you see?" Xiao Zhang's pen made a 'scratching' sound as he asked questions and took notes.

"I saw a father and daughter lying in front of a Wuling van. The child's father was shielding the kid in his arms. You have no idea how touching that scene was; that's a father's love for you!"

As he spoke, the shop owner rubbed his eyes, feigning an expression of being moved to tears.

"Are you saying that a car accident occurred, and the little girl's father protected her in his arms?" Xiao Zhang's pen stopped, and he looked at the shop owner in surprise.

Could he be lying again? The shop owner didn't know what Liu Gang had done, but he was well aware of it. Had human traffickers these days become so noble? If they actually had that kind of conscience, why would they still be stealing children?

"There was no car accident. I saw them lying on the ground and intended to go help them up, but they stood up on their own. The driver was pointing at the little girl's father and cursing, using some very nasty language…"

"While he was yelling, the bucket hat on the little girl's head fell off. Even now, just thinking about her face gives me the creeps!" The shop owner swallowed hard.

"Do you still remember what the little girl's father looked like?"

"Huh? Officers, aren't you here to investigate last night's car accident? Did the driver report it?" The shop owner looked curious.

"You don't need to know that. I'll ask you one more time: did you see the little girl's father's face?"

"Ye-yes, I did!" The shop owner became nervous, affected by Xiao Zhang's stern expression.

Xiao Zhang nodded and then signaled to a police officer nearby who could draw to sketch the face. Then, he took the report and went to Chen Mo and Long Hao. His expression was a bit hesitant.

"The owner isn't lying." Chen Mo immediately understood the meaning behind Xiao Zhang's hesitant expression. As soon as the words fell, the hesitant expression instantly turned bright.

It was fortunate to have Brother Mo, this walking lie detector; otherwise, he would have to carefully weigh every sentence the shop owner said. "That's good. If I got fooled again, I'd be really depressed," he thought to himself. Having Brother Mo around really provided a sense of security.

"Just like you thought before, the more I look at it, the less this Liu Gang (pseudonym) seems like a human trafficker."

He had heard the conversation just now. At the moment the van was about to hit Xiao Nuan, Liu Gang actually managed to pull the child into his arms to protect her. It was absurd! Incomprehensible.

"Indeed." Judging from all the details, Liu Gang didn't seem like a human trafficker; traffickers aren't that kind, nor are they that noble. But yet! The things Liu Gang did were exactly what a human trafficker would do.

Chen Mo looked thoughtful, tapping his index finger lightly on his leg. Clear Mind was constantly helping him organize the chaotic thoughts in his mind, eventually weeding out useless information and leaving behind one clue worth pondering: Protection!

Chen Mo believed that if he could figure out why the perpetrator was protecting Xiao Nuan, the motive would emerge. Under what circumstances would a person (Liu Gang) risk danger to protect a stranger (Xiao Nuan)?

Either he had a noble character and could sacrifice himself for others, or this person was very important to him. It could be understood as being beneficial to himself.

A noble character didn't apply to Liu Gang. That only left the possibility that Xiao Nuan was beneficial to Liu Gang. What, specifically, did this benefit refer to?

The shop owner's detailed account of last night's car accident surfaced in his mind once again. When Liu Gang and Xiao Nuan fell to the ground, the driver was shouting nearby, and the first thing Liu Gang did after getting up was to quickly check Xiao Nuan to see if she had any injuries or anything similar.

This was also why the shop owner mistakenly thought Liu Gang was Xiao Nuan's father; who else would be so nervous besides their own child? But the problem was, the van hadn't actually hit them at all.

The reason they fell to the ground was simply because Liu Gang was too nervous at the time and had hugged Xiao Nuan tightly, using his own body as a cushion. That was excessive nervousness! He looked terrified that Xiao Nuan might get even the slightest injury.

Chen Mo shook his head; this case was indeed more complex than the previous D+ case. It was at this moment that the Criminal Profiling skill he had casually upgraded suddenly came into play.

Excessive nervousness. Excessive protection. Excessive worry about Xiao Nuan getting hurt. With the support of Clear Mind and Criminal Profiling, Chen Mo's thoughts raced.

He wanted to protect the child so badly, but what if the child got hurt? If the child was injured while in Liu Gang's hands, what would happen?

Judging from his actions, not only did he not want Xiao Nuan to get hurt, but even when Xiao Bo hit him in the head with a beer bottle and caused him to bleed, he didn't fight back. Was there a factor here of not wanting Xiao Bo to get hurt either?

Was the consequence very serious, and would it touch upon Liu Gang's interests? Would it? He repeated these two words in his mouth. A moment later, he got the answer! The answer was definitely yes!

If the child was injured, it would inevitably affect Liu Gang's interests! This made Chen Mo curious. Excessive protection, injury... Antique porcelain? Expensive jade?

The way Liu Gang protected the two children was just like protecting a piece of expensive porcelain. He was terrified that it might get damaged and wouldn't sell for a good price.

"Porcelain!?" Long Hao, standing to the side, widened his eyes, his mouth falling open involuntarily. How could people be compared to porcelain?

But when he met Chen Mo's gaze and considered the previous line of analysis, it seemed that if Xiao Nuan and Xiao Bo were compared to porcelain, and Liu Gang was a merchant, then everything seemed to make sense.

Not fighting back when hit—on one hand, it was because he had obtained high-quality porcelain and was in a good mood as a merchant; on the other hand, if he fought back and damaged the porcelain, the price would drop significantly.

This explanation could also apply to Xiao Nuan. The porcelain had just been acquired and was ready to be sold for money when a car suddenly crashed over. As a merchant, his first reaction would naturally be about the money. This also provided a plausible explanation for why Liu Gang protected Xiao Nuan and was so excessively nervous afterward.

"It really seems to be the case." Long Hao took a deep breath. At the same time, something occurred to him, and his eyes lit up. He had also caught up with Chen Mo's line of reasoning.

"Following your line of reasoning, Liu Gang is essentially still a human trafficker, but this mission isn't about abducting children to make them beg."

"It's about helping a client find this type of child and bringing them back unharmed?"

"So, there's someone else behind this case?" His expression couldn't help but turn grim. It was already quite difficult to catch Liu Gang; he hadn't expected there to be someone behind him as well.

"No need to get too much of a headache; many clues have already surfaced." A smile appeared on Chen Mo's face.

"He protects the two children with the same attitude as protecting porcelain, fearing they might get hurt. Do you think the person behind the scenes actually treats the two children as porcelain?"

"And the goal is to keep them as collectibles?"