150: A strange disappearance that blocked the street

“I am Zhou Xiaodong’s wife, Han Jingmei!”

“My son, Zhou Xinchen, was kidnapped at noon. I was driving him home from a restaurant, and he was fussing about wanting bubble tea.”

Han Jingmei’s eyes were slightly red, revealing deep guilt as she said:

“I had no choice but to pull over and take him to our community to buy bubble tea. But when I finished buying the bubble tea, I found that my child, Zhou Xinchen, had suddenly disappeared!”

“Did you look for him?”

Gao Ze asked.

Han Jingmei’s tone immediately turned hostile, and she said fiercely, “Of course I looked! He’s my biological son! How could I not look when he went missing?”

Gao Ze didn’t mind Han Jingmei’s emotions, but Zhou Xiaodong glared at Han Jingmei and said, “Jingmei, watch your tone. Officer Gao is the person I specifically invited to help find Xinchen!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but Xiaodong, our child is gone!”

Gao Ze waved his hand and said, “I can understand Ms. Han’s feelings. Where did you look?”

“I searched all the streets near the bubble tea shop, and I even checked the surveillance footage from the bubble tea shop, but I couldn’t find any trace of Xinchen.”

Han Jingmei wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, her voice choked with sobs, “It wasn’t until more than an hour later that I received a text message from an unknown number, saying that my son Xinchen had been kidnapped and that they wanted me to pay the price!”

“Let me see the text message!”

Gao Ze asked for Han Jingmei’s phone, opened the text message, and saw thirty-two concise characters written on it—

“You do the first day, I do the fifteenth. I have already kidnapped your child, Han Jingmei, I want to make you pay the price!”

When the content of this text message was made public, the Jinghai District Criminal Investigation Brigade officers all looked at Han Jingmei. Gao Ze’s pupils involuntarily constricted, and he asked:

“Ms. Han, have you offended anyone?”

The kidnapper’s tone in the text message was vicious, like someone seeking revenge, very much like an enemy who had a major conflict with Han Jingmei.

Han Jingmei shook her head and said, “No, I haven’t offended anyone!”

“Really?”

“I’m not lying to you, Officer Gao!”

More clear tears immediately streamed down Han Jingmei’s face as she sobbed:

“Usually, it’s my husband Xiaodong who does business outside. I rarely get involved in the business world. At most, I occasionally participate in small investments like beauty salons and supermarkets, but I basically delegate authority to others and don’t interfere. How could I possibly have grudges or conflicts with people?”

“Besides that, my life is just about gourmet food, beauty, or buying luxury handbags—the life of a rich wife.

I really haven’t had any conflicts with anyone that would make them go so far as to kidnap my child to retaliate against me.”

Han Jingmei’s crying was very real. Could it be that she truly hadn’t made any enemies?

Gao Ze stared intently at Han Jingmei’s subtle facial expressions. At the same time, Wei Haoran, who was temporarily acting as the Captain of the Jinghai District Criminal Investigation Brigade, couldn’t help but say:

“Ms. Han, if you haven’t offended anyone and have no enemies, why would the culprit kidnap your child?”

“Is it perhaps because of your husband, Mr. Zhou Xiaodong?”

“I don’t know!” Han Jingmei cried and shook her head, saying, “But it shouldn’t be. My husband, Zhou Xiaodong, is a man of integrity, with no bad habits, and he rarely makes enemies.”

“I absolutely believe that. Zhou Xiaodong’s character makes him one of the few good people among wealthy businessmen. Not long ago, he even rushed into a fire with me to save people!”

Gao Ze briefly recounted the Peace Hotel fire incident. Wei Haoran and the other officers listened, their expressions moved, and they dismissed their suspicions, pondering:

“So what is the meaning of the culprit sending such a text message?”

Indeed.

If Han Jingmei wasn’t lying, then the culprit must be lying, deliberately spreading confusion to lead the Police astray.

Who could it be?

Gao Ze narrowed his eyes. He didn’t insist on pursuing the truth, as the most urgent matter in a kidnapping case was not the truth, but the safety of the hostage.

“Wei Team Leader, rescuing the kidnapped child Zhou Xinchen is our most urgent priority!”

Gao Ze asked Han Jingmei, “Ms. Han, how old is your son Zhou Xinchen, how tall is he, what clothes was he wearing before he went missing, and near which bubble tea shop did he disappear?”

“My son Zhou Xinchen is six years old this year, he’s one meter twenty-six tall, and he was wearing a green striped hoodie before he went missing!”

Han Jingmei showed a photo of her child, Zhou Xinchen, to Gao Ze. He was a quiet little boy. She continued, “The location where my child was kidnapped and went missing was at Xitaotao Bubble Tea Shop, near our community!”

The Xitaotao Bubble Tea Shop that Han Jingmei mentioned was three hundred meters outside the entrance of Suhe Huating Community. It was a private handmade bubble tea shop with many customer orders and was quite lively.

“It was this shop. After checking the surveillance, I found that Xinchen was gone.”

Han Jingmei pointed to the surveillance camera at the entrance of the Xitaotao Bubble Tea Shop.

Gao Ze looked at the bubble tea shop, then his gaze swept towards the surrounding area. The bubble tea shop was located in a street at a cross-intersection. The east side was bustling, with many shops along the street. The west side was quiet, shaded by large trees, with a few passersby strolling leisurely.

The north side was undergoing road repairs, with a construction team at work. The south side had dense traffic, forming congestion.

“Officer Gao, what are you looking at?”

Han Jingmei noticed that Gao Ze wasn’t listening to her and wasn’t even looking at the Xitaotao Bubble Tea Shop where her child was lost. Her face showed slight indignation: “Now is not the time to look at the scenery!”

“If you find my child Xinchen, Officer Gao, you can look however you want!”

“Ms. Han, you’ve misunderstood Officer Gao. He’s likely speculating on the direction the culprit took after kidnapping your child, Zhou Xinchen!”

Wei Haoran, as an old hand in Jinghai District, was well aware of the details of Mu Yurou’s Case and had personally witnessed how Gao Ze solved Yu Meichan’s Case. Of course, he wouldn’t think that Gao Ze’s every move was random.

“Your child was kidnapped, which means the culprit must have appeared on these nearby streets. It’s impossible for him not to have been caught on surveillance!”

“But the problem is that the kidnapping scene is complex and not that easy to find!”

Han Jingmei was stunned and speechless, her eyes filled with doubt.

Gao Ze didn’t explain. He said to Wei Haoran, “Wei Team Leader, take your people and try your best to find surveillance footage from the west side of this street, or ask the shop owners along the road if they saw anyone taking a child away at noon, especially if the child appeared to be struggling.”

Wei Haoran nodded, not offering a single word of rebuttal.

The Jinghai District Criminal Investigation Brigade officers also followed suit.

Because they all deeply understood the profound impact Gao Ze had on the Jinghai District Criminal Investigation Brigade.

After giving instructions.

Gao Ze sat on an outdoor chair at the Xitaotao Bubble Tea Shop, waiting quietly.

“Are we just going to sit here and wait now?”

Han Jingmei’s eyes widened, finding the scene utterly absurd.

“What else?”

“The text message from the kidnappers has no clues, and the kidnappers haven’t called to demand a ransom yet. What else can we do besides searching the kidnapping location for clues?”

Gao Ze glanced at Han Jingmei, this rich wife. She was beautiful, and at over thirty, she looked charming and captivating.

But for a wealthy businessman like Zhou Xiaodong, who was worth billions, beautiful women were not scarce. He truly wondered how Zhou Xiaodong could tolerate his wife Han Jingmei’s strong personality.

Zhou Xiaodong was a man of integrity, but that didn’t mean he had no bottom line.

For example, in the Jiahua Shareholder incident, if Gao Ze hadn’t proposed an exchange, Zhou Xiaodong would never have agreed to stop supporting Jiang Ruiming.

Zhou Xiaodong pulled his wife Han Jingmei to sit down, his expression looking quite calm, not showing any anxiety or panic. He ordered bubble tea and waited with Gao Ze, asking, “Officer Gao, why investigate the west side? Are you not checking the other directions around the bubble tea shop?”

“No need!”

Gao Ze took a sip of bubble tea and said indifferently, “This is a typical cross-intersection street. It looks like it has access in all directions, but there’s a trick to it!”

“For example, the east side of the bubble tea shop has dense pedestrian traffic. Although it’s good for concealment, the shops along the street all have surveillance cameras at their entrances to varying degrees. The culprit wouldn’t appear here unless he wanted to be caught quickly!”

“The north side is undergoing road repairs, blocked by a construction team. The culprit and the child appearing there would easily attract attention, and if the child struggled, it would be even more unexpected.”

“The south side is a road with congested traffic. The culprit who kidnapped someone must have a car and wouldn’t choose this area.

Only the west side is quiet, without shops, lacking surveillance. The main road’s surveillance is also obscured by dense leaves, creating many blind spots. Therefore, the culprit must have taken this road after kidnapping the person.”

Listening to Gao Ze’s words, Zhou Xiaodong and Han Jingmei both fell into thought, not speaking.

Half an hour later.

Wei Haoran led his team over and loudly said, “Officer Gao, we found it on the west side.”