It’s Him – Ch08

Negotiation

“Xun Jie, what are you doing?”

Li Xun’s deskmate, Guo Ying, was startled when she entered the room. Li Xun was holding a smooth stone in each hand, spinning them so fast that they almost seemed to be smoking.

How much pressure was she under?

“Xun, these are two smooth stones, not walnuts. Don’t do it like this.” Guo Ying quickly rescued her own stones and asked, “Is the pressure really this big these days?”

Li Xun replied, “The pressure isn’t that big. I’m just thinking about a problem.”

“What problem? Tell me, I’ll help you think it through. You haven’t had the mood to work on the paper these past few days. Everyone’s bored. You should quickly adjust yourself.”

Since yesterday, Li Xun had indeed seemed a bit absent-minded, even neglecting her entertainment newsletter.

Li Xun genuinely needed someone’s help, so she said, “My mom’s health has been bad recently, she can’t sleep, and this is not sustainable. I’m thinking of what supplements to buy for her. Something for calming the mind and aiding sleep. I feel her insomnia and anxiety are caused by emotional fluctuations. Have you guys bought something like that?”

No matter what one does, it’s crucial to maintain emotional stability to succeed. Her mom was currently emotionally unstable, which wasn’t good.

“That?” Guo Ying replied, “If you’re asking me, then you’ve asked the right person. Never buy supplements from a drugstore!”

Li Xun’s eyes lit up as soon as she heard this, and she immediately leaned over, grabbing Guo Ying’s arm. “That’s why I like you! I knew there was a reason the heavens arranged for us to be deskmates!”

Emotional value maxed out.

Guo Ying chuckled and then began sharing from the heart: “My mom had trouble sleeping too. She was very irritable. At first, she also bought supplements, but aside from gaining weight, they didn’t help at all. Later, someone recommended moxibustion, so she tried it. After a few days, her condition improved.”

Li Xun felt that this was very useful. “I’ll get my mom to try it too.”

Guo Ying gave her the name of the place: Li Jie’s Moxibustion Clinic.

“Also, tell your mom not to go to those big moxibustion clinics. They’re too procedural. The people working there are usually just employees. They won’t be very detailed or provide targeted treatment for clients. You want the small shops run by the boss herself. They treat their clients better, ensure customer satisfaction, and focus on their reputation and return customers.”

Li Xun was stunned. “Impressive! I know not to underestimate anyone.”

On the other side, Zhao Jingzheng was sitting in Li Jie’s Moxibustion Clinic, where his mother was still performing moxibustion on a client.

He had thought about it. His initial direction was probably wrong.

From the mass online release of photos to his father’s disappearance, the timeline was too short.

Also, he had reviewed the nearby surveillance footage, and there was nothing unusual. The police had replied, saying that the person who posted the photos was a high school student and didn’t know his father.

Perhaps it was truly someone from his father’s life.

It wasn’t hard to find the victim’s family information online.

He had looked into his father’s relationships. He had asked at school, and it turned out his father had never offended anyone there. He often helped with substitute teaching, and the students liked him. There didn’t seem to be any issues.

So, he came to find his mother.

If Zhao Jingzheng had to evaluate his mother, he could only describe her as irresponsible.

She had never taken good care of him when he was a child, and after their divorce, she rarely came to see him, only occasionally sending some money.

Now that his father was missing, she was more focused on running this moxibustion shop than helping find him.

He sat outside on a chair, growing angrier as he thought about it.

The moxibustion session lasted over an hour. The woman who had come in was a regular client of Qin Li. The two chatted about daily trivial matters while the treatment was ongoing.

When the woman came out and saw Zhao Jingzheng sitting outside, she said, “Li Jie, this must be your son, right? He’s quite handsome, must be in college by now?”

Qin Li smiled proudly and said, “Yes, that’s my son. He graduated from college and got into graduate school.”

“That’s really impressive. Li Jie, you’ll enjoy life in the future.”

Zhao Jingzheng frowned, and his displeasure reached its peak.

He got into graduate school, so why was she showing off? What did that have to do with her? It was because his dad taught him well!

He lowered his head and deliberately refused to speak to the woman, purposely giving her the cold shoulder.

The regular customer didn’t notice. It was typical of middle-aged women to compliment someone’s child by reflex.

After the customer left, Qin Li sat down, poured water for her son, and explained, “That’s a regular customer. She made a last-minute appointment. Her shoulders hurt and it was hard to reschedule.”

Zhao Jingzheng, unwilling to argue with her, took out his phone, started recording, and asked, “I now suspect that my dad wasn’t taken by the victim’s family, but by someone from his life. You should know my dad’s situation best. Think carefully, do you know anyone who might have a connection to this?”

Qin Li could tell he was unhappy, and she was also a bit upset.

However, over the years, she had learned to suppress her feelings of displeasure. She calmly said, “Let me think.”

Seeing that she wasn’t being helpful, Zhao Jingzheng impatiently said, “Think from the perspective of relatives, friends, and colleagues.”

“Relatives? My relatives have no connection with him. Your maternal grandfather passed away long ago, and your maternal grandmother is a seventy-something-year-old woman. She wouldn’t have kidnapped your dad.”

“Friend…” Qin Li suddenly realized something: “It seems like your dad doesn’t have any friends. He only has colleagues. When I was with him, I never saw him contact any of his university or high school classmates.”

Zhao Jingzheng recalled, and indeed, that was the case. How could that be?

Logically speaking, how could his dad, with his personality, not have friends? He felt a sudden thump in his heart. Being someone who loved watching TV dramas and films, an idea flashed in his mind.

Could it be that his dad, when he was younger, didn’t understand things well? Maybe he got into fights, caused trouble, or was involved in campus violence against others?

Now, the person who found his dad was coming for revenge.

“Your dad’s relatives…” Qin Li furrowed her brows as she recalled, “When I was with your dad, he told me that both his parents passed away, and other relatives weren’t willing to contact him, so I’ve never met any of his relatives.”

Zhao Jingzheng had never met them either. Growing up, his world had been limited to home and school, and the people he interacted with were the neighbors and his father’s colleagues.

Qin Li remembered something else, something from long ago, something she might never have thought about if she hadn’t intentionally recalled it.

“When you were about seven or eight months old, a woman came to our house, saying she was looking for your dad and that she was your dad’s sister.”

“But when your dad came back, he said she was probably a scammer, and after that, she never came again. I remember she looked a bit like your dad. At the time, I thought the scammer was pretty good at finding people.”

Zhao Jingzheng noted this down as well.

Later that evening, he shared the gathered information with Li Xun.

“I haven’t found anything important on my side. My mom doesn’t know much either, and she’s busy, so she can’t help me. I’m not sure where to start now,” he said. The information he needed was separated by a generation, and if his mom had helped him find people, it would have been much easier. But he didn’t know how to break through that barrier himself.

Li Xun, however, brought good news.

“I’ve negotiated with that entrepreneur. He agreed to help us contact all the victim’s families and see if they really kidnapped the person.”

“He agreed to help us?”

“I analyzed it with him. If this is really something the victim’s family did, they’re stuck in a dead end. If your dad is the murderer, unless he’s mentally ill, he would never admit it. If he’s not the murderer, your dad also can’t give them the information they want. So, I asked him to help find your dad, so that the whole thing doesn’t go beyond the point of no return. It’s for your dad, and also for those poor victim families.”

“The condition is that after finding your dad, he wants to have a conversation with him to confirm that your dad is not the one who killed his son.”

“I thought, let’s find him first. Anyway, if your dad isn’t the murderer, he’s not afraid to talk to them, so I agreed.”

Before Zhao Jingzheng could respond, another message from Li Xun came in.

“And this is something I promised. If later on, you don’t want to talk to them, you can push it all onto me. Just say I’m a high school student, and I don’t understand.”

Li Xun was really righteous.

Zhao Jingzheng immediately replied: “It’s fine, we’re not afraid to talk.”

Li Xun replied: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

She began assigning tasks.

“Now that we have the rich person helping, we don’t need to worry about the victim’s family issue. Tomorrow, focus on checking into your dad’s relatives.” Li Xun gave detailed instructions: “You can go directly to the police for help. Don’t tell them your dad’s parents are dead. When you go, just say that your dad is in trouble and you want to notify your grandpa, grandma, and aunt, but you don’t know how to find them. Ask the police if they can help.”

Zhao Jingzheng immediately realized what he had overlooked—he had forgotten about the police.

“I’ll keep an eye on the situation at school.”

“Let me know if you hear anything. We can discuss it together.”

“Okay, as long as you don’t mind the trouble,” Zhao Jingzheng replied.

“No trouble, you’re my friend, and your dad is my most respected teacher. If I couldn’t help, I’d feel bad inside. We’ll work together and definitely find your dad.”

Looking at Li Xun’s message, Zhao Jingzheng felt a lump in his throat.

His father had always protected him well. For big and small matters, his father made the decisions. Now that his father was missing, he felt lost without his guiding figure. His first instinct was to turn to his mom, but she hadn’t been able to take over the responsibility.

Now, Li Xun had picked up the baton, and Zhao Jingzheng immediately felt reassured.

Without his father, his anxiety about not being able to find the way vanished completely.

He felt that his mother was even worse than a stranger.

Li Xun, of course, understood his feelings. From the first day she interacted with him, she had already figured out their future relationship dynamic.

She ended the conversation with him, grabbed a small stool, and boldly went to the basement.

Her mom wasn’t home today; she had been forcibly sent to do acupuncture. Li Xun had an hour of free time.

“Teacher, have you thought it over? Can you tell me where the child from that year is?”

“With the way your mom treated me, I can’t bring myself to say it. Do you really think I’m the murderer?”

“That’s different. If my mom finds out, you’re done for. Of course, you won’t say it, but if I know, I’ll let you go, and I won’t report you. I just need a guarantee.”

“I’ve never killed anyone. No matter how many times you ask, I can never be the murderer.”

Li Xun placed the stool in front of her homeroom teacher. She suddenly smiled and said, “Teacher, the person you most want to kill is your son, right? A noisy, troublesome, stupid kid. Teaching him must be painful.”

“Li Xun, don’t make such baseless assumptions. You start by convicting me and then look for clues. Naturally, you’ll find everything as evidence that I’m guilty.”

“You can’t hit him because deep down, you want to be a good father. You definitely can’t kill him, because then you’ll end up in prison. But your emotions are unexpressed. How did you target the first victim?”

“Nonsense.”

“Was it because the first victim kept crying?”

There were many details of the case online, including the first case.

The victim was only four years old, walking with his grandpa in the park. After walking a few steps, the child didn’t want to walk anymore, rolling on the ground, crying and shouting. The grandpa tried to scare him by saying, “Grandpa is leaving. Grandpa doesn’t want you anymore.”

Older generations liked to use such threats to make children behave.

When the grandpa turned around, the child was gone.

“Nonsense, I never did any of the things you said.”