As soon as Chu Yi ran to the intersection near Yan Hang's house, he saw his aunt's car driving over.

"Puppy, get in the car," his aunt called out to him, poking her head out.

Chu Yi opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. Before he could even catch his breath, he asked, "What happened to my dad?"

"Here's the thing, your dad still hasn't been found," his aunt handed him a tissue, "but... the police saw the company car in the surveillance footage. Your dad was driving that car yesterday."

"What, what surveillance?" Chu Yi clutched the tissue, not understanding what his aunt was saying.

"The surveillance at the entrance of the alley," his aunt said. "Apparently that person ran out from the alley to the riverside. The street camera in the alley captured your dad's car going by. That person and your dad got out of the car one after the other..."

"Which... person?" Chu Yi was completely flustered.

"The person who died was your dad's colleague, also a driver," his aunt said. "Your mom never met that person. I'm not clear on the specifics either. The police are still investigating and won't disclose details. Don't panic, the situation isn't figured out yet. Your dad..."

Chu Yi stared ahead, completely dazed. He could no longer make out what his aunt was saying.

His dad had been missing for a day and night, his phone unreachable. Although this had never happened before, he wasn't too worried. His dad was timid, not daring to get into fights, lacking the guts and money to cheat, even avoiding drunk people at night for fear of trouble.

His worst imagination about his dad's disappearance this time was just a car accident.

He never thought his dad, being the way he was, could get involved in an assault and homicide case.

"Don't pay attention to those people," his aunt said as she parked the car downstairs.

When Chu Yi got out, he saw quite a few neighbors gathered at the bottom of his building, giving him puzzled looks as he approached.

Some were probing, some curious, some... excited, hoping for some incident in someone's family to gossip about, taking pleasure in others' misfortunes.

"Poor kid, Chu Yi," a middle-aged woman sighed loudly. "His dad..."

"With parents and grandparents, three generations under one roof, how is he poor?" His aunt didn't look that way but spoke quite loudly. "It'd be great if you could spare some of that sympathy for yourself."

Chu Yi walked into the stairwell with his head down.

When he was still one floor away from home, he could already hear Grandma's voice.

"Officer! You can't wrong an innocent man. You should go look for the missing person, how can you link him to a murder case!"

"Ma'am, we're just here to understand the situation. No conclusions have been made yet," a patient-sounding male voice said, probably a policeman.

"Tell them what you know, say you don't know if you don't," his aunt reminded him in a low voice as they entered.

"Mm," Chu Yi responded.

He had never experienced this kind of thing. He felt so nervous entering that he walked crookedly.

There were three police officers inside, two men and a woman, and a middle-aged man who looked a bit familiar to Chu Yi, probably a leader from his dad's company.

The police must have gone to the company first before coming to the house... He stood in the living room, head lowered in unease.

The policewoman had him sit on the sofa and said amiably, "Hello young man, my surname is Wang. I want to understand the situation from you and see if there's anything we missed. Don't be nervous, it's just a few questions."

"Mm," Chu Yi nodded.

"Did your father say anything to you before going to work yesterday?" Officer Wang asked.

"No," Chu Yi thought for a moment. "When I, I went to sch, school, he had al, already left."

"Don't be nervous," Officer Wang said.

"He's just a stutterer, nervous or not he's just like this!" Grandma interjected.

"Has your father shown any unusual behavior recently? Anything you felt was different from usual, you can say," Officer Wang continued.

"You watch your mouth, don't talk nonsense!" Grandma pointed at Chu Yi.

Officer Wang smiled, "Grandma, could you please step out for a bit?"

"Me step out? Step out for what!" Grandma instantly became very annoyed.

"Enough! At a time like this, you're still like this!" Mom forcibly pulled Grandma into the bedroom and shut the door.

Chu Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "I didn't, notice any, anything different. My dad came, came home late. We didn't, talk much."

"Okay, have you heard your father mention his colleagues?" Officer Wang asked further.

"Just... Uncle Ding," Chu Yi said.

"How was his relationship with Uncle Ding?" Officer Wang asked.

Chu Yi already had a vague feeling. When his aunt said the deceased was his dad's colleague, he didn't think too much of it. But now with Officer Wang asking this way...

He suddenly didn't dare answer.

"It's alright, just say what it is," Officer Wang said. "We're just trying to understand the situation now. We won't draw any conclusions based on a few words."

"Uncle Ding hit, my dad, quite a while, ago," Chu Yi frowned. "Their relationship... wasn't, wasn't friendly."

Officer Wang recorded while asking a few more questions.

The questions were actually quite simple, mainly asking if his dad had any abnormalities, conflicts with anyone, or recent contacts with anyone.

But Chu Yi didn't answer any of them with ease. Besides his dad's unknown situation... he never realized his understanding of his family was so lacking. Whether it was his dad, mom, grandma or grandpa, if asked this way, he probably couldn't answer very clearly.

Chu Yi felt his mind buzzing constantly, her voice sometimes far, sometimes near, hearing very unclearly, his whole self feeling like being tied to a spinning windmill.

"Take another look at this photo," Officer Wang took out a photo. "Can you recognize this person?"

Chu Yi took the photo and looked down at it.

It was a screenshot from surveillance footage, with an unclear figure from the back at an angle, only a small part of the side profile visible.

But he could recognize the car in the lower left corner of the screenshot, one of the two company cars his dad often drove, a black SUV and a white one.

"Can't, recognize, him," Chu Yi returned the photo to Officer Wang.

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation." Officer Wang patted his shoulder and stood up.

Mom came out of the room: "Officer, will he... will he..."

"Don't worry, we will get to the bottom of this," the other officer said, "If he contacts home, you must let us know. Family members should also persuade him to come back and cooperate with our investigation."

"Yes, yes." Mom nodded.

After the police and the leaders from Dad's company left, the house fell into complete silence.

Everyone seemed to be in a daze, standing still where they were, even Grandma was speechless.

"I just don't understand," Mom finally spoke after a long while, "How could he get involved with Old Ding... Why did he run away when Old Ding died?!"

So it was indeed Old Ding.

Chu Yi twisted his fingers, silently staring at the floor.

"He killed him eh." Grandpa said.

"Are you really my father?!" Mom shouted.

"You must be tired of living!" Grandma jumped up and slapped Grandpa's arm, "If you can't speak properly then shut your asshole, if you can't hold your fart go out and bang your head and die!"

"Uncle," Aunt frowned, "You can talk nonsense usually but you can't just say things like this, this is a homicide case!"

"Er Ping, do you have any connections that can help find out?" Mom asked Aunt.

Aunt sighed, "I'll try, but it may not work. It might be possible for ordinary cases, but this..."

"If you don't want to help, just say it directly." Mom interrupted her.

"If I didn't want to help, would I have come over as soon as I heard about this?!" Aunt said, "I'm not the Almighty Buddha, I can't just do whatever I want!"

"You came to watch the show, right?" Mom sneered.

"Yes! I came to watch the show," Aunt said, "The show at your house is really worth watching, worth me driving from the west end to the east end, right?"

Chu Yi got up and sat at the desk, laying his head down, holding it in his hands.

Aunt had rushed over from far away, yet Mom said such things, making him feel very embarrassed.

He closed his eyes, that photo swaying in his mind.

That silhouette, he didn't know if it was because he had been pondering over it, or if it was psychological, but when Officer Wang showed it to him he didn't feel much, but now it always seemed a bit familiar.

Before long, Aunt's parents also came over, and the small living room at home suddenly became crowded.

After Aunt's mom argued with Grandma, and Aunt argued with Mom respectively, they began to discuss Dad's matter.

"He definitely isn't injured. He was fine when he ran out. The dead person definitely wasn't stabbed by him either, how would he have the guts," Aunt's mom said, "Don't make wild guesses! If you have the free time, think about where he could go instead. Finding him and having him cooperate with the investigation is the most important thing!"

"But he drove the car there, Old Ding got out of his car, the police said he also went into the alley behind Old Ding, and then ran out again," Mom said, starting to choke up, "Now he's disappeared without a trace, how can this be explained clearly..."

Chu Yi held his head, listening to the people in the room going back and forth making conjectures based on the limited information disclosed by the police.

He really couldn't figure it out.

Dad drove the car and took Old Ding to that alley, then followed Old Ding into the alley. Then Old Ding ran out from the other end of the alley and died by the river, while Dad turned back, drove away and abandoned the car which was later found in the suburbs, but he was gone.

There were three people involved in this matter, one was dead, and two couldn't be found.

Who exactly was that unclear silhouette?

Why did it always feel a bit familiar?

"I'll go make some calls in the car," Aunt said, "and see if I can find out anything."

"Go ahead, and bring me back something to eat," Aunt's mom said, "I didn't eat this morning."

"Okay." Aunt responded and went to open the door.

Footsteps and coughing sounds came from outside the door, a few neighbors seemed to suddenly get pneumonia, coughing heavily as they walked upstairs and downstairs.

"The people here are really enthusiastic." Aunt went out and closed the door.

"You still have the appetite to eat!" Grandma seemed to have nowhere to vent her anger and shouted at Aunt's mom.

"I'll eat," Aunt's mom said, "I want to drink beverages too."

Chu Yi felt an irrepressible irritation and took out his phone, wanting to send Yan Hang a message.

If Yan Hang didn't need him to go over and accompany him, he would go out and wander around. Anywhere was better than staying at home.

The phone changed slowly. The moment he opened WeChat and saw Yan Hang's avatar, his hand suddenly stopped.

That silhouette.

That silhouette!

...It was Uncle Yan!

He suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe and had to grab the edge of the table, inhaling forcefully.

His mind became a chaotic blur, as if he was about to lose consciousness.

He gasped for air. After finally coming back to his senses from the confusion, he sat up straight abruptly. How could it be? How was it possible!

How could it be Uncle Yan!

"What are you doing!" Grandma glared at him, "Having hysterics?!"

"You only know how to scold! The child is so young, of course he's scared," Aunt's mom opened her fan and fanned Chu Yi a few times, "What's wrong with your whole family?!"

"Chu Yi," Mom waved at him, looking exhausted, "Go back to school. If you don't want to go back to school, go out for a walk. Don't stay cooped up at home."

Chu Yi stood up, took his phone and went out the door.

His legs kept shaking as he went downstairs, nearly kneeling down several times.

Although he didn't see the face, that familiar feeling, the kind that became especially strong once remembered, he could feel the fear and unease in his heart, like waves, hitting him layer after layer, slowly spreading to his whole body.

He never imagined that person would be Uncle Yan.

Even more so, he never thought that Dad's disappearance and Old Ding's death would involve Uncle Yan being at the scene.

And if that silhouette really was Uncle Yan, then the blood in the alley that belonged to another person...

Chu Yi didn't have the courage to think further, only feeling that in the weather right before summer vacation, he was so cold that he wanted to shiver.

"Puppy?" Auntie walked towards him carrying two bags with food containers, calling out to him. "Where are you going?"

"Going out... for a walk," Chu Yi said.

"Want me to drive you around?" Auntie asked.

"No, it's okay," Chu Yi shook his head.

"Are you hungry?" Auntie asked again. "I bought some buns and other things, a whole bunch. Want to eat some?"

Chu Yi shook his head.

Auntie sighed, patted his head, and stuffed 200 yuan into his pocket. "Then go take a walk. If you get hungry later, buy yourself something to eat."

"Okay," Chu Yi responded.

Take a walk.

Where to go for a walk?

As soon as he walked out of the building entrance, he felt all kinds of stares.

The entrances of several buildings faced an open space, usually filled with parked cars. Occasionally, people passing by on their way home could be seen. But today, several neighbors were standing around in small groups.

As soon as he came out, he wanted to turn around and go back inside. He really couldn't stay at home, so he gritted his teeth and continued walking forward.

When he passed the small store where he always bought cigarettes for Grandma, there were also a few people standing inside. As soon as they saw him, someone immediately called out, "Chu Yi! What's going on with the police coming to your house?"

He didn't say a word and quickly walked past with his head down. After leaving these few buildings, he didn't dare to take the usual route either.

He was afraid of running into people he knew. Everyone here was a know-it-all, and any news would spread overnight. His dad's disappearance and the police coming to his house - this kind of explosive news would spread everywhere in less than an hour.

He was also afraid... of walking past Yan Hang's house.

He even began to fear that Yan Hang would contact him.

He didn't know what exactly had happened, didn't know if Yan Hang was aware of the situation now, didn't know if Yan Hang would be angry, and if he would still talk to him.

He had no relevant experience whatsoever. He didn't even know how to handle arguments between friends.

He had no friends.

And now, he didn't know if he should tell Yan Hang about this.

He never dared to ask about Yan Hang's previous state, and now that he knew the reason, he didn't know what to do.

The only friend he had interacted with seriously, the only friend he always wanted to see, the only friend who was gentle and respectful to him - now it had become this kind of situation.

Dad's room had been searched for the third time, once a day. Yesterday was the third day, and Yan Hang still hadn't found any useful information from Dad's meager belongings.

Today, he no longer had the strength to search again and just sat on the edge of the bed in a daze.

His phone was right beside him. He didn't know how many times he wanted to pick up the phone to send Dad a message or make a call.

But he suppressed this thought countless times.

He had no idea about Dad's current situation and wasn't sure what consequences contacting Dad would bring to Dad and himself.

He could only endure it.

The length of Dad's disappearance this time was not long, only four days. Compared to the previous one week, it was nothing to him in terms of time.

But this time, it was no longer as simple as just waiting.

He already knew clearly that something had happened.

He even had more judgments.

Chu Yi hadn't contacted him for several days, hadn't sent any messages, let alone called.

The little emoticons in his Moments hadn't increased since the day of the incident.

But Chu Yi would appear behind a tree across the street at night, standing there for at least two to three hours. If he didn't turn off the lights all night, Chu Yi might stand there the whole night. But he had never tried it. Every time around midnight, he would turn off the lights, and Chu Yi would leave after an hour.

This matter was related to Chu Yi's father.

This judgment didn't require any further deliberation.

This kind of double torment made Yan Hang certain that his mental state was very healthy. Surprisingly, he didn't commit suicide like Dad always worried about when nothing was wrong.

He got up and very slowly tidied up the messy things in the room.

Returning to the living room, he turned on the TV.

There had been no more news in the past few days, but he would still turn on the TV during news time.

When the familiar news music started, he lit a cigarette.

Still no news. The morning news mentioned briefly that it was under investigation, while the noon news didn't even mention it at all.

Yan Hang put out the cigarette, got up, and walked to the window to pour himself a glass of water.

Just as he was about to turn around and go back to spacing out on the sofa, he saw a police car drive over from across the street, make a U-turn, and stop in front of his house through the gap in the curtains.

Before the glass in his hand fell to the ground, he put it on the table beside him.

Watching the police and a big sister with a very resident committee-like aura get out of the car and walk over step by step, he tried hard to adjust his breathing so that he could walk over steadily to open the door when the police knocked.

There was a knock on the door.

Yan Hang leaned against the wall and opened the door.

Three police officers stood outside the door, showed their IDs, and introduced themselves. Yan Hang neither saw clearly nor heard clearly.

"What is Yan Zhiyuan to you?" This was the only sentence he heard clearly.

"He's my dad," Yan Hang replied.

"The thing is, we have some questions that require your cooperation in the investigation," the police officer looked at him.

"Okay," Yan Hang nodded.

After entering the house, the police first looked at the two rooms, then sat down on the sofa. Yan Hang poured water and placed it in front of them.

"Sit down," the police officer said. "Don't feel pressured."

Yan Hang hooked a chair over with his foot. When he sat down, he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"First, please take a look at this photo," a police officer handed over a photo. "Can you recognize this person?"

Yan Hang took the photo and glanced at it.

It was a screenshot from surveillance footage. Only a back view could be seen.

But even with just half a back view, he could recognize it at a glance.

"I can recognize him," he handed the photo back to the police. "It's my dad."

"Do you know this person?" The police handed over another photo.

It was a work photo.

Chu Yi's father.

Yan Hang's heart suddenly clenched into a ball.

"I don't know him," he said.

Indeed, he didn't know him. Having met him didn't count as knowing him. It was very normal not to remember what Chu Yi's father looked like, even if he had met him before.

"When did your father leave?" The police officer put away the photo.

"Wednesday morning, around noon I think." Yan Hang didn't hide anything. Since the police were able to find him, they must have already known about his father's situation.

"Did he come back or contact you afterwards?" the officer asked again.

"No." Yan Hang replied.

"Did he say anything before he left? Like who he was going to meet?" the officer continued.

"No," Yan Hang said, "he just said he had something to take care of."

"Does he know anyone else here?"

"No."

"Did anyone come looking for him recently?"

"No."

"Did he receive any phone calls?"

"...Yes," Yan Hang lit a cigarette, "he left after receiving a call."

"Do you know who called?"

"I don't know."

The officer looked at him: "You're not in school, right?"

"No," Yan Hang said, "I dropped out due to depression. I have a diagnosis."

"I see," the officer sighed lightly, "do you have any other relatives?"

"Not anymore." Yan Hang answered. He didn't know how much the police had found out over the past few days, nor did he know how much of his father's past he himself was unaware of.

"Did he ever say why he came here?" the officer asked.

"No." Yan Hang flicked the cigarette ash.

"Have you tried to contact your father these past few days?"

"No." Yan Hang felt he should record his responses, as he could basically answer all the officer's questions with either "no" or "I don't know".

"He's been gone for so many days," the officer glanced at him, "and you never thought to contact him?"

"No," Yan Hang said, "that's how we've always been. He tells me nothing, and I ask nothing."

"Alright," the officer nodded and handed over a business card, "thank you for your cooperation. If you remember any details you left out, feel free to call me anytime. We may need to contact you again to learn more. I hope you will continue to cooperate."

"I will." Yan Hang said.

The police left.

As Yan Hang closed the door, he felt as if all his strength had been violently drained from his body.

Along with it, the air, light, and color surrounding him were also drained away.

He slowly squatted down and held his head in his hands.