Chapter 211: The Quest for Truth

Hearing footsteps behind her, Lin Dongxue quickly reverted the webpage to its original state, sat across the table, and started deleting her browsing history on her phone.

Chen Shi, unaware, set down his bowl and chopsticks, and sat back at the computer. “Huh, it’s gone?”

“What’s gone?”

“A question I was reading on Zhihu.”

“What’s Zhihu?”

“You don’t know Zhihu?”

“Is it a dating site?”

“Oh man, you really are clueless,” Chen Shi chuckled, slurping his noodles.

Lin Dongxue continued eating, sneaking glances at her phone to check out Chen Shi’s activity on Zhihu. She discovered he was quite active, answering all sorts of questions.

Someone asked, “Is learning to operate an excavator difficult? I’m thinking of going to Xianglan but I’m worried about not graduating.”

Chen Shi, under his Zhihu ID, replied, “Thanks for the invite. I graduated from Xianglan in 2010. Operating an excavator is actually quite easy. We had fifty students in our class, and most of us graduated…”

Another asked, “What’s it like being in a gang?”

Chen Shi answered, “Thanks for the invite. I started mixing with the wrong crowd at sixteen. We pledged loyalty to Guan Yu with a few buddies and later followed a big boss…”

Yet another asked, “Can nitrites kill someone?”

Chen Shi replied, “Thanks for the invite. I work in chemical synthesis and frequently handle nitrites in our lab…”

Lin Dongxue snickered at his boasting. “Men love to brag,” she muttered.

She created a new account to follow Chen Shi and noticed his follower count hit 100. Curious about his future “experiences,” she murmured, “Wonder what else you’ll boast about.”

Chen Shi, oblivious, said, “Amazing, I finally hit 100 followers. I’m just a step away from being a Zhihu celebrity.”

“Zhihu? More like Bianhu!” (Note: “Bian” means “lie” in Chinese)

“You know what it is, don’t you?”

Caught off guard, Lin Dongxue continued eating in silence.

Chen Shi resumed, “There’s actually a Ruihua Pet Hospital. It’s only been around for ten years. Shall we check it out?”

“What else did you find?”

“Huashui Pharmaceutical, Huashui Food Processing Plant, Renhua Ice Cream Shop… but only this pet hospital sounds close.”

“Looking at current maps won’t help.”

“Where can we find old maps?”

“Maybe the city planning office? But that’s a long shot! Did you check churches?”

“There are quite a few, big and small, but none near this pet hospital.”

“I doubt this is it.”

“We’ll give it a try tomorrow.”

Lin Dongxue informed Xu Xiaodong. The next day, they first visited the technical team to ask Peng Sijue about DNA matches. Peng Sijue shook his head. “We’ve compared it to several unclaimed corpses, but no match. The chances are slim.”

Chen Shi said, “I remember hospitals have a gene bank.”

“That’s for finding missing children, left by relatives! It’s less than ten years old.”

“Doesn’t the young monk count as a missing child?”

“Fine, I’ll give it a shot. You have seven days, I’m curious to see how you’ll manage.”

“Your words say no, but your heart is willing,” Chen Shi teased, poking Peng Sijue.

“Show some respect!” Peng Sijue adjusted his clothes, while the others laughed.

They went out to investigate. Xu Xiaodong remarked, “I’ve heard about the case. That young monk’s mother was taken advantage of for over ten years? She’s probably long gone.”

“Where there’s a sliver of hope, we’ll try our best,” Lin Dongxue said.

At 10 a.m., they arrived at Ruihua Pet Hospital. Chen Shi asked the staff, confirming it was established less than ten years ago. Chen Shi asked, “Why is this called Ruihua?”

“Oh, our boss is Zhao Ruihua.”

“What did he do before this?”

“He also ran a pet hospital, but it didn’t go well and closed.”

“I’d like to meet him.”

At noon, a plump middle-aged man arrived, greeting them warmly. “What brings you here? Our pet hospital has always operated legally, no tax evasion.”

“We’re looking for someone named Chen Guang, his wife is Yin Wen. Do you know them?”

“Chen Guang? Chen Guang?” The man tapped his head. “Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Any records?”

“No, our system was hacked years ago. All old records are gone.”

“Do you remember where the old hospital was? Where did the staff live?”

“It was on Luoyang Road, staff lived nearby. Try asking around there.”

Leaving the pet hospital, Lin Dongxue said, “Is it possible? A pet hospital and a pharmaceutical factory? That’s a big difference. Could the young monk’s memory be so far off?”

“He did mention a medicinal smell. A pet doctor isn’t impossible.”

They reached Luoyang Road at 3 p.m. Chen Shi and Xu Xiaodong split up to ask around. Lin Dongxue checked her phone map, noting the area had been redeveloped twice. It would be hard to find the original site.

There were no churches nearby either. The closest one was five kilometers away.

Chen Shi sent a voice message in their investigation group, “Come over to the intersection.”

Lin Dongxue joined Chen Shi and Xu Xiaodong, who were talking to an elderly man, half-deaf and half-blind, repeating himself often. “I had a neighbor named Chen, a family of three.”

“Does he look like this?” Chen Shi showed a photo of the young monk he took at the restaurant.

The old man squinted, then shook his head. “Don’t remember, don’t remember, it was years ago.”

“Do you remember the address?”

“There… no, there… or maybe there!” The old man pointed around, finally deciding.

They reached the spot, now a newly built complex. Chen Shi, frustrated, put his hands on his hips. Xu Xiaodong suggested, “Let’s try the local police station. If someone went missing, they would have reported it.”

“Good idea,” Chen Shi sighed.

As they walked out, Chen Shi noticed a man wearing a “Yutong Motors” T-shirt. He stared at the letters, and Lin Dongxue waved a hand in front of him, “What are you looking at?”

“Maybe the young monk didn’t see a cross. He said it was a hot day. Do churches put up neon signs in summer? I think only Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving have lights, and those aren’t summer holidays. Neon lights would look hollow, and he didn’t mention that. No church uses LED lights for crosses.”

Chen Shi walked over and asked the man, “Excuse me, do you work at Yutong Motors?”