I’ll translate the example article into English with a focus on clarity, simplicity, and maintaining the complete narrative with chapter titles.

Chapter 235: Are You Uncle Song?

Twenty minutes later, after listening to Chen Shi’s words, Tao Yuanyuan said, “Is that person coming back to kill me?”

“It’s just a threat for now, but he’s definitely resumed his crimes. Starting tomorrow, you must come home from school early, avoid taking deserted paths, and try to go with your classmates. I’ll come to pick you up whenever I have the time.”

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“Tao Yuanyuan!”

“Yes, I understand… Did Uncle Song and you discuss this?”

“Yes, Uncle Song has been pursuing this criminal without giving up.”

“When can I meet him?”

“You will.”

Tao Yuanyuan looked at him skeptically and said deliberately, “If I meet him, I want to tell him something about my testimony.”

“You can tell me first.”

“I wasn’t hiding in the closet watching my mom being killed that year; I was standing nearby.”

Chen Shi was surprised, “Did he spare you?”

Tao Yuanyuan nodded, recalling the past, nervously fiddling with her pants, revealing her inner fear. “That late night, I smelled something and couldn’t move. Then he came in, turned on the light, and started assaulting my mom…”

“He assaulted your mom?”

“Yes, I mentioned it before.”

“But I remember…” Chen Shi suddenly stopped talking. This detail didn’t escape Tao Yuanyuan’s eyes. She said, “I lied about my mom being assaulted. Chen, you’re actually Uncle Song, right?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I just feel it! You resemble him in many ways. You always talk about staying in touch with him, but I never saw you back then, let alone with Uncle Song. You’re good at solving cases, and so is Uncle Song. You both have similar habits, like tapping your fingers on the steering wheel while driving. And you often check your face in the mirror, despite not being handsome, you’re quite self-loving!”

Chen Shi admired her insight and put two fingers to his lips. “This is our secret. Don’t tell anyone!”

“Uncle Song!” Tao Yuanyuan excitedly threw herself into Chen Shi’s arms and cried.

Chen Shi patted her back. “Don’t call me that in front of others.”

“Okay!” Tao Yuanyuan wiped her tears and nodded.

“What you just said, about witnessing the truth?”

“He made my mom and me choose who would die. Mom said let me die, and I said… I’m willing to die! Then he smiled and said to mom, selfish mother, it’s better if you die! Mom regretted it, kept saying she wanted to die herself, but it was too late. He… stabbed my mom in the chest.”

“So you watched your mom being killed from the side? Why didn’t you tell the truth back then?”

“Because I hoped he would run away. I hated my mom at the time and thanked him for killing her, making me an orphan.”

“So you actually saw what he looks like.”

“Yes! I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied. Later I found out he killed many people. He’s not a good person.”

“It’s okay.” Chen Shi stroked her head. “The case isn’t over yet. When we go to court, remember to tell the truth.”

“Will that day come?”

“It will! One more thing, if you hated your mom, why did you choose to die yourself?”

Tao Yuanyuan sadly said, “I was a child born in confusion to my mom. She always saw me as a burden. Even if she died, I wouldn’t be happy. So I thought, dying would be easier!”

“And yet he spared you. Irony.”

“I think that person… is a bit like me…”

“Yes!” Chen Shi said seriously. “He also had an unhappy childhood. The difference is…”

“The difference is, I have Uncle Chen.”

“You clever little one!” Chen Shi laughed and tweaked her nose. “Go to sleep early!”

After Tao Yuanyuan fell asleep, Chen Shi also washed up and prepared to sleep, looking at his face in the mirror, still not quite used to it after these three years.

He suddenly noticed a small detail, took out a photo, and compared his face in the mirror. After seeing clearly, he suddenly understood something, muttered softly, “Bastard! Playing this trick!”

The next day, Lin Dongxue went to work and met Lin Qiupu on the way. Lin Qiupu said, “Looking good!”

“I slept well last night,” Lin Dongxue said.

“Good timing. I have a case here. You handle it.”

“But I still have three cases unfinished.”

“Give those to someone else. This case suits you better. Two kids have been missing for forty-eight hours, and their family is frantic.”

“A missing persons case? Since when do we handle those?”

“Wasn’t the last one you investigated also a missing persons case? I helped you a lot then. Shouldn’t you return the favor?”

Lin Dongxue was quite helpless.

Lin Qiupu continued, “Also, this missing persons case may have turned into a homicide. The police found something at the kid’s house, so it’s been transferred to us. Come with me.”

Lin Qiupu took Lin Dongxue to the office and handed her a notebook with stickers of a popular idol, emitting a cheap fragrance. Opening it, she saw neat handwriting that clearly belonged to a girl.

Flipping through it, Lin Dongxue was shocked by the dark and oppressive words above. She looked up at Lin Qiupu.

Lin Qiupu said, “The missing persons, Jiang Hui and Jiang Ming, are half-siblings. Jiang Hui is sixteen this year, and Jiang Ming is thirteen. On the night of April 2nd, Jiang Ming didn’t return home from school. His parents searched everywhere and later found that Jiang Hui was also missing. So they went to the police station to report it. Later, they found this in Jiang Hui’s drawer, along with an art knife, rubber gloves, and a bottle suspected to contain poison. The police station transferred it to us… I’ve already given the bottle to Captain Peng for testing.”

“Half-siblings? The younger brother was born to a stepmother?”

“Yes.”

“I’m really… not good at finding people.”

“You don’t need to find people. Let the police station handle that. You just need to determine if it’s a homicide. If it is, we’ll officially register it. If not, withdraw.”

“Okay, I’ll go now!”

Lin Dongxue took a taxi to Jiang Hui’s residence. On the way, she carefully read the diary-style article and arrived at Jiang Hui’s home. She found the parents and grandparents sitting gloomily in the living room. Dad was smoking, mom and grandma were wiping tears, and grandpa sighed sadly.

A child going missing was a huge blow to this family.

Upon learning that Lin Dongxue was a criminal police officer, grandma’s blood pressure suddenly rose, almost fainting. Lin Dongxue hurriedly said, “Please don’t misunderstand. This case hasn’t turned into a criminal case yet. I’m here to gather some information.”

“The police keep coming to ask, where’s my child?”

“You only care about Mingming. What about Huihui? You haven’t mentioned her since yesterday!” Grandpa indignantly said.

“Dad, it must be her who lost Mingming. Now the criminal police are here. She must have lost Mingming…” Mom said, tears streaming down her face.

“If you didn’t always favor Mingming, how could she do such a thing? In the end, it’s your fault, stepmother!” Grandpa yelled in anger.

Lin Dongxue thought, it looks like this family has some serious problems!