The police held up several small bags of white powder before him and asked, "What is this?"
"It's medicine for my rheumatism," Yu Wei said, his heart pounding, afraid of his medicine's true ingredients being discovered.
One policeman said, "I suspect it's contraband."
Yu Wei exclaimed, "How could that be? Give me my medicine."
The policeman holding him said to the others, "Take him back to the station for further investigation."
"Why? What are you doing? I'm going to report you!"
Despite Yu Wei's loud protests, the police officers took him away as a matter of duty.
...
In the morning, just as Susu had quietly brought Tianyi back from the hospital, she received a call from Kang Xi.
Upon returning, Tianyi first went to the children's room to see the two children. After talking with Kang Xi for a while, Susu happily joined them in the children's room.
"Yu Wei has been detained by the police," she happily told Tianyi the good news.
Tianyi kissed Hengheng, then hugged Tiantian and kissed her, asking, "On what charges?"
"Spreading obscene materials," Susu continued. "The police also found an unknown substance when they searched his gallery, and it's currently being analyzed."
Tianyi pondered, "With this charge, he can be detained for at most thirty-seven days, depending on the severity of his actions. If he only took contraband himself and there's no evidence of production or sale, they can't hold him for too long."
Susu said, "Yes, he's already hired a lawyer and is requesting bail. However, the police won't allow him to leave the country until these matters are clarified. So, in any case, detaining him for a while is good; we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
"That's all we can do for now," Tianyi said, lifting Tiantian high and spinning her around.
Hengheng, standing nearby, also pointed at him expectantly, wanting to be held. Susu said with a smile, "Don't just focus on your daughter, share some love with your son too."
Tianyi put Tiantian down and picked up Hengheng, smiling, "Alright, alright, you're both my little darlings."
"You have the nerve to say that, you're clearly biased," Susu said, watching him with a smile. "You play with them, and I'll go draw you a bath. I've also prepared some pomelo peels to ward off bad luck."
With that, she went to prepare things he would need after returning home.
...
Xiao Anjing flew for ten hours to reach his mother's place. After a brief glance at his newborn daughter, he went straight to the local police station without resting, wanting to know the progress of the search for Xiaoxiao.
The police had already conducted a thorough search, but there were still no clues. The optimal seventy-two-hour window for finding a missing person had long passed.
Anjing was at a loss and anxiously returned to his mother's residence, worrying if Xiaoxiao might have met with misfortune.
Lan Yu was comforting the baby. His mother proactively asked, "Are there any leads from the police?"
Anjing shook his head. "There aren't many surveillance cameras in this area. The police have also questioned a few nearby residents, but no one saw where Xiaoxiao went or who took her."
His mother's eyes reddened. "I've also asked the neighbors to help search, and I've mobilized the church members in the community to help post missing person flyers. Oh, she's such a good girl. If anything happens to her, it will be my fault."
"It's my fault too. I was only paying attention to the little one. If only I hadn't allowed Xiaoxiao to play on the lawn outside," Lan Yu said, also feeling distressed.
Anjing felt that the deed was done. Everyone was already feeling miserable, and blaming each other would only cause more painful secondary damage.
"Don't blame yourselves. This isn't your fault. Xiaoxiao has played on the lawn by herself before. It just so happened that something happened this time; no one could have predicted it," Anjing said. "It's my fault. If I had come to be with you sooner, this wouldn't have happened."
As soon as he finished speaking, the baby in Lan Yu's arms started crying loudly.
Lan Yu, holding back her grief, quickly comforted the child. Anjing walked over and took his newborn daughter, looking at her carefully, his fatherly love overflowing.
If Xiaoxiao hadn't gone missing, how lively and joyful it would have been for them to celebrate the New Year together.
Lan Yu saw that the baby stopped crying when he held her, indicating a natural connection to her biological father. She said, "Mom and I have only given the baby an English name, Rose. We want you to choose her Chinese name."
"Okay, let me think," Anjing said, hugging the child tightly and letting her little face rest against his. He felt his heart melt.
Anjing's mother felt both sad and happy. She sighed and said, "You two accompany the child. I'll go to the church again and see if any church members have found any news about Xiaoxiao."
Without waiting for Anjing to say anything more, she turned and left.
Anjing rocked the child in his arms. Seeing that she seemed to be asleep, he handed her over to Lan Yu and said, "I'll go out again and try to think of something. If I don't find Xiaoxiao, I'll never have peace in my life."
Lan Yu nodded and empathized with him, "Hurry and go."
Although she hadn't spent much time with Xiaoxiao, the child had become so well-behaved and lovable. Moreover, now that she had her own daughter, she had hoped for an older sister to help look after her.
If Xiaoxiao wasn't found, their entire family would likely carry a shadow in their hearts for the rest of their lives.
...
This year, Susu's family stayed at home for the New Year instead of going on vacation. They invited Kang Xi and Ya Nan over, making it quite lively.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Susu had Xiao Lin drive her and Xiao Xingxing, along with many gifts, to visit Mama Rong and wish her a Happy New Year.
They didn't dare to stay long and returned that same evening.
When Mama Rong asked about Tianyi, Susu could only say that Tianyi was busy with group matters and couldn't rest during the holidays.
Time flew by, and by the third day, Susu inquired about Anjing's situation again. Xiaoxiao still hadn't been found.
The police had already advised them to prepare for the possibility that Xiaoxiao might have been harmed or was no longer alive.
In sparsely populated foreign countries with limited surveillance, many children go missing each year, and some are never found.
Anjing had exhausted all possible methods locally but was still helpless.
They finally found someone who had seen Xiaoxiao on the day she disappeared. The person said they saw a man with a tattoo on his left arm leading Xiaoxiao into the woods, but they couldn't recall the man's specific appearance.
However, the description of the tattoo matched the emblem of a local gang.
Anjing went with the police to investigate the gang, but they didn't find any suspicious individuals.
According to the police, the gang had many members with high turnover and loose management, making it difficult to make any breakthroughs with such limited clues.
After hearing this, Susu, feeling disheartened, was about to hang up the phone.
At some point, Xiao Xingxing ran over to her, trying to snatch the phone from her hand. "Mommy, are you talking to Uncle Xiao? I want to wish Xiaoxiao a Happy New Year too. Let her talk to me."
Susu held the phone tightly and immediately hung up. "Xiaoxiao isn't with Uncle Xiao right now. You can chat with her another day."