Wan Yunting stayed at the welfare institute in the afternoon. Han Shumei, delighted, asked the aunties in the kitchen to cook a few more good dishes so the children could have a good meal.
After all, with ten million yuan, the welfare institute's urgent funding shortage was solved.
"Come, Yunting, eat more..."
In the welfare institute's cafeteria, over a hundred children were also dining, making a noisy racket. Wan Yunting sat with Yan Zhihua and Han Shumei at the iron dining tables and chairs, with several good dishes laid out before them. "The dishes the aunties cooked here are delicious, especially this sweet and sour fish. Here..."
"Thank you, Sister Han."
Wan Yunting took his bowl over, accepted the sweet and sour fish that Han Shumei had served, took a bite, and nodded with a smile. "It's really delicious, even better than what you get at restaurants outside."
"See? Here, have some vegetables."
Yan Zhihua was also full of joy, constantly putting food on his plate, making Wan Yunting a little embarrassed. "Grandma Yan, Sister Han, please don't keep giving me food. I'm not a child."
"Hehe, when your father brought you to me, you were only a little over six months old. I held you and fed you milk every day," Yan Zhihua pointed at him and chuckled happily.
This made Han Shumei beside them laugh. "I think I was already seven years old then."
"Yes, that makes you 34 years old this year, Sister Han," Wan Yunting said with a mischievous smile.
"Tsk, you're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"
Her age revealed, Han Shumei pouted and cast a wistful glance at Wan Yunting. He chuckled, "Sister Han, you are so beautiful, are all men in the world blind? Or is it that Sister Han has high standards?"
"She, she doesn't even know what kind of man to look for to satisfy her."
As a mother, Yan Zhihua glanced at Han Shumei. She was most anxious that her daughter was over thirty and still unmarried.
"Oh, Mom, these things depend on fate. If I want to get married, I can get married."
Han Shumei felt helpless and then gave Wan Yunting, who was sitting opposite her, a stern look. "You have the nerve to talk about me. Have you found a girlfriend?"
"Yes."
Wan Yunting said with a smile while eating, which made Han Shumei pause. She asked, "Who is she? Bring her over sometime so we can meet her."
"Okay, she's on a business trip to the US recently. I'll wait until she's back," Wan Yunting nodded and smiled.
"See? Yunting already has a girlfriend, and you can't even find a man."
Yan Zhihua complained about her daughter again, making Han Shumei helpless. "I was wrong, Mom. I'm eating. Can we not talk about this topic?"
"Haha..."
Seeing Han Shumei's dejected and helpless expression, Wan Yunting found it very amusing. Han Shumei put a fish head onto his plate. "Laugh, laugh, hurry up and eat your meal."
Yan Zhihua also kept giving him food. Suddenly, she said, "Yunting, have you found your biological parents?"
Wan Yunting was startled, and Han Shumei looked up at him.
"I don't know."
Wan Yunting ate his meal and said with a plain smile, "I haven't looked for them, and I don't want to."
These words made Yan Zhihua and Han Shumei exchange glances. She wanted to say something, but Han Shumei quickly stopped her. "Okay, Mom, just say a few less words. Eat quickly..."
"Alas, alright..."
Yan Zhihua asked no further questions.
By the time they finished eating, it was already 7:30 PM. Wan Yunting didn't linger. Han Shumei saw him off from the welfare institute. "Yunting, don't overthink it. When it comes to your biological parents, let fate decide."
Walking out the door and back to the car, Wan Yunting turned back to Han Shumei and smiled. "Okay, Sister Han, I'll be going back now."
"Mhm, drive slowly. Come and visit when you have time," Han Shumei nodded and smiled.
"Okay..."
Wan Yunting said no more, got into his car, and drove away. Han Shumei watched him leave until he was out of sight before sighing and turning back into the welfare institute...
As Wan Yunting was driving, preparing to return to his second brother's house, Zhou Dong called him midway. "Yunting, where are you? Are you free now?"
"Yes, Captain Zhou, what's wrong?"
Wan Yunting asked, thinking it must be a lead in the disappearance case of the Tian Guofu family.
"I'll send you a location. Please come over quickly!"
After speaking, Zhou Dong hung up the phone and immediately sent Wan Yunting a location via WeChat. Seeing that the location was a废弃工厂 outside the city, Wan Yunting immediately turned around and followed the route indicated by the GPS.
About forty minutes later, Wan Yunting drove onto a dirt road. Looking at the overgrown weeds and the abandoned factory illuminated by his car headlights, several police officers stopped him. However, upon seeing that it was Wan Yunting, the officers nodded and greeted him, "Brother Wan, you're here..."
"Mhm."
Wan Yunting nodded, parked his car on the side, got out, and asked the officers, "What's the situation?"
"It's the same as last time. Someone found a body here, so they reported it," one officer said as he led Wan Yunting into the abandoned factory. "Captain Zhou and the others are inside. You can go in and talk to him to find out."
"Okay."
Wan Yunting nodded and entered the factory. He saw Zhou Dong, Niu Qiuling, Wu Lei, Huang Yongxin, and a group of plainclothes detectives gathered in the center of the workshop. Forensic doctor Qin Bo, with his two apprentices, was squatting on the ground, examining two piles of ashes. As they sifted through the ashes, they even managed to pick out a few thigh bones...
"Captain Zhou."
"Yunting, you're here."
Zhou Dong and Wu Lei turned their heads and nodded at Wan Yunting. Niu Qiuling then asked forensic doctor Qin Bo, "Are you sure it's human?"
Wan Yunting leaned closer to look. Forensic doctor Qin Bo nodded and held a half-burned bone fragment with his gloved hand. "This is a human thigh bone, and this piece is a pelvic bone. It's confirmed human."
"It seems to be Tian Guofu's eldest son, Tian Yanghui, and his second son, Tian Gaohan!" Zhou Dong sighed.
Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you sure?"
Zhou Dong turned to Wan Yunting and said, "Come over here and take a look at this body."
Saying that, they walked over to the body, which had already been placed in a body bag. Qin Bo unzipped the bag and opened it, revealing a female corpse wearing a floral dress. However, as soon as Wan Yunting looked, he was stunned. "Mummy!"
Looking at the corpse's skin, which was gray and withered, as if all the blood had been drained from its body, the entire corpse was dry and shriveled.
Especially the deceased's sunken face and a pair of bulging, dull eyes, as if she had seen something terrifying in her life, making her entire expression look exaggerated and full of horror.
"It's Tian Guofu's wife, Lin Huiping!"
Looking at the mummy's face, Wan Yunting instantly recognized her and couldn't help but be shocked.
"Yes."
When Zhou Dong found the body, he had already identified it as Lin Huiping, Tian Guofu's wife.
"Then where is Tian Guofu?" Wan Yunting asked.
Zhou Dong shook his head. "We haven't found Tian Guofu's body."
"Not?"
Wan Yunting frowned. Tian Guofu's two sons were burned to death, and now his wife had become a mummy, but he himself was nowhere to be found, not even a body. "This means Tian Guofu is very likely still alive!"
"We haven't found any clues about Tian Guofu yet, so we can't be sure," Zhou Dong shook his head.
Qin Bo was carefully examining two small holes on Lin Huiping's neck. "This wound is truly peculiar. I've been a forensic doctor for over ten years, and I've never seen such a wound!"
"This is a wound?"
Wan Yunting also leaned closer and looked at the right side of Lin Huiping's neck. There were two small brown holes. The holes were about the diameter of a ballpoint pen, and the distance between them was about eight centimeters, very symmetrical, as if someone had held two ballpoint pens and stabbed them directly into Lin Huiping's neck, leaving these wounds...