pdf-ebookys 002 The last guest of the morning
002 The last guest of the morning
"Didn't Dian Dian say anything on the way?" another police officer asked. "For example, did she have any complaints about the school, teachers, classmates, or family?"
Yu Wenhao shook his head and said no, "She fell asleep as soon as she got in the car, and she didn't wake up when we stopped in front of KFC. I woke her up to have breakfast after I parked the car on Tiyuchang Road. She got out of the car after breakfast, and she didn't say anything except goodbye to her uncle."
"Master Yu...you are surnamed Yu, right?" the policeman in front asked, and Yu nodded.
"What were you doing between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. last night?" the police officer asked.
Upon hearing this, Yu Wenhao immediately became alert. This scene was all too familiar; wasn't this how police questioned suspects in movies and television? Yu Wenhao never imagined that he would be questioned like this by the police one day. Immediately, just like those questioned in movies and television, he reflexively asked back:
"What, you doubt me?"
The policeman glanced at him, offering no comment. Meanwhile, Dian Dian's father suddenly stood up, pointed at Yu Wenhao, and said:
"Just be honest, was it you? If it was you, just tell me straight. I'll give you whatever money you want, as long as you release DianDian. Then we'll pretend they were never here."
After he finished speaking, he waved his hand at the two policemen.
Just as Yu Wenhao was about to get angry, another policeman stood up, patted Dian Dian's father on the shoulder, signaling him to sit down, and then said to Yu Wenhao:
"No, that's not the case. If we're talking about suspicion, we suspected everyone before she came back, even her parents. It's only when there's suspicion that we need to investigate and eliminate each suspicion. That's our job, and it's a necessary procedure, understand?"
Dian Dian's mother also looked at Yu Wenhao with sad eyes, as if begging him not to be angry.
When the police said this, and when Diandian's mother saw it, Yu Wenhao immediately felt deflated. He nodded and explained that he understood.
"Understood? Then let me ask you, what were you doing between 7 pm and 9 pm last night?" The two policemen asked the same question.
Yu Wenhao said, "Of course I'm doing business. I can show you my itinerary from last night, as well as the dashcam footage. Do you need it?"
The police officer nodded, then waved to Yu Wenhao, saying, "No need."
"Can I leave now?" Yu asked.
The policeman nodded, and Yu Wenhao stood up. The policeman seemed to remember something and said:
"Master Yu, by the way, there's one more thing. Not just yesterday, but also before when you took Dian Dian, did she mention to you where she really wanted to go?"
Yu Wenhao stood there and thought for a moment. He said no. Every time she talked to me, she would say that she went to places with her mother, such as Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Europe. I never heard her say where she wanted to go.
The policeman nodded.
When Diandian's mother heard Yu Wenhao say this, her eyes welled up with tears again.
Yu Wenhao walked out the door, and Dian Dian's mother followed her out. She saw Yu Wenhao to the elevator and said to him:
"Master Yu, please don't worry about it. That's just how her father is. We searched all night last night, and we were very anxious too."
"It's okay, as long as we can find Dian Dian," Yu Wenhao said. "If I have time today, I'll drive around the area and see if I can find Dian Dian."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Dot Dot's mother clasped her hands together and greeted Yu with gratitude.
Yu Wenhao got into the car. The ride-hailing app kept sending him order notifications. It was only a little past eight in the morning. Yu Wenhao still had time to accept one or two orders before heading to work. However, he was no longer in the mood. He turned off the phone with the app installed, started the car, and left MixC Yueyuan.
Yu Wenhao drove aimlessly through Qianjiang New City, very slowly, glancing at both sides of the road. He thought to himself, "Even if Diandian is such a small child, if she gets lost, she'll at most still be in Qianjiang New City, she won't go far. Unless she's been kidnapped, then it's hard to say, but judging from the situation so far, there's no indication that she's been kidnapped."
Yu Wenhao then remembered that when the police questioned him earlier, they didn't even take notes, so it seemed that it wasn't even an inquiry, but just to understand the situation.
Yu Wenhao shook his head.
When he arrived at Zhijiang Road, he pulled over and walked up the steps, through the green belt, to the river embankment. He looked around and saw that there were quite a few people on the embankment, but most of them were elderly or younger than Dian Dian, not yet of school age.
Yu Wenhao walked along the river embankment for a while but didn't see Dian Dian. He then stuck his head out to look outside the flood control wall, but still couldn't find her. Yu Wenhao returned to his car, and seeing that it was almost time, decided to go back to his unit to report for duty first, and then go out to look for her again.
Yu Wenhao works part-time as a ride-hailing driver. He picks up and drops off Dian Dian at school every morning for more than a year, during which time Dian Dian has gone from being a second-grade student at Baochuta Experimental School to a third-grade student.
Yu Wenhao has been working part-time as a ride-hailing driver for almost four years. A little over a year ago, the school's schedule hadn't changed yet. Back then, Dian Dian was required to be at school before 7:40 every morning. She had to leave home around 7:00. In the summer, it was fine, but in the winter, she would get up just as dawn was breaking.
Every night, Dian Dian's mother habitually goes to bed very late. Occasionally, her girlfriends will come over to play mahjong or go to nightclubs. The next morning, she would be dressed unkempt and barely put on any makeup before taking Dian Dian to school. After doing this for more than two semesters, she couldn't take it anymore and decided to hire a ride-hailing service to pick up and drop off Dian Dian at set times every day.
Yu Wenhao was the driver she finally chose after considering six drivers. Besides being about the same age as her and looking like a decent person, what reassured Dian Dian's mother the most was that he was a local from Hangzhou, his home was in Hangzhou, and he was driving for ride-hailing services part-time. His main job was as a workshop director at a state-owned printing company.
From MixC Yueyuan to Baochuta Experimental School, the normal fare, whether by taxi or ride-hailing service, is between 25 and 30 yuan. Dian Dian's mother and Yu Wenhao agreed that she would give him 50 yuan for transportation every day, with the cost of buying breakfast at KFC in between to be reimbursed separately.
They no longer use ride-hailing apps. On Mondays, Dian Dian's mother would transfer the weekly fare of 250 yuan to Yu Wenhao via WeChat. Because she thought 250 sounded bad, she would always thoughtfully transfer 251 yuan.
At the beginning of the month, Dian Dian's mother would first transfer 500 yuan to Yu Wenhao as Dian Dian's breakfast money. Dian Dian's mother thought that the roadside shops were not hygienic enough, so she told Yu Wenhao to go to KFC to buy breakfast for Dian Dian. The breakfast fee would be settled monthly. If it was not enough, Dian Dian's mother would give Yu Wenhao the rest. If there was extra, her mother would make up another 500 yuan as the breakfast fee for the next month.
Aside from insisting on eating at KFC, whatever else Dian Dian wanted to eat, her mother and Yu Wenhao said it was up to her.
And so, Yu Wenhao became Dian Dian's personal driver. Before the school schedule was adjusted, he would drop Dian Dian off, take one or two more fares, and then go to work. After the school schedule was adjusted so that elementary school students could start school at 8:30 a.m., Dian Dian became Yu Wenhao's last customer. He would drop her off and then rush to work, just in time.