Cat

Page two: Mo Xiaoxue.

That wasn't the most important part. What mattered most was the date of birth, which had been printed as March 1st of this year.

And in the relationship column, the words "siblings" were written in plain sight.

Looking at Mo Xiaoxue's Identity Card number in the Household Registration Book, Chen Junqiang entered it into his police phone and checked. The information was indeed genuine.

Moreover, the initial digits of Mo Jingchun and Mo Xiaoxue's Identity Card numbers were identical.

In other words, the Little One sitting in the Baby Carriage, sucking on a Milk Bottle and curiously watching him with two beautiful big eyes, really was Mo Jingchun's Younger Sister.

More precisely, the Little One was looking at Mo Jingchun, who stood before her with his head lowered.

"Brother and sister."

Those two all-too-familiar words now struck Chen Junqiang's chest like a heavy club.

So frail and powerless, yet so overwhelmingly forceful.

For a moment, Chen Junqiang felt a tightness in his chest and did not know how to speak. He was good at maintaining public order and catching criminals, but he truly had no idea how to comfort someone—someone who had lost both parents and still had to raise a Younger Sister who appeared to be less than a year old.

And the Little One in the Baby Carriage was still so young. That meant Mo Jingchun could not have lost his mother more than a year ago, perhaps not even half a year ago.

Had she died in childbirth?

Chen Junqiang did not know, nor would he rashly ask. Otherwise, how would that be any different from rubbing salt into Mo Jingchun's still-unhealed wound?

Standing behind Chen Junqiang, Du Xiaohan, who was only 165 centimeters tall, could not see the contents of the Household Registration Book at all. But she had seen every change in Chen Junqiang's expression.

That made Du Xiaohan even more curious. What kind of information could cause such a rich shift in a police officer's expression?

Was the Household Registration Book fake? The moment the thought arose, Du Xiaohan rejected it herself.

In the Internet age, if the Household Registration Book were fake, even a quick check would expose it. There was no need to forge one, especially since Du Xiaohan had just seen the officer verify its information on his phone.

The officer had not immediately said there was a problem with the Household Registration Book, which only further proved that it was genuine and there was nothing wrong with it.

What unusual information could possibly be in the Household Registration Book? Du Xiaohan truly could not think of anything. She had used one a few times, but she had never paid much attention to its details.

In Du Xiaohan's impression, the Household Registration Book only listed a name, home address, Identity Card number, gender, education level, and date of birth.

The crowd gathered around them never stopped talking. Some people laughed, some wore looks of disgust, and some who had only just come over looked astonished after hearing what everyone was saying.

"Everyone, please disperse. There's nothing going on, so don't make wild guesses."

The first thing Chen Junqiang thought of was getting the onlookers to leave.

A loud-voiced middle-aged woman in the crowd asked:

"Officer, he isn't stealing a child, is he?"

The moment the woman finished speaking, Chen Junqiang's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly shook his head. "Nothing like that, Auntie."

After a pause, Chen Junqiang added, "I was only conducting a routine check."

"Please disperse quickly, everyone. Don't frighten the child."

"Oh, oh."

Though most people looked reluctant, they still scattered and found places to sit. A small number walked away, but continued watching from the corners of their eyes.

With a stiff smile, Chen Junqiang returned the admission notice and Household Registration Book in his hand to Mo Jingchun.

"Here, your belongings."

Mo Jingchun did not raise his head. He silently accepted the Jing University admission notice and Household Registration Book returned by the officer, then turned and crouched down to carefully put the two important items back into his suitcase.

He could understand the officer and that woman's actions, but understanding them did not make the pain in his heart any easier to control.

At a time like this, Mo Jingchun could have pointed at the woman behind the officer and snapped, "Are you sick?" leaving her speechless.

"Sorry, I..." Chen Junqiang had not even finished speaking before Mo Jingchun cut him off.

"It's fine."

Mo Jingchun took a tissue from his pocket and wiped away the milk dribbling from his Younger Sister Candy's mouth onto her chin. The Little One frowned in dissatisfaction.

At a loss, Chen Junqiang was poked in the back by Du Xiaohan, who had remained silent the whole time. Turning around, he shook his head twice at Du Xiaohan, who was a head shorter than him, signaling for her not to speak.

After they had left Mo Jingchun's spot and gone some distance away, Chen Junqiang finally explained things to Du Xiaohan.

"Don't take it to heart. What you did was right. Better safe than sorry."

After saying that, Chen Junqiang left and headed toward the convenience store not far from the restroom, leaving the silent Du Xiaohan behind.

"Was it really right?"

Du Xiaohan seemed to be asking herself, but also asking the officer.

Du Xiaohan looked toward that thin, small figure bent over at the waist. The difference was that there was no longer a smile on his face as there had been before.

And she had caused all of it.

After washing Candy's Milk Bottle clean, Mo Jingchun was just about to drag his luggage back to his seat.

"I'll pull it for you."

Du Xiaohan wanted to help Mo Jingchun pull the suitcase, but Mo Jingchun's right hand, which rested on the handle, did not let go.

What happened next left Du Xiaohan dumbfounded.

One refused to let go, while the other felt guilty and was too anxious.

Du Xiaohan's fingernail scratched a white mark across Mo Jingchun's right hand. The white mark turned red at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, it started bleeding.

Fortunately, the blood quickly clotted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to."

Du Xiaohan was at a complete loss, only repeating, "I'm sorry," and "I didn't mean to," over and over.

Expressionless, Mo Jingchun lowered his head and glanced at his right hand, then raised his head and looked at that annoying woman.

"Auntie, could you please move out of the way?" Mo Jingchun was practically gritting his teeth.

Even a monk had some temper, let alone Mo Jingchun, a teenager at such an impulsive age.

Back when he was in school, Mo Jingchun would never have endured things like this.

Only after returning to his seat did Mo Jingchun carefully examine the scratch on his right hand.

"What bad luck! If I'd known this would happen, I would've left a day earlier."

"What happened?" Chen Junqiang asked as he sat in the seat beside Mo Jingchun.

Faced with the returning officer's question, Mo Jingchun fell silent for a moment before saying, "Nothing. A cat accidentally scratched my right hand."

"A cat? I'm often on duty here. How come I've never seen any cats?" Chen Junqiang asked in confusion.

"It already ran away. Maybe it just happened to come here today."