"You mentioned a child just now. Was the passenger you picked up a kid?"
"Yes, well... Not that little. He looked like he was in his teens, fifteen or sixteen. He was kind of skinny, and not very tall—about 1.7 meters, I guess. He was dressed like a student, too: a T-shirt and track pants, with a black backpack. He had short hair, the kind of haircut students get—not like some punk. When I drove over, he was still on the phone, trying to find someone. I was pretty surprised when I realized it was him. I don't know if it was... Anyway, seeing a good-looking kid who seemed like a model student out in a place like that so late at night... After he got in, I said a little more than usual and tried to strike up a conversation."
"Did he answer you?"
"He didn't answer every question, but he did answer some... The destination was on the order, so I asked if he'd been out having fun or was going home, things like that. He just went 'Mm' a few times. When I asked if he was alone and why he was out so late, he didn't say anything. He was sitting in the back, behind the passenger seat, and I could see him in the rearview mirror. He looked out the window, and sometimes he played with his phone. That time, aside from not being much of a talker, he seemed perfectly normal. Then..."
"You picked up a lot of rides he ordered?"
"Yeah, a lot. But not every day—just once every few months."
"Were the pickup and drop-off locations always the same?"
"Yeah. The pickup was always on Pengbai Road, and the destination was always a residential complex called Huicheng Garden. I'd stop at the