I looked up and saw my younger sister standing in the doorway of my room in her teddy bear pajamas.
"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled. She craned her neck curiously to glance at the files on my desk. "What are you looking at?" The teddy bear on her belly stretched out of shape, its face looking a little comical.
I relaxed and casually closed the file. "Work stuff. Go to bed early, and don't stay up reading too late."
"Mm. I was just about to wash up. Good night!"
"Good night." I shut down the computer, tidied everything up, and went to bed.
At work the next day, I gave Zheng Xiaorui's contact information to Skinny. He was so grateful he nearly clung to my leg and kissed my shoes.
"All right, go find her already." I pushed Skinny away, laughing helplessly.
Just then, Guo Yujie called out to me. "The neighborhood committee just called. Uncle Wang is back."
Uncle Wang's full name was Wang Hongzhang. He lived in Workers and Peasants Sixth Village and was one of the people Guo Yujie and I were assigned to "mediate" with. Shortly after the demolition office was established, he had gone to another province to visit his daughter and her family. We still hadn't met him.
Uncle Wang had been put on our mediation list because the neighborhood committee had given us some information about him.
His only daughter lived in another city, so he should have been easy to persuade. It would have been best for him to take the compensation and move near her. But two years earlier, his wife had gone missing while out buying groceries, and no one had found her since. Auntie Wang didn't have dementia. Surveillance footage showed her leaving the market and turning into a small street, but she never came out the other end. The police searched that street for a long time, then combed the surrounding area, but found nothing. The case became a dead end, and all sorts of theories sprang up—murder and dismemberment, an alien abduction. Everyone had a different explanation, but they all agreed on one thing: something had happened to Auntie Wang, and she was unlikely to return. The police had kept the case open for two years without finding a single clue. Uncle Wang had probably been so shaken by it that he'd become a little senile on the subject. He insisted that his wife had simply gone away and would come back someday. As long as no one mentioned her, he acted like anyone else. But bring her up, and he'd start "talking nonsense," so no one knew what to say. A man like Uncle Wang would never agree to move because of the demolition. Even when his daughter offered to take him in, he refused. At most, he'd stay with her for a while each summer and winter holiday to help look after his little grandson.
Guo Yujie and I both knew how difficult Uncle Wang's situation was. Compared with the Greenleaf Paranormal Agency, where people disappeared without a trace and no bodies were ever found, Uncle Wang's story was more the kind that belonged on "Touching China." Guo Yujie was a tough woman on the outside but softhearted inside, and she'd cried when she heard about him. But we still had a job to do, and if Uncle Wang went on like this, who knew what would happen? His daughter was very worried, and the neighbors often sighed over it, too.
We went to Workers and Peasants Sixth Village and found Uncle Wang with the neighborhood committee's help.
Uncle Wang was a kindly-looking old man. He cheerfully invited us in, nodded to Guo Yujie and me, whom he'd never met, then asked Director Mao from the neighborhood committee, "Mao, what's the matter today?"
"Uncle Wang, these two are Lin and Guo from the demolition office." Director Mao introduced us first.
As soon as he heard the words "demolition office," the smile vanished from Uncle Wang's face. He stared in surprise. "They're demolishing our place?"
"Now, Uncle Wang, you know this old neighborhood has been hoping for redevelopment for years! The government's plans have finally reached us. The demolition office is already set up, and the work will officially begin before long." Director Mao spoke with cheerful enthusiasm.
She wasn't wrong. Plenty of people in old neighborhoods hoped for demolition. They'd get new homes and compensation money—in other words, a windfall. Many people who claimed they didn't want to move were just trying to drive up the price, using their objections as a bargaining tactic with the demolition office. When negotiations stalled, it was because they couldn't agree on the price. The demolition office always had ways to handle people like that, but Uncle Wang wasn't one of them.
"I'm not moving. My wife hasn't come back yet. If I move, how will she find me?" Uncle Wang grew agitated.
"Ah, Uncle Wang..." Director Mao sighed and looked at him with sympathy.
"Anyway, I'm not moving. Don't you have to conduct some kind of survey before the demolition? I don't agree!" Uncle Wang said firmly.
"You mean the demolition intention survey. If eighty percent of the residents agree, the demolition work will officially begin," I explained.
"Even if everyone else agrees, I don't. I'm not moving." Uncle Wang slumped back against the sofa like a child throwing a tantrum on the floor.
"Sir, Director Mao has told us about your situation," Guo Yujie said gently. "Here's what the demolition office can do: we'll contact the public security bureaus in different provinces and cities and search nationwide for your wife. What do you think?"
Uncle Wang froze.
Director Mao quickly chimed in. "That's right, Uncle Wang. The director of the demolition office is a senior leader. He can put in a word for you. Not just our district police station and the city public security bureau—even police bureaus across the country can help look for Auntie Wang."
Uncle Wang fell silent and sat up straight again.
Guo Yujie and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Guo Yujie hadn't made that promise off the cuff, nor was she trying to deceive Uncle Wang. She'd already discussed it with the senior leader, who had previously called some of his old comrades, former subordinates, and other contacts. He'd never held a particularly high position and had spent much of his career doing grassroots work, but he had a wealth of experience and was extremely skilled at dealing with people. His connections were beyond question. Many of the people who'd once worked under him had risen to high positions, which was why everyone called him "the senior leader." The nickname suited him. It wouldn't be hard for him to ask police bureaus across the country to check surveillance footage for a missing old woman.
It wasn't a difficult thing to arrange, but I didn't have much faith in the search. People didn't just vanish for no reason. If they hadn't found her in two years, the fact that she'd disappeared from the surveillance footage meant something had gone wrong. They hadn't found her anywhere in the city; finding her across the entire country seemed even less likely. Besides, she was an old woman, not a child or a young woman, let alone a strong, healthy man. The odds of Auntie Wang still being alive were slim. The local police had even theorized that the innocent Auntie Wang had gotten caught up in some kind of crime, been murdered, and buried. They'd followed that lead in their initial investigation, but found nothing on the small street or in the surrounding area.
Uncle Wang spoke up. "You really can search nationwide?"
"Mm-hmm. We really can!" Guo Yujie nodded firmly.
"Then...I'll agree once you find her." Uncle Wang hesitated.
Director Mao gave a helpless laugh. "Uncle Wang, the demolition office is starting the intention survey next month. The country's enormous. How could they possibly have an answer by then?"
"I won't move until I see my wife." Uncle Wang glanced at Guo Yujie and me. "How do I know you're not just trying to fool me? Once I sign the survey form and agree to the demolition, you could stop looking. Who would I be able to complain to then?"
Guo Yujie was about to try persuading him again.
My phone rang. I apologized to Uncle Wang and stepped aside to answer it.
It was Skinny. Once I picked up, he didn't say a word.
"What's wrong?" My heart gave a thud.
Skinny let out a mournful sigh over the phone. "Brother Qi, you're not messing with me, are you?"
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