This made Yi Heye very uncomfortable.
What he didn't realize was that this time he didn't have evidence to prove SHEEP's complete innocence, but he had begun to believe in SHEEP unconditionally.
At this moment, seeing his silent demeanor, Gu Wenwen's tears instantly flowed down her cheeks.
She trembled as she grabbed Yi Heye's sleeve, pleading, "Please help me, I haven't seen him in so long... I really miss him..."
Upon hearing this, Yi Heye, who rarely empathized with others, suddenly felt a slight touch on his heart.
He thought about the feeling of sadness he had when he held Xiaoyunduo last night, and it was truly rare. He seemed to understand her feelings of "missing" someone.
The phone call hadn't ended yet. He looked at Gu Wenwen, whose eyes were red from crying, and hesitated.
Acting impulsively and being helpful are not his habits, but recalling what Zhou Wenkai had said, he still said, "...Okay, I'll take this case."
The truth coming out might clear SHEEP of suspicion.
—He might be able to come back once the case is over.
Author's Note:
Don't listen to his nonsense, Boss Mei is already on his way!
(Even a little cloud won't break the bed while sleeping!)
Chapter 87, number 087
When Yi Heye agreed to take the case, almost everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that no matter how difficult the problem is, it can be easily solved when Yi Heye is around.
"Thank you... thank you..." Gu Wenwen sobbed uncontrollably, as if she could already see her husband being rescued by the powerful figure in front of her.
Yi Heye, who had agreed on a whim, gradually felt a sense of pressure after calming down.
Looking at Gu Wenwen, who seemed to be overflowing with gratitude towards him, he realized that this woman seemed to have placed all her hopes, which were of paramount importance to her life, on him alone.
This was something he had never faced in his previous missions—before, he had only hunted for the sake of hunting. He had no savior complex; he had never thought of saving anyone.
Yi Heye rubbed his temples helplessly, but since he had already agreed, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to learn about the case: "From what I understand, it seems that her husband is not the only one who has recently been reported missing."
If I remember correctly, Zhou Wenkai had told him before that there had been a “series” of strange disappearances recently, and the case files he had shown him should have contained at least a stack of missing persons reports.
“Yes!” The young policeman nodded. “Actually, there are quite a few missing persons reports every month. Most of them are cases of absconding with money, eloping after an affair, or running away from home. Occasionally, there are also peak periods like the one we are seeing now. But a while ago, when Captain Pei was doing his monthly summary, he discovered something unusual.”
According to the junior police officer, Pei Xiangjin, a model worker in the police force, would conduct very thorough big data analysis on the cases that occurred every once in a while.
During this month's monthly review, he discovered that the number of missing persons reports had reached an unprecedented and abnormally high peak.
With the continuous increase in population and the recent rise in social instability, it is not surprising that the record for the number of reported cases has been broken time and again.
However, he noted that while the number of other types of cases remained stable with normal fluctuations, the number of missing persons reports had been at an abnormally high peak for nearly half a year.
"The number of missing persons reports in the past six months has already exceeded the total number for the entire previous year," the young police officer said. "Moreover, the scope of missing persons is highly concentrated among young and middle-aged men aged 20 to 40—this is a huge difference from the data from previous years."
Yi Heye didn't understand big data statistics, but he managed to summarize the case in simple terms: "So, the number of missing people has suddenly increased in the past six months, and they are mainly young adults, is that right?"
The young policeman nodded: "Yes!"
"Is it really necessary to make something so simple sound so complicated?" Comrade Yi Heye, a fish that slipped through the net in the ocean of knowledge, thought to himself.
"After discovering this anomaly, Captain Pei led a team to screen the case files overnight," the young police officer said. "After ruling out some high-risk groups of missing persons, such as those with high-interest loan debts, infidelity in romantic relationships, family discord, and those suspected of having mental health issues, we found that there was a sudden increase in missing persons like Mr. Ke, who were mentally healthy, of good character, and living an active life."
Yi Heye summarized it for him again: "It's those who don't seem like they'd run away from home, who suddenly disappeared one after another."
The young policeman nodded again: "Yes, yes, as expected of you, your ability to summarize is excellent!"
The unpretentious linguist Yi Heye: "..."
This information didn't reveal anything. Yi Heye glanced at Gu Wenwen, who was becoming increasingly nervous as she listened, sighed, and decided to leave her house first, rather than discuss this issue in front of her.
"I'll go with you to the security department first, and you can get me all the necessary documents."
After Yi Heye finished speaking, he turned around and wanted to leave with Xiao Yunduo, but found that the unlucky child had sneaked into someone else's bedroom at some point, and was now sticking out his big butt and desperately scratching at the crack in the window with his two little hooves.
Yi Heye was in a bind. He rushed over, wanting to pull Xiaoyunduo out, but unexpectedly, the lady of the bedroom, Ms. Gu Wenwen, bent down and looked under the bed with him.
"What's wrong? Did the baby drop something down there?" Gu Wenwen asked patiently.
The little cloud scratched twice more, then turned back to look at her anxiously: "Baa!"
Most girls can't resist the requests of cute creatures, so they quickly find a clothesline and lie down to help it reach for things.
So Yi Heye watched helplessly as the two of them, crawling on the ground, began to communicate without any obstacles.
"Is that enough?" "Meow!"
"A little more to the left?" "Baa!"
Upon first encountering the language of sheep, Yi Heye was able to grasp its essence. After studying for so long and only barely managing to understand it, he couldn't help but marvel at this woman's extraordinary talent.
"Baa!" With a little cloud's excited cry, a tiny thing rolled out from under the bed.
It excitedly stomped its feet twice on the ground, then stretched out its hooves and pulled the little thing into its arms.
Yi Heye knew that it didn't belong to Xiaoyunduo, so he immediately frowned and said, "Xiaoyunduo, don't take other people's things without permission."
Little Cloud looked up at him pitifully, hesitated for a long time, and seemed to remember that she had promised to listen to him outside. She could only reluctantly push the thing out.
Yi Heye then realized that it was a commemorative coin, with a long-horned goat's head engraved on it.
Gu Wenwen glanced at the commemorative coin, then at Xiaoyunduo who was trying to hold back her tears, and immediately softened: "This thing might belong to my husband. I haven't seen it much. If it likes it, let it have it to play with."
Little Cloud's eyes immediately lit up, and she turned her head, stepping on her little hooves, to seek Yi Heye's permission.
Yi Heye thought it was attracted by the goat's head on the coin, so he pointed to the goat's head on the coin and patiently explained to it: "It is a goat, you are a sheep, you are not the same species."
The little cloud stamped its hoof impatiently: "Baa!"
It means "that also".
Yi Heye couldn't do anything about him, but fortunately Gu Wenwen agreed, so he bent down and patted Xiaoyunduo's head: "Quickly thank your sister."
Little Cloud immediately picked up the commemorative coin, straightened up very smartly, hugged its two front paws and bowed, like a little dog saying "Congratulations!": "Baa!"
Thanks to Fatty's healing, Gu Wenwen finally showed a rare smile that day.
After saying goodbye to Gu Wenwen, Xiao Yunduo happily followed Yi Heye out the door, a coin in her mouth.
As long as he wasn't deliberately trying to antagonize him, Yi Heye found that this guy was actually quite easy to manage.
After going downstairs, leading the fluffy and soft fat sheep down the street, Yi Heye was immediately met with envious glances from all around him—at that moment, amidst the envious looks, Yi Heye's vanity was satisfied.
He seemed to finally understand why Jian Yunxian liked to take it everywhere she went—owning a big white sheep was indeed a prestigious thing.
With the coin in hand, Little Cloud strutted confidently all the way, and Yi Heye, holding Little Cloud's hand, followed suit, head held high. The two, one big and one small, walked proudly to the parking space, and Xiao Ming, seeing this, honked his horn triumphantly in welcome.
The man, the sheep, and the cart arrived at the Security Department in high spirits, where Pei Xiangjin had arranged to meet with Yi Heye.
In front of the heavily guarded building, the security guard at the entrance stopped Xiaoyunduo in her tracks: "Excuse me, sir, pets are not allowed inside."
Little Cloud immediately looked at Yi Heye with a pitiful expression. Yi Heye received the signal in his eyes and immediately felt that his Little Cloud had been bullied.
“It’s not a pet, it’s mine…” Yi Heye hesitated for a moment, then looked into Xiaoyun’s eyes again and said firmly, “It’s my child—I’ve always treated it like my own.”
Under the guard's horrified gaze, Yi Heye patted Xiaoyunduo's bottom: "Quickly beg your uncle to let you in."
Little Cloud immediately stood up, picked up its two front hooves again, and bowed: "Baa!"
The guard's gaze immediately melted.
Just as he was frantically torn between his professional ethics and his heart's desires, Pei Xiangjin called: "Let him and his sheep in."
The guards, as if granted a pardon, quickly opened the gate and let them through.
Yi Heye rarely came to the Security Section. The building here was as grand as his own workplace, but compared to the innovative and free atmosphere of the Artificial Intelligence Administration, everything here seemed more solemn and rigorous, with an unspeakable sense of oppression.
Pei Xiangjin's office and the forensic room are on the same floor. Not long ago, Chen Mu spent the last days of her life in this building.
A period of numbness, confusion, and despair.
He knocked on Pei Xiangjin's office door, where the man was discussing the case with Yu Yili. When he saw Yi Heye arrive, he stood up, gesturing for Yi Heye to sit on the sofa, while casually rubbing Xiaoyunduo's forehead with oil.
Little Cloud bleated in dissatisfaction, then hugged his precious coin and hid in a corner of the room to play happily.
Yi Heye gave a brief greeting and then sat down on the sofa without any hesitation.
Both of them are straightforward and direct, skipping over those annoying formalities and opening remarks.
Pei Xiangjin once again laid out the documents that Yi Heye had read but couldn't bear to read in front of him: "I remember these materials, and I've already sent them to your Director Zhou."
Yi Heye was unwilling to admit to him that he didn't want to read, so he could only pretend to look at the documents in front of him again: "I actually just wanted to hear what Captain Pei had to say."
Pei Xiangjin nodded: "Although these cases seem unrelated when viewed individually, based on my many years of experience in handling cases, I believe they are very likely the work of the same gang, possibly involving pyramid schemes, kidnapping, fraud, murder, or a combination of these."
Pei Xiangjin launched into his academically-sounding written speech, leaving Yi Heye feeling dizzy and disoriented.
He quickly flipped through the stacks of documents, his gaze automatically filtering out all the text and focusing only on the photos of the missing persons' identification documents.
“The data you’re seeing is the result after filtering out the non-abnormal data, which is the remaining group of people who ‘disappeared without reason’,” Pei Xiangjin said. “In fact, it’s too arbitrary to classify their disappearances as a series of cases for unified investigation now. Apart from my experience in handling cases, I don’t have any direct evidence…”
At this moment, Yi Heye suddenly stopped flipping through the photos. He looked up and asked Pei Xiangjin, "Captain Pei, have you noticed that these missing people seem to have some commonalities?"
Upon hearing this, Pei Xiangjin looked over intently.
Yi Heye picked out these photos separately, lined them up, and said, "They are all quite good-looking."
Pei Xiangjin remained silent, very seriously.
Yi Heye realized that he seemed to have misunderstood him, and cleared his throat awkwardly, saying, "I mean seriously. If you look closely at their facial features, they all at least meet the general definition of being well-proportioned."
Pei Xiangjin frowned and carefully examined the faces in front of him, finding it no less difficult than Yi Heye reading a thesis.
After a long pause, he reluctantly agreed, "It's alright, I guess."
Yi Heye nodded: "From what I understand, these people generally have a decent lifestyle."
“Yes, at least they have no criminal record,” Pei Xiangjin said.
Yi Heye: "And I just checked, and they are all over 1.8 meters tall, without exception."
Pei Xiangjin remained silent for a moment.
Just as Yi Heye thought this guy was seriously considering the clues he had given him, Pei Xiangjin looked up at him and said seriously, "Mr. Yi, I didn't expect you to have such a deep understanding of men."