Small Steps
After several days, they received some good news regarding Alice. She's been getting some psychological treatments and more support from the school and the hospital. Upon hearing the news, Xinyan finally felt relieved.
She's been writing on reports on other cases while Yuze has been stuck in his office for quite some time without resting or eating. Xinyan got up and peeked inside of his office. Looks like he's working on some stuff, she whispered to herself.
She was about to leave him alone when Officer Lu interrupted her.
"Miss. Zhang, could you give these to our team leader? Those are some materials he needed. I need to go to the bathroom. Nature's call." He gave everything to Xinyan before running away, while she looked dumbfounded.
Alright then, Xinyan whispered under her breath as she walked over to Yuze's office and knocked on his door.
"Officer Jiang, these materials are for you. I'll place it here." Xinyan looked at Yuze's emotionless expression and somehow, she felt sadness inside of her. She didn't know why. Yuze looked up at her and said. "Finished looking?" Xinyan turned to him and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'll finish my work and give it to you." She hasn't been this nervous ever since she came here.
"What's wrong with me?" Xinyan struggled to make a conversation with him. A few seconds later, she remembered the picture that was on Yuze's desk. Who was that person? She thought to herself. After a while, she shook her head and told herself to finish her work first. She didn't want to be a busybody.
After handing in her report to Yuze, he said nothing but nodded. Xinyan looked at her watch and said, "Officer Jiang, I'm going to leave for the day. Let me know if you need anything." Yuze looked at his watch as well and replied, "Have you eaten yet?" Xinyan shook her head.
"Are you okay with spicy food?" He asked her.
"I'm okay with anything. Spicy food is great." She replied with a slight smile. Yuze nodded and wore his light jacket.
"There's a restaurant beside the station, or do you want to go to the mall to eat?" He asked while they walked down the hallway. "They're all within walking distance."
"Beside the station. It's closer." Xinyan blushed as they walked together. It was her first time eating dinner with Yuze.
"Officer Jiang, I have a question." Xinyan placed her hand inside her jacket out of habit when she's nervous. Yuze faced her while they walked outside. "What is it?"
Xinyan tried not to stutter, but Yuze was very intimidating. The atmosphere was nerve-wracking for her.
"I saw a photo of you on your desk a while ago. Who's the person beside you?"
Yuze remained silent for a while, then replied, "He's Haoran. The person I'm looking for the past ten years. When I was in university, he disappeared one day without saying a word. I was desperate to find him, but I couldn't. How about you and your brother?"
"Wait, how did you know I have a brother?" It surprised Xinyan that Yuze somehow remembered it. She looked at him as if he's a fortune teller.
"Don't tell me you forgot. You called me a few days ago." He looked annoyed, but then he sighed. He took his phone out and showed it to her. Xinyan smiled a bit. "Oh right, I called you." She acted silly to lighten up the atmosphere.
"We're here."
Xinyan and Yuze went up the stairs to the restaurant. There were a few people since it was getting late, but they got a good seat beside the window. Since it was already past 9 p.m, the restaurant also had a special discount after nine at night.
"What would you like to eat?" Yuze asked Xinyan while they looked at the menu.
"I'll pick the same as you. What are you choosing?" Xinyan replied.
"Cold spicy rice noodle with a few side dishes. It's a combo." Yuze took her menu and asked the server to bring two cold spicy rice noodles. He also added hot water with lemonade for Xinyan. After several minutes, their dishes came and Xinyan couldn't wait to taste it.
"Wow, this looks great. Officer Jiang, thank you." She was grateful and eased up a bit. The restaurant itself looked very cozy and welcoming. They also play one of her favorite songs in the background.
After they finished eating their dinner, Yuze paid the bill. He received a phone call from the station a few minutes after they were outside.
"What is it?" He replied.
"Team leader, something bad happened at the station. You need to come back right now." Officer Han was on the phone and Yuze looked at Xinyan.
"Xinyan, something bad happened at the station. Do you want to follow me or go back and sleep?"
"I'll follow you." She replied in a jiffy.
"Okay, let's go."
Once they got to the station, Yuze and Xinyan heard the ruckus. What is this about? She wondered. Yuze asked Officer Han about the situation and he explained in quickly.
"This mother hasn't seen her daughter since last night. She was desperate and asked us for help. Since you weren't here, I only jotted down some few points."He handed his notebook and nodded. "Xinyan, you take over and ask her more questions. We need all the information possible." Xinyan thought she heard it wrong. Yuze left this job to her.
She shook her head and told herself to concentrate. This is not the time, Xinyan. Concentrate.
While Xinyan asked the mother, she tried her best to jot down important points. Those points will be very useful later on. Yuze asked Officer Han to get the victim's information. Yuze sat in his chair and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He hasn't slept well for the past few days. His head hurts whenever he's stressed. After drinking some water, he went out and asked Xinyan whether she got other information.
"Here is all the information I got so far." Xinyan handed Officer Han's notebook to Yuze. He nodded and asked her to get some headache medicine for him from the pharmacy beside the station.
"I'll transfer money to your WeChat account right now." Yuze tried his best to concentrate while waiting for Xinyan.
Xinyan sighed and went to the pharmacy. She asked herself whether this job is suitable for her because she felt like a post-it girl around Yuze.