The Kindergarten was quite old, but just convenient for people living in the nearby community. When encountered extreme weather, the children didn’t have to suffer too much on their way to school. So even though the kindergarten was small and the facilities in it were a bit old, people in the community were still willing to send their children there.

　　“Who are you looking for?” The old man at the gate stared at them suspiciously, as if they were criminals planning to sneak in to abduct children.

　　“We are from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. We would like to speak to the teacher of Lian Zihao to learn about the situation.” Yan Yang gestured for Qiu Feng to step back, and tried to force a smile as he looked at the old man.

　　“Let me see your certificates.” The old man was very distrustful, always feeling that these two guys in front of him might pull out some dangerous weapons at any moment and knock him down. Then all the children in the kindergarten would become their prey.

　　“Sir, here is my certificate. He is still a intern and does not have certificate yet.” Yan Yang handed his certificate to the old man and explained to him.

　　“Your Bureau has such low efficiency. They don’t even issue certificates to interns?” The old man carefully checked the photo on Yan’s certificate against his face.

　　“You seem to have aged a bit compared to the photo. There are more wrinkles here.” The old man pointed to his own face, indicating that Yan’s appearance didn’t quite match the photo.

　　“Well, that’s a photo from ten years ago. I’ve been working hard every day, so of course I’ll age.” Yan thought to himself that the old man was inspecting too closely.

　　“Alright, you two come in. I’ll call the teacher to come out.” The old man opened the side door of the kindergarten and let them wait in the reception room.

　　“Hello, officers, I’m Lian Zihao’s teacher. This is our principal, Ms. Chang. May I ask what brings you here?” A woman in her thirties pushed open the door, followed by a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties.

　　“Oh, don’t be so serious. We’re just here to gather some information.” Yan and Qiu quickly stood up from their chairs, surprised that the principal was also present.

　　“Yes, Ms. Chen is very responsible. She informed me that since Lian Zihao recently lost his father, you must come here for this. So, I came to listen as well.” Ms. Chang gestured for them to sit down.

　　“We didn’t want to involve the child in this matter, but there are some things we need to understand indirectly.” Qiu opened his notebook, ready to take notes.

　　“Oh, we know very little about this child’s family. We talk about his behavior in the kindergarten with his parents. When a child’s behavior is unusual, we will talk to the parents to see if anything has happened to the family recently.” Ms. Chen explained.

　　“You knew about Lian Zihao’s father?” Yan was surprised that even the kindergarten was aware of it.

　　“Yes, yesterday afternoon Lian Zihao’s mother suddenly came to the kindergarten and picked him up, saying that something had happened to his father.” Ms. Chen recalled.

　　“What time did the child arrive at school yesterday morning?” Qiu suddenly remembered what the owner of the breakfast shop had said, that the woman came with a child.

　　“I remember he was late. He came crying and said he didn’t want to come. Children in the middle and senior classes are usually not supposed to do so. Only children who have just entered kindergarten would cry and refuse to come to school.” Ms. Chen recalled what happened yesterday.

　　“Did the child say why?” Qiu continued to inquire.

　　“I asked the child, but he only said he was scared and that people were fighting. As a teacher, I was not supposed to ask more. I had to comfort him for a long time before he quieted down.” Ms. Chen felt helpless. She had never seen children at this age cry when going to kindergarten.

　　“Dis he show similar behavior before?” Yan asked.

　　“This child’s temperament has never been particularly good since he came here. When he first came, he cried a lot and wouldn’t let his mother leave. Later, he started hitting people, and other children didn’t like to play with him. Even in kindergarten, he always kept to himself and didn’t like to interact with other children.” Ms. Chen felt troubled by Lian Zihao. Such children were the most difficult to handle, and in the end, the teachers just left him alone as long as he wouldn’t disturb others.

　　“Do his parents know about this?” Yan and Qiu had a rough idea. With a child’s personality like this, it was highly likely that the family was unhappy, with constant quarrels between the parents, causing the child to become solitary, distrustful of others, and even unusually temperamental.

　　“We don’t know about that. Every time someone comes to pick up the child, it’s his mother, and during parent-teacher meetings, it’s also his mother. We’ve never seen his father.” Ms. Chang explained that as teachers, they could only provide feedback on the child’s situation and couldn’t actively inquire about the parents’ affairs.

　　“Oh right, there was one time when it wasn’t the mother who came to pick up the child, but a middle-aged man. He said he was the child’s uncle, a friend of the child’s father. We even called the mother to confirm. It turned out that the mother couldn’t come to pick up the child that day due to something urgent, so she entrusted the child’s father’s friend to do it.” Ms. Chen suddenly remembered something.

　　“Did that man have any distinctive features?” Yan and Qiu exchanged glances. Could that man be Zhao Pengcheng?

　　“Well, he looked very fierce, and there was a scar on his face here. As preschool teachers, if it’s not the child’s usual guardian who comes to pick them up, we’ll remember the features of the person. Besides, this man had very distinctive features, so I remember him very clearly.” Ms. Chen said, pointing to her cheek to indicate where the scar was.

　　“Can we go and see Lian Zihao? We won’t approach him, just observe through the glass.” Yan tentatively asked.

　　“Yes, his class is getting ready for lunch now. I can take you to see him.” Ms. Chen gestured for them to follow her.

　　The children in the classroom were lining up for lunch, except for one little boy who was hiding in the corner of the classroom, still holding a paintbrush and drawing.

　　“The boy drawing over there is Lian Zihao. He never participates in any group activities. Even for lunchtime, he has to wait until the other children start eating before he comes over.” Ms. Chen shook her head, truly puzzled by what kind of family environment this child was living in and why he had developed such a personality.

　　“The only profession in the world that doesn’t require an exam is being a parent, so many people just go ahead and have children without realizing the responsibility it entails,” Yan sighed.

　　“Yeah, the negative impact of the family of origin probably takes a lifetime to heal,” Qiu Feng said. When he was young, his parents were very busy with their work, and he was often left alone at home, cooking, eating, and spending lonely nights by himself.

　　This led to intense rebellion during his adolescence. He didn’t want to accept anything his parents said, which led him to run away from the strict school environment at the age of fifteen, and that’s when something happened that changed his life. But if it weren’t for that incident, he wouldn’t have known that his parents still loved him. After that, his parents began to reflect deeply on themselves, wondering if they had spent too little time with their child, which led him to do such a thing, and almost cost him his life. So in the days that followed, they made a special effort to spend time with him, from daily life to studies, starting to pay attention to him. Coupled with his own belief, this helped him get back on track.

　　As Qiu Feng was thinking about these things, Lian Zihao in the corner had already stood up. He silently walked to the cupboard, took out his bowl and chopsticks.

　　“What would you like to eat, Little Hao? Today we have braised pork and oyster sauce lettuce. Look, there’s not much meat left. Next time, can you come earlier for lunch? I’ll save you some more braised pork,” the teacher serving the food smiled at Lian Zihao, took his bowl, and put the remaining braised pork in it.

　　“I don’t like squeezing with others. I don’t care if there is meat or not,” Lian Zihao replied coldly, without any other reaction.

　　This sentence left the teacher stunned in place.

　　“The child is already like this at such a young age, what will happen when he grows up?” Ms. Chang sighed. She had been a teacher for many years, from preschool teacher to kindergarten principal, and had seen hundreds of children, but had never seen one with such a solitary personality.

　　“I just hope his mother will treat him better in the future,” Yan sighed, wondering what would happen if the father’s role was absent, and the mother had to raise the child alone. Although it would be very difficult, presumably there wouldn’t be as many conflicts as before.

　　By this time, the children had finished eating one after another, putting their bowls and chopsticks into a large bucket in front of the teacher.

　　Yan signaled to Qiu with his eyes, and the latter immediately understood.

　　“Ms. Chang, Ms. Chen, I just remembered something. Could you help me check if Lian Zihao’s mother left any information here? It might be useful,” Qiu blocked Yan with his body. The teachers in the classroom were busy wiping the children’s mouths, washing their hands, and taking them to the toilet, so no one noticed that Yan had swiftly used the cotton swab for evidence collection to wipe the chopsticks Lian Zihao had used. Then he put it into the evidence bag, running back.

　　“His mother didn’t leave any information either. What are you looking for?” Ms. Chen didn’t expect this tall, handsome young police officer to come forward and push them. She had just been busy protecting the principal, making sure Qiu Feng didn’t push her over.

　　“Oh, it’s nothing. We’ll be leaving now. If there’s anything, we’ll come back,” Qiu saw that Yan had successfully obtained the evidence. He spread his hands out and took a few steps back, indicating that he had no other intentions.

　　“Hey, this young man, why is he so impatient? He seemed quite reliable just now,” Ms. Chen quickly turned around to check if the principal was injured.

　　“These two young men, they’re really good. With elite officers like them in the police force, we can live a peaceful life,” Ms. Chang exclaimed, then went back to her office.