Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1237 597: Ever-Changing Hidden Form Space (Part 4)

Dumpling had already looked through the schedule: "This schedule doesn't prove anything. Maybe it's just that his family has a stronger sense of time. Everyone has their own way of living, everyone has their own pursuits. We can't use our own standards to judge others."

Chuuni took out a flyer: "This was found inside Zhang Peiwen's pillow, a flyer for smartphones. The cheapest model on it was only six hundred and twenty-eight yuan.

He drew several circles around the number six hundred and twenty-eight. If he had any spending power, what he'd be going after would definitely be this phone, not a taxi!"

Ming Xing said, "It's not like it proves he definitely wanted to take a cab. That driver said at the time Zhang Peiwen kept looking at him. He thought Zhang Peiwen wanted a ride, so the misunderstanding happened."

"There wouldn't be that kind of misunderstanding!" Chuuni shook his head repeatedly. "When I don't have money for a cab, I never dare stare at taxis. I imagine all of you have had similar experiences."

Light Bulb laughed and said, "That's not necessarily true. I dare to look."

Li Banfeng asked Light Bulb, "When was the last time you took a taxi? You had a car to drive as soon as you graduated."

"Maybe…" Some things were already starting to show their clues, but Dumpling was still trying to defend Ai Xiafen. "As a mother, maybe there are problems with the way she treats her child,

but that doesn't negate her love for him. I saw the ingredients in the kitchen—she'd prepared his favorite stir-fried carrots. She's still waiting for her child to come home."

"Stir-fried carrots." Chuuni looked over at Li Banfeng. "Bureau Chief Li, do you remember how Zhang Qinghai reacted when carrots were brought up?"

Li Banfeng had a very deep impression of that scene: "He wanted to look for his son, his reaction was very intense, like he couldn't wait to rush out of the house."

"He did want to rush out of the house, but not necessarily to look for his son. He probably just didn't want to eat carrots anymore. He wanted to escape this home." Chuuni took out a stack of receipts. "These are the grocery receipts from this month from the supermarket. Their family buys carrots every single day.

I opened their fridge—there were several plates of stir-fried carrots inside, and lots of raw carrots. With a diet like that, who could still stand carrots? How could Zhang Peiwen possibly be willing to eat carrots?

This is what Zhang Peiwen's life was: eating the same food every day, doing the same things every day. Every move he made was under Ai Xiafen's surveillance and control— even his bedroom door was transparent."

Dumpling stayed silent for a long time. She really couldn't understand why a family relationship like this would exist. "If Zhang Peiwen were willing to find a job for himself and support himself with his own income, he wouldn't have to be under so much control."

Chuuni picked up the schedule: "Captain You, you heard Ai Xiafen's account too. He goes out at three to buy medicine, and if he isn't back by three-forty, Ai Xiafen will go to the pharmacy to look for him.

The time leeway Ai Xiafen leaves Zhang Peiwen is no more than ten minutes. He can't even go straight from the pharmacy to buy vegetables. He has to stay at home for half an hour before going out to buy groceries.

Under this level of control, do you think Zhang Peiwen could find a job? Would Ai Xiafen ever allow him to look for a job?"

Dumpling had nothing more to say.

Chuuni sorted through the evidence: "Captain You, growing up in different environments leads to different understandings of things. I've seen this situation before in people I know. So I'm not exactly surprised by these findings.

But on one point, we've reached a consensus. I also don't think there's any need to keep investigating that taxi driver."

Light Bulb was stunned. "What kind of logic is that? We've been talking all this time just to pin down the suspicious points about the taxi driver, haven't we? Now that we've found them, you say we're not going to check him out?"

Chuuni shook his head. "What's the point of investigating him? To rescue Zhang Peiwen? For Zhang Peiwen, anywhere is better than staying at home. Instead of dragging him back into the fire pit, we might as well do something else that's actually useful."

Dumpling disagreed. "You can't use a single case to stand in for everything. Once Gourd Village opens, there will be a lot of people disappearing. Their situations won't be the same as Zhang Peiwen's."

This time Chuuni said nothing. Everyone turned to look at Li Banfeng; in the end, this still had to be his call.

Li Banfeng was thinking about an important question: "What exactly is it like inside Gourd Village? Which of you wants to go take a look?"

PS: Happy National Day.