After saying those words, Huang Xiaoli was extremely agitated. She casually tossed her phone onto the coffee table.
Having expressed her stance, she looked a bit exhausted. She slumped onto the sofa limply, burying her head in her hands, looking extremely pained.
"Why me?"
Tang Tang couldn't bear to watch. She walked up to Huang Xiaoli and gave her a big hug.
Huang Xiaoli's body trembled slightly. No matter how care - free she usually was, she was still a girl after all.
"It's okay, Huang Xiaoli. Cheer up. Zuo and I will always be here with you."
Tang Tang's eyes were firm.
Zuo Mu sighed in his seat and then got up. He placed his long, slender hand on Huang Xiaoli's shoulder and said, "It's not your fault. Catching the culprit is the only thing we can do now."
His voice was gentle with a unique timbre, like gurgling water, sounding reliable and soothing. After a brief breakdown, Huang Xiaoli wiped away her tears with the encouragement of the two.
"Indeed, it's not my fault." As if giving herself a psychological hint, Huang Xiaoli wiped her face and sniffed. She was usually so carefree, which was completely inconsistent with her strong and beautiful looks.
Tang Tang breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Huang Xiaoli had emerged from her dejected mood. She sat down next to Huang Xiaoli and patiently persuaded her, "Are we still friends?"
"Of course we are."
"Then let me take a look at the information."
"But..." Huang Xiaoli hesitated. She looked at Zuo Mu pleadingly, trying to gauge his reaction.
But Tang Tang blocked her view mercilessly. Tang Tang directly held out her hand, with an unusually serious expression, "If you consider me a friend, just hand it over. We'll bear everything together."
Huang Xiaoli: ...
When did Tang Tang become so terrifying?
Under Tang Tang's "authority", she had no choice but to hand over her phone.
To some extent, Zuo Mu's silence also represented his attitude, right?
Huang Xiaoli cautiously glanced at Zuo Mu and found that this guy was actually tilting his head and pretending to look out of the window.
It seemed that he had completely given up on controlling Tang Tang.
Sigh.
Huang Xiaoli sighed.
These two people were singing in chorus. She had no idea what they were up to.
Zuo Mu thought simply. He had given his advice. Tang Tang's mental maturity far exceeded that of her peers. If he really couldn't persuade her, he could only let her do as she pleased. After all, even he couldn't say anything about her concern for her friend.
So, Tang Tang picked up the phone triumphantly.
She opened the message and was startled by Wang Lin's slightly gloomy ID photo.
In the photo, probably because it was an ID photo, Wang Lin's expression looked lifeless, and she seemed unhappy facing the camera.
Even so, since she was still young, she had a delicate appearance, a narrow oval face, slightly cold and slanting eyes, and a delicate nose. Occasionally, one could still detect a bit of the charm of a teenage girl.
What kind of person would hate such a harmless girl so much?
Those who had a little knowledge of criminal investigation knew that the golden time for a missing - person case was within 72 hours. If there was still no news after 72 hours, the outcome was probably not good.
The culprit had silently kidnapped Wang Lin without asking for money. So far, Wang Lin's parents hadn't received a single call.
So they could only think of the worst - case scenario.
It was hard to say whether Wang Lin was still alive.
Tang Tang felt a bit sad. Just a few days ago, she had seen Wang Lin playing ball on the playground. The sun was shining brightly. Wang Lin was wearing her school uniform, looking young and beautiful, and holding a tennis racket happily.
She stared at the photo for a long time. Zuo Mu timely woke her up, "What's wrong? Do you think there's something wrong with this photo?"
Huang Xiaoli was also a bit nervous. After all, Tang Tang had been the leader of their group since childhood, being smart and clever. Maybe she could really spot something.
Tang Tang stared at the photo from top to bottom for a long time. Zuo Mu didn't notice anything wrong. Did Tang Tang have a new train of thought? His curiosity was piqued.
"Don't look at me like that."
Tang Tang felt that their looks were too expectant. She shrugged and returned the phone to Huang Xiaoli, "I can't see anything either. Brother Zuo is so smart but he didn't find anything, let alone a little girl like me."
Zuo Mu realized that this was revenge for his earlier comment about her being young.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at the little girl's defiant eyes full of vitality, for some reason, his heart skipped a beat.
Suppressing the inexplicable impulse in his heart, he couldn't help but reach out and ruffle Tang Tang's hair. It felt good.
The girl exuded a faint fragrance of shampoo, which smelled nice but also disturbed Zuo Mu's mind.
"Just say what you think, Tang Tang. Don't be nervous." Zuo Mu's powerful voice penetrated Tang Tang's eardrums, as if giving her endless strength.
"Why on earth did you come here?" To confirm something, Tang Tang repeatedly asked Zuo Mu.
Zuo Mu, who was suddenly asked this question, was obviously a bit stunned.
"Is this relevant to this matter?" After the moment of stun, Zuo Mu thought it was a bit funny. This little girl was really vigilant all the time.
"Of course it is."
Tang Tang looked serious, as if she wouldn't let it go until Zuo Mu explained clearly.
"What ulterior motive could I have? I'm a surgeon and a fan of detective and suspense novels. I came here just out of curiosity and because I'm interested in the culprit."
Zuo Mu explained everything in detail with a very sincere expression. Tang Tang stared at Zuo Mu from beginning to end, not missing any change in his expression.
However, until the end, she didn't find anything from Zuo Mu's well - guarded expression.
Zuo Mu spoke sincerely, and Tang Tang couldn't ask any more questions.
Although she was young, she was smart and had her own opinions. Maybe Zuo Mu's purpose was not entirely pure, but after getting along with him for many days, she was inexplicably certain in her heart that Zuo Mu meant no harm to her.
Tang Tang herself didn't know where her confidence came from.
Finally, she decided to follow her inner intuition and voiced her opinion.
"I really can't see anything from the message."
Huang Xiaoli was a bit disappointed.
She was about to put away the phone when Tang Tang stopped her.
Tang Tang picked up the phone again. Her big eyes sparkled, "I'm the same as you. I didn't find anything from this photo."
"Now Wang Lin is missing. We don't know how the other person sent this message, and how he got Xiaoli's phone number."
"Oh, right." Huang Xiaoli, who was named, stood up abruptly, looking a bit excited, "I've been wondering about this too. How did this text message end up on my phone?"
Among high - school students, not many had phones. Wang Lin was one, and Huang Xiaoli was another.
Not to mention others, Huang Xiaoli herself wasn't sure if she could remember her own phone number.
Zuo Mu seemed to have discovered something. His handsome face changed from a bit confused at first to a look of understanding now.
"So I carefully read the entire content of this message from beginning to end."