Chapter 54 Where Has All the Time Gone~

Taking advantage of the remaining time in the morning, Yu Dazhang made a trip to the police academy he had attended.

If his mother had come to the school to inquire about his whereabouts a year ago, she definitely would have gone to the teachers first.

That's right, he still could not fully trust Zhou Zizhe.

This was just like solving a case; no matter how realistic an account sounded, it had to be supported by evidence.

Upon arriving at the school, Yu Dazhang went straight to find a teacher who used to teach him, and the result matched Zhou Zizhe's words word for word.

He then sought out two other teachers, and they both gave the exact same response.

In that case, this matter could not be false.

Zhou Zizhe did not have the ability to make the police academy teachers lie for him.

Returning to the detachment in the afternoon, Yu Dazhang helped the special investigation team integrate evidence and then performed some auxiliary work.

All the team members, including Lü Zhongxin, could tell he was somewhat absent-minded.

Sometimes, it took being called several times for him to snap back to reality.

This inevitably aroused their suspicion.

What is wrong with this chubby guy?

He was totally fine when he came in the morning, but after a trip to the detention center, he came back in the afternoon looking like he had lost his soul.

Lü Zhongxin even took him aside separately to question him.

Yet Yu Dazhang merely shook his head and said nothing was wrong.

He knew very well that telling his mentor about the events of a year ago was useless; Lü Zhongxin hadn't even known him back then.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, seeing that his state of mind was off, Lü Zhongxin told him to knock off early.

None of the team members had any objections, assuming Yu Dazhang had been under too much stress previously and was experiencing mental bewilderment now that he had suddenly relaxed.

Had such a situation ever occurred before?

Not only had it occurred, but it was very common.

Back home.

Yu Dazhang sat on the living room sofa and glanced at the wall clock.

Ten past five.

His mother got off work at five. Factor in the time for grocery shopping, and she would be home in fifteen minutes at most.

He went over the matter in his head so he could ask targeted questions when she returned.

First, confirm one point: he had gone missing a year ago.
The weight gain also happened after his disappearance.

Second, what happened before he disappeared?
Or rather, did he exhibit any unusual behavior at the time?

Why would he think this way?
Because Yu Dazhang had ruled out the possibility of being kidnapped.

To put it simply, kidnappers didn't just abduct anyone, and given his family's financial situation, kidnappers wouldn't even look twice at him.

Let alone fattening him up into a round, heavy weight and then releasing him back.

What is this? Do kidnappers have a bizarre fetish for force-feeding people?

No matter how one thought about it, it was completely unreasonable.

Therefore, he must have consciously done something at the time that led to his disappearance.

Third, why did he have no memory of that entire year?
The present Yu Dazhang truly wanted to burst into song: Where has all the time gone? I got fat before I even got to properly enjoy the food~

Did he lack memories only of this past year, or memories of this entire lifetime?

He carefully recalled everything.
Finally, he came to a conclusion.
Before his disappearance, he was completely identical to his past life.

In other words, all the changes had occurred within the past year.

His transmigration was quite interesting, even coming with missing memory blocks.

Just as he found this somewhat comical, the sound of a door unlocking echoed from the entryway, followed by the security door swinging open as Li Xuehe walked in carrying several shopping bags.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw her son sitting on the sofa, staring blankly straight at her.

"Why are you back so early today?" Li Xuehe asked.

"Mom, come sit over here first." Watching her change into her slippers, Yu Dazhang patted the sofa beside him.

Seeing that her son didn't answer but instead asked her to come over, Li Xuehe immediately realized there was something he wanted to ask.

She first took the shopping bags into the kitchen, washed her hands, and lingered for a full minute before coming back out.

Approaching the sofa, she sat down diagonally opposite Yu Dazhang:
"What happened? Why do you look so serious?"

Mom, you gave yourself away!

Yu Dazhang had clearly seen earlier that when his mother spoke, her eyes glanced to the left, while her right hand pointed to the right.

Although the movement was extremely slight and casual, he knew this was a subconscious little tell when a person was formulating a lie.

Also, just now as she approached the sofa, she took half a step backward before sitting down.
This was an involuntary protective gesture, serving as psychological preparation for the upcoming falsehood.

Playing psychology games with his own mother felt truly awkward... Yu Dazhang asked directly:
"Did I go missing a year ago?"

Perhaps guessing that her son would ask this, Li Xuehe did not show excessive surprise, but instead countered:
"Did someone else tell you, or did you remember it yourself?"

Yu Dazhang spoke the truth, though he omitted Zhou Zizhe and only mentioned finding out from his teachers at the police academy.

This was a habit of his: never discussing cases at home.

Upon hearing that he had heard it from others, Li Xuehe sighed and said:
"Son, what does it matter whether you know or not? Aren't you doing quite well now, and our whole family is safe and sound? That's enough."

She didn't want to talk... Yu Dazhang quickly assessed his mother's psychological state.

This was his biological mother; he couldn't resort to mental tricks and schemes, so he decided to adopt a roundabout tactic and change the subject:
"Dad knows about this too, right?"

Li Xuehe didn't answer, merely nodding slightly.

"My teacher said a lot of classmates suspected I got into trouble and was locked up."

This was entirely a fabrication on his part.
Throwing dirt on himself to evoke his mother's sympathy and lower her guard.

In truth, this statement had a major logical flaw, but it didn't matter.

As for rumors, truth didn't matter; as long as they could provoke an emotional reaction, that was enough.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Li Xuehe's expression changed instantly:
"They're talking nonsense! How can they say such things about people? Your father and I only asked them if they had seen you."

"Besides, if you had gotten into trouble, could you still be a police officer? Do they even use their brains?"

The roundabout tactic was working... Yu Dazhang instantly channeled his inner best actor, transforming into an anxious and agitated state in a flash.

He leaped up from the sofa, his feet leaving the floor by five centimeters, landing back down before he could even take off.
Even so, it still produced a loud thud.

"A rumor takes a single mouth, but refuting it breaks your legs!" he said in exasperation:
"I want to strike back at them right now, but I don't even know where to begin. What happens if there's a class reunion in the future? How will I ever have the face to show up!"

With that, he sat back down on the sofa and buried his face in his hands, preventing his mother from seeing his expression.

My acting was a bit too over-the-top just now... Yu Dazhang reminded himself internally.
Try to avoid direct eye contact to prevent exposing any flaws.

"Th-This... I didn't expect it to turn out like this." Li Xuehe stammered, seeming to regret having gone to the school to make inquiries in the first place.

"Then just tell me, what on earth happened a year ago?" Yu Dazhang shifted his tone once more, through which one could hear his urgent desire to know the truth.

Seeing her son in such an anxious state, Li Xuehe's heart ached terribly, and she said in as calm a tone as possible:
"On April 30th of last year, you suddenly told us you were going out for a bit. When we asked where you were going, you refused to say anything, only telling us you would be back in three days at most."

"But once you left... there was complete silence."