Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

“An uncle, a stranger. I’ve never seen him in the army base before, but he did not keep his word! I looked for him again yesterday, but I couldn’t find him. He said he would buy me a soda, but that was a lie,” the chubby boy complained as he cried. “He lied to the child! At first, he said I should wait for him at the snack bar after finishing the task, and he would buy me a lot of soda.”

“A soft drink? Is that all you know?” Colonel Ye was furious. He slapped his son on the head and thought, ‘My wife is useless!’ His wife had taught his youngest son to behave like that.

It was as if he had never had any soda before.

“Do you know the man’s name? Or have you seen him talking to someone you know? What does he look like? What was he wearing that day?” Colonel Ye was anxious to find that person.

“He was wearing gray clothes. When he talked to me, no one else was around him. I don’t remember his name,” the little chubby boy sobbed. “But after he talked to me, he gave me money to buy ice cream, and then I never saw him again. He said he would wait for me at the snack bar, but I didn’t see him there.”

“Get someone to check that!”

Lu Xingzhi’s eyes were so cold that they could freeze a person into a popsicle in the summer. “Many people wore gray clothes yesterday, but most were unfamiliar faces and did not wear training uniforms. They must be relatives who came to visit their family members.”

The army base was an important place. Not everyone could go there at will, so finding that man would not be complicated.

“I’ll get someone to send the information of the people who came to visit their families.”

The chief also understood that the situation would become even more problematic if someone instigated and used the kids as pawns.

“They would have information and photos of the visitors that day. See if my son can recognize the man in any of the photos.” Colonel Ye sounded anxious. Then, he lowered his head and said to his son, “Look at the photos carefully and try to find the man.”

There were quite many visiting family members that day. Even though less than two-thirds had arrived so far, the information would still pile up on the entire table.

“Eliminate the women and go through it again.”

Lu Xingzhi walked over quickly. After getting the chief’s approval, Lu Xingzhi called Zhou Junmin and Xiao Shan to help. Then, he asked, “How old do you think the man was?

“Older than you, but a little younger than my father,” the little chubby boy answered without hesitation.

“Just to be on the safe side, eliminate those under 30. Look at men above 30 years old but below 50.”

Lu Xingzhi could not dare narrow the scope too much because some people were skilled at misleading others based on appearance. He worried they might miss out on some of the men if the man was a mature-looking young man or a younger-looking older man.

After eliminating women and older gentlemen from the list, they ended with a few dozen files.

Zhou Junmin and Xiao Shan sorted the files and handed them to the chief.

“There are still so many.”

“Show them to the child.”

The chief pushed the files in front of Colonel Ye and said, “Tell your son to look at them and identify him quickly. We have to be quick before the man leaves the base..