Chapter 53
Liu Zhengyong, who had just received the news, was with his wife, Huang Yongmei, handing out missing person flyers on the streets and alleys of the capital, searching for their daughter who had gone missing at the age of three.
“Drink some water. We’ll continue asking later.”
He pulled a water bottle from his bag and handed it to her. Her mouth was incredibly dry, but she still shook her head. She was only thirty-five, but more than half her hair was already white. Ever since their daughter had disappeared, she couldn’t eat or sleep. Her husband was the same. The couple could be described as withered and gaunt.
Their daughter had been missing for ten years, and they had been searching for ten years. They had reported it to the police and registered on every family search website in the country. Then, they had quit their jobs, printed countless flyers, and began their journey across the nation to find their daughter. In every city they arrived, they would first work odd jobs for a while to save up for living expenses, and then they would comb through every street and alley, searching. But to this day, they had found nothing.
They had been following every family search initiative. The moment the government’s gene-locating technology was announced, they had immediately rushed to the capital. Fortunately, their search had already brought them close. The couple took a one-day “green-skin” train ride and stumbled their way into the capital of their Hua nation.
There were many people searching for their relatives. They had waited in line for half a day for their turn. The staff were all very warm and friendly. After collecting their genes, they were even told that there was a guesthouse where they could stay temporarily, and that they would be notified immediately if there were any results.
The couple had never expected the government to provide housing. They really didn’t have much money left; the two train tickets had nearly exhausted their savings. They had been prepared to sleep under a bridge or in a park for a few nights and work some odd jobs to earn some money. Since they were already in the capital, they had to search it thoroughly.
The government provided accommodation and even covered their food. Many parents like them, who had spent all their savings searching for their children, were moved to tears. Some were so emotional they even knelt down to express their gratitude, which startled the staff. In the end, they were told that the food and lodging were all covered by a young lady surnamed Xia, who was doing charity to help these families with missing children.
The source of this money was the ten-million-plus yuan that Xia Anran had initially withdrawn. Now, the money in the system could not be withdrawn casually; it had to be spent on items in the shop, used where it was most needed. But the money she had withdrawn before couldn’t be put back, and she hadn’t spent much of it, so it was basically sitting untouched in her bank account. Her current food, lodging, and transportation were all covered by the government, and she also had a salary, so she had no place to spend this money. After the gene-locating technology was fully realized, Professor Gong had happily called her to tell her the good news. At that time, the government had already listed many groups of people who urgently needed this technology’s help, with the search for abducted children and women being at the top of the list.
When Xia Anran received the news, she was already in the great northwest. They were preparing to stream a prairie theme. Director Huang and Ji Minghui had gone to scout locations. The moment Yu Xue and Wu Sicheng arrived on the prairie, they started egging on Ren Yi to kick a tiger and punch a lion. This area was a nature reserve, normally forbidden to tourists. They had only been allowed in because the production team had been given a green light. The wild animals here were very fierce. Further in was the gathering area for these large beasts. After Ren Yi had awakened his psychic power, Yu Xue and Wu Sicheng had sparred with him a few times and had given up the idea. His strength could no longer be described in human terms. So, they had set their sights on these beasts.
Ren Yi was speechless. These were all nationally protected animals, colloquially known as “jail-time beasts.” Did they really think he would dare to fight them? Yu Xue and Wu Sicheng were mostly joking, with a little bit of curiosity to see what a fight between him and these beasts would be like, so they had chased him around half-jokingly.
So, when Xia Anran received the news that the state was going to help search for relatives, she was alone in the room. She thought of her deceased parents and cried a little. For parents, losing a child was a devastating blow. After she had calmed down and washed her face, she contacted Professor Gong again and said she wanted to donate a sum of money to help these families, directly transferring all the money from her card. Professor Gong had sighed a few times at her pure heart and had guaranteed her that he would handle the matter properly.
And that was how Liu Zhengyong and his wife had received this help.
With a place to stay and food to eat, they had put down their luggage and immediately started searching for their daughter again. In fact, it wasn’t just them; almost every family that had come to the capital was, by unspoken agreement, combing the streets and alleys, searching for their relatives. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, they would not give up.
“Last night, I heard Jiajia calling me,” Huang Yongmei said, her eyes bloodshot. Her expression was a little dazed, her voice hoarse. “She was calling for me to save her. She was calling for ‘Mama’.”
Liu Zhengyong took a large gulp of water and put his arm around his wife’s shoulder, tears welling up in his own eyes. For countless days and nights, he had been thinking about where their Jiajia was, whether she was being beaten or bullied… or if she was even still alive. Every time he saw those abducted girls with desperate faces, being beaten and forced to work by their buyers, not having enough to eat or wear, his heart felt like it was being pricked by needles. He didn’t dare to imagine what was happening to Jiajia.
It was at this moment that he received the call from the government staff, informing him that the results were out.
Jiajia had been found!
The couple looked at each other, scrambled up from the ground, and ran towards the collection center. When they arrived, they saw that many other families had also received the news and were rushing over. Almost everyone’s face was streaked with tears, a mix of anxiety, anticipation, and unease.
The collection center had opened many windows to handle the crowd. Soon, it was their turn. They eagerly entered the small room. Inside sat two staff members in formal attire, a man and a woman. The young man greeted them, had them sit down, and poured them water. Huang Yongmei saw many untouched cups of water on the side, surely left by the parents who had just come in. At a time like this, no one could drink.
The female staff member sat in front of a computer, verified their identities, and then opened a file. It was a test report. “Mr. Liu, Ms. Huang, through our genetic testing and location, your daughter, Liu Jiajia, is currently in a small village in a remote mountainous area. If you wish to go find her, we have staff and law enforcement officers who will accompany you.”
The couple was ecstatic. They looked at the location the staff pointed out on the map and wept with joy. Their Jiajia was there.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they wanted to set off immediately. The staff calmed them down and told them that arranging the personnel would take some time, and they could leave in the afternoon.
They didn’t know how they felt when they returned to the guesthouse. Huang Yongmei sat on the bed, holding their daughter’s childhood clothes, and wept silently. Liu Zhengyong smoked a cigarette that a man who had already left had given him. Neither of them spoke. After the initial elation of learning their daughter’s whereabouts, they were now plunged into endless worry and panic. They didn’t know what kind of scene they were about to face.
Knock—knock—knock.
The door was knocked. Liu Zhengyong got up to open it. As expected, it was the staff member, come to tell them it was time to leave. Soon, they were on a plane flying to the mountainous area. In two or three hours, they would see the daughter they had longed for day and night.
…
In a small village in the mountains, the sun had not yet set. Several old women were sitting at the corner of a wall, cracking sunflower seeds and chatting.
“Auntie Wang, is that little girl of yours still not behaving?” a somewhat bloated middle-aged woman in a gray headscarf and a large yellow coat asked as she shelled beans.
“She’s always causing trouble for me. Yesterday, that little brat even tried to grab a knife! Hmph, I broke her hand. And she’s trying to get the other families’ girls to run away with her. Run? Where can she run?”
The woman called Auntie Wang was in her fifties or sixties, with a long, sharp face and sanpaku eyes full of wrinkles. She spat out a sunflower seed husk with a “Ptooey,” her face dark and fierce.
A chubby woman next to her chimed in, “I think you haven’t beaten her enough. Every girl is raised like this. A few lashes with a belt or a stick. If that doesn’t work, use the scissors. See if she still dares to be disobedient.”
Auntie Wang was full of anger at the mention of this. “Didn’t the one Old Yang San bought become unable to have children because she was beaten too much? Three or four thousand yuan down the drain. It’s only because the Yang family is kind-hearted that they’re still keeping her and giving her food. If it were me, I would have killed her long ago.”
Another woman on the side also agreed. “You know, these little girls nowadays are so delicate. A couple of hits and they start having problems. We all spent a lot of money to buy them. Those traffickers are getting more and more shameless, selling us bad goods!”
As they were gossiping, a man suddenly ran over. “There are outsiders in the village! The village chief just said to keep an eye on your own and don’t let them run out and scream.”
Auntie Wang cursed a few times. “Why are people here again? They have nothing better to do. I’m going home.” The other women also dispersed, each going home to keep an eye on their “people.”
…
From the moment Liu Zhengyong and Huang Yongmei entered this village, they felt uneasy, a sharp pain in their chests. The accompanying staff thought they were carsick and offered them medicine, but they both refused.
They stared intently out the window. This was a very poor and backward mountain village. Many of the houses were still made of mud. Several families were standing at their doors, staring at them with sinister expressions. The identical looks of defensiveness, hatred, and disgust made the couple more and more restless.
Soon, following the instructions, they arrived in front of a very dilapidated-looking house. It had a black, peeling wooden door. The group got out, and a staff member knocked. The door soon opened, and Auntie Wang looked at them with a dark, unfriendly face. “What are you knocking for? Who are you, knocking on my door!”
At this point, Liu Zhengyong and his wife were so emotional they could barely speak. The staff member asked, with a relatively calm attitude, “Excuse me, do you have a thirteen-year-old girl named Liu Jiajia here?”
Auntie Wang’s face changed, and she immediately tried to close the door. “What Liu Jiajia? Never heard of her!”
Liu Zhengyong couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed open the door and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Jiajia! Dad is here! Dad is here to take you home!”
Huang Yongmei followed closely behind, also calling their daughter’s name.
Auntie Wang was old and couldn’t stop them. She just jumped up and down, cursing. The couple walked into the yard. A very scruffy-looking man in his thirties or forties came out of the main house. The moment he saw them, he started cursing and looked for a weapon.
Just then, a very thin girl suddenly ran out of the house. The girl was wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, though the shirt was so torn and filthy it was hard to tell its original color. Her exposed arms and legs were terrifyingly thin, covered in black and blue bruises. The middle-aged man seized her, trying to drag her back inside as she screamed and struggled wildly.
Her hair, long and unkempt from neglect, covered most of her face. But Liu Zhengyong’s sharp eyes caught sight of a familiar red birthmark on her forearm. A volcanic rush of blood surged to his head. He lunged forward again, his fist connecting squarely with the middle-aged man’s face.
Stunned by the blow, the man’s grip slackened. The girl seized the opportunity and tried to bolt—not towards her parents, but away from the house, away from the source of her pain.
But Huang Yongmei was faster. She surged forward, enveloping her daughter in a desperate embrace. The girl only screamed louder, kicking and thrashing in her grasp with a terrifying, feral strength. Huang Yongmei held on tight, her face streaked with tears, her voice a raw, broken mantra.
“Jiajia, it’s Mama! It’s Mama! Mama’s here!”