Chapter 08

The mother and son turned their heads in unison. The newcomer was Lin Xiaoya, from the foster family. After the foster guardian Wang Chunhua passed away, her scoundrel of a son, Lin Dahu, sold Xiao Man to that old miser Zhang. Lin Xiaoya was Wang Chunhua’s youngest daughter.

“Xiao Man, it’s me. Do you still recognize your aunt?” Lin Xiaoya greeted him nervously.

“I do. Aunt Xiaoya,” Xiao Man replied.

The fact that Xiao Man could still call her aunt meant he didn’t dislike her. She must have treated him well in the past.

Shu Yuan took note of her expression and spoke. “Xiaoya, your brother sold Xiao Man.”

When she had gone to pay the foster fee to Wang Chunhua, she had met the family. They weren’t close, but they could exchange a few words.

Lin Xiaoya was in her early twenties, with a square face and thick eyebrows. She looked honest and simple. Her lips moved slightly. “Sister Shu Yuan, I didn’t know…”

Other than Lin Dahu, no one in the Lin family knew he had sold Xiao Man. What he told them was that Shu Yuan had taken Xiao Man away.

She only found out the truth during the public security’s questioning.

On the way to the Public Security Bureau just now, and even after arriving, the officers didn’t allow Lin Dahu and his sister to coordinate their statements. But Lin Dahu kept giving his sister meaningful looks. Lin Xiaoya understood what he meant—he was telling her not to slip up.

She was an honest person who never lied. Even though her own brother was being questioned and might be involved in a crime, when facing the person involved, she still couldn’t bring herself to lie.

She hesitated for a long while, her lips moving constantly, before finally making up her mind. She pleaded, “Sister Shu Yuan, my brother acted on a moment’s impulse. For the sake of my mom raising Xiao Man, please forgive him. If you don’t, then it’s a crime. If my brother hadn’t taken Xiao Man away, I would’ve raised him. I wouldn’t have let him suffer. It’s all my fault. I didn’t take good care of Xiao Man.”

Shu Yuan looked at Lin Xiaoya calmly. Kind-hearted Wang Chunhua had raised such a scoundrel of a son, and the younger sister, unaware of the filthy things he had done, was now pleading for him.

Why did this simple girl feel the need to take the blame onto herself?

Lin Dahu insisted that he thought Shu Yuan had abandoned the child. Their family didn’t want to raise a child, so they could only give Xiao Man away. He absolutely refused to admit it was a sale.

How this matter would be defined hinged greatly on Shu Yuan and her son’s statements. The nature of selling a child and giving one away for adoption were entirely different.

Lin Xiaoya had come to plead with Shu Yuan because she didn’t want her brother to end up in prison. She believed Shu Yuan was softhearted and that, for the sake of her mother having raised Xiao Man, she would surely choose not to pursue the matter.

In the office, Shu Yuan and her son, along with Lin Dahu and Lin Xiaoya, were jointly questioned by the public security officers.

Lin Xiaoya had a kind and pleasant face, but Lin Dahu looked greasy and sleazy, with a sharp chin, a monkey-like face, shifty eyes and crooked brows. Even in front of the public security officers, he still tried to push all the blame onto Shu Yuan, claiming she had abandoned the child and shifted the responsibility of raising him onto the Lin family.

Shu Yuan confronted him head-on and said, “Before I left the Northeast, didn’t I pay a full year of foster fees? After your mother passed away, why didn’t you contact me? What right did you have to sell Xiao Man? What happened to the foster fee? Did you spend it? And your sister just said she would raise Xiao Man.”

Lin Dahu had a sharp tongue as well and said, “Heh, my sister is a young unmarried girl, and you want her to raise a child? How is she supposed to get married with her reputation intact?”

Good. This was exactly the sentence Shu Yuan had been waiting for.

Lin Xiaoya had been pleading on her brother’s behalf, and when she got emotional, tears streamed down her face. “Sister Shu Yuan, my mother only had one son. If my brother ends up in trouble, she won’t be able to rest in peace. For my mother’s sake, please say something to the public security officers. Let’s settle this peacefully and not blow things up.”

Wang Chunhua had done a great deal by raising Xiao Man. Shu Yuan had indeed considered letting him off the hook, but the man was simply too filthy and disgusting.

Shu Yuan looked Lin Xiaoya straight in the eye, raised her voice, and spoke each word slowly and clearly. “Xiaoya, you probably don’t know this yet. Your brother didn’t just sell Xiao Man. He sold you too. Just now, he was still saying he wanted you to marry with your reputation intact, but in reality, he’s already made a deal with an old widower. He took five hundred yuan in bride price. You’re about to be married off to a man in his fifties and become the stepmother to three children.”

Xiao Man’s dark eyes looked into the room. He felt very reassured. With Mom around, there was no need for him to confront bad people. But when he heard Shu Yuan’s words, he still couldn’t help opening his mouth in shock.

Mom was amazing. She knew something this important. It was all thanks to Mom that Aunt Xiaoya had been warned in time.

Lin Xiaoya looked as if she had been struck by lightning, staring wide-eyed as she turned to Lin Dahu. “Brother, is this true? Are you really going to sell me to an old widower? You took his money? Why didn’t I hear a single word about this?”

She turned to Shu Yuan, her expression shifting to a mix of fury and despair. Her voice trembled uncontrollably. “Sister Shu Yuan, is this really true?”

Shu Yuan nodded firmly. “Yes. Your brother is trafficking women and children.”

According to the story, after Lin Xiaoya was married off, she suffered terribly. She attempted suicide several times but failed, and it wasn’t until Xiao Man grew up that he rescued her from that painful marriage.

Lin Dahu had originally looked like the kind of scoundrel who wouldn’t budge no matter what was said, but now his eyes bulged with fear. Shu Yuan wasn’t even local—how could she have known about this?

He had secretly negotiated the bride price with someone and was planning to forcefully send Xiaoya into the bridal chamber. Once the deed was done, it would be too late to stop anything. He hadn’t expected Shu Yuan to expose him right in front of the public security officers.

The officers were furious when they heard this and reassured Lin Xiaoya, saying, “Don’t be afraid. If you don’t want to marry, we’ll step in and take care of it.”

Lin Dahu quickly changed his expression to one of obsequious flattery and, like a mangy dog, said to the officers, “Comrades, this is our family matter. Please don’t get involved. I’m the head of the household now. Isn’t it normal to marry off my sister and accept a bride price?”

Lin Xiaoya was sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath. “Comrade, please stand up for me. I don’t want to marry a fifty-something old bachelor…”

After finishing their questioning, Shu Yuan and her son stepped out into the courtyard to get some air. Compared to the chaos when they had first returned from the hospital, the entire Public Security Bureau was now running in an orderly fashion.

As for Lin Xiaoya’s situation, this was as much as Shu Yuan could do—it could be considered her way of repaying Wang Chunhua.

From here on, the public security officers would take over. Whether Lin Dahu had broken the law, they would make their own judgment.

“Mom, will Aunt Xiaoya still be sold? Will the public security officers do something?” Xiao Man, after all, was a kind-hearted child. He had just escaped from evil hands, yet he was already worrying about someone else.

Shu Yuan answered firmly, “Of course the public security officers will help her. Let’s wait for news. They said thank you to us for helping catch a child trafficker, and tomorrow we can return to Lucheng.”

Xiao Man’s handsome little face lit up instantly—Mom was taking him back to the city!

This was something he had wished for countless times, something he had dreamed of day and night.

At this moment, it felt like spring was blooming all around.

Suddenly, he remembered something and said, “Mom, I collected a lot of pine nuts and hid them up in the mountains. We can take them to the city and sell them. Can we bring them along?”

He knew Mom didn’t have money and wanted to help ease her burden.

Seeing Xiao Man’s hopeful, smiling face, Shu Yuan smiled and said, “Of course.”

She then went to ask a commune cadre to take them up the mountain. From within a patch of wild jujube bushes, she pulled out a woven sack. Inside were a full twenty jin (10 kg) of pine nuts.

“Xiao Man, you collected all these pine nuts?” Shu Yuan asked.

Just like a little squirrel storing food for the winter, Xiao Man, small and not very strong, must have spent a long time to collect this many pine nuts.

Clutching the woven sack tightly, Xiao Man was reluctant to let go. His lips curled up in a smile. “I had to go up the mountain to collect firewood, so I gathered pine nuts while picking up wood.”

These weren’t just pine nuts—they were his hope. He had originally planned to sell them to earn travel money so he could go into the city to find Mom.

Now that he had Mom, he didn’t want to leave behind the pine nuts that had once symbolized hope. Besides, they could still be sold to help Mom.

There was another woven sack next to them. Shu Yuan asked, “What’s this?”

The light in Xiao Man’s eyes dimmed slightly. “These are the pine nuts Die Lai picked.”

Two children, both with the same fate, had collected pine nuts together and planned their escape together.

Noticing Xiao Man’s sadness, Shu Yuan said, “Die Lai was brought to Lucheng by that old miser Zhang. We can help ask around in Lucheng to find her parents. Before her birth parents are found, she’ll be raised in a welfare home. That’s better than being adopted by strangers.”

Xiao Man nodded repeatedly. Right now, he was full of anticipation for his life with Mom, looking forward to going to Lucheng.

He hoped his little companion could be just as lucky as he was and find her birth mother.

By evening, Shu Yuan and her son rode back to the county town on the public security officers’ three-wheeled motorcycle. The cold wind howled in their faces, but both mother and son felt nothing but pride and triumph.

After interrogation, it was confirmed that Zhang, the old miser, was indeed a human trafficker—enough to be sentenced to the harshest punishment. The case would be officially transferred to the county’s Public Security Bureau the next day for further handling.

Lin Dahu agreed to return the remaining six months’ worth of Xiao Man’s foster care fee, a total of eighty yuan. The public security officers would recover it and send it to Shu Yuan.

This day had been nonstop, like scenes flashing past on a revolving lantern, with not a single moment to rest. But the outcome of everything had been good, which gave Shu Yuan a strong sense of accomplishment.

The police vehicle drove them directly to the train ticket office. This time, the public security officers helped the mother and son buy tickets. After several days of running around, and especially after spending the day dealing with all sorts of scum, Shu Yuan was completely exhausted. She originally planned to buy two tickets, but she was worried about spending all their money and being caught unprepared in case of an emergency. In the end, she only bought one ticket. Xiao Man was under one meter tall and didn’t take up a seat, so he didn’t need a ticket—he could just sit on her lap.

The officer handed the train ticket to Shu Yuan, then took them to the public security guesthouse to check in. Before leaving, he expressed his gratitude. “Comrade Shu, in this operation to catch human traffickers, you and your son provided a lot of leads and even helped capture one of them. The bureau chief is currently reviewing the case and instructed me to thank you on behalf of Lucheng’s Public Security Bureau. Before you leave, if you need anything, just come to me.”

Shu Yuan replied repeatedly that there was no need for thanks. She and her son had received all kinds of support—rides, free lodging, and even dinner had been arranged for them. She could feel their sincerity. This was what harmony between officials and the public, and between police and civilians, truly looked like.

After placing the pine nuts in their room, the mother and son went to the first-floor canteen to eat. Their complimentary dinner was corn and sweet potato porridge with sauerkraut and pork-stuffed buns. The buns were piled high on a heaping plate, steaming hot, and the delicious aroma boldly filled the air.

The waiter was very warm and welcoming, telling them that if it wasn’t enough, they could have more.

“Come on, eat a bun, Xiao Man. It’s made with refined white flour,” Shu Yuan said with a smile.

They had exhausted both their physical strength and mental energy that day. Even though they’d eaten their fill at lunch, they were now so hungry it felt like their stomachs were sticking to their backs. This large plate of buns was truly a timely blessing.

Xiao Man quickly picked up a bun and placed it in Shu Yuan’s bowl. “Mom, you eat.”

The sweet potato porridge was thick and smooth with a natural sweetness. The bun had a fluffy and tender skin. The sourness of the pickled vegetables mixed with the savory pork, and the juice overflowed with each bite—delicious and not at all greasy.

The little one bit gently into the thick bun skin, slowly chewing and savoring the flavor in small bites.

He wanted to firmly remember the taste of this fragrant bun, so that the next time he had to eat tofu dregs or leaves, he could pretend they were buns.

After a chaotic and noisy day, the mother and son were now peacefully enjoying their meal. Meanwhile, back in the Shu family household in Lucheng, the news of Shu Yuan’s trip to the Northeast could no longer be kept under wraps. The household was now on the verge of chaos.