Chapter 220: What to Do Now

Seeing the change in expression on Zhang’s family’s faces, the woman snorted coldly in her heart and continued: “She’s so badly injured, no one in the village is taking care of her. Applying medicine is a big problem. She’s gone to the city to find relatives. You’ve wasted your trip.”

Though her words sounded reasonable, they were actually gloating!

When they heard this, Wang Chunni suddenly felt at a loss and looked at Zhang Dezhen standing behind her. “What should we do now?”

Zhang Dezhen pondered upon hearing this. Was this the end of the road for them in saving their daughter? Where could they find her once she was in the city?

He had just sent his eldest son to the commune earlier to delay things. They had planned to split into two groups and go to Luo Qiao’s house to plead while his son bought time at the commune. Now it seemed even if his son managed to delay things, it would be futile.

Enduring dizziness, Wang Chunni said, “Let’s go to the commune first. If we’re late, we really won’t see our daughter anymore.”

They didn’t bother arguing with the woman and hurriedly returned their belongings before rushing to the commune.

When they arrived, Zhang Qiaoyan had just been brought out and was about to be taken away. Unlike in the later generation when every police station had patrol cars, there were no dedicated vehicles at the commune now.

The comrades from the police station borrowed a car from the Chaoyang Brigade where the commune was located. When Zhang Qiaoyan saw her parents, she was so excited she wanted to rush over, but she was scolded by the female police officer. She cried out, “Dad, Mom, save me! I don’t want to be taken away!”

Tears and snot covered her face as Wang Chunni ran over and embraced her daughter, and started crying too.

Cheng Ping, who had been waiting impatiently after hitching the cart, spoke up irritably, “Are you done yet? First your eldest son delayed us with his dilly-dallying, and now you’re crying endlessly.

If you had just come earlier, why bother now? Please step aside. We need to hit the road. We’ve already been accommodating, but you can’t keep delaying our work.”

No matter how much Zhang Qiaoyan feigned helplessness and cried, she was still taken away. Wang Chunni promptly fainted, unable to imagine her daughter’s future.

Someone called Zhang Dezhen aside and whispered a few words to him before quickly leaving.

Zhang Dezhen hurriedly called his eldest son over to carry the now recovering Wang Chunni back to the village. Zhang Degang asked, “Brother, what did that person say to you just now?”

Zhang Dezhen replied quietly, “Before she’s sent to the juvenile detention center, there’s still a chance to change things. Let’s go back to the village and find Zhao Pulin and his wife. We’ll ask them for Luo Qiao’s foster parents’ address and figure out a way to find her. Right now, our only option is to beg her.”

When they found Zhao Pulin in the fields and explained their plan, they learned that Zhao Pulin had no idea where the Luo family’s address was.

When Luo Bin returned last time, they had never asked him about where he lived, they were too caught up imagining their future.

Zhang Dezhen was feeling disappointed and about to leave when Zhao Pulin said, “I remember the Luo family mentioning that Luo Qiao’s foster father should be working at the steel factory. You could try looking for him there.”

When they heard this, Zhang Dezhen felt like he had found a lifeline. “Oh, thank you so much, Brother Pulin. We’ll go and look right away.”

After getting more details about the Luo family, the Zhang family finally left.

Once Zhang Dezhen left, everyone around gathered and bombarded Zhao Pulin with questions: why did Zhang Dezhen come to see him?

Zhao Pulin didn’t hide anything and replied, “He asked for Luo Qiao’s foster parents’ address. I guess he wants to find Luo Qiao in the city.”

Now, the group of men in the field began gossiping, “That daughter of Zhang Dezhen’s has been spoiled. She doesn’t know her place. Now she’s not only harmed herself but also her father.”

“Yeah, I heard before that the commune wanted to transfer Zhang Dezhen to work there. Now he couldn’t even go to the commune, and he lost his position as village secretary. The worst part is losing his party membership. It’ll be hard for him to turn things around from now on.”

“Well, he can’t blame anyone else. His own daughter caused trouble and even gave Luo Qiao a hard time. This morning, Zhang Dezhen was causing trouble for Luo Qiao at the entrance of the brigade headquarters. Many people saw it.”