Chapter 03

Having sat on the floor the entire time, Shu Yuan’s back was sore, her legs numb, and her butt aching from the train’s constant jolting. She gnawed on cold steamed buns, ate salty pickled vegetables, and drank cold boiled water. The carriage was packed with people, the air filled with an unpleasant stench, and the noise was chaotic and overwhelming. On top of that, she had to constantly keep watch over her few precious belongings.

Shu Yuan had never imagined she would have to endure so much hardship. If it weren’t for the thought of finding Xiao Man keeping her going, she wouldn’t have been able to hold on at all.

Early the next morning, the train arrived at Bingcheng Railway Station. As soon as the train doors opened, Shu Yuan was among the first to disembark. Once off the train, she felt even more exhausted in her bones, and a blast of cold air hit her straight in the face.

Sure enough, the temperature in the Northeast was four to five degrees lower than along the way. After confirming her direction, Shu Yuan immediately began heading toward the station exit.

While on the train, her body had been tired but her mind somewhat relaxed. Now that she had to rush on, her nerves tightened once more.

When she was an educated youth, she always got off at this station when traveling back and forth, so she remembered this railway station. The long-distance bus station was nearby, and Shu Yuan hurried over, hoping to catch the first bus to Baihua County that departed at seven o’clock.

Back then, the original host served as an educated youth in Baihua County, so Shu Yuan was familiar with the route. However, the educated youth point had been in the southern part of the county in a mountain village, while the Xiaohe Production Team was located in the north. She had not known about the Xiaohe Production Team before.

She rushed to the bus station, bought a ticket, waited for the bus, got on, and then it departed. The long-distance bus drove out of the city, and everything went smoothly.

The timing had lined up just right. Two hours later, she arrived at Baihua County and headed straight for the Xiaohe Production Team.

As she watched the bleak scenery outside the window constantly recede, Shu Yuan felt her fighting spirit surge. Her feet were no longer numb, her legs no longer ached, and her back no longer felt sore.

What came next might be a tough battle.

She straightened her back, full of vigor and spirit.

Xiao Man, your “mom” is here!

Shu Yuan’s surge of determination was nearly worn out by the time she reached Baihua County.

The earlier part of the journey had gone smoothly, but she ran into a major obstacle in Baihua County—there was no transportation to the Xiaohe Production Team.

If she walked quickly, she could get there in just over an hour, but the problem was that she didn’t know the way. How many people would she have to ask before she could find her way to the Xiaohe Production Team?

She hoped to hitch a ride and asked everyone she saw, “Is anyone going to the Xiaohe Production Team?”

No one was heading to the Xiaohe Production Team—not even anyone going in that direction.

Shu Yuan felt more disheveled and helpless than she ever had before.

She was getting closer and closer to Xiao Man, and every passing second made her more anxious. She was terrified that the human traffickers would get to Xiao Man before she did.

In her desperation, she resorted to the power of money. Spotting an honest-looking uncle on a bicycle who had just dropped someone off, Shu Yuan offered him two yuan to give her a ride.

With money on the table, there would always be someone willing. The uncle readily agreed to take her to the Xiaohe Production Team by bike.

Sitting on the backseat, the wheels spinning beneath her, Shu Yuan’s anxious heart eased slightly. The trees and land around her were all bare and yellowish. Battling against the cold wind, Shu Yuan suddenly thought of a serious problem she hadn’t considered earlier.

The original host had spent five or six years in the countryside and had a good understanding of rural people. In daily life, they liked to chat idly and gossip, constantly comparing themselves to others, afraid that another family might be doing better than their own. But when it came to serious matters, they could unite quickly, standing together against outsiders.

The Zhang family from the Xiaohe Production Team had bought Xiao Man with money. Now they wanted to sell him off and make a profit. Even if Xiao Man’s biological mother showed up, she shouldn’t expect to take him away so easily.

Zhang Laocai would demand a large sum of money from her, and all she had was sixty yuan. This wasn’t a problem that sixty yuan could solve.

There was even a chance that he would rally the entire production team to stop her from taking Xiao Man.

Shu Yuan could already picture the scene of the team members surrounding her with all kinds of tools in hand.

With just her alone, there was no way she could go up against an entire production team.

It wasn’t as simple as getting to Xiao Man before the human traffickers.

With that in mind, Shu Yuan realized the matter was exceptionally tricky.

The cold air around her was biting, but her mind remained clear and turned quickly. She should report to the public security first. As long as they stepped in, the matter would be much easier to resolve.

Instead of heading straight to the Xiaohe Production Team, she went to the local Public Security Bureau substation in the township first. Unexpectedly, she was met with a closed door. Though the main gate was open, the doors of the few simple bungalows inside were all locked tight.

She hadn’t expected this at all.

Things were off to a bad start, and Shu Yuan felt like she had been struck hard on the head.

She asked around nearby, and some team members told her that the substation only had three public security officers, and since it wasn’t even lunchtime yet, they had most likely all gone out on a mission.

In this era, the number of public security officers was extremely limited, and Shu Yuan was well aware of that.

Since seeking help from the public security was a dead end, Shu Yuan braced herself for the challenge ahead. Her fighting spirit reignited, fiercer than ever. Even if she had to confront Zhang Laocai, even if Xiao Man had already been taken by human traffickers, no matter what, she would take Xiao Man away and bring him back to Lucheng.

Go, Shu Yuan!

Xiao Man, your kind, loving, and responsible mom has come to rescue you!

The bicycle once again jolted along the rural dirt road. The older man, speaking in a thick Northeastern accent, asked around about where Zhang Laocai’s home was. The villagers all assumed they were visiting relatives and warmly gave directions. Soon, a house with five large rooms, built of red bricks and topped with black tiles, came into view.

The house was quite new—five spacious tiled rooms, surrounded by a stone wall about two meters high. From what Shu Yuan had seen, most other families lived in three-room low adobe houses, so she could tell that Zhang Laocai’s family was relatively well-off.

When she jumped off the backseat of the bicycle, Shu Yuan’s heart leapt into her throat. If it pounded any harder, it might have burst right out of her mouth.

After such a long and tiring journey, she had finally reached her destination. Zhang Laocai’s house was just a few steps away. What was the situation inside right now? Who else was there? Was Xiao Man there?

It would be best if there was no conflict, if she could quietly take Xiao Man away without stirring up trouble.

Shu Yuan calmly observed the surroundings of Zhang Laocai’s house. The family had good feng shui—the house was encircled by a man-made drainage ditch along the west side and in front of the entrance. There were no other houses on the west, only a large elm tree with sprawling branches. However, as it was early spring, there were no leaves to provide cover. After some thought, Shu Yuan decided not to approach the front door directly but instead climbed the tree to observe the Zhang household from outside the yard.

Perched on a branch of the elm tree, her field of vision immediately opened up. The entire layout of the house was clearly visible.

Golden ears of corn hung under the eaves. The courtyard was filled with all kinds of things: a water vat, farming tools, a pigsty, and a chicken coop. Near the pigsty, there was also a cooking stove.

In front of the outdoor stove were two children, one squatting and the other standing, both around four or five years old. The one squatting was a thin little boy, bent over and stuffing corn stalks into the stove, which was boiling pig feed.

The girl stood beside him, her small face chapped and smeared with soot, looking like a little tabby cat. She stomped her feet, trying to get the boy’s attention, and mumbled something that sounded like “nobody wants me.”

After adding the last of the stalks, the boy lifted his head numbly to look at her. Seeing her long trail of snot nearly reaching her mouth, he casually tore off a piece of corn husk and handed it to her, motioning for her to wipe it herself.

The girl ignored him, impatiently knocked the corn husk to the ground, stomped again, and muttered something else—“bastard child.”

She couldn’t say words longer than three syllables. The only phrases she knew were the ones she often heard from the adults around her.

Shu Yuan’s gaze was drawn to the two children. She recalled what had been written in the book—Xiao Man had been bought by the Zhang family to be a child husband^[1]Child husband (童养夫) refers to a young boy who is raised in a household from an early age with the intention of marrying the family’s daughter when they grow up. This traditional practice … Continue reading, meant to take care of the girl when they grew up. The girl, due to her father’s alcoholism, had developmental issues.

The girl who was standing didn’t look very bright just from her appearance.

That meant the boy was Xiao Man, and the girl was Zhang Laocai’s daughter.

Shu Yuan’s gaze locked onto the boy. It felt as if the wind had sucked all the air away, leaving her short of breath and her chest tight with emotion.

She had finally seen Xiao Man!

The child who had been abandoned by the original host.

A child who, aside from receiving some foster care payments, had barely experienced any love from his parents.

This child was now a child husband. What era was this, and there were still child husbands?

As if that weren’t bad enough, he was going to be sold again. From the moment he was born, he had never known the love of a mother or father. And once sold a second time, his fate would only become more tragic.

Shu Yuan gripped the tree trunk with one hand, the other clenched into a fist. The thin blue veins on the back of her hand stood out clearly—she was furious.

She hoped Xiao Man would turn and look toward the elm tree, hoped he would see her. But Xiao Man didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary. He stood up, holding a large ladle, and began stirring the pig feed in the pot.

Compared to the stove, he was so thin, so small. His tiny hand clutched the ladle with great difficulty. It wasn’t just his arm—his shoulder and lower back were all tensed with effort just to stir the pot of chaff and bran.

Shu Yuan’s heart hung in suspense. She was deeply worried that Xiao Man might get scalded by the boiling pig feed, or worse, fall headfirst into the pot if he slipped.

Xiao Man had been in this world for not even four years, yet he already had to take on the heavy chore of cooking pig feed. One could easily imagine what kind of life he normally led.

Shu Yuan’s eyes burned with emotion.

Xiao Man stirred the pig feed again and again. It absolutely couldn’t be burned—if it burned, it would be seen as wasting food, and he would be beaten and scolded.

After stirring, he added more stalks to the stove, then took a corn stalk and practiced writing on the ground.

Normally, he was indifferent, numb. But in the past couple of days, he had been flustered. The messy lines on the ground clearly reflected his inner turmoil.

In the past, he had never thought of his life as bitter. He endured the beatings and scoldings in silence. The Zhang family and the neighbors all said he was a child nobody wanted, but he himself had never thought of it that way.

How could his mother not want him? It was just that she couldn’t keep him by her side.

He believed that his mother surely didn’t know he had been sold as a child husband. If she knew, she would definitely come for him right away.

One day, his mother would appear beneath the big willow tree at the entrance of the village, or show up at the front door of the house, or by the riverside where he often went to wash clothes.

In a fleeting moment, when he looked up without thinking, he would see his mother’s smiling face.

But her face had grown blurry in his mind. Only by constantly fighting against forgetfulness, by piecing together her image from the haze of memory, could he stop himself from forgetting her entirely.

In his heart, he had cherished warm fantasies of a mother and child’s bond, had yearned for a mother’s love. But two nights ago, he had a nightmare, and ever since then, that dream had shattered.

He dreamt that his mother would never come for him again, that she had abandoned him to become a mother to someone else’s child, to raise someone else’s son. The Zhang family, thinking he was dull and slow, sold him to human traffickers in order to buy a smarter child.

He broke his leg while trying to escape.

A child who could have been sold for several hundred yuan was now unwanted. When people could buy or adopt a healthy child, who would be willing to take in a cripple?

He grew up like a stray dog—wild, stubborn, and tough—enduring a childhood filled with rejection and being trampled upon.

The dream had been so vivid it was terrifying, making him feel as if that was truly the life ahead of him. When he woke, his little face was streaked with tears. The child who had always clung to the hope of his mother’s return began to ponder deep, incomprehensible questions.

He didn’t understand. Why didn’t his mother want him? Why did she go raise another child? Was it because he wasn’t good enough?

What was even more absurd was that, in the dream, his mother had actually died from being angered by that other child.

And his father? If his parents didn’t like him, why did they even give birth to him?

In the dream, the road ahead was winding and full of thorns, but the future was bright. He finally escaped the beatings and humiliation and was able to earn a living on his own. His mother had long since passed away, and with no mother left to resent, he turned his hatred toward his father. He made his once-respected and beloved father become a man of disgrace.

The Zhang family called him slow and stupid, but in fact, he was a very clever child. He didn’t have time to dwell on the tragic fate of his dream self. What he thought of instead was that he should go find the public security uncles to catch the traffickers.

Yesterday, he ran to the township substation to report the case. At first, the officers didn’t believe a child’s word, but he provided the information in great detail, saying it was what he had overheard from the Zhang family. Only then did the officers decide to give it a try.

He didn’t know whether the public security uncles or the traffickers would win in the end. But just in case he was taken away, he would still find a way to escape—only this time, he would make sure to protect himself and not end up with a broken leg.

The child’s thoughts were as tangled as a ball of messy yarn. Shu Yuan, still hiding in the tree, couldn’t wait for him to turn around. Worried that the Zhang family might spot her, she tossed a small stone she had been holding.

The stone rolled to a stop at Xiao Man’s feet. He looked up and glanced around, finally spotting Shu Yuan crouched among the branches. His little face was filled with utter disbelief.

Mom.

It was Mom!

Was he still dreaming?

He had thought the public security uncles might come back. He had thought the traffickers might return. But he had never imagined that his mother would come.