Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As soon as Dai Xianghua asked the question, he found it incredible.

The little girl was reportedly nine years old, but with her skinny arms and legs, she looked more like six or seven. And those traffickers? Each was hulking and tall, the shortest being over 1.7 meters tall. To claim this little girl beat up three grown men and tied them up was nothing short of a fantasy.

What's more, the bald one had said that it was the little girl who insisted on meeting the buyer. He was coerced by her and had to comply, and he caused the commotion at the state-run restaurant to try and escape.

It was even more preposterous.

By all logic, Dai Xianghua shouldn't believe a single word of it.

However, setting aside the consistent testimonies from the separately interrogated traffickers, the entire incident itself was indeed pervaded by strangeness, with many inexplicable aspects. Take the two "trussed-up men"—who tied them up? Surely they couldn't have done it themselves?

Shen Banyue had prepared for this and showed no sign of fluster. Her expression was a mix of confusion, bewilderment, and unease, her voice faint: "Me?"

She bit her lip, looking as if she wanted to cry but was desperately holding back: "Uncle, I didn't do anything bad."

She was playing the part of just a child who doesn't understand and is very scared.

Dai Xianghua: "..."

Just then, a nurse entered carrying an enamel tray to change the saline drip. Seeing the skinny, pitiful girl looking so wronged, she couldn't help but stick up for her: "Officer Dai, the child has suffered enough. How can you still bully her?"

Dai Xianghua felt terribly wronged: "...I didn't bully her."

The nurse gave him a once-over: "Oh, then it must be that you look intimidating and scared her."

Dai Xianghua: "..."

As she changed the bottle, the nurse offered advice: "So what if you look intimidating? Smile more. Do you have any candy? Give the child a piece, then she won't be afraid of you."

Dai Xianghua was at a loss for words. He was a grown man; he naturally didn't carry candy. He could only force a stiff smile and changed the question: "Xiao Jie said you brought them steamed buns and opened the door to that room?"

Xiao Jie was one of the five abducted boys, now sound asleep on the bed near the door.

These children, having been terrified for so many days, finally in a warm and safe place, were sleeping like logs. The conversation didn't wake them.

Shen Banyue guessed this information was shared by the children on the way back after the police rescued them.

Her expression was perfectly blank. She nodded honestly: "I was so, so hungry. The room had a window, so I thought I'd try climbing it. I'm quite strong and good at climbing trees. That window wasn't hard to climb. I went to steal some buns and came back."

She licked her lips, seeming a bit embarrassed, glanced at Dai Xianghua, and continued: "I opened the door in the morning when I took Xiao Dizi out."

Dai Xianghua asked: "If you could climb out, why didn't you run away?"

Shen Banyue wore an expression that seemed to say, *"How can an adult be so naive?"*: "There are wolves in the mountains! And I didn't know where to run to."

All right.

Dai Xianghua thought it over and found no issues with Shen Banyue's answers.

Ultimately, she was just a half-grown kid. If it weren't for the two slightly unusual points Xiao Jie mentioned, he wouldn't have even come to question her.

This child obviously came from a poor family. It was normal for such children to be agile. Climbing a window to steal buns when starving made sense, and it was really good of her that she shared them with the other children.

As the only slightly older child, she was probably assigned chores by the traffickers. When going out to "sell goods," she was likely tasked with bringing the younger children out. So, in the eyes of the other children, it seemed like she opened the door.

Dai Xianghua thought it through and found that the so-called suspicious points could all be reasonably explained. He was more inclined to believe the traffickers were lying.

"But who really tied up the traffickers, and why would they tell such an outrageous lie?"

Dai Xianghua muttered while frowning. The two little girls stared at him with their dark, clear eyes, as if saying, "We're just kids, how would we know?"

—

Once he was done questioning them, Dai Xianghua left with the militiamen. The County Public Security Bureau had already sent personnel down. Two levels of public security and order maintenance personnel would cooperate to investigate surrounding villages and neighboring communes as quickly as possible to rescue the trapped victims. They needed to join the operation.

By the time the children finished their saline drips, dusk was falling. A nurse pushed in a trolley carrying two enamel insulated buckets and a stack of bowls and chopsticks. After waking each child, the nurse put Shen Banyue in charge of making sure they ate.

This task was even simpler.

Having endured hunger for so many days, even the youngest, Xiao Dizi, wolfed down her food, needing no supervision at all.

The only dispute occurred when serving second helpings. Several boys scrambled to be the first to get the scoop, but were ultimately scared off by a single look from Shen Banyue.

After evenly distributing the remaining mixed-grain rice and vegetable soup from the bucket among the boys, Shen Banyue sat back in her chair, leaned back, and stared blankly ahead.

After finishing their meal, the children obediently stacked the bowls and chopsticks and together pushed the trolley to the door.

"Oh my, you're all so well-behaved! Let me, let me." The nurse took the trolley at the door, and the clattering sounds gradually faded away.

The little boy named Lin Mian climbed onto the bed closest to Shen Banyue, quietly leaning against the headboard, stealing glances at Shen Banyue from time to time.

The other four boys, in pairs, also climbed onto beds, imitating Lin Mian by leaning against the headboards, whispering to each other in voices only they could hear.

A nurse passing by with a tray peeked in and couldn't help but sigh: "These children are really..." Probably realizing why the children were so well-behaved, she cut off her words mid-sentence amidst hurried footsteps.

The commune clinic rarely had patients needing to stay overnight, so the few beds naturally became the children's sleeping quarters. Fortunately, none of these children were troublemakers. Providing them with food and a place to sleep wasn't much of a burden for the clinic.

Around nine at night, the children in the ward were already deep in sleep. The nurse on duty had just finished her rounds and had just lain down on the small folding bed in the utility room when she heard several urgent knocks at the door. She quickly wrapped herself in her coat and scrambled to answer it.

Bringing in the chill of the autumn night, Shen Guoqiang hurried in, carrying Wang Guizhi on his back, followed by Lin Xiaohui and Shen Guoqing, both looking anxious.

"What happened?"

"She's badly scalded, from boiling water. We rinsed it with cold water at home, but it still looks very serious," Lin Xiaohui explained.

The nurse quickly said: "The doctor should be here soon. You get her settled first. I'll go get the medicine and tools."

For privacy reasons, the doctor's on-call room was on the other side, somewhat farther away. However, the night was quiet, and the bell hanging at the clinic's entrance could be heard from a distance. There was no need to call out; the doctor would hear it.

Before long, a thin-faced male doctor appeared, his hair disheveled.

Wang Guizhi leaned pale against a chair, one leg from thigh to ankle an angry red.

The doctor deftly cleaned the wound and applied dressings. The nurse, assisting, muttered: "It would take at least a whole thermos of boiling water to cause this. How could she be so careless?"

Shen Guoqiang and the other two looked upset and remained silent. Wang Guizhi, groaning softly, managed a bitter smile and said: "It was my own carelessness."

After the wound was treated, the doctor prescribed some antibiotics and suggested observing her at the clinic overnight. The nurse remembered: "I'll go shift those kids around to free up a bed."

To her surprise, a scrawny figure was already standing at the door, speaking cautiously: "Nurse sister, Lin Mian can share a bed with us. Let that grandmother sleep on that one." She pointed behind her to a bed that was already empty.

The nurse glanced under the light from outside and indeed saw an empty bed.

"Oh my, so well-behaved." She praised, then gestured for Shen Guoqiang to bring her over.

Shen Guoqiang carried Wang Guizhi over and carefully settled her on the bed. He looked around and asked Shen Banyue in a hushed voice: "Are these the kids you were rescued with, along with your Uncle Dai and the others?"

Shen Banyue gave a nod. Shen Guoqiang said softly, "Good girl, go back to sleep."

After Shen Banyue climbed into bed and lay down, Shen Guoqiang whispered into Wang Guizhi's ear and explained where these children had come from.

Wang Guizhi sighed softly, waved her hand, and told him to get on home.

Shen Guoqiang said, "The trip back is too much hassle. Xiaohui and I will find a place to make do for the night. Let Guoqing go back first."

—

Shen Guoqing headed back with the ox-cart, muttering complaints as he left that he would definitely pin down Shen Guoxing and give him a beating when he got home.

Shen Guoqiang thought to himself that although this guy was a hothead, he probably wouldn't actually beat the groom's father black and blue on the eve of the wedding banquet, so he didn't stop him.

Borrowing a worn-out mat from the nurse, the couple spread it out in a corner to make a bed. Lin Xiaohui lay down fully clothed, while Shen Guoqiang sat cross-legged at one end of the mat.

Lin Xiaohui looked utterly dejected. The emotions she had been suppressing welled up, and tears streamed down her face as she choked out, "How could they do this?!"

Shen Guoqiang's lips moved, but he remained silent for a long while. He wordlessly patted his wife's slender back.

They had actually been considering adopting a child for several years, but they had never encountered a suitable opportunity and had never fully made up their minds.

This time, with that child from the Shangfeng Brigade, if they didn't take it, that child probably wouldn't even have a chance to be born. Lin Xiaohui felt this was probably meant to be and finally made her decision.

With it on her mind, she and Shen Guoqiang had found time after dinner to visit Aunt Liu's house. Their original intention was to ask Aunt Liu to deliver the message to the other party as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, Aunt Liu looked troubled and said the deal was off.

It turned out that the very next day after Aunt Liu told Wang Guizhi the news, Hu Huaihua had taken her family members to the Shangfeng Brigade. Through threats and inducements, she paid ten yuan as "nutritional compensation" to buy the life of the unborn child.

The child had already been aborted.

The one who tipped off Hu Huaihua was Aunt Liu's youngest daughter. Feeling ashamed and afraid the Shen family would make a scene, Aunt Liu hadn't dared to tell Wang Guizhi, hoping to delay the matter until after Shen Aimin's wedding banquet.

When Lin Xiaohui and Shen Guoqiang showed up at her door, Aunt Liu realized she could no longer hide the truth and had to confess.

That's how the Shen family blew up.

When it came to arguing, Shen Guoqiang and Lin Xiaohui were no match for the shameless couple, Shen Guoxing and Hu Huaihua. Despite being in the right, they were left speechless by the other side's unreasonable pestering and obstruction.

In the end, it was Wang Guizhi who, overcome with anger and without wasting words, grabbed Hu Huaihua by the hair and slapped her.

In that instant, before anyone else could react, Hu Huaihua's third child, Shen Aizhen, suddenly screamed and threw a pot of boiling water at Wang Guizhi.

...

Recalling the chaotic events of the day, Shen Guoqiang sighed and comforted his wife in a low voice, "Don't think about anything now. Just get a good night's sleep first."