Chapter 36

Chapter 36

After buying the pens, the three of them didn't do any more shopping and headed straight back to the bus station.

As soon as they entered the waiting room, Shen Banyue spotted Dai Xianghua already waiting there, along with five other people.

Two couples among them were easy to pick out.

One couple had slightly dark complexions and wore simple, frugal clothes. Their eyes darted around nervously. The wife had delicate eyebrows and eyes; Xiao Zhuzi's eyes and mouth resembled hers greatly, especially the faint dimple at the corner of her mouth.

The other couple was dressed more formally. The man wore a pair of glasses. Zhang Xiaowei was the spitting image of him, the kind of resemblance that screamed 'family'.

Perhaps due to the long journey, all four adults looked somewhat haggard, their expressions fretting and on edge.

There was also a young man wearing a navy blue *"people's suit,"* with a polite, reserved smile on his face. He was talking to the four parents. Shen Banyue guessed he was probably a staff member from the county... Even though the matter had been delegated layer by layer to Dai Xianghua, the county wasn't just going to wash its hands of the matter.

Sure enough, after the two groups met, Dai Xianghua introduced them. The young man was Cadre Li, the liaison officer dispatched by the county.

When they heard that Shen Guoqing was from the family that had been taking care of the children, the four parents were all gratitude, thanking him over and over. When they learned that Shen Banyue and Xiao Dizi were also children who had been trafficked, the two mothers' hearts immediately went out to them. Each took out snacks from the bags they had brought—one pulled out two large handfuls of milk candies, the other produced a large packet of sweet potato jerky.

Seeing the milk candies, Quan's mother hesitated for a moment, her hand withdrawing slightly, as if worried her offering wasn't fancy enough. Shen Banyue beamed and said, "Wow, these are all my favorites!"

Quan's mother immediately handed over the sweet potato jerky. "If you like them, have more. Auntie brought plenty."

Sure enough, all four of them were loaded down with bags and bundles.

Shen Banyue nodded, took the jerky happily, patted her bulging pocket, and thanked the two mothers with a smile.

Xiao Dizi followed suit, also patting her own bulging pocket. "Candy, lots!"

And indeed there were lots. They had been receiving candies from people for several days in a row.

The adults laughed at her antics. Zhang's mother sighed, "Such a lovely child. Her family must be so worried!"

Zhang's father tugged at her sleeve. "Why bring that up?"

They had already learned from the police officers that a total of seven children were rescued together. Currently, apart from their two families, the relatives of the other children had not yet been found.

Zhang's mother smiled apologetically and instead asked about the children's lives during this period. Hearing that they were already attending school and doing quite well—except for Xiao Dizi, the others had not only learned to write simple characters but had even picked up some basic arithmetic—she was very surprised.

Both she and her husband were workers in Yuechuan City under the neighboring S Province. There was a nursery school near their residential compound, but their child didn't like going to school, and the grandparents doted on him, so he had never attended.

Before being trafficked, the child had never been to school a single day. He couldn't even write his own name, let alone the simplest character like "one."

"It's all thanks to Lin Mian keeping an eye on them," Shen Banyue explained. "Whatever the teacher taught during the day, Lin Mian would check and help them review before bedtime at night."

No one was quite sure how Lin Mian had convinced the others, but the five of them had set a rule among themselves: the two top students roomed together, and the three laggards roomed together. The result was that roommates often changed, but Lin Mian held his ground, always staying in the two-person room.

Being such a clever little operator at such a young age... when he grows up, he'll probably become a real sly fox.

Of course, besides studying, they had many other activities, like digging for bamboo shoots and wild vegetables.

Hearing that Xiao Zhuzi had led everyone in digging many bamboo shoots, Quan's mother smiled shyly and said, "At home, I often took him up the mountain to dig for shoots. He's really good at it!"

As they chatted and laughed, the expressions of the four parents visibly relaxed.

The police officers had also said the children were being fostered by a very reliable family and were doing quite well lately. But without seeing it with their own eyes, how could parents not worry?

Now, hearing these everyday details from a child who lived with them, the knot of anxiety in the parents' chests finally loosened a little—

At the very least, judging by this child's bubbly manner, they probably were indeed doing well.

Shen Banyue had no idea that she had already been assessed by the parents as a "lively child." She simply saw how anxious and worried they were, practically wishing they could fly, yet trying to maintain composure. So she casually chatted to help ease their tension.

After all, the bumpy ride back would only make people more anxious.

Not long after, the bus arrived.

It was still crowded. Shen Banyue, as before, had Shen Guoqing lift her up to the window first, and then she hauled Xiao Dizi inside in one go.

This move amazed the parents. Zhang's mother couldn't help but say, "This child looks so skinny, yet she's quite strong."

Quan's mother hesitated for a moment and said, "Country kids are all like that, climbing high and low all day trains them." It's just that this child seemed particularly agile and quick.

Dai Xianghua leaned over to look at Shen Banyue and the others, who were already sitting steadily inside the bus, and shook his head with a helpless smile.

The journey back was as bumpy and jolting as Shen Banyue had anticipated. However, this time, the person sitting next to her wasn't a strange old lady, but Zhang's mother.

It was evident she had very rich experience fighting her way onto buses. She single-handedly carved a path through the crowd and ran all the way to the seats where Shen Banyue and the others were.

Shen Banyue guessed that the couple probably didn't work at the same factory. They likely lived in the residential compound of Zhang's father's factory. Zhang's mother's factory might be quite far away, and she probably had to squeeze onto buses for her daily commute.

After all, such nimble skills aren't developed overnight.

The bus schedule was inconvenient; they hadn't had time for lunch. However, Shen Banyue had eaten some of the pastries Shen Guoqing had "spent his last penny" on earlier, and later had quite a few sweet potato jerky, so she wasn't hungry at all.

Xiao Dizi probably wasn't hungry either. Besides the pastries and sweet potato jerky, she had eaten two milk candies. Not long after getting on the bus, her little head started to nod, and she was out.

By the time they reached Yunling Commune, it was already mid-afternoon. Everyone understood the parents' feelings. Upon arrival at the commune, Dai Xianghua quickly borrowed several bicycles, and the group pedaled straight toward the Xiaodun Brigade.

—

Under the large camphor tree at the village entrance, a group of women were sitting, basking in the sun and shooting the breeze.

"I heard those kids from Dechang's family made dozens of yuan picking scrap!" one auntie said in an exaggerated tone while deftly sewing clothes. "Xuehai from Zhao Yongjun's family was with them too. I heard him tell his mother they each got several yuan!"

Another auntie, who was sewing shoe soles, expressed disbelief. "Oh my, money isn't that easy to earn. Who hasn't sold scrap? You're lucky to get a few mao in a whole year. How much scrap do you need to make dozens? If you could really make that much money, why would we farm? We'd all go pick scrap!"

She glanced at the auntie who spoke first. "Kids don't know numbers well. They probably said a few fen and it sounded like a few kuai. Or maybe you misheard through the wall."

The first auntie was Zhao Xuehai's neighbor. She had indeed overheard the mother and son talking through the wall. She chuckled awkwardly. "You're probably right. It's not like picking gold. Maybe I misheard."

Clearly, no one believed scrap could sell for dozens of yuan. Someone changed the subject. "Speaking of which, my husband saw Guoqing riding a bicycle out this morning when he went to fetch water. The brigade leader's family treasures that bicycle like their own eyeballs. I wonder what urgent matter it was, making him leave in such a hurry."

No one really knew.

Just as they were talking, someone suddenly said, "Hey, why are there so many bicycles?!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, they saw four or five bicycles riding from afar on the village road. In a moment, they had reached the village entrance. One of them was indeed Shen Guoqing, whom they had just been discussing. The others were all strangers.

Someone raised her voice and asked, "Guoqing, do you have guests?" This was a polite way of asking who these people were.

Shen Guoqing squeezed the brakes and said, "The families of two of the children have come." After saying that, he didn't stop. He pushed down on the pedal, and the bicycle quickly glided forward again.

The crowd immediately erupted in exclamations.

"Oh my, the children's families have come! That was pretty fast!"

"Ah, ah, now that you mention it, they do look quite alike. Oh my Buddha, any family losing a child would be frantic. It's good they've been found, truly good!"

"Even if it's good they're found, don't go saying things carelessly. That superstitious nonsense won't do; you'll have to face criticism at the next meeting!"

"What did I say that was so wrong? I said nothing of the sort. I just said our government is good, catching the kidnappers and even finding the children's real parents. In the old days, how could such a thing be possible!"

...

As they spoke, several bicycles sped into the village road.

The four parents' expressions were tense; they hadn't been listening to the villagers at all. While anxiously observing their surroundings, they desperately picked up speed.

Soon, a large courtyard house with blue-brick walls and tiled roofs appeared before them.

Several children were squatting by the gate, playing with pebbles. Zhang Mama's eyes landed on one familiar small figure. She immediately jumped off the bicycle's rear rack and stumbled over: "Xiao Wei!"

Almost simultaneously, Quan Mama also jumped down from her bicycle. Her voice was louder, hoarse and nearly cracking: "Zhuzi!"

The children squatting on the ground stood up at once. Both Xiao Wei and Xiao Zhuzi looked stunned, staring at the familiar figures before them as if they couldn't quite believe it.

Zhang Mama swept forward and hugged Xiao Wei tightly, tears instantly falling: "Xiaowei, Xiaowei, Mama has finally found you!"

Zhang Papa, eyes rimmed red, embraced his wife and child.

Quan Mama also held Xiao Zhuzi, sobbing. Quan Papa stood to the side, self-consciously wiping the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

The two children remained stunned. After what seemed like a long while, they finally seemed to react and burst into loud, wailing sobs.

The crying attracted Wang Guizhi, Shen Dechang, and neighbors from inside the courtyard. No explanation was needed; one look at the scene and everyone immediately understood what was happening.

Wang Guizhi quietly asked Shen Guoqing, "When were Xiao Wei's parents found?"

Shen Guoqing gave a brief explanation. Wang Guizhi sighed, "A parent's heart is the same the world over."

She turned to look at the other three boys standing in a daze at the courtyard gate, walked over, patted their shoulders, and said, "Your parents will surely come looking for you soon too."

Xiao Jie wiped his tears and nodded emphatically, "Uh-huh."

Little Stone also nodded.

Lin Mian pursed his lips and whispered, "My dad won't come looking for me."

He said this very softly. With the backdrop of the other two children's howls, Wang Guizhi didn't catch it at all. Only Shen Banyue, standing several people away, heard. She looked over at him, surprised.

Over ten minutes later, the two families finally composed themselves and entered the courtyard together.

Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei stuck close behind their own mothers, no longer their usual carefree selves, both looking wary and nervous.

The two mothers also kept a firm grip on their children's hands, not daring to let their eyes leave them for a moment.

Everyone brought stools and sat in the courtyard. Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei nestled in front of their mothers.

Wang Guizhi pulled the three boys into her embrace. She glanced at Shen Banyue and Xiao Dizi, seeing both looked unmoved. She thought to herself, truly one doesn't remember and the other doesn't understand, so she left them be.

The four parents naturally thanked them profusely.

After a day's ordeal, it was actually getting late. The parents originally wanted to take the children back to the commune to stay at the guesthouse. Wang Guizhi persuaded them to stay in the village for one night, also giving the children time to say goodbye. After discussing it, they agreed.

So, Dai Xianghua and Cadre Li headed back first.

If Dai Xianghua had come alone, he could have easily stayed for a meal at the Shen family's. But with Cadre Li along, it wasn't so convenient. He had dealings with the Shen family, but Cadre Li did not. Cadres must not take a single needle or thread from the masses.

Although there were many mouths to feed, there were also many hands to help. Zhang Mama and Quan Mama were both capable around the house. They volunteered and each cooked a hometown dish, using ingredients they had brought in their bundles, big and small.

Once the meal was ready, the adults sat at one table, the children at another. Zhang Papa even brought out a bottle of liquor, toasting the Shen family and Quan Papa repeatedly.

At the children's table, after the initial excitement passed, Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei finally realized they would be going back to their hometowns with their parents tomorrow.

Amidst their happiness, the two children began to feel reluctant.

"Come home with me. My home has lots and lots of bamboo; we can dig for bamboo shoots every day," Xiao Zhuzi said, his mouth turning down in a pout at the thought of not being able to dig for bamboo shoots with his friends anymore.

Xiao Wei said dejectedly, "My home doesn't have bamboo, and no mountains either." He thought for a moment and added, "But my grandma's house has mountains. I can ask her to plant lots of bamboo."

Xiao Zhuzi snorted, "It takes a long, long time for bamboo shoots to grow into bamboo."

Not to be outdone, Xiao Wei said, "My grandma's house also grows sugarcane, lots and lots of sugarcane. It's really sweet!"

Xiao Zhuzi immediately countered, "We have fish there too; we can catch fish to eat!"

Seeing the two starting a "heated competition," glaring at each other with eyes still red from crying like fighting cocks, Shen Banyue shook a finger. "We're not going anywhere. After you go home, you can write us letters."

They immediately quieted down.

Xiao Zhuzi said worriedly, "But I only know how to write a few characters."

Xiao Wei was just as worried, "Me too."

Writing letters was simply too difficult for them.

Lin Mian chimed in gloomily, "Who told you not to study hard usually?" Unlike him, he already knew how to write many characters.

Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei's faces grew even more glum. They were getting an early taste of the regret of not having studied enough when knowledge is needed.

Shen Banyue was amused by them. "If you can't write, can't you draw? If you catch a fish, draw a fish. If you eat sugarcane, draw sugarcane. As long as it's understandable, that's fine." After all, for little kids writing letters, there wouldn't be much else of importance to say... and they probably wouldn't write many times anyway.

They were all still too young, and time was too long. With such distance and the passage of time, who knew how long the connection could last.

Shen Banyue lowered her eyes slightly.

She hated goodbyes, but she was always having them.

The other children, however, thought this method was excellent. They began boasting with immense confidence about their "drawing skills," each claiming they had drawn many "masterpieces" in their "youth" that amazed other children.

Chirping and chattering, they started laughing and playing again.

When arranging sleeping arrangements for the night, Shen Guoqing originally planned to find some planks to make two bed frames for the four adults. Who knew the group of children strongly insisted he set up the planks in Shen Banyue and Xiao Dizi's room? All seven of them wanted to sleep together tonight.

This way, the four adults could sleep in the other two rooms, which worked out perfectly.

After washing up, the seven children gathered in one room for the first time in a while.

Lin Mian, quite ruthlessly, declared that the daily pre-sleep learning progress check could not be canceled. He even reminded Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei to keep up with their studies after returning home.

Even though Lin Mian didn't seem much older than them, the boys all obediently listened. Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei even very earnestly promised to study hard after going home, making Shen Banyue raise an eyebrow in surprise.

So, the group of children took small twigs and wrote characters on the ground, while Shen Banyue took a razor blade to engrave characters on the fountain pens.

One "Zhuzi," one "Xiao Wei"—both characters she had "learned" during this period. The only thing to watch out for was not to engrave them too beautifully; keeping them neat was enough, otherwise it wouldn't match the level of a nine-year-old child.

Once the two pens were engraved, the kids gathered around, peering at the names and chattering excitedly.

"Look, 'Bamboo'! It says 'Bamboo'! Wow, Sister Yue, is this for me?"

"This is 'Wei,' the 'Wei' that means 'great.' This is mine."

"I thought only adults could write with fountain pens. Are we allowed to use them too? My handwriting is so ugly, but can I still write with a fountain pen? Hehe."

"Sister Yue, do we get one too? Can you engrave 'Little Hero' for me?"

"Then I want 'Great Hero' engraved on mine."

"I want 'Great Hero' added after 'Bamboo' too."

"Me too, me too! I want to be 'Little Wei the Great Hero.'"

Shen Banyue said with a straight face, "I think you all want to rebel." Not 'Little Hero' or 'Great Hero,' what, do you all want to be more impressive than Xiao Yue the Hero?

She stated matter-of-factly, "I don't know how to write the characters for 'hero.'" As a lower-grade student, she couldn't possibly know such complicated characters.

The boys immediately let out a collective sigh of disappointment, but then urged Shen Banyue to hurry up and engrave the pens. Each of them wanted their own pen right away.

Even Xiao Dizi, who had already started dozing off, mumbled several times in a childish voice, "Xiao Dizi wants one too."

In the next room, Wang Guizhi listened to the kids' noisy chatter and sighed, "I hadn't thought the children would be leaving so soon."

Shen Dechang stayed quiet, but his mood was also complicated. After all, they'd been looking after these kids for a while. Even though he hadn't interacted much with them, it still left him feeling a bit unsettled.

Wang Guizhi felt even worse, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time. Just as the commotion next door finally died down and everything grew still, she was drifting off to sleep when suddenly her heart skipped a beat. She sat up abruptly and slapped Shen Dechang, exclaiming, "Oh my goodness! I feel like I forgot something. I forgot to ask Guoqing how his job thing went!"

Today was the day Guoqing went to finalize his job!

Such an important matter, and she had completely forgotten to ask him how it went, whether it was successful or not. And her silly son, too—he hadn't even thought to mention it to her.

It was really because the whole house had been so noisy and chaotic that they had all, without realizing it, pushed this major matter to the back of their minds.

Shen Dechang had also been about to fall asleep when Wang Guizhi’s slap startled him awake. He stared blankly into the dark void for a while before saying, "It must have been settled. If it hadn’t, he would’ve told you earlier."

Wang Guizhi thought about it and agreed, then lay back down.

That night, not only were they unable to sleep, but the four parents next door were also lost in thought, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Zhang’s mother couldn’t help but ask her husband repeatedly, "We found Xiaowei, right?"

Zhang’s father patiently answered again and again, "Yes, we found him. We found him."

Next door, Quan’s father and Quan’s mother were calculating the expenses of this trip and discussing sending some food and supplies after they returned home. Their own child had been found, but there were still children who hadn’t found their parents. They couldn’t help much, but sending some food and supplies was something they could do.

Early the next morning, Wang Guizhi got up, sliced the salted wild boar meat, kneaded the dough, and made a large stack of dried plum vegetable pancakes.

Plans couldn’t keep up with changes. Originally, they had planned to make the pancakes for dinner the night before, but guests had arrived. However, it worked out perfectly to make them this morning so they could take some for the road.

Just as she finished making the pancakes, the others gradually woke up.

Breakfast was unusually quiet. If Wang Guizhi hadn’t made the pancakes herself and tasted how good they were, she might have wondered if she had made something terrible.

The children all ate with gloomy expressions, and by the end, a few of them were even shedding tears.

After breakfast, as the four parents packed their things and prepared to leave, Shen Wendong and Zhao Xuehai, who had just heard the news, arrived. The group of little boys immediately burst into tears, with Zhao Xuehai and Xiao Jie wailing especially loudly.

"Brothers, if you leave, who will skip class with me to dig for treasure—"

Shen Banyue: "..."

All sense of sadness vanished instantly.