sinovels Chapter 36 The child wasn't lost, was he?
Chapter 36 The child wasn't lost, was he?
With the right materials, sitting up in a chaise lounge is easy; just hang it up.
The four hemp ropes passed through the iron rings under the roof beams. The cloth bag underneath was not high, only about half a foot from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Chen Shi tried pressing it down again to make sure the knots were secure before letting Chen Xiulan put Xiaoman inside.
Xiaoman was separated from her family, and as soon as she touched the cloth bag, she wrinkled her little face and looked like she was about to cry.
Chen Shi reached out and gave it a gentle push.
The rocking chair began to sway slightly.
Once, twice.
Xiaoman's crying gradually subsided, until only a soft humming came from her nose.
Ya Ya held her breath and watched, and when her younger brother really calmed down, her eyes were filled with disbelief: "Uncle, my brother isn't crying anymore."
"Yes. You were like that when you were little too." Chen Shi patted her head. "You can help your mother push gently in the future, but don't use too much force."
Ya Ya nodded solemnly, "I can do it."
Li Cheng looked at the rocking bed, then at the web of his hand, and said, "It was worth it. This rocking bed is really good."
Aunt Wang wanted to kick him again.
This time, Li Cheng was smarter and pulled his leg back first, but his mouth didn't stop. "Speaking of illness, I suddenly remembered something."
What Li Cheng suddenly remembered was usually not a good thing. His words drew the attention of everyone in the room.
Li Cheng scratched his head. "Why are those few human traffickers from out of town specifically targeting Ya Ya? I didn't understand before. Just now you mentioned needles and illnesses, and I remembered they said that old lady in that family got off the bed."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wang's face turned pale with anxiety. "You bastard, what have you remembered now?"
"I was so hungry back then that I wasn't thinking straight..." Li Cheng frowned, trying hard to recall. "I was so hungry that my vision was blurring and I was so cold that I didn't take it to heart, just thinking they were being superstitious. But now that I think about it, it seems like it's not just a matter of saying it's wrong and not to do it."
"It's like saying, 'If the birth charts don't match, don't do it.'"
Chen Xiulan was already a little stressed because it concerned Ya Ya, and now she clenched her hands even tighter.
"Are you sure?" Chen Shi asked.
"I wouldn't dare say it's 100% true," Li Cheng said without exaggeration this time. "But the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems. The pockmarked guy said, 'We've already agreed to the money, don't get the wrong person.' The other guy said, 'That family is particular, they won't accept anyone if the birth dates don't match.' Then they said something about the old lady being able to get off the bed as soon as the girl enters the house."
Aunt Wang opened her mouth as if to scold him, but in the end, she didn't say anything.
Chen Xiulan's face was extremely pale.
Seeing her like this, Chen Shi already knew what was going on. "Sister, did Tian Guizhi ask about Ya Ya's birthday?"
Chen Xiulan pursed her lips and nodded after a long while, "I asked."
"When Ya Ya was two or almost three years old, she came to visit and said that Ya Ya had a lucky face. She asked when and when Ya Ya was born. I didn't think much of it at the time. The old women in the village gossip about who gave birth to how much their baby weighed and what time they were born. They can talk about it for ages."
Ya Ya couldn't understand what the adults were saying, but she instinctively moved closer to Chen Xiulan.
It turns out it wasn't just a random crutch.
It wasn't because I saw that Yaya was easy to coax that I temporarily tricked her with some steamed buns.
Someone had already given her her birth date and time; someone had used this nonsense to calculate, select, and determine her fate.
Chen Shi closed his eyes and carefully recalled his past life, trying to see if he could remember any useful clues.
After Ya Ya's accident in her previous life, many rumors circulated in the village. Some people cursed Han Changgui for being heartless, some cursed Tian Guizhi for being cruel, and others said that the child had been taken to a family without children outside the mountains to be raised.
But who needs a birth date and time (eight characters) to adopt a child?
Which village nearby has an elderly woman who is bedridden?
Who would be so superstitious as to use a little girl to bring good luck?
He went through the names of several wealthy families in Heishigou, Erdaoliang, Laoyushugou, and the edge of the commune in his mind over and over again, but he couldn't grasp a single one.
In his past life, he truly believed that Tian Guizhi's tearful pleas were out of pity for Ya Ya, which was why she let her take Ya Ya away.
What a useless coward! Chen Shi cursed himself inwardly.
He stood up. "I'll go ask Uncle Zhao."
Aunt Wang immediately asked, "Where are you going?"
"Let's find out and then we'll go back," Chen Shi said. "Uncle Zhao has been in the village for so many years, he might have heard of such rumors in the neighborhood. Even if he hasn't, we need to let him know that Ya Ya wasn't just targeted randomly."
Li Cheng also stood up. "I'll go with you. I overheard those words, and I'll go and say them."
Aunt Wang glared at him, "If you had thought of this earlier, none of this would have happened!"
"I didn't know it was Ya Ya either." After Li Cheng finished speaking, he noticed his mother's strange look and immediately changed his words, "I'll shut up."
Chen Xiulan looked at Chen Shi, "Shizi, this matter cannot be left like this."
"Don't worry, sis, latch the door," Chen Shi said. "Don't open it for anyone. I'll be back in a bit."
Huang Er, who was originally lying at the door of the outer room, heard the noise and lifted his foot to follow.
Chen Shi patted its head. "You guard the house."
Yellow Ear lay back down by the threshold, its ears perked up.
Zhao Defa was sitting at the table, with the cigarette paper that Tian Youshan had written today spread out in front of him, and a tattered glove left behind by Old Scarface next to him.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw Chen Shi. "What's wrong?"
Chen Shi didn't beat around the bush, "Uncle Zhao, in the nearby villages or communes, have you ever heard of anyone asking to have their child's birth date and time checked before taking them out for a consultation?"
The content of these words was somewhat unexpected by Zhao Defa, and he didn't react for a moment. Zhao Defa frowned and asked, "What?"
Li Cheng quickly repeated what he had just remembered.
This time, he didn't embellish or boast about how clever he was. He simply explained the phrases "don't do it if the birth charts don't match," "the old lady gets off the bed," and "the maid enters the door" over and over again.
The more Zhao Defa listened, the more his brows furrowed. "What did Xiulan say?"
"Tian Guizhi asked about Yaya's birth date and time years ago," Chen Shi said. "Uncle Zhao, if this matter is about choosing a person based on their birth date and time, it's not simply that Han Changgui gambled and incurred debts, and someone else took advantage of the situation to kidnap the child. Someone had already arranged for Yaya to be their child."
Zhao Defa squinted, deep in thought.
He had been the brigade leader in the village for so many years and had seen a lot of filth.
Selling children, arranged marriages, warding off bad luck, adoption—these are all common terms heard in impoverished areas. But if someone actually picks a five- or six-year-old child based on their birth date and time, claiming they can make an old woman get out of bed, how can they possibly raise them well?
"There are quite a few bedridden old ladies around here," Zhao Defa said in a deep voice. "But are there any who have the money to buy a child, who are connected to the other side of the timber road, and who are superstitious about horoscopes... I need to find someone to ask around."
He had barely finished speaking when the sound of a bicycle bell suddenly came from outside the courtyard.
Immediately afterwards, there was two knocks on the door from the outside.
Is Captain Zhao here?
Zhao Defa got up and opened the door.
A man in his thirties was standing outside the door, wearing a police cotton uniform with his hat askew, pushing a bicycle.
The person was quite particular when entering the house; they stomped their feet outside first, without even glancing inside, as if they didn't care who was inside.
"Commune Police Station, Gu Cheng." He pulled out his ID and flashed it, then quickly put it away. "I'm here to ask a couple of questions about Han Changgui's matter."
"What happened to the junior policeman who was working with me before? What was his name?" Mentioning the name, Zhao Defa couldn't recall it immediately. After a moment's thought, he said, "His name is... Liu Dachuan. He's been communicating with me these past few days; he's quite responsible. Why the change?"
Gu Cheng took off his gloves. "He has other things to do. It's not like we can just pick anyone to handle a case; it doesn't matter who does it."
"Yes, it's all the same. They changed people all of a sudden. Ask around," Zhao Defa said.
Gu Cheng smiled but didn't respond. He pulled up a chair and sat down. "Captain Zhao, don't be too nervous here. The commune has done a preliminary check, and there's no major damage. The child isn't missing, is he?"