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墨書 Inktalez
Qiuju Niu walked straight in and swept the snacks off a table onto the floor, saying, "There aren't any chairs here, so you can just sit at this table."
The members of the project team exchanged glances, and Old Shao gestured for everyone to disregard the details.
Old Shao sat on the table and casually moved a bag of snacks aside. "Qiuju Niu, since we were able to find you, it means we understand a lot of things."
He glanced outside, where a group of curious villagers were peering in.
"Shao the Elder," he said, "Wang Chao, tell those villagers outside to disperse. This is still confidential until the case is fully investigated."
Wang Chao nodded and walked outside, addressing the villagers. "Alright everyone, there's nothing to see here. Go on, disperse. Don't crowd around."
Under Wang Chao's supervision, the villagers finally moved away from the door but did not leave; they stood at a distance watching what was happening inside. For these villagers, this was quite an interesting event and a topic for their conversations over tea. However, for Qiuju Niu, standing there, it felt like a disaster.
Qiuju Niu had once been a human trafficker, so she knew how traffickers typically abduct children. She kept a close watch on Zhang Wenhua; whenever he went out, she required him to report to her. If he ever dared to sneak out without telling her, she would certainly give him a good spanking.
Every day when Zhang Wenhua went to and from school, Qiuju Niu personally picked him up. Although he was already seven years old, Qiuju Niu understood that during her younger days, she had seen many children aged five to seven abducted on their way to school. Seven-year-olds were slightly older and didn't fetch much money on the market; they were also harder to take away. However, most parents of five to seven-year-olds tended to let their guard down.
What Qiuju Niu couldn't comprehend was that every industry has its own rules. She had never heard of someone stealing a child directly from their home while they were asleep!
"Officer! Where has my grandson gone? Please, you must find my child!" Qiuju Niu cried out, tears and snot streaming down her face as her whole body trembled; the flesh on her body quivered comically.
But no one felt like laughing at that moment.
Xu Yiman stood with her hands on her hips and spoke in a tone that was both helpless and angry. "If you had thought about others' children like this back when you were trafficking them, then this tragedy wouldn't have happened now."
Upon hearing Xu Yiman's words, Qiuju Niu cried even harder. "If we could have survived back then, who would want to do such things? At that time, during the early reform era, most people were desperately poor. If I didn’t do it, my child would die; I had no choice!"
Hearing such words from Qiuju Niu only ignited Xu Yiman's anger. "Your child is a child, but others' children are not?"
Old Shao understood that Xu Yiman had always been a girl who despised evil and clearly distinguished between love and hate. She sympathized with those criminals who were forced into killing, yet she openly scorned those who committed evil for their own benefit. This was the best proof of her character. However, now that such an incident had occurred, the past was irrelevant.
What mattered now was to find Qiuju Niu's grandson, Zhang Wenhua. Although Qiuju Niu was guilty and deserved to be imprisoned, Zhang Wenhua was innocent; he knew nothing of the situation.
Old Shao interrupted Xu Yiman and asked Qiuju Niu, "I am asking you now, answer truthfully. No matter what you have done, you will face legal consequences in due time. But the child is innocent, and we will do everything we can to bring Zhang Wenhua back."
Qiuju Niu nodded her head as if it were a rattle drum. "You can ask whatever you want."
Old Shao took out a photograph. It was a current picture of Feng Gaofei. Back then, there was no internet, and even Guan Deng could not find any photos of Feng Gaofei from that time. Therefore, Old Shao could only use Feng Gaofei's current photo to inquire. "This person was abducted by you nearly thirty years ago. Do you remember him?"
Qiuju Niu took the photo and examined it carefully for a moment before shaking her head. "I was just a child back then; now he has grown up so much that I truly cannot recognize him."
Old Shao rubbed his eyes and said softly, "From the information we have gathered, your grandson Zhang Wenhua is currently being trafficked to the same village as this person."
At this moment, Jiang He spoke up. "Based on the timeline, Zhang Wenhua and that Criminal Consultant should still be on their way. That village is very remote; cars cannot drive in there. If we act quickly enough, we might encounter them on their way back. The sooner we find this place, the greater our chances."
Old Shao looked at Qiuju Niu. "You heard that. You should know that if a child is taken to such a village, even if there are police present, how likely is it that he can escape? The faster we act, the less danger your grandson Zhang Wenhua will be in. Do you understand?"
Qiuju Niu felt a chill run down her spine at Old Shao's words; she broke out in a cold sweat once again.
Previously, Aunt Wang had taught her the skills of child trafficking, so she knew well that if children were sold to such places, they would likely never be found again—even with police assistance.
The saying "desperate mountains breed cunning people" held true; women from that area often left the mountains behind. What would men do if they couldn't find wives? They would buy! What about those without descendants? They would buy! Such places were undesirable for most people to visit; thus, traffickers essentially facilitated population circulation. Moreover, most villagers were related to one another; with such a small population, it became increasingly difficult to maintain gender balance in the village. In these areas, the preference for sons over daughters was even more pronounced—girls born might be abandoned outright—making it harder for men to find wives.
Even if the police were to investigate, in those deep mountains, anyone could easily hide with a bought bride or child for a few days. The police wouldn't stay in the village forever; once they left, those people would return from the mountains. Such vast terrain meant that even thousands or tens of thousands of people searching together might not find them.
Moreover, poverty made the people there exceptionally united. If even one person leaked information, that individual would no longer be able to stay in the village. They could be killed and thrown into the mountains, and it might take the police a lifetime to find the body, if they ever did.
Because of this, when traffickers sold children or women to that place, it was nearly impossible to rescue them. Those who were found were usually retrieved before being sold deep into the mountains or discovered in other cities; once they were in the mountains, recovery was extremely difficult.
This is not an exaggeration but a chilling and terrifying reality.
Thus, it is essential for children and women to avoid going out at night and to refrain from visiting isolated places alone.
Currently, Zhang Wenhua was being taken into the mountains, and the consequences of that were unimaginable. Furthermore, Qiuju Niu had no idea where this place was or where Desolate Village actually lay. Searching under these circumstances was akin to finding a needle in a haystack; hope seemed exceedingly slim.
“Think carefully about where you sold the child,” Old Shao gently tapped on the photo tightly clutched in Qiuju Niu's hand. “It's in this province, roughly in the south. I heard it's called Desolate Village. Do you have any impression of it?”
Qiuju Niu gripped the photo tightly, her eyes almost glued to it as she murmured, “Desolate Village, Desolate Village... that name sounds familiar. Where is it? Where could it be?”
As she muttered to herself, Qiuju Niu paced back and forth in the shop.
The others remained silent; they all understood that it was best not to interrupt someone who was deep in thought, as it could easily disrupt their train of thought and sever any clues.
After several laps around the room, Qiuju Niu suddenly slammed her hand on the table with such force that it nearly broke. “Desolate Village! I remember now! I did go there thirty years ago, but I never returned after that. That village was a bit frightening…”
Old Shao had also heard this term from Huang Zhengqing's lips.
“What was so frightening about it?” Old Shao asked.
Qiuju Niu stopped and faced everyone, saying, "The people in that village are not normal. I heard that those who live there are all refugees. Just think about it—what kind of people would be fleeing during that time? The folks from that place must have all sorts of diseases, mostly hereditary ones, and they look quite terrifying. Almost all the women in the village have run away, leaving behind only a few men. When they see a woman, it's like hungry wolves spotting food. That place left a deep impression on me, which is why I can still remember it after all these years."
Old Shao smiled slightly. "Since you still remember that place, that's a good thing. Do you remember how to get there?"
Qiuju Niu nodded but then shook her head. "I have a vague impression, but I can only know if I can find it once I'm near. So you must take me with you. As long as we can rescue my grandson Zhang Wenhua, I will accept whatever happens afterward, whether it's prison or execution."
With that, Qiuju Niu knelt down with a thud, her forehead hitting the ground with a loud sound.
Old Shao sighed and said, "Your actions will definitely land you in prison, but that will be after we return."
"Thank you, thank you!" Qiuju Niu exclaimed.
"However," Old Shao stood up and continued, "if this village is really deep in the mountains and forests, we won't have enough strength among us to rescue the child. We need to find someone else."
"What kind of person should we look for?" Jiang He asked.
"We need someone skilled in martial arts," Old Shao replied. "We need to plan this carefully."
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