Chapter 215: Splitting Up
She quietly stuck half her head out, silently counting the heads in her mind: one, two, three.
The three people were tightly wrapped in their thick cotton clothes, huddled together to warm each other and fend off the cold wind.
After thinking about it, Su Ning left a mark on the ground that only she could understand, then quietly and soundlessly retreated slowly.
From the meaning in their words, this batch of goods had already arrived, and the transaction would happen in the next couple of days. To avoid alerting them, she chose not to use drugs to investigate further.
After all, when catching a thief, you need the stolen goods; capturing them red-handed all at once was best.
……
Tao City, Yong County.
Zhang Ze, who had transferred buses several times, finally arrived smoothly at the small county town where Wu Meng lived at seven in the evening.
This county town was far inferior to Yong County under Gu City, without even a proper main street.
The buildings consisted of only two small two-story houses.
After finally finding that ancient bridge with quite a few years on it, Zhang Ze immediately perked up, knowing he was not far from the home Wu Meng had mentioned.
Not far away was a small hill like a camel’s hump, with large clusters of houses at its base.
In the dark night, he couldn’t see if the hill was as Wu Meng described, an endless peach blossom forest.
“Dong dong~”
“Dong dong dong~”
“Who is it? So late at night, coming!”
The man inside the room casually threw on a cotton-padded jacket full of patches, braving the biting cold wind to open the courtyard gate.
Seeing the unfamiliar face and meeting those sharp, knife-like eyes, he didn’t know if it was fear or cold, but his legs went soft and trembled.
“You, who are you?”
“Hello old brother, I’m a distant relative of the Wu family. I came late at night because of an emergency at home. Could you trouble yourself to help point the way?”
“Wu family? Which Wu family? This was originally Wu Family Village, but most people here are surnamed Wu!”
“My cousin is called Wu Meng, the Wu family of Wu Meng.”
Wu Meng?
The girl from Wu Shengli’s family at the end of the village?
“Wait a moment.”
He pulled his clothes together, went back inside to call to his daughter-in-law, then took a torch, lit it in the stove, and strode out.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you there.”
“Thank you, thank you old brother!”
“We’re all from the countryside, no need to be polite. The road is hard to walk, follow close.”
“Okay.”
Zhang Ze responded, following closely behind him under the light of his high-held torch, and couldn’t help starting to inquire during the way, “How is my old aunt?”
“The old woman is blind, her son isn’t by her side, her daughter is gone, days are hard.”
It was also because the brigade leader was kind-hearted, giving her light work she could manage every day, allowing her to barely get by without starving to death.
Plus this place wasn’t far from the county town. Although Wu Han that boy couldn’t return, he was filial and sent a monthly allowance home by mail.
Otherwise, being blind, with a weak body needing medicine every day, that bit of ration alone wouldn’t suffice.
“There, that’s the room.”
Back when Wu Shengli hadn’t had his accident, the Wu family lived better than most but not the best in the village, with a loving couple and both son and daughter.
Ever since her husband had the accident, Wu Meng’s mother collapsed bodily and cried until her eyes went blind. If not for being unable to let go of her two children, she probably would have gone with him.
“Thank you old brother, really troubled you!”
Upon arriving, Zhang Ze thanked him while pulling out a pack of Big Front Gate from his pocket and handing him two cigarettes. After the man smiled and waved him off, he turned and knocked on the Wu family door again.
……
To save on firewood, and also because she was blind and didn’t need light, Wu Meng’s mother went to bed early as soon as it got dark, lying there stiffly even if she couldn’t sleep.
Hearing the knock at the door, a puzzled expression appeared on her deeply wrinkled face.
She knew every nook and cranny inside and out of the home like the back of her hand, so even in the darkness with sightless eyes, she could accurately avoid tables, chairs, and stools, reaching the main gate without obstacle.
“Who is it?”
Feeling for the stick placed behind the door, Wu Meng’s mother picked it up casually, not rushing to open the door but carefully asking aloud.
“Big Aunt, is this Wu Meng’s home?”
“Girl?”
Hearing her daughter’s name again from someone else’s mouth, Wu Meng’s mother trembled, the stick clattering to the ground.
“Yes, yes, this is Wu Meng’s home, it is her home!”
Startled back to her senses by the sound of the stick hitting the ground, Wu Meng’s mother anxiously drew the door bolt, repeatedly responding, “Who are you? Do you know my Wu Meng? Where is she? Why hasn’t she come home for so long?”
At the last question, the old woman couldn’t control her choking sobs, tears she thought had dried up surging out again.
“Big Aunt, don’t get excited, let’s talk slowly!”
“Okay, okay, I’m not excited, not excited… cough cough cough~”
Her rough hand wiped her face forcefully. Wu Meng’s mother stopped coughing, suppressed the unease and pain in her heart, and led him into the room, “Come in, young man, let’s go inside and talk.”
Zhang Ze had good night vision and helped her into the yard.
Led by her to sit by the fire basin in the kitchen, seeing her skillfully light a fire with dry pine needles then add a few thick logs, for some reason an inexplicable sourness welled up in his heart.
“Big Aunt, no need to fuss, I’m not thirsty, no need to boil water.”
“This, this, how can a guest come and not have hot water?”
“Really no need, you sit first. If I’m really thirsty, I can boil it myself, okay?”
“Alright then, young man, can you tell me now? My Wu Meng… what exactly happened to her?”
“Big Aunt…”
Organizing his words, Zhang Ze somewhat difficultly informed her of Wu Meng’s situation.
He kept the cause and process as brief as possible, covering it in a few sentences, afraid of scaring her into something bad.
If there were any able-bodied person at home, even a half-grown child, he wouldn’t have chosen to tell her this.
“I knew… I knew, how could my girl not come see me for so long, something must have happened…”
“Whoever comes back, I tell them about my girl, my girl is gone, alive or dead we can’t find her…”
“What running off with someone, my girl isn’t that kind of woman… wuwu, my child, my girl ah…”
“Big Aunt, you must take care of your health, Wu Meng is still waiting for you, dreaming of you taking her home.”
Though he spoke concisely, having lived this long, through wars and great famines, what hadn’t she seen or experienced?
Wu Meng’s mother just wanted to know, abducted, imprisoned—these two words meant what.
Even if her daughter escaped alive, with the Wu clan still around, what she would face upon return, this widow with a tablet knew better than anyone.
But she wanted her child alive, even alive with a body full of shame, better than a cold corpse.
Wu Meng’s mother quickly calmed her wailing, opened her sightless eyes wide, and grabbed his arm, “Young man, please take me to see her, please! Don’t wait until she’s better to send her back, take me, take me to find her first!”
“Okay, we’ll set off tomorrow morning, I’ll take you to see her.”
“Thank you, thank you young man!”
Wu Meng’s mother knelt down with a thud, kowtowing toward his direction.
“Big Aunt, what are you doing, get up quick!”
“Thank you for saving my girl, thank you for coming all this way to report to this blind old woman…”
“Big Aunt!”
Gripping her shoulders firmly, Zhang Ze lifted her from the ground and pressed her onto the chair behind him.
“Big Aunt, I’m also a fighter and comrade with your son, I only hate not rescuing her sooner. I don’t deserve this thanks and kneeling.”
After much persuading, Zhang Ze finally got her to stop.
But tonight’s night was destined to be long.
……
Gu City South Gate First Street, Su Family Small Courtyard.
Su Ning and Zhang Qi, returning home one after the other, hadn’t even spoken when the little one who should have been asleep long ago darted into the main hall.
“Aunt!”
“Xiao Qiu?”
Quickly picking her up into her arms and wrapping her in her jacket, “How did you run out? Did you have a nightmare?”
“Aunt, why after I’m back in Gu City, every day I open my eyes I still can’t see you. Does aunt not like Xiao Qiu anymore~”
She was out when Xiao Qiu opened her eyes, and only home when she closed them.
Xiao Qiu held back two pools of tears, pouting her mouth, her aggrieved pitiful look making one both heartbroken and amused.
“How could that be? Xiao Qiu is so good and cute, how could aunt not like our Xiao Qiu?”
Afraid the little one would catch cold, Su Ning coaxed her while picking her up, “Godfather, godmother, older brother, I’ll take Xiao Qiu inside to coax her to sleep first, talk later.”
“I’ll go instead, you just got back and haven’t eaten a bite.”
Hu Yingtao hurried forward to take her from her arms, pretending to be angry as she patted the little one’s bottom, “Naughty, you don’t listen to Granny anymore?”
