Chapter 127 Choice

◎Try to be a good person◎

Qiao Hongyu arrived in Yao City at around 1 pm the next day. She didn't even put down her luggage and went straight to the Yao City Public Security Bureau.

Under Lei Ling's arrangement, Qiao Hongyu met Min Jiadie.

After 34 years, the sisters finally met.

Lei Ling, Zhao Xiangwan and Zhu Kang were there with him.

The eight characters "Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist" were written on the wall of the interrogation room, looking solemn and cold. The table and chairs were all made of metal, shining coldly.

Across a large table, Qiao Hongyu looked at Min Jiadie sitting in an iron chair.

The red dye marks on half of Min Jiadie's face had been washed off. He was handcuffed and wearing a loose blue-gray coat, with no expression on his face.

Seeing Qiao Hongyu's tears streaming down her face, Min Jiadie remained calm.

Qiao Hongyu's voice choked with sobs: "Little sister, you are my little sister. For so many years, I have been looking for you. My parents are dead, and you are my only relative in this world..."

Min Jiadie interrupted her: "Are you married?"

Qiao Hongyu nodded: "Yes."

Min Jiadie asked: "Do you have children?"

Qiao Hongyu: "Yes, yes, yes, I have a son, he is 20 years old this year and is studying at a university in Xing City."

Min Jiadie's eyelids twitched slightly: "Where are you now?"

Qiao Hongyu told the truth: "I opened a store near the Luoxian bus station and opened a grocery store. Business is pretty good."

Min Jiadie lowered her eyes and looked at the ground: "Then you are doing well. You have a husband and a son. I am not the only one you have."

Before Qiao Hongyu came, she had already prepared herself mentally.

She knew that Min Jiadie would definitely complain and resent her, and would vent the pain of being abandoned on her. However, when they actually met and heard Min Jiadie's cold words, Qiao Hongyu's heart was pierced.

Qiao Hongyu explained anxiously, "We are relatives, sisters born from the same mother. I had my husband and son after I got married, but before that, you were my only relative. I have always been thinking about you and I have been looking for you, really! But the charity hall is gone and the children are nowhere to be found. I am a farmer and have never been far away since I was a child. I am not capable enough, so I have never found you. If Officer Zhao had not met Min Chenghang and Min Jiahuai during the investigation, and if I had not asked Officer Zhao for help, Officer Ji had drawn your portrait, and Officer Zhu had not recognized you in the portrait, we would not have been able to find you at all."

The corner of Min Jiadie's mouth twitched to the right, and with sarcasm, she looked up at Qiao Hongyu, and the words she said were like a knife cutting into Qiao Hongyu's heart.

"If you can't find it, don't look for it!"

"If you throw it away, then throw it away. What are you looking for?"

"It's been more than 30 years. Why did you care about me for such a long time? You have a husband and a son, you own a shop and you are the boss. You live such a good life. Why do you care about a poor bug like me?"

"Or are you just tired of your good life and want to give me some arms?"

"No need! I, Hu Die, will bear the consequences alone, whether she lives or dies."

Qiao Hongyu was so stung by Min Jiadie's words that she couldn't breathe and burst into tears.

"I didn't know you would suffer so much, I really didn't. My family was so poor at the time, we had no other options, we just wanted to save every last child we could."

Min Jiadie snorted coldly: "I left the Charity Hall in 1968. Why didn't you come to see me in six years?"

Qiao Hongyu's tears never stopped after she met Min Jiadie: "I am only six years older than you! My father passed away in 1962, and I lived in my second uncle's house. I was only seven and a half years old at that time. I lived in fear every day, fearing that my aunt would dislike me and kick me out of the house. Every day when I opened my eyes, I had endless housework to do. I had to stand on a small stool and cook pig food on the stove. I went barefoot in the winter because I had no shoes to wear."

Qiao Hongyu's voice became louder and louder as she spoke, and her emotions gradually became more agitated.

"Do you think I had a good life? Do you think I had an easy life? It wasn't like that! Before I was six, my family was poor and had nothing. I followed the older kids around to pick up rice ears and cut pig grass, and to bring meals to my father who worked on the farm. I could only wear new clothes once a year. My mother died when I was six, and my father died when I was seven. If it weren't for my second uncle who gave me food and a bed to sleep on, I would have starved to death or frozen to death."

"My husband is a relative of my second aunt. His family was so poor that they could barely afford to marry. But I was willing to marry because I wanted to have my own family. When I got married, I only had a quilt as a dowry, but I was content. My uncle and aunt had four children and I was one more mouth to feed. They had done their best for me. Later, when the country allowed farmers to work in cities, I went to work as a nanny and breakfast seller. I got up early and worked late. I did whatever I could to make money. At that time, I really suffered a lot."

Qiao Hongyu spoke quickly, and she spoke even faster when she became excited. Her crackling voice, like firecrackers, echoed throughout the interrogation room.

Min Jiadie's attitude gradually softened.

【She also suffered a lot. 】

【It's not easy for us. 】

[Why should a woman make things difficult for another woman? She wasn't the one who threw me away, so why should I scold her? ]

Zhao Xiangwan added fuel to the fire at this time: "Sister Qiao, you said that it was not easy for you, but is it more difficult for you to have Min Jiadie? At least you have your uncle to take you in, you have a bed to sleep on, you have food to eat, and someone arranged a decent marriage for you. But what about Min Jiadie? Do you know what happened to her?"

Min Jiadie's attitude, which had just softened, was successfully provoked by Zhao Xiangwan and hardened again.

She leaned forward, her eyes filled with sorrow, and the hatred, anger, and grievances that had been pent up in her heart erupted like a volcano.

"Do you know what I went through? Although I had a hard time in the charity hall before I was six, and I had to steal food and clothes, at least I had a church to shelter me from the wind and rain, and I was not abused or scolded. After I was six, I and a few friends who could run and jump were sent to a circus troupe to learn acrobatics. A year later, the circus disbanded, and Min Yejiao and I followed the old man Hu in the troupe, changed our names to Hu Die and Hu Jiao, and lived a life of hawking on the street."

"You must have never experienced the pain of practicing Jiu-Jitsu, right? Every inch of your bones is broken into pieces, and then glued together again, and the pain makes you unable to control your tears. But you dare not cry out in pain, as long as you cry out in pain, Old Man Hu will whip you, whip you all over the head and face with a whip. He said that only those who endure the most hardships can become the best. If you can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how can you be rich?"

"I have strong bones and great strength. After torturing me for two years, Old Man Hu realized that I was not good enough to learn Jiu-Jitsu, so he had to make me the one who supported her. I carried the pole at the bottom, and Jiao Jiao performed various difficult movements on top. The two of us followed Old Man Hu around the streets and alleys to make a living."

Min Jiadie's chest heaved violently as she lost herself in memories of the past, her facial expression gradually turning crazy.

"Jiaojiao and I depended on each other for survival. We traveled to one city after another with Old Man Hu. Later, we were thirteen years old. Jiaojiao had her period first, and Old Man Hu looked at her with more and more shameless eyes, like a bee seeing a flower, clinging to her. Later, in front of me, Old Man Hu raped her. I kicked, hit and scolded him desperately, but he hit me with two horse shoves and I passed out."

Lei Ling couldn't stand it anymore and pounded his fist on the table: "Beast!"

Min Jiadie gritted her teeth and said, "I wanted to kill him, but Jiaojiao wouldn't let me. Jiaojiao and I are both orphans, and we finally have our own family. If Old Man Hu dies, what will we do? The money, food, and household registration books are all in Old Man Hu's hands. He hides them very carefully and keeps a close eye on them because he's afraid that we'll run away."

"Later, Jiaojiao got pregnant at the age of 14, and Old Man Hu forced her to have an abortion. After the abortion, she continued to perform, but she fell and broke her leg. Old Man Hu was old and could no longer perform, so he took us to a small county town to settle down. He kept a close eye on Jiaojiao and me, locking us in the house every day to prevent us from running away."

Min Jiadie's expression suddenly became strange: "Jiao Jiao treated Old Man Hu as a relative and refused to leave him. In order to make money for him, she started a sex trade. The old man was a worthless person. He tied me up and knocked me unconscious, and forced me to start receiving clients at the age of sixteen. I was pregnant once and wanted to give birth to him. I kept it a secret for more than five months, but the old man beat me. he couldn't support one more."

Zhao Xiangwan clenched his fists. Damn this old man!

Min Jiadie looked at the reactions of the crowd and smiled faintly: "Why are you so excited? No one will feel pain unless the knife cuts oneself. When I saw the baby was born, I got angry and rushed to the kitchen to pick up the knife. I stabbed the old man to death with one stroke. Jiaojiao cried and scolded me, blaming me for destroying this family. The police arrested me and put me in prison. You see, the police are not good people either."

Everyone was stunned.

Min Jiadie was very satisfied with everyone's reaction: "I was a juvenile delinquent. I was disciplined for several years. When I was released, I could do nothing. I hated him so much, but I didn't know who to take revenge on. I killed old man Hu who bullied me, but I still have his last name. I don't know how Jiaojiao, who depended on me for everything, became blind in one eye. She no longer wanted to talk to me and blamed me for killing old man Hu and leaving her homeless. The only person who was related to me by blood was the child who had grown into a full-grown child, but that child is gone too."

Qiao Hongyu's heart seemed to be grabbed by something, and the pain was unbearable.

After hearing this, looking at Min Jiadie's indifferent expression and listening to her seemingly nonchalantly revealing her pain, Qiao Hongyu stood up suddenly, ran to Min Jiadie, reached out and hugged her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, Qiao Hongyu's throat was dry and astringent, and she could only say one word over and over again: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

I'm sorry to abandon you, a little baby;

I'm sorry that you have no family to rely on;

I'm sorry that you have suffered so much.

Min Jiadie was suddenly surrounded by a warm arm around her neck and her head was pressed into a warm and broad embrace. She was completely at a loss and had no idea how to react.

No one had ever hugged her like this before.

Never, never.

Min Jiadie felt like something warm was continuously being injected into the missing piece of her heart.

The eyes that had long been dry and could not shed a single tear suddenly began to moisten.

Feeling Min Jiadie's body gradually stiffening in her arms, Qiao Hongyu felt even more sad.

If she hadn't been deprived of love and care since childhood, how could she have kept following that shameless villain?

If she hadn't been so desperate for a home, how could she have endured the torture for so many years?

If she hadn't been pushed too hard, how could she have embarked on the path of crime?

Qiao Hongyu murmured to herself, "I'm sorry," and tears fell from her eyes.

Min Jiadie raised her head suddenly, and Qiao Hongyu's tears fell on her mouth, salty and bitter.

Min Jiadie suddenly roared.

"I'm sorry, what's the use?"

"You didn't want me and threw me away!"

"It's you who don't want me and think I'm a burden."

"It's you who don't want me, don't want my——"

All the complaints and anger finally found a channel to vent and burst out.

Qiao Hongyu was not angry. Her heart was filled with pity and guilt for her sister. She reached out and hugged Min Jiadie tighter. One hand gently patted her twitching body and said softly, "Yes, yes, it's my fault. I should have found you earlier. I should have stayed with you."

The call of "sister" again and again finally filled the empty space in Min Jiadie's heart.

When Qiao Hongyu let go of her hand, the two sisters looked at each other. Min Jiadie curled her lips in disgust: "Your face is covered with tears and snot. It's so ugly."

Qiao Hongyu took out a small handkerchief from her pocket, blew her nose heavily, wiped her tears, and rolled her eyes at Min Jiadie: "I'm not like this usually. Am I just too excited to see you?"

Zhao Xiangwan smiled. They are from the same family and they look alike. These two sisters really look alike.

Qiao Hongyu warned her, "The police are very good. If it weren't for Officer Zhao helping me find someone, I would never have found you. Murder pays for life. You killed that evil man, but you were released after only a few years in prison. This is because the police found out the facts and knew that you were the victim, so they didn't shoot you. You should cooperate with the police and tell them everything you know. If you are in prison, I will visit you often. When you get out, I will take you home and live with you. I will rent a store next to the grocery store. What kind of small business do you want to do? I will arrange it for you first, and you will be the boss when you get out."

Min Jiadie shook her head: "I can do nothing but hold the pole."

Qiao Hongyu: "No problem, then come and help me take care of the shelves to prevent people from stealing things, and I'll pay you."

Min Jiadie said: "Jiaojiao left behind a daughter named Zhenzhu, and I was worried about leaving her alone."

At this point, Min Jiadie looked at Qiao Hongyu and hesitated for a moment: "Sister, I only ask you to keep Pearl with you. Just treat her as my childhood, okay? When I get out, I will come to pick up Pearl."

After Qiao Hongyu learned the situation, she promised solemnly: "Okay, leave it to me. From now on, Zhenzhu will be my child. I will send her to school, braid her hair, and prepare a separate room and a big bed for her."

Min Jiadie looked at Qiao Hongyu. It felt so good to have an elder sister who took care of everything for her.

Zhao Xiangwan saw that it was almost done and reminded: "Sister Qiao, we still have work to do next, you go back first."

Qiao Hongyu said goodbye to her sister reluctantly, and left two sweaters, two pairs of trousers and two sets of underwear before leaving.

Min Jiadie held the package left by Qiao Hongyu. The cold and hard lines on her face softened, and her eyes were filled with warmth and emotion.

Min Jiadie's eyes fell on Zhao Xiangwan and she took the initiative to speak: "Officer Zhao, thank you for helping me find my relatives. If you have any questions, just ask. I will tell you everything I know."

The interrogation went smoothly.

Min Jiadie did have an underling, a grandmother named Dong from the suburbs of Xing City. Min Jiadie would kidnap children and send them to grandmother Dong, who would then sell them to wealthy areas in the south.

Min Jiadie had a good memory and told Zhao Xiangwan everything about Granny Dong's contact information, her current address, where she had abducted the children, and where she had sent them.

Zhao Xiangwan asked her: "Why do you only kidnap boys?"

Min Jiadie said: "After being kidnapped, boys are usually sold to families that are short of boys, so they can enjoy a good life. Girls are pitiful after being kidnapped. The good ones go to the countryside to be child brides, and the bad ones are raised for a while and then receive customers when their periods come. I am also a woman, why should women bully women?"

Zhao Xiangwan continued to ask: "Why kidnap children?"

Min Jiadie shrugged, "It makes money quickly. I'm old, and I don't want to sell myself. I can work in a factory, but I can't stand the constraints. I don't dare to sell drugs, because I'll lose my head. It's so easy to kidnap a child, just pick him up and run away. I can make at least 3,000 yuan by selling one. With money, Jiaojiao and I can live a good life, right?"

Zhao Xiangwan looked at her with a gleam in his eyes: "Now that you have money, are you living a good life?"

Min Jiadie was stunned, she was so embarrassed. Zhenzhu was six years old and still hadn't gone to school. She hated the world, the earth and the government. She did illegal things with others and earned a little money, but... she didn't live a good life.

Zhao Xiangwan asked again: "Where's your money?"

Min Jiadie opened her mouth, but was a little confused. Yes, where is the money she earned? Selling a child earns 3,000 yuan, and sharing one cent with her partner, so she gets 1,000 yuan in total, which is more than many people working in the city, but where is her money?

Because she was afraid of being discovered by the police, she had no fixed home. When she had money, she lived in hotels and ate in restaurants; when she had no money, she lived in a shack and ate steamed bread. She had no fixed place to stay.

Although she got an ID card after being released from the juvenile detention center, she didn't dare to open a bank account. She had no place to live and lived from one meal to the next, so she had no way to save money.

Drink while you can, and do something new when the money is gone.

——This is the kind of life that Min Jiadie lives.

Facing a complicated person like Min Jiadie, Zhao Xiangwan's interrogation methods were different from usual.

The first step is to vent.

Let Qiao Hongyu come forward and let Min Jiadie vent her inner anger.

The second step is to fill in.

Every child who comes out of an orphanage has a longing for family affection and loved ones, which leaves a big hole in his or her heart. Only by filling this hole can we fill her heart.

The third step is to destroy the mind.

She had suffered before, so it is understandable that she committed a crime? Sorry, this logic is not correct for Zhao Xiangwan.

If she is not allowed to recognize her mistakes, if she is not allowed to repent from the bottom of her heart, she will still be a dangerous person when she is released from prison.

She is too active, she lacks education on good and evil, and she does not understand the basic rules of this society at all - she, like Min Chenghang, is a smart person who lacks discipline. Once she is allowed to release her evil thoughts, the destructive power is astonishing.

Sure enough, after Zhao Xiangwan asked two questions, Min Jiadie seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhao Xiangwan asked again: "You make money very quickly, why don't you save any money?"

Min Jiadie finally thought of a reason: "I can't read, I don't dare to go to the bank."

Zhao Xiangwan shook his head: "The bank has staff who can help you open an account and deposit money."

Min Jiadie snorted: "I told you, I can't read. What if they lie to me?"

——It seems that Min Jiadie lacks basic trust in public institutions.

Zhao Xiangwan asked: "Okay, don't save it in the bank. You can save it in cash, just find a box and save a few hundred at a time. You can have a lot of money in a year. Then buy a house and settle down your life. Isn't that okay?"

Min Jiadie said: "How can a kidnapper like me have a fixed residence? If the police come to my house, they will catch me."

——Min Jiadie knew that what he was doing was illegal, and he was in a state of panic all day long.

Zhao Xiangwan asked: "Why are you alive?"

Min Jiadie was even more confused: "Why? Isn't it just for survival?"

Zhao Xiangwan asked again: "You just said that you became a kidnapper to make money, and after making money you can live a good life with Jiaojiao, right?"

Min Jiadie nodded.

Zhao Xiangwan looked at Min Jiadie seriously: "The good life you want is nothing more than living and working in peace and contentment."

"A safe place to live, with a place to shelter from the wind and rain, a market nearby where you can buy food, a mall where you can buy clothes and daily necessities, and a hospital where you can see a doctor, right?"

Min Jiadie's eyes showed desire: "Yes."

"Enjoy your job, have a normal job, a job that is recognized by society, hard work will be rewarded, take the money you earn cleanly, walk calmly under the sun, take Jiaojiao to see a doctor, send Zhenzhu to school, right?"

Min Jiadie was moved by the scene Zhao Xiangwan described and nodded, "Yes."

Zhao Xiangwan's voice suddenly became serious.

"You want to live a good life, but have you done it?"

"Jiaojiao is sick, but you didn't take her to see a doctor."

"Pearl is old enough to go to school, but you don't send her to school."

"How can I give a good life to you and the people you care about if you hide, live in fear, and live like a rat in a gutter?"

"What you do and what you pursue are two completely opposite lines. I ask you, how can you live a good life?!"

At the end of his speech, Zhao Xiangwan slammed the table and threw his anger at the guilty Min Jiadie.

"If you don't have something, does that mean other children don't deserve it?"

"You kidnapped innocent and lovely children, leaving their parents crying every night and kneeling helplessly at the gate of our public security bureau, begging the police to help them find the whereabouts of their children. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

Min Jiadie never expected that Officer Zhao, who had been so gentle and persuasive just now, would suddenly lose his temper.

This was the first time someone scolded her like this.

However, every word struck her heart, making her back cold and sweaty.

[I didn't get it, so I hate those children, so I deliberately destroy those happy families? Is that so? ]

[Am I really a bad person?]

[No one has ever taught me what is good and what is bad.]

"Every step you take is your own choice. Why do you choose this one instead of another?"

Hearing what Min Jiadie was thinking, Zhao Xiangwan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he stood straight, staring at her.

His eyes were cold, yet clear as a mirror.

It reflects the facts that Min Jiadie has always been unwilling to face in her heart.

[Why am I reluctant to leave Old Man Hu? Because I don't dare to go out and face strange people and things.]

【Why did you kill him? Because I was afraid of his revenge. 】

[Why do people kidnap children? Because this is the easiest way and the least effort. Children have no power to resist and are easy to bully.]

[Step by step, Min Jiadie, admit it, you are a lazy, useless wimp! ]

Even when she saw her long-lost relatives, even when Qiao Hongyu hugged her, Min Jiadie did not shed tears.

However, facing Zhao Xiangwan's cold and clear eyes, tears silently flowed down Min Jiadie's cheeks.

Shame, sadness, bitterness, guilt...

With all kinds of emotions intertwined, Min Jiadie finally lowered her rebellious head: "I, I was wrong."

"Good and evil are just a thought away. Jiaojiao is dead. I just hope you can work hard to be a good person in the future."

Min Jiadie met Zhao Xiangwan's gaze, her heart sank, and she subconsciously said: "Okay." Since there is still justice and relatives in this world, I will try my best to be a good person.

After walking out of the interrogation room, Zhao Xiangwan and Zhu Kang retired and said goodbye to the people from the Yao City Public Security Bureau.