The crying of the old lady in the waiting room immediately attracted the attention of the staff. After coming over to briefly inquire about the situation, they asked the people in the broadcasting room to make an internal broadcast to help the old lady find her grandson.

Soon, all the passengers in the station square and waiting room knew that a child had gone missing. Parents with children held their children tightly in their arms or held their hands tightly, fearing that their own children would disappear in the blink of an eye.

The old lady's situation attracted the special attention of two of the passengers, Wu Xing and Zhao Hongjun, because they were on this trip to find their lost children.

The two families were from the same village. Nine years ago, in 1988, during the busy farming season, the adults in the family were busy working in the fields, and the children were left playing outside, unsupervised. When they returned home, both sons were missing.

At that time, Wu Xing's son was three years old and Zhao Hongjun's son was four years old.

Such a big thing happened that the village chief mobilized all the villagers to turn the entire village upside down, but there was no sign of the child.

Wu Xing's mother wept all day long because her grandson was lost, nearly crying her eyes out. His wife also became completely depressed. At the time, they also had a little daughter, just one year old, and he didn't know how to raise the child.

At the beginning, he and Zhao Hongjun went out blindly to look for the child. The country is so big, they just went wherever they could. They had no idea at all. They just felt that only by being on the road could they repay the lost child.

After two or three years, the family became poorer and poorer, and even having enough food to eat became a problem.

Wu Xing came to his senses at this time and brought his wife and children to the city. The couple worked like animals, getting up early and going to bed late to run a snack stand, selling breakfast in the morning and boxed lunches during the day. Their lives gradually improved, and they established themselves in the city. They also had some spare money to support him to go to more places to look for his children.

Zhao Hongjun's situation wasn't much better than Wu Xing's. As the eldest child in the family, he wasn't well-liked by his parents, and his wife and children were also looked down upon by his parents. So, when the child went missing, apart from the couple's anxiety and anger, the rest of the Zhao family acted as if nothing had happened. The second son's wife even made some sarcastic remarks.

There was nothing left to miss about that home in the village, so Zhao Hongjun took his wife and left, and they didn't go back for many years.

Although the two families have different livelihoods, they have now settled down in the city. When they hear any clues about the child, they will inform each other. Going out together several times a year to look for the child has become a part of their daily life.

They have now traveled to many cities and villages across the country. Recently, they heard about the child trafficking in Mafang City, so after settling down at home, they decided to come here and try their luck.

In their backpacks, they always carried missing person notices with their children's photos and their home phone numbers. At the Huozhe Station, a place with a high turnover of people, they distributed many missing person notices.

Then they left the train station and asked passers-by how to get to the nearby rural area.

Because family planning was very strict in this era, those who had more children than allowed were generally rural residents. Urban residents, regardless of whether the first child was a boy or a girl, basically had only one child in order to keep their jobs. They would only think of buying a child if they were unable to have any more children.

But it is different for rural people. First, many rural people still have relatively feudal ideas. They believe that only by having a son can there be someone to inherit the incense and continue the family line, and only then will there be someone to burn paper for their grave after death, so they must have a son; second, the price they pay for having more children than allowed is much lower than that of urban people, especially for those extremely poor families. There is no punishment, and if they act like a spoiled child, they will just have a child.

If they really can't give birth to a son, they will think of buying a son to raise. No matter whose son he is, as long as he takes their surname, he will become the root of their family.

As luck would have it, after walking a little further, Sun Aimin quietly turned back and watched the man with the suitcase enter the noodle shop. He decided to keep an eye on the entrance. If he didn't come out after twenty minutes like last time, he would rent a car and wait at the back entrance, hoping to see the mysterious van from yesterday. At that moment, he ran into Wu Xing and Zhao Hongjun, who were asking for directions to post a missing person notice.

"Brother, let's ask how to get to the nearest village from here?" Wu Xing asked a random passerby.

The passerby felt that the two people opposite were a little puzzled and asked, "There are so many villages around here. Which one are you going to? It must have a name, right?"

Wu Xing quickly stuffed a missing-family flyer into his hand and explained, "We're here to look for our child. He was abducted by human traffickers. We don't know where to look, so we can only ask around."

After listening to Wu Xing's explanation, passers-by felt very sympathetic towards their situation and told them several minibus routes to nearby villages.

After listening to them, Sun Aimin had some ideas. He was currently fighting alone, unable to keep watch over both the front and back doors of the noodle shop. Even if he lucked out and found their lair, he wouldn't be able to take on the entire gang alone.

According to Yuan Jie, Zhan Jinhua and Qian Jindou had extensive connections in the local area, and without their protective umbrella, they wouldn't have been able to operate so recklessly for decades. Even after they and several of their accomplices had solid evidence to convict them, they continued to evade justice for over a decade.

So, not only did Sun Aimin not dare to call the police without knowing for sure what the other party had done, he also did not dare to call the police even if he had information that the other party was abducting a child. If he fell into the trap of Zhan Jinhua's protection, his child, whose whereabouts were unknown, would likely be implicated and put in danger.

If we could get help from these two parents who are looking for their children, things would be much easier.

So after the passersby left, Sun Aimin quickly called out to the two men, "Two brothers, are you here to look for the child?"

Wu Xing and Zhao Hongjun turned around and looked at Sun Aimin. They had just noticed Sun Aimin standing in the corner, peeking out, his face completely covered by a hat and mask. He didn't look like a good person at all.

The two have been looking for their son for many years and have met all kinds of people. Some people have even used false information to cheat them of their money, so they are very vigilant when facing strangers who actively approach them.

Zhao Hongjun took the initiative and asked, "What can I do for you?"

Sun Aimin didn't keep the secret and said directly, "I'm here just like you, looking for my child. To tell you the truth, I've been waiting here for two days!"

He raised his chin in the direction of the noodle shop and said, "See that noodle shop? I think they're a little bit abnormal."

Afterwards, Sun Aimin reported his observations of the past two days to Wu Xing and Zhao Hongjun one by one.