When Li Jiahao said he was going home, Ata loosened his fist.
You're smart enough to know your place.
Amidst the buyer couple's wailing and screaming as the pig was being slaughtered, Ata and Xiao Yin left with Li Jiahao.
Beside the dessert stall, Grandma sat on a small stool, watching the children playing in the distance, her cloudy old eyes filled with heartache.
She doesn't know if her grandson is still alive, whether he is well-fed and clothed, or if he is alive, whether he is missing any limbs.
She heard that some children who were abducted were disabled and forced to beg on the streets, so that the bad guys behind them could profit from it.
She prayed countless times that the child had been sold to a family that wanted a boy, so that at least he wouldn't suffer too much.
She thought to herself, five years have passed, and children change every day. Even if they appeared in front of her now, she probably wouldn't recognize them.
"Grandma, I'd like a cup of sugar water..."
A little boy's voice rang out.
Grandma instinctively responded, "Okay, Grandma will scoop it up for you right away."
She stood up shakily, but froze the moment she looked up.
This look...this look...
She rubbed her blurry eyes, looked at the photo on the missing person poster on the stroller, then at the little boy, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
The white-haired old man hunched over, his eyes wide open, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Haohao, are you my Haohao?"
Li Jiahao looked at the old woman and wondered, "How did Grandma get so old?"
In his memory, his grandmother was quick and efficient at work, could cook delicious meals and make sweet soups. Despite her seemingly thin shoulders, she could carry him from one end of the market to the other.
The sight of the old man before him, with his disheveled white hair, deep wrinkles, dry eyes, and body bent like a bow, made him want to cry.
When he met the old man's desperate look, Li Jiahao's response was to throw himself into the old man's arms.
"Grandma, it's me, Hao Hao, I'm back."
"Haohao, Haohao..."
The old woman held Li Jiahao's face in her thin, withered hands, stroking it repeatedly, still unable to believe that her beloved child, whom she had longed for day and night, had appeared before her.
Thinking of something, Grandma's hands trembled as she parted the hair on Li Jiahao's head: "It's two cowlicks, that's right, it's two cowlicks."
She tried to pull down Li Jiahao's pants again, and Ata quickly covered Xiao Yin's eyes.
Xiao Yin asked curiously, "Brother, we can all recognize that it's Li Jiahao at a glance, so why can't Grandma recognize him and has to confirm it repeatedly?"
Ata said, "Perhaps it's because we've had too many hopes and disappointments over the years."
Ata is right.
Over the past five years, the old man has seen many children who look very much like Li Jiahao. Each time, he was full of hope, only to be told in the end that it wasn't him.
She had been disappointed so many times that when her real grandson finally stood before her, she was no longer sure.
Grandma murmured, "Haohao was bitten by a dog when he was little, and he has a scar on his right buttock."
When the old man finally saw the faint scar on the little boy's buttocks, he burst into tears.
"It's Hao Hao, it really is Hao Hao! Grandma has been waiting for you for so long, you're finally back."
"Grandma, don't cry, don't cry..."
The old man pulled Li Jiahao over and over, examining him closely and touching him repeatedly to check if his body was healthy.
That's great, he's back safe and sound, no one's missing an arm or a leg.
Li Jiahao hugged his grandmother while crying, wiping away her tears, but he also cried and hiccuped. The two of them embraced and wept bitterly.
After crying for a while, Grandma remembered something and quickly took out her old-fashioned mobile phone, saying, "I have to call your parents right away and tell them that the child has been found."
The call connected quickly, and the couple were both excited and incredulous to learn that their son had been found, fearing it would be another false alarm.
"It really is Hao Hao, I can't be mistaken, please come back soon."
Li Jiahao answered the phone and called out to his parents. The couple burst into tears and immediately bought tickets to rush back home.
After hanging up the phone, Grandma pulled her grandson aside and stared at him intently for a long while before finally asking, "Haohao, where were you taken, and how were you found?"
Li Jiahao gave the address of Liujia Village, then pointed to Ata and Xiaoyin not far away and said, "Didn't Grandma ask someone to bring me back?"
Grandma was confused: "Me? When did I...?"
Li Jiahao said earnestly, "They're the ones who brought me back. They said they were the superheroes you invited, Grandma, to save me."
Grandma looked over.
Ata led Xiaoyin forward, smiling and waving to her grandmother: "Hello, Grandma, do you still remember us?"
The scene of the grandmother and grandson recognizing each other was so touching. Ata and Xiaoyin had been standing at a distance, leaving space for the grandmother and grandson.
Grandma recognized them and her eyes widened: "Oh, it's you two! What are you doing here...?"
Ata smiled and said, "We drank Grandma's sweet soup, and we promised to help you find your grandson. We keep our word."
Grandma was so excited that she was about to kneel down to Ata and Xiaoyin after receiving her grandson in exchange for two cups of sugar water.
Ata quickly helped the old man up.
“Good children, you helped me find Hao Hao. I will ask his parents to reward you handsomely.”
They once offered a reward of 200,000 yuan to find Li Jiahao, which was all the savings the family had accumulated.
Now that the two children have found Hao Hao, the 200,000 yuan is theirs.
Ata waved her hand and refused: "No need, Grandma, this was originally meant to repay you. If you want to thank us, please treat us to another cup of sweet soup."
Grandma laughed and cried at the same time: "Silly children, that sweet soup is not worth much. You can come anytime you want to drink it. Grandma will give you plenty."
After finishing their sweet soup, Ata and Xiaoyin left while their grandmother and Li Jiahao weren't looking.
"Hey, where are the two kids?"
"Grandma, they're Superman, of course they flew away."
Later, based on the confessions of human traffickers Lao Liu and Lao Li, the whole chain of child trafficking was uncovered.
Numerous human traffickers were apprehended, and after interrogation, many abducted children scattered across various regions returned to their real homes with the help of the police.
Many broken families have welcomed back their lost children, and joy and laughter have returned to their lives.
After confessing to their crimes, Lao Li and Lao Liu died from their hearts and livers being corroded by the pills fed to them by Ata, their intestines ruptured and they died.
The other human traffickers also died one after another, their bizarre and gruesome deaths seeming like retribution, making those with ill intentions tremble with fear.
This major human trafficking case attracted the attention of the state, and a severe punishment was imposed.
All the buyers were also held criminally liable, losing everything they had invested, but they also ended up with silver bracelets and secure jobs.
The government subsequently introduced a series of laws and policies to combat child trafficking, imposing the same penalty for buying and selling, which significantly reduced the crime rate of child trafficking.
I believe that one day, all the stolen children will be able to go home.
May there be no more child abduction in the world, and may every child be able to run freely and grow up healthily in a loving environment!
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