About twenty kilometers from the county seat, there is a place called Liujia Village.
Following the information provided by the human trafficker Lao Liu, Ata and Xiao Yin finally found Li Jiahao.
This is a very ordinary family, so ordinary that you wouldn't guess they would do something like buying a child.
It was already dark, the lights in the yard were on, and the five family members were sitting in the yard eating dinner.
A middle-aged couple, two girls, the older one around twelve or thirteen years old, the younger one around ten years old, and a thin, small boy who looked to be only seven or eight years old.
Ata and Xiao Yin sat on the wall and observed.
Xiao Yin pointed to the youngest boy and said, "Brother, isn't this Li Jiahao? He looks just like the boy in the photo."
Ata looked closely and said, "That's right, it's him. His appearance hasn't changed much, he's just grown up proportionally."
On the dinner table, the only dish of meat was placed in front of the little boy, and his bowl contained milk instead of porridge.
The middle-aged couple, who were also the cousin and sister-in-law of the human trafficker Lao Liu, were the ones who bought Li Jiahao.
The two girls are their biological daughters.
The man looked at the boy's thin and small body and frowned, saying, "Why are you still so thin? Drink the milk and soak the egg in it to eat with him."
The woman kept putting meat into the boy's bowl, instructing him, "Xiaoqing, you need to eat more meat so you can grow taller."
The little boy glanced at his two older sisters and shook his head: "I don't want to drink it, give it to your two older sisters."
The man said impatiently, "Why do you care what they do? Just drink it."
The woman piled a lot more meat into the boy's bowl before transferring the meat dish, which had only a few pieces left, to the two girls.
"Your sister doesn't like drinking milk, so you two eat meat together and grow tall together."
Xiao Yin asked curiously, "Hey, brother, they treat Li Jiahao really well, even better than their own children. Aren't they good people?"
Ata scoffed, "Good my foot! They're worse than human traffickers. It's because of these people that children get abducted. Buyers are more hateful than sellers because there can only be sellers if there are buyers."
"Moreover, they are not good to Li Jiahao, they are good to the son they bought. It doesn't matter whether it is Li Jiahao or Liu Jiahao, as long as it is a boy."
Ata sighed: "There are a lot of idiots in this world who are obsessed with having a male heir their whole lives. In their eyes, daughters are just someone else's family."
Without a son, he always felt that everyone was mocking him, and just so that he would have someone to smash a basin for after his death, he was willing to go bankrupt to buy a boy from human traffickers to raise.
Xiao Yin looked bewildered, not understanding why such a person existed.
Why would someone steal another person's child when they already have one?
Is it not crazy to treat other people's children better than your own?
The two girls only ate the vegetarian dishes in front of them, without even glancing at the plate of meat dishes.
The woman said, "You two hurry up and eat the meat, don't waste it."
The eldest daughter scoffed, "No need. We don't deserve to drink milk, nor do we like to eat meat. We're just girls, we don't have mouths to enjoy such luxuries."
The man's expression changed. He pointed at the girl with his chopsticks and glared at her, saying, "Say that again."
The younger daughter tugged at her older sister's sleeve, signaling her not to argue with her father.
The woman quickly tried to smooth things over: "The child was just joking, don't take it to heart."
The man, now that he had a way out, looked a little better and snorted, "I work hard to earn money to feed and clothe you, and I'm still not good enough for you? Who are you trying to impress with that long face all day?"
The eldest daughter, with red eyes, said, "Am I wrong? You're all biased. You always give Liu Qing the best things, just because he's a boy."
The woman said sheepishly, "What nonsense are you talking about? We're not biased at all. You're all your parents' biological children, you're all the same."
The eldest daughter angrily shed tears, and the younger daughter's eyes also reddened with grievance.
The little boy, glared at by his two older sisters with resentment, dared not eat meat or drink milk anymore.
Although he was young, he felt that his sister was right. His parents were biased and always bought him delicious food and new clothes behind his sister's back.
The man sneered, "So what if I'm biased? Can a girl compare to a boy? You two good-for-nothings will belong to someone else's family once you get married. How can I expect to rely on you in the future?"
The woman said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking to the child about? Don't listen to your father's lies."
The eldest daughter, recalling the gossip she had overheard, couldn't help but retort to the man: "Are you sure you can count on him? He's not your biological son."
"What nonsense are you talking about? That's my own son."
The man was hit where it hurt; his veins bulged instantly, and he abruptly stood up, throwing his chopsticks at the girl.
The younger daughter was so frightened that she cried.
This time, the woman didn't stop the man from getting angry.
She glanced at the bewildered little boy and scolded her eldest daughter, "You brat, who told you all this nonsense? Of course, your brother is mine."
The eldest daughter covered her forehead, and her long-suppressed grievances suddenly erupted.
"Don't lie to me. He's not your son at all. I've seen his childhood photos on TV. His parents are still looking for him."
The woman was startled by her words.
Why hasn't that family given up after all this time?
The little boy asked the woman, "Mom, didn't you say I never had any photos taken when I was little? How come my sister saw photos of me when I was little?"
The woman chuckled and coaxed him, "Your sister has mistaken you for someone else. Don't listen to her nonsense."
The man flew into a rage, grabbed a broom from the yard, and started hitting his eldest daughter: "I think you're asking for it, saying whatever comes to mind. I'm going to beat you to death today."
The little boy cried out in fear, "Dad, please don't hit my sister, I won't ask anymore."
The eldest daughter got up and ran away, and the man, with a fierce look on his face, threw a broom at her.
Just as the broom was about to hit her head, it was stopped by a hand.
Ata teleported into the courtyard with Little Seal, grabbed a broom, and threw it back at the man.
The man was hit on the head, and blood instantly flowed from his head.
The woman screamed and tried to help the man, who clutched his head and yelled, "Whose children are you? What are you doing in my house?"
They didn't see how the two children, one big and one small, appeared, and assumed they had slipped in through the half-open door.
Ata pointed at the little boy: "I'm here to take him home because someone asked me to. Li Jiahao, do you still remember your grandmother?"
The man looked terrified and grabbed Li Jiahao, pulling him tightly into his arms: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is my son, Liu Qing. This is his home. Get out of here!"
The woman blocked Li Jiahao's way, her face fierce: "You've mistaken me for someone else. There's no one here. Get out of here now."
Ata pulled out a missing person poster, pointed to the photo, and said, "You mean, I'm blind?"
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