On this day, taking advantage of the good weather and the fact that they didn't have to go to work, Liu's father was changing the straw on the kitchen roof. Qingya was standing on a ladder, throwing the straw onto the roof. Ruirui was right next to the ladder, handing the straw to Qingya, while Feifei was holding the ladder nearby. Qingya and Liu's mother were in the yard. Liu's mother was making cotton-padded clothes, and Qingya was sewing shoe soles.
Bang bang bang... There was a knock on the door outside the yard.
Xuemei went to open the door and found two policemen.
"Serving the people, comrade, hello, we are police officers from the county public security bureau. We would like to ask you something?" said one of the police officers.
"Serving the people, comrade, what's the matter?"
"Excuse me, where is Liu Xiu's home? We have something to discuss with her."
"Liu Xiu is my aunt. She's working at the tofu shop now. I'm going to call her back. Can you guys come in and wait for a while?"
"Mom, two police officers have something to ask Auntie. I'll go get her over."
When Xuemei brought Liu Xiu and Xuemei back, Liu's father also came down from the roof, and everyone was waiting for Xuemei and the others in the main hall.
"Comrades, this is my aunt Liu Xiu."
"Serving the people, two police comrades, I... I work in the village every day and have not made any mistakes. What do you want from me?" Liu Xiu said nervously.
"Down with all monsters and demons, comrade. Don't be nervous. We came here to tell you something." said the leading policeman.
Liu Xiu's heart finally settled down and his expression relaxed a lot, but he still felt very confused.
"Comrade police officer, please speak."
"We've arrested a child trafficker these past few days and, by the way, solved several child abduction cases. We also implicated a child we didn't know about, Li Lidong. You should know him, right?"
"Dong'er, this is my son. He died of a sudden illness?" Liu Xiu said while wiping his tears.
"He's not dead. Was he sold to human traffickers by Old Lady Li?"
"Dong'er is not dead, but his grave is still on the wild hill in Orange Village. Is my Dong'er really still there? Brother and sister-in-law, did you hear it? Is this true? Did I hear it wrong?" Liu Xiu looked at his father and mother while crying.
Liu's mother came over and hugged Liu Xiu, comforting her: "Xiu'er, it's true, Dong'er is still here. Don't cry for now, listen to what the police comrade has to say."
"Comrade police officer, please tell me what exactly is going on?" said Liu's father.
"Ten days ago, Old Lady Li attempted to sell her granddaughter to human traffickers, and we caught them in the act. After the arrests, we interrogated each of them separately. One of the traffickers confessed that this wasn't her first transaction with Old Lady Li. Six years prior, in October 1960, Old Lady Li sold her grandson, who was still suffering from a fever, to him for fifty yuan. This child was Li Lidong. Old Lady Li initially denied it, but it was only after the evidence was solid and Li was bold enough to persuade her that she finally admitted it."
Six years ago, Li Lidong caught a cold that lasted over a month. After several injections at the commune hospital, he frequently had fevers at night. Concerned, Liu Xiu and Li Ziqiang took the child to the county hospital. After a few days, the fever subsided, and they took the child home.
After returning home, Liu Xiu went to work. When Old Lady Li gave Li Lidong a bath, the water was too cold, causing the child to have a fever again that night. Medicine and injections at the commune hospital didn't help. Liu Xiu planned to take Li Lidong to the county hospital. When he asked Old Lady Li for money, she refused, saying that every child has a fever and that applying some tung oil and warming up by the fire would be enough. Liu Xiu had the money but didn't spend it. At the time, Li Ziqiang's entire salary went to Old Lady Li, and the few dozen yuan Liu Xiu had on him had already been spent by the time Li Lidong went to the county.
Liu Xiu felt sorry for his child, so he went back to Liujia Village the next morning to borrow money. When he came back with the money, Old Lady Li told him that Li Lidong was gone, died of a fever, and was buried in the wild mountains.
"God damn it, this old woman who deserves to be cut into pieces, she lied to me that my Dong'er was dead, and just because she didn't want to treat my Dong'er's illness, she sold her for fifty yuan. Ah..."
"Mom, what's wrong with you?" Shengnan quickly ran to Liu Xiu.
"Shengnan, don't worry. Your mother just fainted due to a sudden attack of blood and anger. Qingya, come here and help Shengnan help your aunt to the bed to rest." Mother Liu said while holding Liu Xiu.
"Comrade police, can you tell me where Dong'er is now?"
The police officer shook his head and said, "Our investigation revealed that this group of traffickers had abducted and sold a total of 20 children and 10 women since the end of 1958. All 10 women and 3 girls have already started families in the places where they were sold. Their original families don't want them to return, so 10 of them don't plan to come back. Three of them did return, but their original families couldn't accommodate them, so they've now been placed with the Women's Federation. The remaining boys, except Li Lidong, have been traced back to where they were abducted, and their families have been contacted."
"Then where did they sell our Lidong?"
"According to the traffickers, Li Lidong has had a persistent high fever since Old Lady Li sold him to them. They were planning to abandon him when they arrived in Northern Province, but a middle-aged couple looking for relatives took him in because he was handsome. He doesn't know where they took him. But, comrade, don't worry, he should still be alive. According to the traffickers, Li Lidong had recovered by the time the middle-aged couple left with him."
"Comrade police, thank you for your help. If you have any news about Lidong in the future, please let us know as soon as possible."
The two comrades looked at each other, and then the other continued:
"Comrade, there's one more thing I need to ask for your opinion on. Comrade Li Dadan said he can't support two children right now, and he hopes Comrade Liu Shengnan and Comrade Liu Yanan, as their older sisters, can help raise them."
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