The next day was Sunday. Yuan Heng got up early, said hello to his wife Yu Lili, and hurried out.
Today he was going to a small county town under Jiangjin City. There were short-distance buses from the city to the county town, which took about an hour, with an average of one bus leaving every half hour.
Yuan Heng first rode his bicycle to the bus station, locked the bicycle, then went back into the bus station, bought a ticket, and waited for the bus to depart.
Yuan Heng was not familiar with the county town because he had never been there before. Because of this, he decided to set off early to avoid wasting time.
Hao Guoqing and Deng Chunping, a couple who lived in the county town, were both employees of the county starch factory. After getting off the bus, Yuan Heng took a taxi directly to the starch factory to inquire about the couple.
The factory operated a 24/7, three-shift system with no fixed working hours. Yuan Heng had specially caught the first bus at six in the morning, and it wasn't even eight when he arrived at the starch factory. It was almost time for the shift change.
He first went to the gatekeeper, handed him a pack of cigarettes, and asked, "Uncle, I have a question. Do you know Hao Guoqing and Deng Chunping?"
The guard took a look at Yuan Heng and asked, "What do you do?"
Yuan Heng responded patiently: "A friend of mine asked me to come and look for them. I have something important to tell them."
The security guard said, "I don't know if it's their shift right now. Wait, I'll ask for you."
Then, the security guard picked up the security booth's landline and called the production workshop: "Hello, someone is outside looking for Hao Guoqing and Deng Chunping. Have they arrived for work yet?"
The security guard asked in a loud voice.
The other party flipped through the shift schedule and said on the phone, "Hao Guoqing's shift is on now. He will be back home soon. Please ask the person outside to wait for a while!"
After hanging up the phone, the security guard said to Yuan Heng, "Hao Guoqing is in the factory and will be out soon. You wait outside for a while."
Yuan Heng nodded and thanked him, then said, "Uncle, I don't know Hao Guoqing. When he comes out later, could you please call him for me?"
The doorman was a straightforward man and replied, "Okay, leave it to me. Why don't you stay in my room for a while? It's very hot in the sun."
Yuan Heng didn't hesitate and directly opened the door and entered the guard booth, chatting with the old man.
About twenty minutes later, the night shift employees got off work and started to walk out one after another. The scene was quite spectacular.
This starch factory can be said to be a pillar industry in the county, with thousands of employees. If you ask anyone on the street, it is likely that someone in their family works in the starch factory.
Hundreds of people came out at once, and it was a bit difficult to find a target among them.
But the security guard had his own way. While watching the flow of people leaving the factory gate, he held a loud speaker and shouted: "Hao Guoqing, Hao Guoqing, come to the guard booth, someone is looking for you!"
After he repeated his shout several times, a tall and strong worker in blue overalls stopped and walked towards this side.
"Master Wang, what do you want to talk to me about?" the man asked.
The gatekeeper, whom he called Master Wang, pushed Yuan Heng in front of him and said, "This man said he wants to talk to you about something important. Let's find someplace to talk!"
Hao Guoqing didn't recognize Yuan Heng. He looked at him puzzledly and asked, "Who are you?"
Yuan Heng politely replied, "Hello, Brother Guoqing. I came from the city specifically to see you, on behalf of a relative. Can we find a place to chat?"
Hao Guoqing said, "Let's talk about it here. I just got off the night shift and need to go home to catch up on some sleep."
Yuan Heng said, "How about we go find a place to sit near your house? It won't take up too much of your time. Is that okay?"
Hao Guoqing thought about it and agreed. He first went to the shed at the factory gate and took out his bicycle. Then he said to Yuan Heng, "Get on. I'll take you there."
About twenty minutes later, we arrived at a morning market. By this time, the breakfast rush hour had already passed, and many people had already finished their breakfast and left for work.
Yuan Heng said, "Brother, how about we have something to eat here and talk about things? I'll treat you!"
Hao Guoqing didn't refuse and parked the car on the side of the road and locked it: "Okay, let's talk while we eat."
The two of them went into a bun shop and ordered two trays of buns and two bowls of tofu pudding.
After sitting down, Hao Guoqing asked, "Tell me? What's the matter?"
Yuan Heng organized his words and said, "Listen quietly to what I'm going to say next. Don't get excited yet."
This aroused Hao Guoqing's curiosity, and he was wondering if this person was a liar?
Seeing his doubts, Yuan Heng smiled and said, "Actually, this is both a bad thing and a good thing. Didn't you two go to the city hospital to give birth in 1993, but the child was lost due to a difficult labor?"
Hao Guoqing nodded and said, "That's true. How did you know?"
Yuan Heng said, "This matter is actually not that simple. From what I understand, your child is not dead, but was sold by the doctor. It's a boy."
"What? You can't say that. Are you using that child as an excuse to cheat money?" Hao Guoqing obviously didn't believe what Yuan Heng said.
Yuan Heng continued calmly, "Not only do I know that the child is alive, I also know where he is now."
Hao Guoqing naturally wouldn't easily believe such a strange thing said by a stranger. He asked, "What are your conditions?"
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