As she spoke, Su Ruyi stuffed the stack of ten-yuan notes into Zhang Dehui's pocket.
Zhang Dehui clutched his pocket, as if afraid the money would grow wings and fly away, his whole body trembling slightly: "Cadre Su... who are my girl's biological parents...?"
Su Ruyi sighed, "They're from Beijing. But that's not important. What's important is that they haven't given up searching for their biological daughter for the past 15 years! The girl ended up in your hands because her nanny sold her. The nanny was dishonest and, when she was discovered, held a grudge and stole her employer's child!"
Zhang Dehui was struck dumb: "How could this be? That woman said she was his biological daughter, that he couldn't raise her, and that she asked us to give her some millet porridge, saying that if she could live, she could..."
He gasped again as he said this, "Back then, only very important people in Beijing could afford to hire a nanny, right?"
Su Ruyi nodded and said, "Indeed. This girl's biological parents are important figures in Beijing."
Zhang Dehui stared blankly, swayed a couple of times, and then plopped down on the ground: "It's over, our family is going to be in trouble."
Su Ruyi squatted opposite him:
"Uncle Zhang, you've misunderstood!"
How did your family suffer such a misfortune?
You raised this girl, didn't abandon her, and seem to treat her well, providing her with food, drink, and clothing.
This girl has been raised to be very well-behaved; her biological parents are probably grateful to you, how could she possibly suffer any misfortune?
"Really? Cadre Su. Do his biological parents really think that way?" Zhang Dehui's eyes regained some of their sparkle.
Su Ruyi pointed to his pocket: "I brought all the money, what else do you not believe?"
Zhang Dehui seemed to be lost in thought when tears suddenly welled up in his eyes: "This girl has such a hard life..."
Su Ruyi then asked, "Uncle Zhang, do you remember what the person who sold this girl to you looked like?"
Zhang Dehui nodded emphatically: "Of course."
"Did you leave any... keepsakes or anything like that?"
Zhang Dehui reached out and smeared his face with his hand, trying hard to recall: "The girl's swaddling blanket! The blanket that wrapped this girl back then! The style of that blanket was something we had never seen before! We felt it was very unusual! But the girl's mother, oh no, the nanny said that she had stolen it from someone else's house."
Su Ruyi's eyes lit up—Qi Yaqin should be able to recognize the quilt when she sees it.
She asked, "Is this still there? Can I take a look?"
Zhang Dehui nodded and said, "Of course! Cadre Su, are the girl's biological parents taking her back to Beijing to enjoy a comfortable life? Is that right?"
Su Ruyi nodded and said, "Yes, we need to take her back. For so many years, they've been searching for their child... Her mother even quit her job and searched all over the country..."
After saying that, he looked at Zhang Dehui with obvious relief in his eyes: "Thank goodness! Thank goodness I found her in time! If this girl had really married far away, I would never have found her in this lifetime!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dehui sat on the ground and began to sob, "I'm so sorry to the girl, I'm so sorry to her. But there's nothing I can do... If her brother can't get married, this family will fall apart."
Su Ruyi patted his pocket again: "Uncle Zhang, this 500 yuan should solve all your family's problems, right? Oh, right!" Su Ruyi said, taking out ten more ten-yuan bills, "And return the money you received from the matchmaker, okay? Tell them properly that this marriage is off."
"Oh, of course." Zhang Dehui reached out to take the money, but then looked embarrassed.
Su Ruyi directly stuffed the money into his hand.
Zhang Dehui lowered his head and sighed, "Alas, a poor man has no means of support. I'm sorry you had to laugh at me, Cadre Su!"
After a long pause, he asked again, "The girl has gone back... does that mean she'll never come back?"
Su Ruyi looked at him again: "It's like she married far away."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dehui's gaze immediately went blank: "Yes! Cadre Su, you're right! It's much better for her to go back to her home in Beijing and enjoy a comfortable life than to marry into a remote mountain village in Inner Mongolia! However, Cadre Su, I need to talk to his mother about this slowly."
Su Ruyi nodded and said, "Of course."
After saying that, she asked again, "When is that matchmaker coming?"
Zhang Dehui said, "The agreed time is seven days from now. These seven days are for us to prepare; we should at least bring two quilts..."
As she spoke, she began to wipe away tears again.
Su Ruyi quickly replied, "Okay, I understand. I'll talk to my aunt about it."
"Cadre Su, have you... told my girl about her background?" Zhang Dehui hesitated for a moment before asking.
Su Ruyi shook her head: "Of course not. This is something you two should talk about. You should also think about... how to tell your daughter."
Zhang Dehui nodded and stood up: "Thank you, Cadre Su, you are a good person."
The money in his pocket pressed down on his back, making it seem bent.
Zhang Dehui went home.
Su Ruyi did not go back, giving the couple time to communicate.
She wandered around the village.
This village was in a much better situation than Sujiazhuang, but it was still a very poor mountain village. The children were dirty, and the girls wore patched clothes with a lot of their ankles showing.
Thinking of the ambitious Qi Yaqin and then of Zhang Ruyi's timid expression, Su Ruyi felt that fate was truly cruel.
She wanted to meet the matchmaker because she suspected that the matchmaker had a relationship with Xia Tianxiu.
When this matter was revealed, the matchmaker could be considered a tainted witness.
Su Ruyi considered everything in her mind before returning to Zhang Dehui's house.
As soon as I entered, I heard Xia Liuer wailing: "No...this can't be..."
Zhang Ruyi was standing outside her parents' room, biting a handkerchief tightly in her mouth.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around, her face streaked with tears, and asked softly, "Officer Su, what my parents said... is it true? I'm not their biological child, how could that be? My parents have treated me so well..."
Su Ruyi sighed:
"Your biological mother has been looking for you for 15 years."
She quit her job to find you, and has traveled all over the country in the past 15 years...
When I met her, she had just received the news and traveled to Heilongjiang Province to see the person.
It turns out that the one from Heilongjiang Province wasn't her daughter.
Another disappointment...
Over the past 15 years, she has traveled countless times because of news like this…
"Waaah..." Zhang Ruyi covered her mouth and ran back to her room.
She lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed), but afraid of being heard, she buried her head in the quilt and began to cry in suppressed sobs.
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