Chapter 36 Wu Ping: Retribution Has Finally Come
When Liang Jiushan stopped her, Zhao Hongxia became nervous and shouted loudly, her voice trembling with fear: "What do you want me to confess? I didn't do anything. Don't frame an innocent person."
Liang Jiushan grabbed Zhao Hongxia's arm: "You old hag, how dare you call yourself a good person? This isn't over yet that you've been abusing my sister Ling."
Zhao Hongxia kept protesting her innocence: "Yes! I admit that I wasn't very good to the children when I was at the welfare home, but Director Jiang has already dismissed me, which is considered a punishment. What more do you want? You don't know, my daughter Meina was in poor health back then. Old He's useless job couldn't earn much money at all. If it weren't for the caregiver's salary, Meina would probably have died. After I was dismissed, I lost an income and couldn't even afford Meina's medicine. The family was in complete chaos."
Liang Jiushan didn't want to hear her complain, so he spat on the ground: "Who can you blame for not having money? Who can you blame for getting fired from your job? Isn't it because you're vicious and abused children? You deserve what you get!"
After Liang Jiushan said that, Zhao Hongxia's face also showed a embarrassed look: "Yes, yes, I'm a wicked person who gets what I deserve. This matter has been over for so long, so... how about I kneel down and kowtow to Jiang Ling to apologize?"
Before Jiang Ling could express her opinion, Liang Jiushan jumped up and said, "Fine, then kneel down and kowtow right now."
Zhao Hongxia had no intention of kneeling. She was just joking, but she didn't expect Liang Jiushan to take it seriously. She chuckled and looked at Jiang Ling ingratiatingly.
As Jiang Ling looked at the middle-aged woman in front of her, whose face appeared even more menacing when she smiled, memories of the past flashed through her mind one by one.
Zhao Hongxia is the childcare worker in charge of looking after this group of children. She is very good at playing the double game, being diligent and gentle in front of Director Jiang, but often taking her anger out on the children behind his back.
Zhao Hongxia bullied the children because they were young and didn't understand. She not only cut back on their food but also pinched, squeezed, kicked, and stomped on them. Facing these children abandoned by their parents, Zhao Hongxia showed no pity but instead gloated, often saying things like—
"You are just useless trash that your parents don't want, you are garbage."
“You’d better listen to me, or I’ll send you up the mountain to feed the wolves.”
“If you dare to sue me, I will sell you to human traffickers, to a place very, very far away, where I will not give you food or clothes, and you will starve and freeze to death.”
After hearing Zhao Hongxia's words so often, the children all became timid and hesitant. But Jiang Ling was different from the others. Driven by a rebellious spirit, she ran away from home to find her biological parents, wanting to prove that she was not an abandoned good-for-nothing. As a result, she was kidnapped by human traffickers because of her young age and ignorance.
The year or so that Jiang Ling was abducted and trafficked allowed her to witness the extreme evil in the world.
Compared to human traffickers, Zhao Hongxia's tricks are not so scary.
After being sent back to the welfare home by the police, Jiang Ling bravely exposed Zhao Hongxia's abuse of children to Director Jiang.
Zhao Hongxia deserved to be criticized and dismissed. Jiang Ling personally avenged the abuse she suffered years ago.
Therefore, Jiang Ling was not interested in Zhao Hongxia's talk of kneeling down and apologizing.
What's the point of an apology after all these years?
The damage has already been done, and no one can reverse it.
Now, Jiang Ling only cared about one thing: the question Liang Jiushan had just asked. She looked at Zhao Hongxia: "When you found me back then, did you steal anything from me?"
Zhao Hongxia had just tried to change the subject, thinking she had gotten away with it, but when Jiang Ling asked again, she avoided eye contact and changed the subject: "What? I only brought my house key with me when I came to the police station."
Seeing her furtive behavior, Li Zhenliang's anger flared. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Zhao Hongxia! Now that we're at the police station, why aren't you confessing?"
This was Zhao Hongxia's first time in a police station. The serious atmosphere made her legs go weak. Her first reaction was to deny it: "No, no, no, you weren't wearing any clothes when you were thrown into the orphanage. What could I possibly take from you?"
Jiang Ling noticed that the woman avoided eye contact, realizing she wasn't telling the truth. Her face immediately turned cold: "Dean Jiang said that when you found me, I was wrapped in a yellow swaddle. Did you hide the contents of that swaddle?"
Jiang Ling decided to try and trick Zhao Hongxia.
Given Zhao Hongxia's greed, she might indeed have secretly hidden the clues left by her parents, such as the note, jade pendant, and gold lock, just as Liang Jiushan suspected.
Liang Jiushan saw through Jiang Ling's intention and added, "Yes, I heard from Dean Jiang that the swaddling clothes were a small yellow quilt with red trumpet creeper flowers embroidered on it..."
Upon hearing this, Chen Anping interjected, "A small yellow quilt? I remember the quilt we used to cover the fire bucket at home in winter was bright yellow. I don't know what kind of silk the quilt cover was made of, but it felt very smooth to the touch, and it was embroidered with red flowers with silk thread. It was quite pretty."
Zhao Hongxia knew she couldn't hide it anymore, so she forced a smile and muttered, "It's just a tattered quilt. You can have it back if you want."
Liang Jiushan interjected, "Just for a blanket? More than that, right? The dean said you brought Jiang Ling in, so did you secretly take the things from the blanket too?"
Zhao Hongxia waved her hands repeatedly, desperately swearing oaths to prove herself: "No, no, when I brought the child in, she wasn't wearing any clothes, just wrapped in a quilt. I thought the little swaddle was soft and pretty, so I took it home. If I've told a single lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."
Half an hour later, Jiang Ling finally saw her swaddling clothes.
Although the swaddling clothes had faded, they were still clearly very exquisite. The silk cover was incredibly smooth, and the trumpet creeper flowers were embroidered stitch by stitch with very fine silk threads. Deep red, light red, and dark red threads intertwined on the silk, shimmering with a unique luster in the sunlight, as if they were alive and striving to bloom.
With its silk cover and silk thread embroidery, this exquisitely crafted and precious baby swaddle blanket must be imbued with the deep love and expectations of loved ones.
If that's the case, why won't you put a piece of clothing on Xiao Jiangling? It's autumn and the dew is heavy; aren't you afraid the child will freeze if you leave her at the orphanage gate at night?
The strong sense of incongruity made Jiang Ling realize that there must be something wrong with her background.
Jiang Ling looked up at Zhao Hongxia: "Tell me the truth, did someone really dump me at the gate of the orphanage?"
Jiang Ling, dressed in a police uniform, exuded an air of authority. Zhao Hongxia was flustered and looked around before hesitating for a long time before finally blurting out, "This, this matter has nothing to do with me. Wu Ping entrusted the child to me."
Finally, we have a clue!
Jiang Ling leaned forward: "Who is Wu Ping?"
Zhao Hongxia pointed to Chen Anping: "That's his adoptive mother. Wu Ping and I were junior high school classmates, and our families lived relatively close to each other. We used to see each other quite often. After graduating from junior high school, I didn't continue my studies. Wu Ping had better grades than me, so she went to a nursing school and was assigned to work as a nurse at the Third Municipal Hospital after graduation."
Jiang Ling asked, "Why did Wu Ping entrust the child to you?"
Zhao Hongxia shook her head: "Wu Ping told me that a couple in their hospital had a baby and didn't want to throw it in the trash. She kindly picked up the baby and wanted to find a place for it. She knew I was in an orphanage, so she gave the baby to me, and I secretly took it back to the orphanage."
Jiang Ling asked again, "Did my parents prepare this quilt?"
If you were looking forward to the child's birth, why abandon it? No, the truth is definitely not what Zhao Hongxia said.
Zhao Hongxia shook her head again: "Wu Ping brought the child to my house last night, and I took him to the orphanage early this morning before I went to work. As for who prepared the swaddle blanket, I really don't know."
Liang Jiushan stomped his feet angrily, "They actually threw Sister Ling in the trash can, that's too much! What kind of parents are they? If I saw them, I would definitely beat them up."
Jiang Ling glanced at him, and Liang Jiushan obediently shut up.
Jiang Ling didn't completely believe what Zhao Hongxia said. If she was so vicious as to throw her own child into the trash can, she would never wrap her in a silk hand-embroidered swaddle blanket.
There are many suspicious points here, and we must see Wu Ping.
The next day, Jiang Ling and Li Zhenliang set off for the Third People's Hospital of Yan City.
Before setting off, I met Chen Anping, who came to present me with a banner.
Chen Anping moved out of Zhao Hongxia's house last night and, on Zhou Wei's recommendation, got a job at Heshun Hotel. Although he's still on probation, the manager offered him a monthly salary of 350 yuan after a trial run of his dishes. Most importantly, the hotel provides staff accommodation, and Chen Anping was assigned a double room. His roommate is a waiter from the countryside, a lively and hardworking woman who's easy to get along with.
Although the hotel staff dormitory was small, it was bright and clean, with beds, cabinets, tables and chairs, which was much better than the accommodation Chen Anping had at Zhao Hongxia's house.
Chen Anping felt a sense of happiness at escaping from danger.
He didn't know how to thank the police officers at the police station, so he knocked on the door of the printing room early in the morning and brought over a red silk banner.
Jiang Ling accepted the banner, and looking at the six words "Good Policeman of the People" on it, his eyes shone with light.
The first three steps to help Chen Anping break free from PUA have been completed. The next two steps—stabilizing his emotions and building social relationships—are up to him. Now that he has a job and roommates, he'll meet all sorts of people, and his life will definitely get better and better.
As long as Chen Anping stays away from the vampires He Meina and Zhao Hongxia, the tragedy of his past life will not happen again.
Amidst Chen Anping's profuse thanks, Jiang Ling and Li Zhenliang set off for the Third Hospital of Yan City.
Wu Ping has worked in the obstetrics and gynecology department for many years and is now the head nurse.
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's identity, her face paled slightly: "What do you want with me?"
Jiang Ling didn't get straight to the point, but started by talking about the Chen Anping incident: "You adopted Chen Anping from the Yan City Welfare Home, but abandoned him when he was ten years old. You are suspected of abandonment, and we need to investigate you."
Upon hearing this, Wu Ping hurriedly tried to explain, "No, no, we didn't abandon him. We were just too busy at home at the time, so we sent him to my junior high school classmate Zhao Hongxia. She only has one daughter, and her home was quite lonely, so she took Chen Anping in. Besides, he's already twenty-six or twenty-seven years old now, so there's no question of abandonment, is there?"
Jiang Ling shook her head: "You went through the formal adoption procedures at the welfare home, and according to the requirements, you should have raised him until he was eighteen. Although Chen Anping is now an adult, the emotional abuse and abandonment you inflicted on him have caused him serious psychological harm. Don't you feel ashamed?"
Wu Ping covered her face, and it took her a while to lower her hands. She looked exhausted. "I had no choice. I didn't really want to adopt a child. I had a healthy and lively daughter. Why should I adopt someone else's child? It was Changde. He was an only child and insisted on having a boy to carry on the family line. I damaged my body when I gave birth to my daughter and couldn't conceive again. In the end, I had no choice but to compromise."
I admit that I was somewhat cold towards Anping after he came to my house, but I really tried my best. After all, both Changde and I had to work, and we also had a daughter to raise. Later, I became pregnant unexpectedly and gave birth to a son. It was Changde who disliked Anping and tried every means to send him away. If Anping really minds, I am willing to make amends and apologize. Please, police, try your best to mediate.
Seeing that her expression didn't seem fake, Jiang Ling nodded: "Then find some time to come to the police station and talk things out with Chen Anping face to face."
Wu Ping nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay."
Jiang Ling didn't get up and continued to stare at Wu Ping, which made Wu Ping very uneasy. She cautiously asked, "Is there anything else?"
Jiang Ling took out an evidence bag containing a piece of cloth, bright yellow with silk fabric, embroidered with blooming trumpet creeper flowers.
Upon seeing the piece of fabric, Wu Ping's face turned deathly pale, and she became so nervous that she stammered, "What exactly do you want to ask? What does this have to do with Chen Anping's matter? Did Zhao Hongxia say something?"
This was the thing that Wu Ping felt most guilty about in her life, and it weighed heavily on her heart.
Whenever the night is quiet, she closes her eyes and sees a naked baby wrapped in a bright yellow blanket, crying loudly, its little hands desperately reaching out as if trying to fight for its own survival.
Jiang Ling asked, "You've seen this swaddling clothes before, haven't you?"
Wu Ping's mental defenses suddenly crumbled, and tears streamed down her face: "Yes, I used this small blanket to wrap the child so Zhao Hongxia could take her to the orphanage. But I really never intended to harm her; after all, it was a human life!"
Jiang Ling's heart skipped a beat.
She forcefully suppressed the bitterness welling up inside her, and without revealing that the child was hers, she asked seriously, "Why did you abandon that child in the orphanage? Who are his parents?"
Li Zhenliang listened from the side, feeling very uncomfortable. Jiang Ling's life was just too bitter.
He tapped the pen on the table and the notebook with his right hand: "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely. Wu Ping, please do not conceal the facts."
Wu Ping was already feeling extremely guilty, and this matter had been weighing on her mind for too long. Now that the police had come to her door, she no longer intended to hide it and told them the whole story.
Wu Ping's husband, Chen Changde, has a younger sister named Chen Changzhen. In 1970, the neighborhood committee mobilized educated youth to go to the countryside. At that time, Chen Changde was already working, and Chen Changzhen was the eldest of his three younger sisters, so she had no choice but to go to the countryside.
Life in the countryside was tough. Chen Changzhen had never done farm work and spent her days in tears. Eventually, she couldn't bear it any longer and married the son of the village accountant, taking a job as a scorekeeper. Only then did her life become more comfortable.
In 1973, some of the educated youth began to return to their hometowns. Chen Changzhen wrote back to her parents, begging them to arrange a job for her. She said that life in the countryside was too hard and she wanted to go back to the city.
The Chen family doted on their daughter and spent a sum of money to buy her a job at a sewing machine factory. Everything was arranged, but then Chen Changzhen became pregnant. Her husband refused to divorce her and stubbornly refused to let her return to the city. Chen Changzhen endured until her pregnancy was full-term, then returned to Yanshi under the pretext of going back to her parents' home to await childbirth.
Chen Changzhen's husband had lost his love for her. After sending her to the Chen family, he left her with the words, "Just obediently give birth to the child, and I'll raise it. After you give birth, I'll go through with the divorce proceedings."
Chen Changzhen's husband left in a hurry, without saying a single comforting word.
In November 1973, Chen Changzhen, heavily pregnant, entered the Third Hospital of Yanshi. At that time, Wu Ping was a nurse in the obstetrics and gynecology department and took good care of her sister-in-law.
Chen Changzhen was hospitalized in a double room. Sharing her room was a couple: the man, a policeman surnamed Lin, and the woman, a teacher surnamed Xiao. They seemed very much in love. Although Officer Lin was very busy, he would come to visit his wife whenever he had free time. The man's kind-faced mother stayed in the room to care for her daughter-in-law.
That family was very amiable, always smiling at everyone. Teacher Xiao's mother-in-law was very diligent, taking good care of her daughter-in-law, which made Chen Changzhen, who was alone in the hospital without her husband by her side, extremely jealous.
As she spoke, Wu Ping's voice grew softer and softer.
"It was quite a coincidence. On the night of the 12th, my sister-in-law and the pregnant woman in the same ward went into labor at the same time and went into the delivery room together. You know how it was back then, during the Cultural Revolution. Several obstetricians and gynecologists were taken away to write reports. The only people who could deliver their babies that night were me, a senior nurse, and a young girl who had just graduated from nursing school."
Before I entered the delivery room, my sister-in-law gripped my hand tightly, her face contorted with pain, but what she said chilled me to the bone. She said she didn't want the child to suffer in the countryside; Mr. and Mrs. Xiao both had stable jobs and were well-off, and she wanted to switch babies!
I didn't want to agree at first, but the situation was so urgent. My sister-in-law's face was contorted like a ghost as she gritted her teeth and recounted her pitiful and resentful state. I had no choice but to nod in agreement.
After a busy night, around 2 a.m. on the 13th, both pregnant women successfully gave birth to babies, both girls. The older sister's baby was very small and thin, with purple lips, and it took her a long time to let out a kitten-like cry. The baby born to the woman in the same ward was fair-skinned, chubby, and exceptionally beautiful.
I stared blankly at the two children.
Should I change it or not? I thought about it for a very long time.
That evening, Officer Lin was on a mission and not at the hospital. Only her mother-in-law was with Teacher Xiao at the bedside. The young woman who had just graduated from nursing school and was helping me panicked when she saw the blood and kept her distance the entire time. It's safe to say that if I had simply switched the items, no one would have noticed.
I am a nurse, and saving lives is my duty.
Switching the two babies is against professional ethics and shows a complete lack of conscience.
But looking at my little niece, who was crying like a kitten, I shamefully felt a flutter in my heart.
My sister-in-law is determined to escape rural life and has no love for the baby in her womb; she'll definitely leave it with her ex-husband. The thought of this little life being sent back to the countryside, where medical conditions are so poor, makes me realize the child won't survive long.
Teacher Xiao's family is well-off and loving, so they will definitely do their best to raise the child. My poor little niece will then be able to grow up in a happy family.
The girl Ms. Xiao gave birth to looks healthy and lively; with such physical attributes, she could grow up well even if she went to the countryside. At worst… I'll help her out when she's older.
My sister-in-law is right, this world is simply unfair.
Two babies born on the same day, month, and year will have vastly different fates because of their different parents.
I kept telling myself that I was doing a good deed, that it was for fairness, and that it was to ensure both children could live healthy lives. So, I switched the two children.
However, I never expected that even though my niece was given to Teacher Xiao, she only lived for two days before passing away due to congenital malformation, despite my best efforts to save her.
The couple held their child and cried for a long time. Before leaving, they gave my sister-in-law the small blanket they had prepared for the child. With tears in their eyes, they said that it was fate to be born in the same hospital room on the same day. Although their own child did not survive, they left the blanket to her because her baby was so cute.
Before her husband's older sister was discharged from the hospital, her husband came over. As soon as he saw that it was a girl, he looked away with disgust and said to her: "It's a little girl. I won't raise her. She's yours."
The sister-in-law was dumbfounded.
After we got the divorce papers done, my husband's older sister impatiently threw the child at me, saying she didn't want to raise the child and that I should just throw him in the trash.
I was stunned. Wasn't it to save my own child that I swapped babies? How did everything change now? My own niece didn't survive, and my sister-in-law refuses to raise someone else's child.
I did something wrong but dared not speak out. If I did, I would definitely be fired from the hospital. I had no choice but to bring the child over and beg Zhao Hongxia to take him to an orphanage. After all, he's a little life, isn't he?
Hearing this, Jiang Ling's heart ached. How could there be such a selfish and harmful person as Chen Changzhen in this world! Out of jealousy, she switched other people's children; out of selfishness, she was unwilling to raise the child.
They completely treat human life like dirt!
Such a person should be arrested and torn to pieces.
After writing down the last sentence, Li Zhenliang slammed his hand heavily on the table: "Do you know this is illegal? Using deception, enticement, or other means to separate a child under the age of 14 from their family or guardian is the crime of child abduction! Abandoning an infant at the gate of an orphanage is the crime of abandonment. Both crimes will be punished concurrently, with a minimum sentence of five years."
Upon hearing this, Wu Ping was so frightened that her legs went weak, and she slumped into her chair, muttering to herself.
"I don't know why I listened to my sister-in-law. I just had a soft heart. She said there are four children in the family, but she was the one who went to the countryside when she was a teenager and suffered so much. She said she was afraid that if she got sick, the children wouldn't be able to survive. I had a moment of madness and switched her mind. Who knew that she would change her attitude a few days later?"
I genuinely didn't expect it to be a crime. My husband's older sister wanted to throw the child in the trash, so I took the child to an orphanage. At least that gave the child a chance to live, right?
Seeing Wu Ping's tears of remorse, Jiang Ling felt no sympathy whatsoever, her gaze icy and stern: "That child should have had loving parents and a kind grandmother, but you left her to grow up alone in the orphanage, and you still have the nerve to say you gave her a way to survive?!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to turn out like this..." Wu Ping kept apologizing.
But what good is her apology?
Because of a single wrong decision on her part, Jiang Ling's life was rewritten.
Being abandoned by her parents was Jiang Ling's lifelong regret and resentment.
Little did she know that the reason she felt such regret and resentment was all because of the seemingly kind and gentle nurse in front of her!
Li Zhenliang pressed further: "Besides Officer Lin and Teacher Xiao, what else do you know? What are their names, and which unit do they work for?"
Wu Ping shook her head: "I don't know. More than 20 years have passed. How could I remember these things? The only reason I still remember the surnames Lin and Xiao is because the quilt was embroidered with trumpet creeper flowers."
Yes, Lin and Xiao are homophones of Lingxiao.
No wonder the swaddle blanket is embroidered with trumpet creeper flowers; that's the parents' deep love and expectations for their child.
Knowing that Jiang Ling was now flustered, Li Zhenliang took the initiative to ask, "Is there any record in the hospital's medical records?"
Wu Ping shook her head again: "It happened in the 1970s. Back then, the hospital's records were not well preserved at all. They can't be found now."
Jiang Ling felt like her heart was being fried in oil. She suppressed her anger and stood up: "Notify Chen Changzhen to go to the Jinwu Road Police Station for questioning, and take Wu Ping away."
Wu Ping was very nervous: "Where are you taking me?"
Jiang Ling looked at her: "Child abduction, abandonment, and your involvement as a medical worker also constitutes medical malpractice. You don't think that breaking the law and committing crimes can be wiped clean with just a few apologies, do you?"
Wu Ping collapsed completely, staring blankly at Jiang Ling with her mouth agape. It took her a while to struggle to sit up straight: "If the people don't complain, the officials won't investigate, right? No one called the police, so why did you arrest me?"
Jiang Ling stood ramrod straight, her eyes sharp and piercing. The sharp lines of her police uniform gave her a somewhat menacing air: "I am the child you switched."
Wu Ping stared blankly up at Jiang Ling standing in front of her.
Jiang Ling's face gradually overlapped with Officer Lin's handsome and rugged face. Ah, that child has grown up; she's coming to settle scores with them now.
Although 21 years have passed, retribution has finally come.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com