Zhang Aiguo and Yu Xiaomei quickly pulled the person away.
“Mom, how can this be your fault? You were just trying to help take care of the child, who knew this accident would happen?” Zhang Aiguo said.
Yu Xiaomei also chimed in, "Yes, Mom, nobody wanted this to happen. It was an accident. Don't blame yourself. Finding Xiaohui is the most important thing right now. Mom, let's go out and look for him now."
As she spoke, she wiped away non-existent tears and said to Mo Yitao and Wen Shengtao, "It's no use blaming us now. This isn't entirely our fault. If we really investigate, if you hadn't abused the child first, I wouldn't have brought the child back, and there wouldn't have been any of this. The child wouldn't have been lost."
Mo Yitao was so angry that she wanted to hit someone again. In fact, she couldn't help but grab Yu Xiaomei's hair and start hitting her.
"Bullshit! The child is perfectly fine in our home. He's gained weight in just a few days. We've been pampered with good food, drinks, and toys, and you insist we're abusing him and want to take him away. You've lost him in less than half a day and are now blaming us. Let me tell you, if we don't find him, I'll never forgive you."
"Ahhhhh, let go, ouch, let go..."
Yu Xiaomei screamed in pain and started scratching and clawing wildly.
With Lu Yuan and several other grown men present, there was no way anyone would hurt Mo Yitao. Moreover, after Mo Yitao made a move, Lu Yuan and the others also used the excuse of breaking up the fight to push and shove the Zhang family mother and son.
I don't know what went wrong, but the pushing and shoving turned into a one-sided beating. Even Wen Shengtao took the opportunity to kick him a couple of times, leaving Zhong Weiming alone on the sidelines, jumping up and down in frustration.
"Stop fighting, please stop fighting, let's talk this out."
But nobody paid any attention to him. Lu Yuan only told his brothers to stop when he saw that it was about time. Damn it, these guys were useless. They couldn't take a beating at all. Zhang Aiguo's head was turned into a pig's head in no time.
Old Mrs. Zhang was getting on in years and worried about getting seriously injured, so she directed ninety percent of her firepower at Zhang Aiguo.
Even so, the punches and slaps that Zhang's wife received still made her cry out in pain.
Lu Yuanyi said sternly, "You still have the nerve to yell like that? You didn't lose the child at all, you sold the child, didn't you? Tell me, where did you sell the child to?"
Based on the behavior of the three people just now, Lu Yuan strongly suspects that the Zhang family sold the child.
The others hadn't actually thought about it that way, and they actually believed what Granny Zhang said. They were only able to beat people because they were angry that the other woman had lost her child and then pushed half the responsibility onto them.
Hearing Lu Yuan say this, they were all enlightened.
Mo Yitao slapped her thigh, "My God! This family is heartless and depraved, they deserve to die a horrible death!"
After cursing, he slapped Yu Xiaomei twice, saying, "You're still Xiaohui's aunt, have you no conscience? You actually thought of selling your own nephew. You're a damned bastard, your whole family is worthless."
If it weren't for the fact that in this era many things can't be said, such as retribution, being struck by lightning, or being haunted by a ghost, Mo Yitao could have said even more nasty things.
The commotion was quite loud, and the entrance and corridor were crowded with people from the textile factory's residential building.
Some people initially thought that Lu Yuan and his group had gone too far in beating people, but after hearing that the Zhang family had sold someone else's child, they also became indignant and felt that the Zhang family deserved to be beaten.
Lu Yuan instructed Mo Ziyang, "Go to the police station and report that someone is deliberately abducting children. Have the police take the three of them back for questioning. This child-selling was definitely planned by the whole family."
Those who usually didn't get along with the Zhang family offered to help call the police when they heard that someone was going to report a crime. They said, "I'll go and call the police for you. I have a bicycle, so it'll be quick for me to get there and back."
It's clear that the Zhang family isn't well-liked in the residential building; there are quite a few people who would kick them when they're down.
In fact, these people disliked the Zhang family on a regular basis. On the other hand, if the Zhang family really committed a crime, they would definitely be fired from the factory, and their jobs and houses would be taken back. Wouldn't that give those who were waiting to place their children in the factory and get housing another opportunity?
Lu Yuan thanked the kind person, but still insisted that Mo Ziyang come with him. Someone else offered to lend Mo Ziyang a bicycle.
After Mo Ziyang and the two kind-hearted people left, Lu Yuan grabbed Old Lady Zhang and asked her who she had sold the child to. However, the old woman was very stubborn and insisted that the child had been taken away at the bus station.
"Waaah, I just needed to pee and went to the toilet. A lady saw that I was holding my child and it was inconvenient for me, so she offered to help me hold the child. I thought she was a bad person because she was wearing a cadre's uniform, so I gave her the child. Who knew that in the time it took to pee, that person disappeared with the child. Waaah, it's not that she sold the child, it's just that she accidentally lost the child."
"Ouch, you're killing me! I don't want to live anymore, just kill me already!"
Lu Yuan kicked Zhang Aiguo and Yu Xiaomei twice more, and the two insisted that it was truly an accident.
The three of them had planned this all along: if questioned, they would insist it was an accident and absolutely deny selling the child. As long as they didn't admit it, even the police couldn't do anything to them. Otherwise, all three of them would be finished.
They all knew the stakes involved, so they kept their mouths shut tighter than a clam shell.
"You said the old woman wants to take the children to the countryside, which countryside? What's the address?"
This time, Zhang Aiguo gave the address truthfully: "Pingxi Brigade, Xiangyang Commune".
Zhong Weiming said, "This is the Zhang family's ancestral home. My sister-in-law's family is from this brigade."
Lu Yuan asked, "Has the brigade made a phone call?"
"No," Zhang Aiguo replied.
Seeing that he couldn't get any other useful information, Lu Yuan said, "We shouldn't delay. Let's go out and look for the children first. Director Zhong, please take some men to keep an eye on these three people and hand them over to the police later."
In cases like this where a child is missing, the golden period for searching is only a few hours. Going out to look for the child as soon as possible will give you a better chance of finding them.
Once the police arrive, they will definitely take the three of them back for questioning before sending people out to search for the child. This back-and-forth will take a lot of time, so it's better for them to go out and search sooner rather than wait here.
After saying that, he gave Wen Shengtong and Mo Yitao a few more instructions, asked Zhong Weiming for their factory's phone number, and then told his brother-in-law and Mo Zihong to leave first.
“We’ll split into three groups. Big brother, go to the train station. Cousin Zihong, go to the bus station. I’ll go to Zhang’s hometown commune. If you still don’t have any results in two hours, go to the police station and meet up with Mom and Dad.”
The two nodded in agreement. The train station and bus station were not far apart, and Lu Yuan would happen to pass by the station anyway, so he could drive them there.
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