Lu Yuan parked the truck next to the car heading to Xiangyang Commune and leaned half his body out of the window to call out to a young man who was about to get on the truck.
"Comrade, are you going to Xiangyang Commune? I'm going to Xiangyang Commune too, but I don't know the way. If you can give me directions, I'll give you a ride for free."
The young man sized up Lu Yuan, and seeing that he was upright and handsome, he had no doubt that he was a swindler, and agreed without thinking.
I was actually quite happy, as I could save a few cents on the bus fare.
In fact, most people in this era don't have the concept of a swindler, let alone a truck driver. People subconsciously assume he's a good person.
Those who got on the bus and those who didn't were incredibly envious; it was free, and the few cents left could buy several bags of salt and matches.
An elderly woman asked Lu Yuan, "I'll give you directions too, can you give me a ride?"
Before Lu Yuan could agree, the old woman climbed directly into the back of the truck. Seeing this, the others who hadn't boarded the truck yet also quickly climbed onto it, shouting, "Comrade, we'll help you find your way too."
Once on the bus, the passengers became anxious and grabbed their luggage, wanting to get off and give Lu Yuan directions.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan was speechless. Did he really need so many people to give him directions?
He thought that all the passengers would be unhappy with him, but to his surprise, the two of them were helping the passengers who were lagging behind with their luggage, and were very busy, afraid that Lu Yuan would drive away and leave one or two people behind.
Lu Yuan was dumbfounded. This works? They don't mind him stealing their business.
Then I thought of the collective ownership system in this era. Well, wages are fixed. Whether the bus runs or not, the driver's and ticket seller's wages are not affected. In this situation, I definitely don't want to make an extra trip.
Finally, the driver and the ticket seller came to the door with smiles to thank him, as they could go home early today.
Lu Yuan forced a smile and said, "You're welcome." He glanced casually at the tiger plush toy in the ticket seller's hand, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
He flung open the car door, jumped out, snatched the doll, stared straight at the ticket seller, and demanded sharply, "Where did you get this doll?"
Lu Yuan's sudden change in demeanor startled the ticket seller, who, her mind blank, stammered, "Yes, yes, it was my brother who gave it to me. What's wrong?"
"Where did your brother come from?"
"I found it."
Where did you find it?
The ticket seller snapped out of her daze and angrily tried to snatch the tiger plush toy back, shouting, "Hey, young man, what are you trying to do? Where you picked it up is none of your business! Give it back to me!"
Lu Yuan naturally refused, and said in a deep voice, "This doll was sewn by my wife herself for her nephew to play with, but the child was just sold today by his aunt and her husband's family. Now the police are looking for him everywhere. I advise you to tell the truth."
Upon hearing that it was such a serious matter as selling a child, the passengers were in an uproar, and the ticket seller immediately fell silent.
She told the truth, "My younger brother works in the security department of the station. He said that at noon, an old lady with a crying child dropped this toy. When he helped pick it up and was about to return it to her, the old lady with the child had already hurriedly boarded the train and left the station. He thought the doll was quite cute and couldn't bear to throw it away. He thought that I had a toddler at home, so he gave it to me."
Lu Yuan asked, "Do you know which bus that old lady got on?"
The ticket seller shook her head. "I don't know, but my younger brother should know."
"Then please take me to ask your brother, sister."
Just as the ticket seller was about to lead him to find someone, she saw a young man in a work uniform walking towards them from a short distance away.
The ticket seller waved hurriedly, "Weimin, over here!"
Lin Weimin ran over and asked, "What's wrong, sis? Why hasn't your bus left yet? It's supposed to be on time?"
The ticket seller briefly explained the situation and asked him which bus the old lady had boarded.
When Lin Weimin heard that the old woman was a human trafficker, he was annoyed that he hadn't noticed.
"It's a car from Qianyang Commune, driven by Master Du."
The driver clapped his hands. "That's right. Quickly contact the bus station in Qianyang Commune. Master Du should have just arrived at the commune. Ask him where the old lady with the child got off the bus. If she got off at Qianyang Commune, hurry to the commune police station and ask the police to help find her."
Lin Weimin rushed to his office to make a phone call to inquire about the situation, and Lu Yuan followed along, feeling very grateful for their kindness.
They quickly contacted Mr. Du and confirmed that the old lady got off the bus at Qianyang Commune.
"The child cried all the way. The old lady said the child was sick and that's why she was making a fuss, but even so, she hit the child. People couldn't stand it and said a few words, and she even argued with them, so I have a very deep impression of her," said Mr. Du on the other end of the phone.
"Don't worry, I'll go to the police station right away and ask them to go find the person immediately. They shouldn't be far away; they might be able to find them."
Upon receiving the latest news, Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and then borrowed a phone to make a call to the textile factory.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Weiming had already arranged for Zhong Jianping to wait for the call.
Lu Yuan quickly explained the situation, "I'll go to Qianyang Commune now and have the police ask Granny Zhang who she is and where she lives. I'll call her when I get to Qianyang Commune."
When Lu Yuan returned to the parking spot, all the passengers had already gotten off the truck and back into the car. Lin Weimin even offered to lead the way to Qianyang Commune.
At this moment, Lu Yuan felt a little touched and exclaimed that there are still many good people in the world.
Lu Yuan shook hands with Lin Weimin, the driver, and the ticket seller, and said, "Thank you all so much for today. You are all kind-hearted comrades who are always ready to help others. I will definitely write a letter of commendation to your unit and send you a banner."
The group was overjoyed and modestly said they didn't need it, but the ticket seller couldn't wait to announce her and the driver's names.
"Finding the child is the priority now. There's no need for letters of praise or banners. Lin Hongying and Master Xu Daqiang just hope that our comrade can find the child soon."
"Thank you for your kind words, Comrade Lin!"
Lu Yuan noted down the two men's names, thanked them again, and then got on the truck with Lin Weimin.
It took almost two hours to drive to Qianyang Commune. Lu Yuan asked some pedestrians for directions and then drove directly to the police station.
After receiving Mr. Du's report, the police sent people to search for him, but they haven't found him yet.
In this era without surveillance, this is really frustrating. Finding someone is all about asking around, which is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lu Yuan wanted to borrow the police station's phone to call the textile factory, but the police said that the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau had already contacted them, but there was no news from there either, and the three suspects still hadn't given up.
Lu Yuan cursed under his breath, thinking, "He's like a rock in a latrine, both smelly and hard."
Thinking of the tiger plush toy in the car, he scoffed inwardly. So what if they're stubborn? Once he finds the person, let's see how they can keep up their stubbornness.
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