Chapter 46
Unexpectedly, the old man suddenly said: "Since you can't wait any longer to meet the person you want to meet, then you can leave."
Li Ying'an and I looked at each other in surprise. We didn't expect that the old man didn't call for help from the people around and took us into the village.
Li Ying'an asked foolishly, "...Why?"
The old man said calmly, "Why, do you think I'm going to bring all of you to the village? Haven't you always said that I won't help this or that? I'm just like that. I live my own life and I won't care about other people's affairs. Even if the sky falls, I can still live as long as it doesn't fall on me. I think the life of this village is coming to an end, so I'll just pretend I didn't see you."
After he finished speaking, he bent his hunched back again, grabbed the trembling woman's arm, and pulled her up from the ground with all his strength. After she stood up straight, he pushed her again: "Go back!"
The woman seemed to have been pardoned and ran farther and farther away.
Since the old man said so, Li Ying'an and I came here to confirm whether the people in the village were the same group as before. Now we not only got the answer we wanted, but also learned other more important things. There was no point in staying any longer. If we were exposed, we would be in big trouble, so we turned around and left.
"Did you report it to the police after you got out?"
We hadn't walked two meters when the old man asked again.
Our backs were turned to him, so it was hard to tell what was on his face. Li Ying'an must have been nervous. He clenched his fists and then slowly unclenched them. Finally, he tilted his head slightly and said, "Hmm."
This answer made my heart hang in the air.
"Curious?"
The old man spoke briefly, but Li Ying'an must have guessed what he was asking about, and nodded: "Yeah."
"Everyone knew the news in advance and hid themselves." The old man put the bamboo basket on his back. "The local environment shapes the local people. When they get benefits, they won't turn their elbows outward."
After he said this, he treated us as air, without even looking at us, and turned and walked towards the open space on the other side.
I looked at his frail appearance and thought to myself, no wonder the police didn't notice the problem. It turned out that someone was deliberately protecting him.
At the same time, I thought of the nearby scrap factory, turned around and looked at Li Ying'an, and a plan formed in my mind.
On the way back, I immediately told it to Li Ying'an.
In that case, we'll tell the police about the abandoned factory owner's secret cat trafficking. Once they get the information, they'll definitely find Li Ying'an. They'll definitely remember him, and if he exaggerates what happened here, they might even keep an eye on this village while investigating the factory.
If we were to bypass the police to avoid alerting them, they would have to request direct intervention from higher-level public security agencies. But that would require sufficient evidence. Li Ying'an and I alone wouldn't be enough. It would be great if we had something else to corroborate it...
Suddenly, I heard the voice of the old man. I was startled by the sudden noise and turned around quickly.
As soon as Li Ying'an and I looked into each other's eyes, I suddenly laughed, and realized that he had recorded our conversation in advance.
This way, things will be much easier.
…
This year's summer is different from the previous years. Even using a fan will make you feel hot. If you want to open the window and let the natural wind blow into the room to relieve the heat on the grounds that it is cold at high altitudes, don't even think about it, because the wind outside is like the radiator in winter. It's okay if it doesn't blow, but it will burn your skin after blowing for a while.
Inside the house, the fan was shaking its head from side to side, and it looked like it was about to stop working out of exhaustion. However, the heat was unbearable that day, so it and the refrigerator in the house had to continue working honestly.
Today is another rare day off. I lie on the floor in a human-like position, feeling the cold floor gradually warming up under the contact of my body. Then I will flexibly turn over and continue to cool down on the other side, waiting for this side to warm up before turning back. I repeat this action over and over again, and never get tired of it.
When Li Ying'an saw this, he would say that I was trying to make a comeback. I was too lazy to confront him, so when I was really tired, I would turn back into a cat, fix the fan in one position, lie on my belly in front of it and take a nap.
Ever since Li Ying'an knew that I was originally a cat, I have been changing into various shapes in front of him without restraint. When I am a cat, he will take special care of me. For example, if I sleep in front of the fan, he will find a thin blanket to cover my belly.
Even when I became an adult of the same age as him, he still took care of me because in his eyes, I would always be Li Youzhi. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm just a cat. He and I will always be friends.
I used a sit-up to roll the blanket from under my front paws to my hind legs, then turned over and pressed it under me.
This damn weather is so hot that even the fan blowing in front of my eyes makes me feel irritated. My round eyes have become flat because of my restless mood and gradually getting sleepy. The look I give Li Ying'an is filled with both inexplicable grievance and incomprehensible curiosity.
Why doesn't Li Ying'an look hot at all?
I tiptoed closer to him, climbed onto his back while he wasn't noticing, and rested my belly on his shoulders like a pendant. My body was so soft that it hung naturally to my chest like a towel.
Li Ying'an is looking at his phone...
He was actually choosing a rental house!
I turned my head away and stared at his face. When he noticed my gaze, he turned back as well, and our eyes met for a moment.
"This summer seems to be very hot." He raised his hand to rest my chin on it. "I plan to rent a house with air conditioning so that you can live more comfortably."
It turns out that he was willing to go through all this for me.
I jumped off his shoulders and transformed back into human form right under his gaze, then crossed my legs and sat facing him.
I shook my head decisively. "It's okay. You don't have to do this for me. This hot weather won't last long. I've seen it cool down in a few days. Our monthly salary isn't much to begin with, so you should save it. Besides, if we move furniture in this heat, we'll definitely get heatstroke!"
He had more to say to me when the door was suddenly knocked, accompanied by a loud voice: "Takeout!"
Li Ying'an went to open the door, and when he turned around, he was holding a foam box in his hand. I tilted my head curiously and watched him slowly open the package and take out an ice cream from it.
"Li Lan told me that this flavor of ice cream was delicious, so I bought a few from the store she recommended."
I looked at the ice cream packaging bag, which had a fat and cute fat rabbit printed on it. It was sitting by the bridge fishing, and was teased by a fish and lost its fishing rod.
Looking at its silly look with eyes wide open, I couldn't help but wonder if I would become so stupid after eating this ice cream. I was a little hesitant for a moment.
Li Ying'an thought my hesitation meant the ice cream was not to his liking: "Why, you don't like this?"
I held the seal of the package and pointed at the rogue rabbit on it to express my meaning: it looks so stupid.
This made Li Ying'an laugh. He had never been so happy since he came back from that village last time.
"You've become stupid before you even eat it," he laughed. "Eating it will only cool you down temporarily, it won't make you stupid."
Only after getting his assurance did I feel comfortable opening the packaging bag.
The rich aroma of milk filled my mouth. I leaned on Li Ying'an's shoulder, staring blankly at the unlit light above my head.
Half a month ago, thanks to Li Ying'an's poignant description and the recording function of his mobile phone, the police once again locked onto the place of their original investigation and submitted the collected evidence to their superiors. After their superiors agreed to intervene, the anti-trafficking platform of the Ministry of Public Security coordinated the police to jointly investigate the case. Not only did they rescue the cats that were still hidden in the basement and had not been sold, but they also successfully turned upside down the local villages, large and small, that had been involved in the trafficking of women and children for many years.
Furthermore, while the previous investigation was fruitless, the evidence now exists that the police there were indeed found to have shielded local criminals. This is a serious dereliction of duty. From this moment on, they are no longer police officers, but accomplices, and they should be punished by law.
This time the punishment is not as simple as taking off the coat. Due to the long period of time and large number of people involved, the criminals have been at large for a long time, resulting in the mental and physical destruction of the victims. The circumstances are judged to be serious and all will be held criminally responsible, with sentences of less than ten years or more than three years in prison.
The people in the village are in even greater trouble. The extent of their crimes is enough to make people protest.
Therefore, the court ruled that those with less serious circumstances would be fined or sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment according to the law, while those with serious circumstances would be sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty. The village heads of the two villages were both sentenced to death and required to be executed immediately.
In this way, the women in the village were liberated. Those who were not crazy could find their families with the help of the police, while those who were crazy needed to be claimed by their families or sent to a local mental hospital for treatment.
But unfortunately, there were very few people who were not crazy. Those who were crazy were crying and shouting not to leave...
They were so scared that they would rather die than leave, fearing they would be taken to another place and abused.
Sui Yusheng's mother, that crazy woman, is one of them. She keeps saying that she will wait here for her son to come home to find her, but she has forgotten that this is not her home at all. Her real home may be in an inconspicuous small town, or even a big city, but it will never be this dirty, sinful and inhumane place.
Until now, I have never told Sui Yusheng that I have found his biological mother. Judging from Sui Yusheng's attitude when facing Old Man Song last time, he seems to have no feelings for the family that gave birth to him. Perhaps it is because he was sold before, which made him extremely disappointed in them and he is unwilling to have anything to do with them anymore.
But where had Sui Yusheng been sold, and why was he sent to an orphanage so suddenly? If Sui Yusheng was truly alienated from his biological family because he was sold, then he must remember who bought him.
To date, the police have confirmed the fact that women and children are being trafficked in the two villages, but they are still investigating who the buyers are who are connecting with them, and there has been no breakthrough yet.
Thinking back to the news that was always playing from time to time, I smacked the sweetness in my mouth and imagined wildly that perhaps I could find out through Wen Liangxi and provide clues to the police.
As for why I didn't ask Sui Yusheng directly, thinking of that person's cold and stinky face, I immediately gave up the idea.
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