Wen Ci tilted her head and asked, “Little one, why aren’t you going home on a rainy day and still wandering outside?”
“I don’t have a home.”
Hearing this, Wen Ci’s eyes widened.
Connecting his earlier reactions, she couldn’t help but have a bold thought: “Were you kidnapped and then ran away to hide here?”
“Yep.”
Seeing him admit it, Wen Ci was even more shocked.
But upon careful consideration, the 1980s to the early 2000s were the most rampant times for human traffickers.
Surveillance wasn’t fully widespread, and DNA technology wasn’t yet common.
As the rain grew heavier, Wen Ci picked up her umbrella and asked, “How about you come home with me first, take a hot shower, and tomorrow I’ll take you to the police station?”
“Okay.”
Seeing the little boy agree, Wen Ci curled her lips and deliberately teased him, “Aren’t you afraid that I might be a trafficker trying to trick you and sell you?”
The little boy pouted, “Bad people would just grab me; they wouldn’t chat with me for so long. So, sister, you’re a good person.”
“What’s your name?”
“Xiao Chuan.”
At the entrance of the military compound, Xiao Chuan looked up at the soldier in uniform standing guard. His voice was soft and tender as he said, “I want to be a soldier too in the future, to protect our home and country.”
Wen Ci, holding Xiao Chuan’s hand, smiled warmly and said, “Being a soldier is good. Auntie’s husband is also a soldier.”
“Sister, are you married?”
The reason Wen Ci liked to call herself ‘auntie’ was that most of her peers already had children, and being called ‘sister’ made her feel like she was being placed in a lower generation.
“Yes.”
The military compound was just a few minutes away from the house. Pushing open the gate, she called inside, “Yu Qing?”
Getting no response, Wen Ci couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
Could it be that she was staying at Xue Li’s place tonight?
After entering the house, Wen Ci used a clean towel to wipe the water off his face and squatted down to ask, “Can you take a bath by yourself, or do you need me to help you?”
Xiao Chuan blushed instantly and said, “I can do it myself.”
Wen Ci, looking at his rosy cheeks, couldn’t help but smile. She led him to the bathroom, turned on the hot water, and pointed to the faucet, saying, “If the water is too hot, just turn it a bit to the right. I’ll go make you some ginger soup to ward off the cold.”
Although there was no wind along the way, the temperature had noticeably dropped. He was soaked through, so not only did he need a hot bath, but he also needed to drink some ginger soup.
Wen Ci went to the kitchen to boil water. Last time she saw old ginger and brown sugar in the kitchen. After slicing the ginger, she went to the bedroom to get clothes for Xiao Chuan.
There were no clothes that fit him at home, so he had to put on Huo Jingyuan’s coat, which had a built-in fleece and was very warm. She would buy him a couple of outfits tomorrow when she took him to the police station.
In less than ten minutes, Xiao Chuan finished his bath, dried himself with a towel, covered his privates with his hands, and walked out of the bathroom with a red face.
“Sister, I don’t have any clothes to wear.”
Wen Ci, seeing him covering himself, couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time she had laughed so heartily since learning about Huo Jingyuan’s serious injury.
After helping Xiao Chuan into the coat, she said, “Go sit on the sofa for a while, and I’ll bring you some ginger soup.”
After the water boiled, Wen Ci threw the ginger slices into the pot and cooked them for a few minutes, then added a piece of brown sugar. As the sugar dissolved, the color of the soup in the pot changed instantly.
Wen Ci poured a bowl into an enamel cup, held the handle, and returned to the living room, handing it to him with concern, “Blow on it and drink it while it’s hot.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Xiao Chuan behaved obediently throughout, which made Wen Ci recall his earlier statement, “I don’t have a home.” She asked gently, “How did you get kidnapped and brought to Beijing?”
Xiao Chuan leaned back on the sofa, holding the steaming enamel cup, his eyes slightly red as he said, “My parents were killed in a car accident, and the bad guys came to our house to steal things. I ran away from Su… Su.”
He hesitated.
“Su Nan or Su City?”
“Su Nan.”
Wen Ci raised an eyebrow. Su Nan was thousands of kilometers away from Beijing. It was impressive that Xiao Chuan had managed to escape after being kidnapped and brought to Beijing.
“I was kidnapped from the Su Nan orphanage and brought here.”
“Orphanage?” Wen Ci frowned.
“Yeah, they are all bad people. They deliberately take us from the orphanage and then take us away. Some become beggars, and some are sold to other people.”
Wen Ci was stunned, a flash of surprise in her eyes.
As far as she knew, this kind of scheme was especially rampant in the early 2000s. Children who were not particularly good-looking would have their legs or arms broken and be forced to beg on the streets.
Good-looking children would be sold to families who wanted sons.
This was also happening in the 1980s!
Wen Ci’s expression changed. This kind of thing must be reported to the police to crack down on the rampant activities of human traffickers and to strictly investigate the orphanage’s vetting process.
“Tomorrow, I need to go to the hospital first, and then I’ll take you to the police station, okay?”
Xiao Chuan nodded.
Suddenly, the landline phone in the living room rang. Wen Ci walked over to answer it and, hearing Yu Qing’s voice, her eyebrows raised with a teasing smile:
“Why are you calling specifically? You’re not going to tell me you’re not coming back tonight, are you?”
“Of course not. I was just wondering if you wanted me to bring some food back.”
Wen Ci’s gaze fell on Xiao Chuan. “I actually need you to buy some children’s clothes, for a boy around six or seven years old.”
After finishing the conversation, Wen Ci used the remote to turn on the TV and asked, “Do you want to watch cartoons?”
“Cartoons are too childish.”
Wow.
This suggested that the little guy’s family was quite well-off. In this era, only those who didn’t have to worry about making a living could afford a TV.
The rain outside gradually lessened. Although it was only around five or six o’clock, the sky was as dark as if it were eight or nine. The room was lit by a dim yellow light.
Xue Li and Yu Qing shared an umbrella as they arrived at the courtyard.
At the door, Yu Qing shook the water off the umbrella and knocked. Xiao Chuan went to open the door, looked up at Yu Qing, and obediently said, “Hello, sister”
Xiao Chuan was wrapped in Huo Jingyuan’s coat, which dragged on the ground. With his clean face, Xiao Chuan looked adorably fresh.
“Wen Ci, is this the child you picked up?”
Wen Ci stood up and, seeing Xue Li there too, couldn’t help but tease, “How did meeting the parents go today?”
“Xue Li’s grandfather is really impressive. He even said he would teach me. I won’t accompany you to see Commander Huo tomorrow. You two should catch up first.”
“Alright.”
With that, Xue Li placed the food he had brought from the state-run restaurant on the table and said with a smile, “Sister-in-law, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning.”
“No need to trouble yourself. I can take the bus.”
“I also want to see the boss.”
Yu Qing nudged him with her elbow and whispered, “They’re a couple meeting up.
Why are you tagging along?”
“Fine.”
Xue Li looked at Xiao Chuan curiously and asked, “What’s the story with this kid? Sister-in-law, how did you end up picking up a child on the street?”
“It’s a long story…”
Wen Ci briefly explained the situation and what Xiao Chuan had told her. Immediately, Xue Li’s expression turned serious.
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