“There… there should be. Which one do you mean?”
Although she said that, Tian Tian was a bit dazed at the moment. The thing was, although Ye Lifeng’s factory was mostly women workers, there were several men too! Who was Granny Cui asking about?
“A young man…”
Seeing Granny Cui stammering and unable to explain clearly, Tian Tian simply helped her to a chair in the hallway and sat her down. Then she went back to her room and poured her a cup of warm water. “Granny Cui, drink some water first.”
Granny Cui took a few deep breaths. She didn’t take the cup. Instead, she looked up at Tian Tian with pleading eyes.
Tian Tian rubbed her forehead, pulled over a stool, and sat down. “Granny, don’t rush. I’m right here. Calm down first, then talk. Otherwise, nothing will be clear.”
Only then did Granny Cui nod with peace of mind and take a sip from the cup. After another long while, when the atmosphere had grown even more stifling, Granny Cui finally calmed down.
She reached into the inner pocket of her clothes and, with trembling hands, pulled out a white handkerchief and placed it in her palm. The handkerchief was folded in four. Opening it revealed a black-and-white one-inch photo inside. The photo was mottled, full of traces of time.
From Tian Tian’s angle, she could only make out that the photo showed a young man.
“Granny, this is…”
“This is my son…” Granny Cui’s voice was hoarse and weathered.
Sure enough. By now, Tian Tian had already put quite a few pieces together. But she didn’t say anything, just waited for Granny Cui to explain.
“Back when this photo was taken, it was meant for a matchmaking meeting. But before the meeting even happened, he left.”
Tian Tian thought this was a sad story. But then Granny Cui suddenly smiled. “If he hadn’t run back then, I’m afraid he wouldn’t have had a good life.”
Tian Tian: This was something she didn’t know. What the village spread was that Granny Cui’s son had gone missing on his way out to work. No one knew where he was. Rumor said Hong Kong, but that was also because many people in the village had run off to Hong Kong.
“At the time, he’d offended a minor official in a certain committee. He was framed and was going to be dragged out for struggle sessions. And my family was an outside surname in the village…”
Tian Tian understood. That era really had a lot of this kind of thing. And Shenzhen was so close to Hong Kong—running there was perfectly normal.
“I’m getting off track. I came today to have you look at this photo.”
Tian Tian thought, finally.
Taking the photo, it had many mottled marks, but the man’s appearance was vaguely visible.
Very familiar. So familiar that Tian Tian felt the world was too small.
Now it was Tian Tian’s turn to take a deep breath.
After taking a deep breath, Tian Tian didn’t keep her in suspense. “Yes, Granny. I know a young man from Hong Kong who looks about fifty percent like the person in this photo.”
Granny Cui suddenly looked up, her eyes bright, her mouth trembling.
Tian Tian nodded again and confirmed, “Really. This person’s name is Xiao Ming. About the same age as Zhou Haoting. He’s now a manager at a trading company.”
Granny Cui said, “Can you take me to see this young man?”
Tian Tian said, “How about this, Granny Cui. You go back and rest first. I’ll change clothes and go out to make a phone call and ask first.”
“Oh, alright, alright.” Granny Cui came back to her senses and murmured.
Seeing her so distraught, Tian Tian was afraid she might have an accident going downstairs. So she simply helped her to the ground-floor living room and sat her down. She poured her another cup of warm water.
“Granny, sit here and wait for me. I’ll go make the call soon.”
With that, she first went back to her room to change clothes and wash up.
On the way to make the call, Tian Tian still felt a bit surreal. Xiao Ming actually had a connection to Granny Cui? Such an abstract relationship—if Granny Cui hadn’t come looking for her, she never would have connected it.
But before calling Xiao Ming, Tian Tian first called Zhou Haoting.
After hearing Tian Tian out, Zhou Haoting also felt this was a bit abstract.
“Like this—I’ll make the call. You go back first and keep an eye on Granny Cui.”
Tian Tian nodded. “Alright. Remember to explain Granny Cui’s family situation clearly to him.” Although, Tian Tian felt that calling someone out of the blue and saying “you look like my neighbor’s missing son, I suspect you’re my neighbor’s grandson”—most people would probably find that absurd.
But Zhou Haoting felt this matter wasn’t that simple. He didn’t say anything though, and directly called Xiao Ming.
“Boss Zhou, what’s up? Looking to talk business with me?”
Zhou Haoting didn’t exchange pleasantries. Instead, he asked an unrelated question. “Why did you go to the garment factory to supervise loading yesterday?”
On the other end of the phone, Xiao Ming raised an eyebrow, his tone turning unfathomable. “You guess?”
Zhou Haoting didn’t follow his lead. Instead, following his own train of thought, he continued, “You did it on purpose. You know your own background, that’s why you pulled this. I’m not clear on your purpose. But I hope you’ll take the initiative to go see Granny Cui. The old woman knows about your existence and wants to see you very much now.”
Seeing that Zhou Haoting hadn’t answered his question, Xiao Ming was a bit displeased. But he also understood Zhou Haoting better.
“I know.” In the end, Xiao Ming dropped this line and hung up.
Hearing the dial tone, Zhou Haoting clicked his tongue. Sure enough, he’d guessed right. With someone as shrewd as Xiao Ming, why would he go to a factory to supervise loading for no reason? Now it was confirmed. This was really…
But if Xiao Ming knew his own background, why hadn’t he come to see Granny Cui? And the fact that he’d been in Hong Kong all these years meant Granny Cui’s son was also in Hong Kong. Yet he hadn’t come back all these years. And Xiao Ming had a grudge against He Cheng.
So, could it be that Granny Cui’s son had never appeared because of He Cheng too?
But now He Cheng had fallen, yet he still hadn’t appeared. Instead, Xiao Ming was jumping around.
So, was Granny Cui’s son already…
Having figured this out, Zhou Haoting sighed. He picked up the phone and called the village again.
“That fast?” Hearing the village committee’s notice, Tian Tian ran over to take Zhou Haoting’s call, and her first question was how it had been so quick.
Zhou Haoting sighed and told Tian Tian exactly what he’d said to Xiao Ming on the phone.
After hearing it, Tian Tian’s eyes went wide. This… this felt a bit dramatic. But life was sometimes this dramatic. And she quite agreed with Zhou Haoting’s view.
She hadn’t had much contact with Xiao Ming, but from several incidents, it was clear this person did things with his own purpose.
And the fact that he hadn’t taken the initiative to acknowledge Granny Cui meant he had some plan they didn’t know about.
“I’ll tell Granny Cui. Other things we can’t manage.”
“Right. Call my uncle over. I’ll tell him about this too. You go with him and explain it clearly to Granny Cui. After that, we can’t manage what happens next.”
Many things outsiders couldn’t interfere with.
Tian Tian nodded and called the village head over to take the phone.
The village head was a bit puzzled, but he’d just answered the phone and knew it was his nephew Zhou Haoting on the other end.
After taking the call and hearing it, the village head also found it very dramatic.
“Alright, no problem. I’ll go tell Granny Cui. Yes, you focus on work and don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on the village here.”
After hanging up, the two went directly to Granny Cui and explained the matter. Then they left Granny Cui sitting alone in the living room to be quiet.
Tian Tian didn’t leave either. She just sat down in the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and thought about Xiao Ming’s purpose. Surely there couldn’t be anything even more dramatic about to happen!
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