Auntie Shi spoke with such certainty that Qiao Lanshu and Zhong Mei looked at each other in dismay, and then they both stared at the freshly washed, fair and tender Niuwa.
Niuwa was about to cry from anger. He looked at Auntie Shi with tearful eyes: "You big meanie."
Auntie Shi glared at him: "What did you say?"
Niuwa: "..."
Niuwa shrank his neck. He ran to Qiao Lanshu, hugged her leg, and said pitifully, "I want to wear clothes, Haye is so cold."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Qiao Lanshu felt a bit soft-hearted. This child was really too pitiful. But before she could speak, she saw Auntie Shi come out of the kitchen again, holding two steamed buns in her hands, saying, "Who wants to eat steamed buns? Hot, delicious steamed buns."
Haye swallowed hard, his stomach growling. He walked over without any backbone, stood in front of Auntie Shi, and stared eagerly at the steamed buns in her hands, drooling.
Auntie Shi looked at him with a smile: "Are you still cold?"
Haye said pitifully: "Not cold, I'm so hungry..."
After all, he was only a four-year-old child. Although he was quite smart, under the temptation of delicious food, he had forgotten everything.
Clothes, running away, none of it was as important as having a full stomach.
Auntie Shi smiled and handed him the two steamed buns, telling him, "Go inside and sit on the kang bed to eat."
Niuwa held a steamed bun in each hand and followed Auntie Shi into the room.
Qiao Lanshu and Zhong Mei also followed them in. Seeing Niuwa sitting on Auntie Shi's kang, Auntie Shi brought a towel over and wrapped it around Niuwa's stomach.
Auntie Shi smiled and said to Qiao Lanshu and Zhong Mei, "Don't worry, he definitely won't leave today. This child is probably tired and sleepy. Once he's full, he'll likely want to sleep."
A child of this age, having wandered outside for so long, had probably exhausted his physical strength. He would be able to sleep right after eating his fill.
A four-year-old could also sleep through the night until tomorrow morning. They could figure out how to settle this child then.
Sure enough, Niuwa ate two steamed buns in a row. He wanted to eat more, but Auntie Shi didn't let him, afraid he would overeat.
After all, eating steamed buns and then drinking water could cause a bloated stomach.
Qiao Lanshu took some of An'an's milk powder and mixed a cup for Niuwa to drink.
Niuwa didn't show any surprised expression, as if milk powder was a common thing to him. He probably drank it often at home.
After drinking the milk, Niuwa indeed started to doze off, and it wasn't long before he fell asleep.
Qiao Lanshu whispered to Auntie Shi, "Auntie, you're amazing!"
Zhong Mei also said, "Auntie Shi really has a way with children. If it were me, how could I have thought of not putting clothes on him? I would have just grabbed a rope and tied him up."
Hearing this, Auntie Shi covered her mouth and laughed. She said, "You're right, I thought the same thing. I even have the rope ready."
Saying that, she actually took out a roll of red cloth strips from the cabinet.
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Zhong Mei: "..."
The two of them stood there, watching helplessly as Auntie Shi took the rope, tied one end to the leg of the cabinet by the kang, and the other end to Niuwa's leg.
Qiao Lanshu and Zhong Mei came out of the room, unable to hold back their amusement.
Zhong Mei whispered, "Is that child really that good at running away?"
Qiao Lanshu: "Hard to say, but if he hadn't run around, maybe he wouldn't have been abducted. We still need to find Brother Zheng about this, after all, Brother Zheng brought him back."
...
Meanwhile, Zheng Wenhui had secretly searched for the child all afternoon, but couldn't find him.
Afraid that the matter would be exposed, she didn't know how to handle it herself.
So she hurriedly went to the Supply Section to look for her brother, Zheng Weigong.
However, she was one step too late. The people from the Revolutionary Committee had arrived there ahead of time.
This time, it wasn't Guan Wenjun who led the team, but the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee.
They came to question Zheng Weigong, leaving him completely baffled: "What illicit sexual relations? What illegitimate child? This is slander. Of course, I don't have any."
He said, and then calmly added, "This is absolute nonsense!"
Although Zheng Weigong cohabited with Liu Weihong and they were not married.
But Zheng Weigong was already divorced and currently single, and Liu Weihong was not married either.
An unmarried man and an unmarried woman, just dating. Usually, no one would ask about this.
Although things were strictly managed now, and cohabitation without a marriage certificate was not allowed.
But Zheng Weigong was also a section chief with a high status. As long as he said he and Liu Weihong were already engaged, no one would bother about it.
Anyway, no matter what, this couldn't be considered as having illicit sexual relations.
Besides, Zheng Weigong and his ex-wife divorced precisely because they didn't have children.
The reason why he and Liu Weihong delayed getting married was also because Liu Weihong hadn't gotten pregnant.
After his previous marriage, Zheng Weigong would only consider marriage when the woman was pregnant.
If there really was a woman outside who had given him a son, how could he let his own son become an illegitimate child?
Long before the child was born, he would have married her into the family and eagerly registered the child in his household.
Zheng Weigong was extremely speechless about this matter, and even too lazy to explain. He had never paid much attention to the people from the Revolutionary Committee anyway.
It was already 1976. In fact, the Revolutionary Committee was not what it used to be, and lacked the deterrent power of previous years.
Zheng Weigong stared at the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee and added, "Any random woman comes to report me, and you come to interrogate me without even investigating?
Is this how your Revolutionary Committee handles things? If I randomly arrange a woman to report you for illicit sexual relations tomorrow, will you also be arrested and interrogated? This is not how things are done. I will pretend this didn't happen today. You guys should hurry back."
The people from the Revolutionary Committee were originally just doing a routine inquiry. They didn't really intend to arrest Zheng Weigong.
After all, Liu Weihong only made a verbal report. She said the illegitimate child was lost, and she didn't know where the woman who had illicit relations was. Without witnesses or material evidence, the Revolutionary Committee was too lazy to care.
But the problem was that a child was missing. After coordinating with the Public Security Bureau, they found out that the child was rescued from human traffickers by Qin Yuanzheng, so they made the trip.
The deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee explained:
"Section Chief Zheng, it's like this. The person who came to report you is your current wife, Liu Weihong. Also, your illegitimate child went missing, right at your doorstep, lost from the hands of your wife Liu Weihong and your sister Zheng Wenhui. Regardless of whether that child is your illegitimate son or not, this is a major issue. In order to find the child, I hope you can cooperate with us and explain the child's origins in detail."
Hearing this, Zheng Weigong's eyes instantly turned cold and gloomy.
Liu Weihong, this useless piece of trash who always ruined things.
He had long known that Liu Weihong had no brains. Plus, since her father and brother were taken away for labor reform and had lost their utility value, he should have kicked her out long ago.
But he had been busy with work lately, and had some important matters to handle.
It was exhausting not having a woman at home to care for him and attend to his needs.
Finding another young, easily manipulated woman wasn't something that could be done in a single day, which was why he had kept Liu Weihong around.
Well, now this woman had indeed caused trouble for him.
Zheng Weigong was tall with rugged features and a loud voice. He said impatiently, "What child? I don't know. I've been working overtime these past few days. How would I know where they got a child from? Anyway, it's not my illegitimate son. If he's lost, it's none of my business. If you want to find someone, go look for him. Why are you bothering me?"
The people from the Revolutionary Committee looked at Zheng Weigong. Seeing his genuine impatience, which didn't seem to be an act, they figured he really didn't know the inside story.
Then...
Could it really be a misunderstanding?
The committee members were unceremoniously shown the door by Zheng Weigong.
As they came out, they happened to see Zheng Wenhui coming to look for Zheng Weigong.
Zheng Wenhui ignored the committee members. She hurried to the section chief's office and saw Zheng Weigong cursing—naturally, at the people from the Revolutionary Committee.
Zheng Wenhui was actually afraid of this brother of hers, but she had to tell him about what happened today.
"Brother."
Zheng Wenhui looked around. After making sure no one was there, she closed the office door and ran up to Zheng Weigong.
Seeing her approach, Zheng Weigong asked in frustration, "What happened with you this afternoon? They said you lost a child? And that it's my illegitimate child?"
Zheng Wenhui was speechless.
She stomped her foot in anger. "Ugh, it's all because of that idiot Liu Weihong!"
Zheng Wenhui quickly gave a brief account of how she had helped Qin Yuanzheng bring the child over, how Liu Weihong had misunderstood, and how the child had gotten lost.
Finally, she lowered her voice and said to Zheng Weigong, "Brother, that child is from the Han family. The one you mentioned before, Han Ye."
Zheng Weigong paused, his expression immediately turning serious. "Wasn't this child sent away? How did he come back?"
Zheng Wenhui said nervously, "I originally wanted to bring the child to your house for you to deal with, but... it's all Liu Weihong's fault! She suspected the child was your illegitimate son and wouldn't let me in. Then the child took the opportunity to run away. I wanted to quietly find him without alerting the police, but Liu Weihong actually went and reported you..."
Zheng Wenhui was absolutely furious.
A perfectly good plan was ruined because Liu Weihong had to stick her nose in.
Zheng Weigong's face darkened. "I've been planning this for so long, and it was just about to succeed... If Han Wenlin really comes to Longcheng to take up his post..."
Zheng Weigong stood up and said hurriedly, "No, we still can't let Han Wenlin come over. Try your best to find this child. If you can't find him, muddy the waters so they can't find him either. As long as the child isn't found, the result will be the same."
If he was found, they would either have to send the child away, or...
A ruthless look flashed across Zheng Weigong's eyes.
Han Wenlin was transferring to civilian work. Word had it that he was coming to the Longcheng Municipal Public Security Bureau to take up the post of chief.
Han Wenlin knew some of Zheng Weigong's secrets, so naturally, he didn't want Han Wenlin to come. Once Han Wenlin arrived, some of his schemes in Longcheng might be discovered.
Zheng Weigong had been operating in Longcheng for seven or eight years and didn't want to fall short at the final hurdle.
Han Wenlin should have taken up his post long ago, but because his only son went missing, he postponed his official duties and went everywhere asking for help to find the child.
But it was impossible for him to find him.
Because Han Wenlin's hometown was a city hundreds of kilometers away from Longcheng.
Zheng Weigong had gone to great lengths to have someone take Han Wenlin's only son, Han Ye, on several train transfers, planning to traffic him from the north to the deep mountains in the south.
If there hadn't been an accident on the train, and if Qin Yuanzheng hadn't run into him...
Zheng Weigong pulled a long face. He pondered for a long time before saying, "The child must still be in the city. A four-year-old can't run far. We need to find him as soon as possible. You should go to work as usual lately. If those people find the child, they will send him to your Women's Federation for placement. Contact me when that happens."
Hearing her brother say this, Zheng Wenhui breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt settled. She nodded, "Okay, I'll go back to work right now. I'll tell you as soon as there's any news."
Zheng Weigong nodded and hurriedly left the workplace as well, secretly sending people to look for the child.
If all else failed, he would have no choice but to make a move against Han Wenlin directly.
