Xiao Mandong had barely walked out of the courtyard when four female educated youths caught up with her—Huang Xiaoli, Fang Yuan, Jing Chunxiang, and Tan Yanping. These were people she had rarely spoken to before, but now they all looked worried.
Fang Yuan said, "We'll help you search. Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Jing Chunxiang added, "That's right, we'll all look together. We'll check over there first, you go ask the male educated youths if anyone has seen her."
Before Xiao Mandong could even say thank you, the group had already run off.
Xiao Mandong knocked on the door of the male educated youth quarters. The one who answered was Zhang Yongjun, the person in charge of the male dorm: "Comrade Xiao, is something wrong?"
"Did any of you see my younger sister, Xiao Manxue?"
Zhang Yongjun immediately asked around the dorm, and everyone shook their heads, saying they hadn't seen her. Several of the young men quickly jumped off the kang, threw on their shoes, and got ready to help search.
Sun Wenbin, who had just come back from washing up, overheard Xiao Mandong's question and quickly shared what he had seen in the afternoon: "I saw Comrade Hu Guizhen dragging Comrade Xiao Manxue aside to talk today. Xiao Manxue looked very unwilling. You should go ask Hu Guizhen."
"We'll go help you look. Don't worry, a grown person can't just vanish into thin air."
Hearing Sun Wenbin say that Hu Guizhen had pulled Xiao Manxue aside to talk, Xiao Mandong became even more certain of her suspicions: "Fan Wenhai, get out here!"
Fan Wenhai, who was cowering inside the room, felt a jolt of fear when he heard Xiao Mandong shouting. He knew why she was here, and he also knew about Hu Guizhen's plan, so he didn't want to go out. But with so many people in the educated youth quarters watching, if he refused to go out and something really had happened to Xiao Manxue, wouldn't they start suspecting him?
He'd only agreed to help Hu Guizhen keep quiet, nothing more. He wasn't involved in the act itself. What did any of this have to do with him? In the end, Fan Wenhai steeled himself and walked out of the dorm: "What do you want?"
"Fan Wenhai, I'm asking you now—where did Hu Guizhen go? Is my sister with her? I'm warning you: if anything happens to my sister, I will not let you get away with it."
Xiao Mandong didn't know whether Fan Wenhai actually knew where Xiao Manxue was, or whether her sister's disappearance had anything to do with Hu Guizhen, but her gut told her they were somehow connected.
"How should I know where your sister is? I don't know where Hu Guizhen is either. I'm already married—don't you dare talk nonsense. That's slander."
Before Xiao Mandong could reply, a fist slammed into Fan Wenhai's face. He was knocked backward, stumbling into the doorframe with a dull thud.
Zhou Qichuan: "Talk! Where did Hu Guizhen go?"
Zhou Qichuan had also made inquiries and learned that someone had seen Hu Guizhen dragging Xiao Manxue into the field ridges after work to talk.
Fan Wenhai clutched his face, his legs turning weak, his eyes darting away, afraid to meet Zhou Qichuan's gaze. Although he was terrified of Zhou Qichuan, he absolutely could not admit anything. If he confessed, he would definitely be implicated.
Just as he was about to protest again, a female educated youth came running out of the dorm—it was Jian Qiuyue: "Xiao Mandong, come here for a moment."
Xiao Mandong followed Jian Qiuyue to a corner. Jian Qiuyue's voice was urgent:
"I just overheard Dong Huimin and Wang Yuanyuan whispering to each other that they saw Hu Guizhen talking to Cripple Liu at the edge of the fields today."
Jian Qiuyue had heard this by chance when she was coming back from the latrine. She knew that Cripple Liu was a rogue from the village. She wasn't the type to stick her nose into other people's business, but when she thought about a young girl falling into the hands of a thug, she couldn't just pretend she hadn't heard. So she ran out to tell Xiao Mandong. Still, she didn't want to offend Cripple Liu, because if he ever targeted her, she'd be in serious trouble.
At the mention of the name Cripple Liu, Xiao Mandong's mind went blank for a moment. She remembered what Wang Xiumei had said in her previous life—that it was Cripple Liu who had taken her sister. Since arriving in this village, she had never once seen this man.
Zhou Qichuan caught up just in time to overhear what Jian Qiuyue had said. He grabbed Xiao Mandong's hand and ran with her toward Cripple Liu's house.
At the north end of the village, a low thatched hut let out a faint glimmer of light. Two figures were standing at the door, talking in low voices. Zhou Qichuan and Xiao Mandong crept closer.
"Twenty yuan, that was the deal! How can you back out now?" Hu Guizhen couldn't believe how shameless Cripple Liu was being. They had agreed on twenty, and now he was only offering ten.
"I just got back, and you showed up right away. How was I supposed to know Xiao Manxue even had an older sister? Now you've gone and created trouble for me! Didn't you see Shunzi and the others out searching? I thought she had no family here, no one to rely on. I could do whatever I wanted with her. But now she has an older sister right here in the village, and if they can't find her, you really think her sister is going to let this go?"
"You've already slept with her. Xiao Manxue has no choice but to marry you now. There's nothing her sister can do about it. Do you have any idea how rich her sister is? She sold her position as a statistician at the cotton mill—a desk job, worth over a thousand yuan! You've hit the jackpot." Hu Guizhen had never seen a more useless man. He'd already done the deed—what was the point of all this second-guessing now?
Cripple Liu sneered: "You think I'm stupid? A sister who gives up her job to come to the countryside with her younger sibling—if I destroy her sister's life, you really think she's just going to let me get away with it?"
"What good is saying all this now? Xiao Manxue knows you're the one who took her. You don't have any choice but to follow through with the plan. Here, I brought you this. Trust me, this stuff wasn't easy to get."
Cripple Liu squeezed the packet of powder in his hand and thought to himself, This woman really is ruthless.
He was just too impatient. He'd barely gotten back to the village after being released from the detention center when this woman came to him, promising she could help him get Xiao Manxue into his bed. And that Xiao Manxue—she was a real beauty. He'd been lusting after her for a whole year. He didn't think twice before agreeing to the deal. He'd just wanted to find himself a pretty wife. The favor fee was supposed to be fifty yuan, but it had been haggled up to twenty. And now it turned out she had relatives in the village, and everyone was out looking for her. What was he supposed to do now?
There was only one way out—make her disappear. Otherwise, there was no way her sister would ever let her marry a man like him.
"Whatever happened today, you'd better keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, I'll make sure you end up dead without knowing how."
The look in Cripple Liu's eyes sent a shiver down Hu Guizhen's spine:
"Of course I won't say anything. I need to get back. I've been away too long already, they'll start asking questions. Hurry up and give me the money."
Cripple Liu pulled ten yuan out of his pocket: "I'll give you the rest in a few days."
Hu Guizhen didn't want to argue any further. She needed to get back quickly. She pocketed the money and slipped into the nearby cornfield, planning to take the narrow path home to avoid being seen.
Xiao Mandong gestured for Zhou Qichuan to keep an eye on Cripple Liu, then silently followed Hu Guizhen. After a short distance, she pressed a silver needle into the back of Hu Guizhen's neck—fast and precise. Hu Guizhen didn't even register what had happened before she collapsed unconscious.
Xiao Mandong dragged Hu Guizhen to the side of the field, covered her with corn stalks, and returned to Zhou Qichuan, who was watching Cripple Liu scan his surroundings.
Only after seeing Song Xiangjun and the others who were searching move off into the distance did Cripple Liu let out a sigh of relief and head toward the back mountain.
Zhou Qichuan signaled for Xiao Mandong to let him take the lead, with her following behind at a safe distance. Cripple Liu was highly vigilant, and Xiao Mandong wasn't trained in tracking—she'd be discovered too easily.
Xiao Mandong quietly followed behind Zhou Qichuan. After walking for about fifteen minutes, Cripple Liu stopped, looked around cautiously, and then slipped into the cave hidden behind the bushes.
