Sun Wenbin had no idea which bastard had been so quick. He returned to the educated youth settlement and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. He carefully observed the settlement but found nothing unusual among the male educated youths. He even checked the soles of everyone's shoes and could confidently conclude that none of the male educated youths had done it. So who could it be? Seeing that everyone else was still sound asleep, he decided to come over and take a look. Only by catching this person early could he finally rest easy.
But he never expected that he would still be too late. These treasures—he had dug for over three months, opening who knows how many graves, only to find a single tomb with burial goods. He had risked so much, and yet not a single item remained. How could he not be devastated? He had to find this person. He would skin that person alive and tear them apart.
Xiao Mandong quickly tidied the bits of grass and debris clinging to her clothes in her space, then slipped out. After observing that no one was around, she hurried away. When she reached the village entrance, the police car was already waiting for her. The driver saw Xiao Mandong wearing a shabby, patched, and somewhat dirty outfit and couldn't help but praise her: "I didn't expect you to be so meticulous, Comrade Xiao. You even prepared these dirty clothes in advance."
Xiao Mandong gave an awkward smile. Her clothes were dirty because she had just been down in the cellar—she really hadn't done it on purpose.
The police car dropped Xiao Mandong off in an alley not far from the black market. Two people were waiting for her there—one of them a woman, also dressed in rags, with a headscarf wrapped around her head. When she spoke, Xiao Mandong recognized her voice—it was Lin Wenya. The other person Xiao Mandong had never seen before: average-looking, not very tall, slightly hunchbacked, carrying a large bamboo basket on his back.
Without wasting words, the three of them wrapped their headscarves, shouldered their bamboo baskets, and headed toward the black market together.
Xia Mingyuan spotted Xiao Mandong at a glance: "Didn't you say you'd come back in a few days? Why are you here today? What are you planning to sell?"
Xiao Mandong smiled brightly, pulled a cucumber from her basket, and handed it to Xia Mingyuan: "Brother Xia, my sister and I came to sell some cucumbers."
Xia Mingyuan quickly refused: "I can't keep eating your stuff for free. No need, no need—go on in."
Xiao Mandong simply shoved the cucumber into his hand: "Don't be so polite!" She pulled Lin Wenya along and walked inside. Lin Wenya pursed her lips and followed, surprised at how familiar Xiao Mandong was with the people at the black market.
Today, Xiao Mandong could only sell cucumbers—she wouldn't dare bring out the apples or rice.
Xia Mingyuan looked at the hunchbacked person beside him. The man pulled a mao from his pocket, handed it to Xia Mingyuan, and lifted the basket lid to show him—inside lay a rabbit.
Xia Mingyuan waved his hand, signaling the man to go in, then crouched back behind the tree.
The three of them waited at the black market until dawn, but the man never showed up. At least the cucumbers she had brought were sold out. They left disappointed.
Back in the alley, inside the police car, Lin Huaiqing was still waiting anxiously. When he saw the three return empty-handed, he didn't say much. He was a police officer—staking out and solving cases was part of the job. Though he was worried inside, he knew they had to proceed patiently. Besides, the man had come just yesterday, so he probably wouldn't return for another couple of days.
The police car drove Xiao Mandong straight to the hospital. Lin Wenya pulled out a lunch box from behind the back seat: "This is breakfast my mother prepared for you. You haven't eaten yet, have you? I expect we'll be troubling you for the next couple of days, until we catch those people."
Lin Wenya seemed like a completely different person—no more of her former arrogance. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep; she must have been worrying nonstop about her sister's child these past few days.
"It's fine. I'll keep cooperating until we find the child."
"Thank you," Lin Wenya said with genuine sincerity.
Xiao Mandong didn't stand on ceremony. She took the lunch box and got out of the car. It wasn't yet time for work, so the hospital was still quiet.
As she passed by the maternity ward, at the corner of the corridor, she saw Wang Fugui and Zheng Chao arguing.
Zheng Chao's veins bulged in anger: "How am I supposed to know what happened at the factory? I called the factory yesterday just to ask for a few more days off so I could stay longer and look after the mother and child. But the factory director told me to come back immediately—there's an investigation underway."
Zheng Chao was in a foul mood, feeling like everything had gone wrong lately. He wasn't lying either. Wang Meixia and her mother's medical leave certificate was for two weeks, but he had a job—there was no way he could get that much time off. He'd only requested five days, and the train ride alone took a day. Yesterday, he'd tried to extend his leave to wait until the child was out of the observation ward, but the factory director had directly ordered him back for an investigation. When he asked why he'd been reported, they wouldn't even tell him. If he lost his job, there was no way his family would survive. He had to go back as soon as possible. But the moment Wang Meixia heard he was leaving, she flew into a rage, accusing him of deliberately abandoning them. Ever since giving birth to this child, Wang Meixia had become a different person—either crying or throwing tantrums. It was driving him mad.
Wang Fugui didn't believe a word: "Bullshit! You just don't want to take care of my sister. That's why you're running back. There's no way it's a coincidence."
He figured Zheng Chao was trying to dodge the two-yuan-a-day cost of the observation ward and was sneaking away to avoid paying.
"Meixia is my wife, and my son is in there. How could I run? Where would I even go? If you don't believe me, call and ask. I took five days off—you know that."
"Get out of my way—yesterday I didn't get a ticket, and now you're making me lose more time. If I can't get a seat, I'll have to stand the whole way back."
Only today did he realize how unreasonable the Wang family could be. They had a marriage certificate—the monk can run, but the temple stays. Where could he possibly go?
"If you buy me a train ticket too, I'll let you go. We'll go back together."
Wang Fugui had given up on getting money from Xiao Mandong, and the hospital food and sleep conditions were awful—he'd been wanting to go back for a while.
"Fine, fine, I'll buy you a ticket. Let's go—stop wasting time."
Xiao Mandong curved her lips into a faint smile. She knew her report letter had worked. Their retribution was coming.
In the morning, she'd only eaten half a piece of peach pastry. Still hungry, she went back to the doctors' office, opened the lunch box—inside were dumplings, a bit cold. She doused them in hot water to warm them up.
Mm, not bad. Pork and cabbage filling. It's true that you soften once you've accepted someone's food. Right now, Xiao Mandong was filled with worry—both about when that man would show up at the black market again and about Sun Wenbin's situation.
Sun Wenbin was definitely not going to let it go. Having lost so many treasures, if he didn't figure out who had overheard him, he would be restless day and night, likely stopping at nothing to find the culprit.
If the police car kept waiting for her at the village entrance every day, Sun Wenbin would inevitably grow suspicious sooner or later. The sharp instincts of a spy were terrifying. She couldn't allow herself and her sister to fall into danger—she needed to come up with a plan.
