LWGP - Chapter 48
Chapter 48: A Letter from Home
"'Yes, I know you won't believe this when you hear it, and you'll surely be furious, but you'll still sit down obediently, because you are our family's Ah Jiu.'"
Wang Jiu took a deep breath and sat down.
Qian Cheng had actually been a little intimidated just now. His body was still useless, and she could crush him with a single finger.
Thankfully, she had composed herself, so he continued to read.
"'You can think of this as a letter from home, because one of the conditions for you to receive it is that I am certainly already dead. Yes, I'm old, and my health has declined. As a doctor, I'm actually more pessimistic about fate and mortality than the average person. No one in this world can stop the arrival of death.'"
"'But, if the situation is as I've predicted, then this is no longer just a letter from home. Xiao Qian Cheng, you will help me make this public, won't you?'"
"'I mean—when the truth about Zhou Shanren's death is unearthed.'"
"'What follows is what I have to say to the government and the public. I take full responsibility for it and am willing to stake my entire life's faith in science and civilization to guarantee its truth.'"
"'This story begins in 1998, fifteen years after my daughter was abducted. My search finally led me to Lin City, where all the clues went cold. At that time, I was terrified and desperate, yet I held onto a sliver of hope. I hoped, I hoped she was here.'"
"'I would have accepted her no matter what she had become.'"
"'So I went into Miao Mountain, into Miao Village. But I never expected that before I found a single trace of my daughter, I would witness such a scene.'"
"'A woman was being beaten by a man, but a filthy little girl rushed over and bit the man's leg. The man grabbed her and threw her to the ground. After she scrambled up, the man slapped her so hard she fell over. She got up again, and then… the woman also slapped her and told her to get lost.'"
"'She called the woman 'Mama,' but the latter ignored her, took the man into the house, and shut the door.'"
"'She stood outside the door for a while, then squatted down and picked something up. Then she squeezed through a gap in the backyard fence, went into the field right next to the house, and used a branch to dig a hole in the ground. She buried that thing inside. I couldn't see clearly at the time, but I knew it must have been the tooth that had been knocked out. After burying it, she started poking at something on the ground with the branch.'"
"'I don't know why, but I walked over and stood outside the fence. She sensed my presence and raised her head to look at me.'"
"'In that moment, I met her for the first time.'"
"'Her face was covered in blood, swollen beyond recognition. The branch was poking at earthworms. She dug them out and broke them, one by one. She had no expression, just staring. Behind her, unbearable sounds came from the house.'"
"'Before I could process any emotion, she made a funny face at me, turned, and ran away.'"
"'I walked into the village and spoke with some of the villagers, using the guise of a government census taker to inquire indirectly. I found no clues about my daughter. Casually, I asked about the little girl, but the villagers were unsurprised, and their names for her and her mother were deeply insulting. When I left, I made a point of passing by that house again, but I didn't see her.'"
"'I was unwilling to give up on this place, so I found an excuse to stay in the county town. At the time, the government was promoting health education, and to blend in, I volunteered for the initiative. That's when I saw her again at the elementary school. But it wasn't the time she stood by the dead puppy's body; it was earlier. She was secretly squatting in an alley, sharing half of her steamed bun and pickled vegetables with a stray dog. I was driving by and saw it. But the stray dog seemed disgusted and ran off. She looked incredibly sad, picked up the bun, and ate it right there on the ground. She ate very quickly, probably because she was starving. Then she saw me again and made her second funny face at me. After that came the incident where the stray dog was hit by a car. She just stood there, and I suddenly felt she was more alone than anyone else in the world.'"
"'If I never found my daughter, I realized there would be no real difference between her and me.'"
"'In this vast world, this complicated human realm, there are always some lost souls.'"
"'I searched and searched, but was met only with disappointment. The emptiness inside felt like it was going to swallow me whole. I thought I might be getting sick, that I needed to find something to do. So, I decided to help her escape that terrible environment. Her mother, Zhou Miao, agreed, and they moved out of the village into a house in town. One day, after having a little wine, I asked her on a whim if she knew anything about my daughter. She froze, then asked if the girl had a small dimple on the left when she smiled and a concave scar on her shoulder. The alcohol left me in an instant. I pressed her for details, but she said the girl was dead.'"
"'Her wounds got infected. She lay in the woodshed for several days. On the last night, she developed a high fever that burned all night long. The next day, her body was cold. Then she was taken away and 'dealt with.''"
"'Dealt with? Zhou Miao drunkenly said the body was taken away and disposed of by someone who hadn't been back in many years and whose whereabouts were unknown.'"
"'I've forgotten how I felt at that moment, because I refuse to remember. Then I asked her who had adopted the girl.'"
"'Zhou Miao was also drunk. I'd heard that this woman was sometimes normal, sometimes prone to fits of madness—what people call 'losing one's mind.' She seemed to remember something, and her mind grew chaotic. She told me there were no adopted girls in this village, only girls raised to bear children… Girls died often. Some died in childbirth, some were dragged into houses… beaten, got sick, and didn't survive.'"
"'They were all girls like that… My daughter was just twelve when she died and was disposed of.'"
"'Twelve years old. Only twelve.'"
"'Was she also beaten by a village man and dragged into a house, just like Zhou Miao that day? And then just… died like that?'"
"'I suddenly understood. I smiled at her and finished the entire bottle of wine. When I woke up, I contacted people in the government and had them investigate. The village had indeed bought many girls to be wives… but that's just how it was locally. It was the same in many remote mountain areas. The human traffickers weren't here. A real investigation was impossible; the participants from back then couldn't be identified. The bodies weren't disposed of in the village. Too much time had passed, there was no evidence, and Zhou Miao refused to testify. She cried and begged me to let her go.'"
"'What could I say? I returned to my residence, spent half a month tinkering, and then went to that village with poison.'"
"'I found the well and estimated its opening. Yes, big enough. Big enough for a wretched old woman like me to jump into. But first, I had to add the poison, to send everyone in this village on their way… Just as I was about to act, I saw Zhou Miao and her daughter again. I froze. I eavesdropped and watched for a while, only to learn that Zhou Miao had never let her daughter attend school in town. Instead, she had brought her back to the village, because the men in the village needed them.'"
"'I must have stood there for a long, long time, torn between hell and the human world. But I think I ultimately leaned toward hell. I opened the cap of the bottle. Then, from a distance, I heard the girl ask Zhou Miao if she could go back and see the school, the school where I had been.'"
"'Zhou Miao slapped her and dragged her away.'"
"'In the end, I squatted down and buried the poison, just like that little girl had done.'"
"'I thought I would probably never return to this place again. But I went back to the school once more and waited for three days. Finally, I saw her. She had snuck out.'"
"'I told her that there are still good people in this world, that she had to learn to judge, and then learn to trust. I also told her that I had already arranged for people from the government to supervise the children's education in their village and keep a close watch. The villagers feared the government and wouldn't dare to cause trouble. I told her she must hold onto her conviction to study, that the world outside was vast, and she must not let that village trap her.'"
"'I thought to myself that I surely didn't want any further involvement with that person. I ought to hate her, because the filthy blood of that village ran in her veins.'"
"'Everything I did was merely out of a sense of public justice and social responsibility.'"
"'She seemed to sense my coldness, but she said nothing. She just took a necklace out of her pocket. I glanced at it and was stunned, because it was a red string with… a tooth hanging from it.'"
"'Most people would have been disgusted and horrified. At that moment, I only felt shock.'"
"'But she had already run away.'"
"'Later, I returned to the capital. Some time passed, and a friend came to my house. She happened to see the necklace. She studies folklore and civilizations, and she asked me where I got it. I told her the place, but I didn't mention the girl.'"
"'But my friend said that the person who gave it to me must trust and be grateful to me to an extreme degree. Because in the local culture, a tooth and a red string represent one's own flesh and blood, and to give one's flesh and blood carries the meaning of a sacrifice. She saw you as her salvation and her faith.'"
"'I thought about it all night. The next day, I called to ask about the local situation, planning to go back and find her. I thought, if her living environment was still so terrible, I would bring her out, no matter how much trouble it was.'"
"'But later… much later, a year had passed. I returned to that place again and went to Miao Mountain to look for her. I searched many times but could never find her. Yet I could see many traces she had left behind in the mountains. Before, our encounters had been so coincidental, as if we were fated to meet many times. But when I truly wanted to find her, I couldn't meet her even once.'"
"'She was avoiding me.'"
"'One day, the weather was gloomy and cold. It was my eighteenth time going up the mountain. I was old, and my legs weren't good. The climb was difficult. But I vaguely sensed someone was following me. I grew uneasy, but it was definitely too late to go back down. I could only run upward—I guessed the person was a local, and the locals held the large cave in these mountains in fearful reverence. As long as I could reach it, they wouldn't dare to follow. But strangely, I soon realized the person behind me was gone. I was afraid it was a trick, so I didn't dare stop to look. I finally managed to climb to the platform outside the large cave, only to hear a terrifying scream. Startled, I couldn't help but look down. I saw it clearly on the ridge below: a strong, wild wolf was tearing a man apart. It was a bit far, but I still recognized the man's face—I had specially investigated his background back then, afraid that the person who adopted her would be no good.'"
"'He was Zhou Shanren.'"
"'And as Zhou Shanren was being mauled by the wolf, a girl was squatting on a crooked tree nearby. It was her.'"
"'She quietly watched Zhou Shanren get bitten to death, and eaten.'"
"'Terrifying, isn't it? The first instinct should be to think she's a demon. But my first reaction was—she was saving me.'"
"'This, I suppose, is the main purpose of this letter, though I seem to have rambled on a lot… I'm probably just getting old. Once I start reminiscing, it never ends.'"
"'Regarding the death of Zhou Shanren, I must state three things.'"
"'1. Zhou Shanren was not there to find her; he was there to kill me. He was carrying a sharp weapon and was stalking me.'"
"'2. She does not have the ability to command wild wolves. Otherwise, she wouldn't have climbed a tree to escape the wolf, nor would she have waited so long after the wolf finished eating before daring to come down.'"
"'3. I waited for her to leave the scene of Zhou Shanren's death before following. This time, she couldn't avoid me because her leg was injured, and she was limping. When I caught up to her, she seemed dazed. Later, she made her third funny face at me. But this time, I cried, and I made a funny face back at her.'"
"'I brought her down the mountain and settled her in an old woman's house. I saw that her clothes and pants were torn and filthy. Her pants were covered in old, dried bloodstains. That night, I made an excuse to go out shopping, but I actually took a shovel and went back up the mountain. I checked the surrounding area to make sure she hadn't left any traces, and only then did I bury Zhou Shanren's body. I suppose that's illegally disposing of a corpse. But it doesn't matter. I almost poisoned an entire village; what's a little thing like this? But halfway through burying him, I had a thought and threw my work ID in. I believe that every death in this world should have a reason, and someone needs to bear the responsibility. I don't mind bearing it.'"
"'In a way, it wouldn't matter much if this were exposed; she wouldn't have to bear much responsibility. But I still had to write this letter, just in case. If the situation deteriorates to the worst possible point—where even someone like Qian Cheng, who is clearly capable of abiding by morals and laws, holds such a strong prejudice against her—then what hope is there for others?'"
"'I need people to know that she is innocent, that she has never hurt anyone.'"
"'She is a good child. She is just extreme in temperament, overly intelligent, and, no one has ever treated her well.'"
"'I have always believed that love is the best education. Since she never received it, this world has no right to demand that she give it to others.'"
"'This letter is dedicated to those who wish to bully our family's Ah Jiu.'"
"'Oh, yes. When I was going through the adoption process, I asked her what kind of name she wanted. Without a second thought, she said she wanted to be called Wang Jiu.'"
"'A strange name. As I write this letter, I still don't know her intentions behind it.'"
"'I hope my future self will find out.'"
When he finished reading, Qian Cheng folded the letter along its original creases, placed it back in the envelope, and looked at Wang Jiu. "The second letter—I haven't read it, and I won't read it aloud. You can read it yourself. But before that, I need to say a few things. 1. Because of what happened to her daughter, the Old Lady always suffered from depression. It worsened during her time in Lin City, and then eased after she adopted you. 2. I also just learned about the Zhou Shanren incident. To protect this secret, she never reported it to the government. His background was likely connected to that secret human trafficking organization. After reading the letter, I was shocked, because this meant giving up the chance to avenge her own daughter. But now I understand—she wanted to protect you, too. Because of the Miao Village incident, she knew more than I did and must have feared the secrets behind it, afraid it would threaten your safety. In a sense, you are the last villager of Miao Village. 3. She gave you all the love she had left for the rest of her life, and she gave you the best education. Perhaps, as you say, being cold and powerful is your nature, and you've had those traits since you were a child. Otherwise, you wouldn't have survived in mountains filled with fierce wolves, or known to lure your pursuer near a wolf's den. She understood your strength and the coldness forged by your environment, but she always tried to set you on the right path. Every time I mentioned how dangerous you were, her only answer was—'Ah Jiu wouldn't.''"
Qian Cheng looked at her and asked, "Are you sure you want to betray her trust?"
Wipe out the entire Yang family, wipe out all those who share the Yang surname.
She was capable of it.
But no one wanted her to do it, including the Old Lady.
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