Xu Huaying continued clapping, a mocking smile on her face. “You still have the nerve to mention Gu Jianjun? Do you want me to say, in front of all these people, how he died? Speaking of money, I’d like to ask you something. Back then, after Gu Jianjun died of illness, the factory gave each child a compensation of one thousand yuan—a total of three thousand. Who took that money?”
The Gu family members looked at one another, their eyes darting, all visibly guilty.
“That three thousand was meant as child support for Dahu and his siblings. Their father has been dead for seven years, and I haven’t seen a single cent of it.”
Gu Dahu and his siblings stared in disbelief at Gu Weiguo and Niu Erya.
“Grandma… is what Mom said true?”
Niu Erya avoided their gazes, grinding her teeth in hatred toward Xu Huaying.
“No, don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense. She just doesn’t want to give money. She doesn’t want you three to have a good life.”
Xu Huaying sneered. “Still won’t admit it? Then do you dare go with me to your father’s factory and confront his supervisors?”
Niu Erya and Gu Weiguo hurriedly waved their hands. “No, no need!”
The four members of the Gu family felt waves of disdainful stares fall upon them, leaving them utterly humiliated.
“Enough. Stop embarrassing yourselves here—let’s go!”
Gu Weiguo had once been a minor leader at the fertilizer factory. In front of so many people, how could he bear the shame of having swallowed his grandchildren’s support money?
Suppressing his unwillingness, he turned and strode out.
Seeing the head of the family leave, the others quickly followed.
Gu Dahu and his siblings were about to go with them when Xu Huaying stopped them.
Looking at the three children, her expression was calm. “All these years, you’ve seen how hard I’ve worked to raise you. You’ve also seen how the Gu family treated us. I believe you’ve both seen and heard everything. When you go to the Gu family, be more careful.”
The three looked at one another, then suddenly called out in unison, “Mom!” After that, they turned and chased after the Gu family.
“Huaying, you’re really letting them go?”
Xiao Huai Dong didn’t expect that even after the Gu family revealed their selfish and greedy nature, the three children would still choose to leave with them.
Xu Huaying gave a bitter smile. “You saw it too—they don’t believe me. Let them go suffer a bit at the Gu family’s place. It’ll teach them a lesson.”
“Yingzi, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve been too good to them. You endured hardships without letting them know. Their grandparents aren’t easy people. I’d say it won’t be long before they come running back in tears.”
They usually seemed clever enough, yet after just a bit of instigation, they no longer trusted their own mother? What a shame.
Liu Fanghua felt it wasn’t worth it for Xu Huaying.
“But now that those three are gone, you’ve gained a daughter as pretty as a doll—it’s not a loss!”
Only then did Xu Huaying smile. She took Xiao Nanchu’s hand and introduced her to everyone present.
“Comrade Xiao, you even risked your life to rescue those two children from traffickers. The injury on your arm still hasn’t healed completely. How could they…”
After learning the full story, Director Zhou frowned and let out a long sigh.
Xiao Huai Dong smiled. “They’re still young and don’t understand. Sorry for the scene, everyone.”
He raised his glass and stood up, gesturing to the crowd.
“Come, everyone’s here—let’s begin the feast! I’m truly happy that you all came to attend Huaying and my wedding. Let us offer a toast.”
Liu Fanghua took a small sip of wine, leaned over past Xiao Nanchu, and quietly asked Xu Huaying, “What happened? When were your children kidnapped?”
Xu Huaying set down her glass and shook her head. “I’ll tell you in detail when I have time. How did that matter I asked you to handle go?”
Liu Fanghua smiled and made an “OK” gesture. “Don’t worry. Comrade Fang may be a bit rigid, but he’s still reasonable. Even if he doesn’t do it for you, he’ll do it out of respect. Tomorrow, bring your husband to report to the factory!”
“Thank you! We’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
Liu Fanghua waved her hand. “What’s there to thank between us? You take time every month to teach my child English—I haven’t even thanked you yet!”
As the two chatted, the table suddenly shook from a hard slap.
The melon seeds and White Rabbit candies in front of Xiao Nanchu fell to the ground. She had no choice but to hop off her chair and crawl under the table to pick them up.
She then heard Officer Liu angrily curse, “The youngest child was only three years old. Those damn traffickers fed him too much sedative. After being rescued, the child ended up mentally impaired. Such a good child, completely ruined.”
“And that twelve-year-old girl—she was actually sold to traffickers by her own parents. After we rescued her, her parents took her back, only to sell her the very next day to an old cripple in the county. If she hadn’t run away and come to us for help, her life would’ve been destroyed.”
As Xiao Li spoke, he sighed repeatedly.
In these times, selling sons and daughters was far too common. No wonder traffickers were so rampant.
With limited manpower, they simply couldn’t catch them all.
“What happened to that child in the end?”
Xiao Huai Dong couldn’t help but ask.
He remembered that among the seven children, that girl had a sallow face and was so thin she was nearly skin and bones.
“After we intervened, we made her mother write a guarantee stating that the child wouldn’t be sold again before turning eighteen.”
Director Zhou sighed as well. That was the most they could do.
“And the man who tricked Dahu and the others—the one called Lai Litou—was he caught?”
Xiao Huai Dong had overheard that it was someone named Lai Litou who had sold Gu Dahu and Gu Qingling to traffickers.
That man had been trafficking people for a long time. If someone like him wasn’t caught, who knew how many more children would be taken and how many families destroyed?
Under current law, once caught, such a person would be executed.
Director Zhou and the others shook their heads helplessly.
Xiao Huai Dong quickly tried to lighten the mood, raising his glass again. “Come, let’s not talk about that for now. This time, the station dismantled a trafficking den and rescued so many children. Even I received a reward. Everyone here must have received commendations too, right?”
“Hahaha, of course, of course…”
Director Zhou laughed, then leaned closer and said mysteriously, “Brother Xiao, do you happen to know Director Du?”
Xiao Huai Dong thought for a moment, looking puzzled.
“To be honest, I’ve only been in the city for a week. I barely know anyone—how would I know any Director Du?”
Director Zhou smiled and patted his shoulder. “No need to be modest. In the future, I might even need your protection!”
Xiao Huai Dong suspected there was a misunderstanding and didn’t dare respond carelessly, quickly changing the subject.
Meanwhile—
As soon as Gu Weiguo returned home, he smashed two ceramic cups in anger.
Niu Erya was so frightened she didn’t dare say a word.
Though she usually acted domineering and unreasonable in front of others, in front of Gu Weiguo, she shrank back completely.
On the surface, it seemed like she ran the household, but in reality, everything depended on Gu Weiguo’s word.
“Dad, are we just going to let this go?”