Xu Wei is 25 this year—broad-shouldered, stout, with small eyes, thick lips, and a face full of pockmarks. From afar, he looks like a winter melon come to life. Using his father’s connections, he serves as deputy director at the People’s Commune Revolutionary Committee. Though it’s just a small-town position, the authority granted to the committee in this special era makes him quite powerful. In this era, people struggle not because of lack of effort, but because of lack of real power.
He leveraged the perks of his position, surrounded by several henchmen wherever he went, living a flashy, prosperous life. The educated youth sent to the countryside, if pretty and from an ordinary family, were almost all taken advantage of by him. But no one, no matter how pretty, could compare to Sang Zhi, the niece of his stepmother. She was attractive, with a great figure, and even a casual glance from her could captivate someone’s soul. Ever since seeing her once, he lost interest in anyone else.
Sang Yanfei was also sensible. Knowing her own position in the Xu household was insignificant, she preferred to offer her niece to Xu Wei. If he refused, he wouldn’t be a real man.
Today’s plan was to find an opportunity to take the child, have Sang Zhi “take care” of him temporarily, and then have Xu Wei’s people take the child from her hands. When the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office discovered the child missing and panicked, Xu Wei would swoop in and return the child unharmed. By then, the little one would identify her as the one who “abducted” him, and the rest would be left to Xu Wei. Being an orphan with no roots, she would be an easy scapegoat. Xu Wei’s specialty was fabricating crimes. Using her as the fall girl was his stepmother’s idea.
At first, he thought it a pity. But his stepmother explained later: as long as the child ended up in his hands and at the Revolutionary Committee, whatever he wanted to do would be decided by his father anyway. The thought of her softly moaning beneath him made Xu Wei’s blood boil.
Checking his watch, it was 4 p.m. The child should have already arrived at the guesthouse. Xu Wei felt this plan was foolproof. After all, with Sang Nan as bait, she wouldn’t fail to come. The waiting period was long.
Just as he prepared to light a cigarette to pass the time, a fierce gust of wind swept past his ear. Before he could react, a stick knocked him to the ground. The “winter melon” twisted in pain.
“Who… who the hell attacked me?”
Before he could see who it was, a sack covered his head. Xu Wei wasn’t tall, but strong; he struggled, almost escaping the sack. Sang Zhi kicked his stomach, and he calmed down slightly, reducing his thrashing. Pain coursed through him; he curled up, unsure whether to protect his neck or stomach.
Like the previous case with her aunt, each blow cost him fifty merit points. She realized that no matter who the target was, no matter how hard she struck, the maximum merit points per session was five strikes.
“Do you know who I am? How dare you hit me! I’ll kill you!” he hissed like a worm, yet didn’t get up. Sang Zhi, being a doctor, knew exactly where to strike to hurt without causing fatal damage, so no blow was wasted.
He still had energy to curse, so clearly it hadn’t hurt enough. It was freezing outside, yet Sang Zhi rolled up her sleeves and continued. As his screams weakened, she paused, unsatisfied.
Since they were doing this in secret, she had chosen a secluded spot, which conveniently worked in her favor. Xu Wei was far more deceitful than his ugly appearance suggested. Though he seemed still, he was waiting for her to tire and for an opportunity to counterattack. The moment his sinful hand reached out, she stomped hard on it. The attack didn’t stop there: the pain radiated to his abdomen, buttocks, and upper thighs.
“Ahh!” This time it was agonizing; he fainted from the pain. Human anatomy is peculiar, especially for men—they are particularly prone to hernias in the groin and sensitive areas. External injuries heal easily, but a hernia won’t without expert intervention or surgery. Otherwise, he would frequently feel lower abdominal heaviness, pain while defecating, and eventually loss of male function. In simpler terms, his bedroom life was effectively over.
During the early years of the Cultural Revolution, Xu Wei’s group had persecuted traditional Chinese doctors. Who could save him now? He might as well behave like a eunuch in the future.
…
Wei Jingrui, 48, was also the first to sign up after receiving the local invitation. In his youth, to make a living, he had traveled to Southeast Asia with his uncle, carrying only a simple bag. They first went to a Southeast Asian trade hub, where he worked in a Chinese-run café as a “coffee boy.” Later, he moved to Port Klang in British Malaya, doing dock work. Through introductions, he met his future wife, also from Southeast Asia, and they weathered life together for thirty years.
However, heavy labor or some other reason had affected his wife’s health. After twenty years of marriage, they had no children. Everyone knew how agonizing long-term infertility could be, so when Huang Guilian unexpectedly became pregnant at 38, it was a miracle. The couple understood fully how precious the arrival of a child was.
Especially after the child was born, the couple’s careers also flourished, and they became quite influential locally. Perhaps because their child had been so hard-won, they poured all their love and patience into raising him.
At the welcome ceremony, Huang Guilian kept glancing at her watch. Her son wasn’t used to the local food, and she had promised to go back early to make him bak kut teh. Her husband noticed her distraction and whispered, “A-Lian, he’s a big boy now, and Acai is watching over him. Don’t worry so much.” Then, more lightly, he added, “The mainland is very safe.”
Huang Guilian forced a smile. Perhaps it was the mother-son bond, but she felt unusually uneasy today. After enduring another ten or so minutes at the event, she left first.
…
At this age, Wei Lingdong was in what some might call the “undesirable” stage—old enough that even dogs would scoff. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to sneak onto a plane. His bodyguard, Acai, was 1.9 meters tall, dark-skinned from the sun, with well-rounded arms and chest muscles. Wearing sunglasses, he could scare many children just by walking down the street.
Although his father had assured him that their hometown was the safest place in the world, Wei Lingdong had been brainwashed by Western media since childhood and didn’t believe it. The most he ever heard as a child was that in China, if you stole something, you would be shot. And people there had no human rights—whether in the city or countryside, after 7 p.m., you couldn’t go outside. If caught, you would be sent to a farm for life. In a child’s eyes, this demonized, exaggerated place was extremely thrilling.
He had promised his friends to take some exciting, eye-catching photos back home.
“Acai, I want buns. Go buy me some,” he said, using it as an excuse to send his bodyguard away. Eating here required using ration coupons at a state-run restaurant, so it was a reasonable pretext. Acai hesitated, probably worried he would sneak off.
“Hurry up, you’re going to starve me!” Eventually, the young master’s persistent whining won out. Acai, wanting to finish quickly, ran off to buy the food.
Seeing his obstacle gone, Wei Lingdong grinned arrogantly, changed his clothes, and blended into the crowd like a little fish, soon disappearing.
Meanwhile, Xu Wei’s subordinate, stationed outside to watch, was fretting about how to act—when he saw the child change clothes and sneak out. It was like a gift falling into his lap. With the bodyguard present, he wouldn’t have been able to take the child, but now, with the kid alone, it was far too easy.
Wei Lingdong, hearing footsteps behind him, assumed Acai was following and had no idea danger was approaching. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. A cloth soaked in sedatives was pressed over his mouth from behind.
Ordinarily, in a secluded place, kidnapping a child with an orphan girl as a scapegoat, and then rescuing them to gain credit, was a simple enough plan. But accidents happen when least expected.
As he neared a meeting with his older brother, the child on his shoulder suddenly trembled. In less than a minute, Wei Lingdong went limp like a dead fish, eyes rolling back, frothing at the mouth!