Chapter 237: Li Honghua
"Your mother didn’t know, she brought the brown sugar water over." Ding Weihuo choked up, "She never knew. At first, they even lied to her saying that your aunt ran away by herself. Later, she accidentally saw them counting money and overheard their conversation, only then did she realize that your aunt was sold by them, and that bowl of brown sugar water was exactly what was used to make your aunt faint."
"This matter is like a thorn in your mother’s heart. As long as she can’t find your aunt, she will never be at peace." Tears welled up in Ding Weihuo’s eyes. Yi Roujing understood everything now.
"Both mom and aunt are victims, it’s the heartless Li Family who are at fault." Yi Roujing sighed, "We’ll go to Jing City tomorrow, let mom see more, and change her mood."
Ding Weihuo nodded, "I’ll try to persuade..."
Before Ding Weihuo could finish speaking, Li Hongying walked into the kitchen, "Dear, help me out here, Roujing, you should go rest. I’ll call you when dinner is ready."
"Mom, let’s not cook today. Let’s go out and have a simple meal." Yi Roujing suggested.
"Yes, yes, let’s eat out." Ding Weihuo agreed, feeling for his wife.
Li Hongying smiled, her eyes still red, but a sense of relief emerged from her heart, "I’m really fine. After all these years, I think Roujing is right. My elder sister must be living well somewhere we don’t know."
Li Hongying insisted on cooking herself, and Ding Weihuo stayed close to assist.
"Mom and Dad, I’m going out for a bit, I’ll be back soon." Yi Roujing checked her watch, it was five minutes to ten. She planned to call Ding Ancheng and then find Lou Wenjian to see if he could help investigate.
"Where are you going?" Li Hongying asked with concern.
"I’m going to call Ancheng, since we’re heading out tomorrow, just wanted to let him know."
"Go on, go on, come back soon." Li Hongying agreed with a smile when she heard it was to call Ding Ancheng.
Baiqian Village in Jing City is the residential area for Beijing City Government officials. Xu Zongyin lived there, located in the central Shen District, which has twenty two-story garden-style houses.
After bringing his students to Jing City, Ding Ancheng settled them down and, whenever there’s time, he would come to stay at Baiqian Village.
"Ring-ring-ring—" The phone rang inside the Xu Family residence. The maid answered the call and then handed the phone to Ding Ancheng with a smile, "It’s for you."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Ding Ancheng’s face as he reached out to take the phone, "Jing."
The maid, Mrs. Kang, was very curious about this sudden change in Ding Ancheng, wondering what kind of person his wife could be.
Thinking about it, Mrs. Kang smiled. Ever since he found his wife and son, there was a touch of humanity about him; he would even perform like a sad story in front of his son. She would always get teary-eyed seeing it, imagining how happy the old lady and others would have been if they were still around.
"I’ll pick you up when you arrive. I’ll find out about mom, now that we have a name, it should be easy to check." Ding Ancheng comforted Yi Roujing, "You should still go find Lou Wenjian. He certainly knows about the matters in Huaixi County, and he probably knows Deputy Director Dai’s brother too. Hmm, hmm, all right, you hang up first..."
After the busy tone came from the receiver, Ding Ancheng finally put down the phone. No wonder he hadn’t found her after all these years, it wasn’t the Qiu name.
At Huaixi County’s post office, Yi Roujing hung up the phone and, after paying the phone fee, she went directly to the county government residential area and knocked on Lou Wenjian’s door.
"Roujing." Hu Ailing opened the door and immediately smiled at the sight of Yi Roujing, "Come in, have a seat."
"Is Lou home?"
"Yes." Hu Ailing nodded, "But he has a guest right now."
"Then I’ll wait a bit." Yi Roujing said with a smile.
But when she entered the living room and heard some unfamiliar yet familiar voices coming from the open study, she paused.
"Roujing, have a seat, I’ll get you some water."
Inside the study, Lou Wenjian had already heard Hu Ailing’s voice and knew that Yi Roujing was here. Looking at Dai Zhenhua sitting across from him, he found it quite amusing how things sometimes aren’t coincidences.
Dai Zhenhua also heard the voice. The name "Roujing" was so familiar, she had just heard it. Could she be the very "Roujing"?
"Comrade Dai Zhenhua, we are quite familiar with Comrade Yi Roujing and her family." Lou Wenjian said somewhat awkwardly, "So regarding the matter you just mentioned to me, would you like to ask her directly?"
Dai Zhenhua hadn’t been here long. After making some greetings, Lou Wenjian, aware she was his former superior’s daughter and had something to discuss, invited her to the study. Just as the conversation ended, Yi Roujing arrived.
Trusting the recommendation from her father and Lou Wenjian’s high praises for Yi Roujing and her family, Dai Zhenhua decided to be straightforward since they were there face to face.
"Then, Brother Lou, could you introduce us?" Dai Zhenhua said.
Seeing Dai Zhenhua come out, Yi Roujing smiled and said, "What a coincidence! We ran into each other on the street before, and now we’re meeting again. It must be fate."
Once they were seated facing each other in the closed study, Yi Roujing thought of Li Hongying and decided to be straightforward, "Comrade Dai Zhenhua, I’m quite direct, so I’ll get to the point."
"You look exactly like my mother-in-law’s aunt when she was young. I want to ask, is your mother my mother-in-law’s sister?" Yi Roujing felt that the probability was high and awaited her confirmation.
"If so, what then? If not, then what?" Dai Zhenhua asked seriously.
"If so, then no matter what, they must meet. After all these years, my mother-in-law has never forgotten her aunt and has made every effort to find her." Yi Roujing said earnestly, "There was no capacity before. After my husband grew up, he has been searching, but there has never been any news."
"Now that I know, the direction of the search was wrong."
"If not, then we continue the search, alive or dead." Yi Roujing said firmly, "To be honest, the ones searching suffer the most. Her heart always holds hope but is never rewarded, but now I realize the reward is here."
"Do you know how miserable my mother was during those two years?" Dai Zhenhua clenched her hands tightly, "It’s something we, as children, only learned about after growing up from our father."
"Back then, my dad found my mom deep in the Yun-Gui Plateau, in a remote village, where all the wives were bought. My mother was sold there."
"But the man who bought her was incapable, and she was tormented and beaten for two full years."
"My mom tried to escape and had her leg broken; she tried again and had it broken again, leaving her with a chronic ailment. Now, whenever it’s winter, my mother can only sit in a wheelchair."