The entire Jigu Commune and surrounding villages are abuzz with talk of something: A fifteen-year-old girl from Li Family Village Production Team has gone missing, and the rumors are flying wild.
Some say that the girl had a sweetheart and took the opportunity to elope while she was returning to her mother's home with her mom.
Others claim that the girl, being pretty and delicate, caught the attention of human traffickers and was sold off into the deep mountains.
The youngsters and elders of Li Family Village have already gone out in search for her three or four times, and the Li Family's men have scoured all the surrounding production teams without a trace of her. Li Erfu's house has been bustling with people coming and going, and Li Dafu, the head of the production team, can no longer misuse his authority to keep sending the team's mules and horses out to search. It has been ten days now, and there's still no sign of her!
Li Dafu, drawing on his pipe, somewhat irritably says to Li Erfu, who's sitting in the corner with eyes red and swollen, "Er Fu, I have no idea where this child could have gone. How can there not be a single clue?"
Li Erfu raises his head, his eyes red and teary. He hasn't slept for several nights, tirelessly searching from the moment he found out on the fourth day of the New Year that his daughter had run off. He's combed through all the surrounding villages in the commune, but there's no sign of her anywhere; he's asked so many people, yet nobody has seen the child, not even at the bus station.
Could it really be as his wife said, that something was off with the girl right from the start, that she was planning to run away? The thought pierces through Li Erfu's heart, making it ache so much that even taking a breath feels painful.
Meanwhile, at West Cave, Ge Sanmei's eyes are red as she enters the eastern room with Old Mrs. Wu Zhaodi.
Old Mrs. Wu sighs, "This child, no one knows where she has gone. She's already fifteen, not a kid who doesn't understand things. But she's been missing for so many days, could she really have run off with someone, like people are saying?"
Thinking this, Old Mrs. Wu glances hesitantly at Li Erfu's wife, who is wiping her tears. She has always looked down upon Er Fu's wife, finding her a bit stingy on a regular basis, but after all, she's been taking care of the family. Old Mrs. Wu feels that the way things are in Er Fu's house, it's passable; not everyone needs a daughter-in-law who can make a show for the family like Li Dafu's household does.
Not long ago, Li Erfu's wife changed her usual favoring of boys over girls, and started treating her daughter better. When the child was making shoes, she provided quite a lot of scrap cloth, and according to her son, she even gave the child extra food to eat. It was obvious she was changing, so why did the child suddenly disappear?
Old Mrs. Wu remembers that it was the afternoon of the fourth day of the New Year when Li Erfu's wife came back crying, brought by the big uncle from her family side in a donkey cart. As soon as she arrived, she didn't stop crying, and that big uncle looked so guilty, saying he hadn't kept a close watch and the child had run off.
At that moment, they were all stunned. Li Erfu even lost his temper and berated his wife, asking if she had been scolding the child again. His wife, contrary to her usually domineering nature, wept like a waterfall.
Ah, she is the mother after all. Losing a child, of course, it hurts.
The big uncle from the family side said that on the morning of the third day of the New Year, after the child had eaten breakfast, she went out to play and didn't return at midday. The family went out searching but couldn't find her anywhere. Meanwhile, the big uncle's sister-in-law said she saw the girl walking towards the direction of the commune by herself.
Everyone was frantic, the big uncle especially. He hurried to the commune in the donkey cart he borrowed, searched everywhere but found no one, and then looked around again the next day but still didn't find her. That's when he brought his sister back to her parents-in-law to report the news.
Thus, the search began on the Li Family Village Production Team's side.
Meanwhile, Li Erfu's wife hinted in her words that the girl had been acting oddly these days, constantly wanting to visit the commune. She didn't give her permission, feeling that something was not right. She feared that if left at home, the girl might go to the commune alone, so she specifically took her along when visiting her mother's home, leaving their son San'er behind.
Old Mrs. Wu simply could not believe that Xiang, a girl known for her uprightness, could have done such a thing. It was absurd. Yet, the crying and wailing of Er Fu's household, their appearance as if they had lost a child, stirred a combination of pity and doubt in Old Mrs. Wu's heart. Could the child really have run off with someone?
Inside the weeping cave dwelling, the door flew open and a tall, thin figure - face contorted with ferocity - entered, fixing his gaze on Ge Sanmei.
Ge Sanmei, upon seeing who had arrived, was startled and immediately started clambering off the kang bed, calling out, "San'er, where have you been? You're going to worry Mom to death! You heartless wretch!"
Li Jianqing, standing coldly at the entrance of the cave, looked over everyone before finally addressing Li Erfu, who was squatting in a corner, "Daddy, do you really believe that little sister ran off with someone?"
Li Erfu, who had been crouched down, rose slightly, stared at the angrily flushed face of his son, and, standing up slowly, sighed, "Believe it or not, what does it matter? We can't find her, and nobody has seen her, right?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jianqing contorted with rage, a fire of anger igniting fiercely within his chest: "Do you all truly not believe that little sister was kidnapped?"
Li Erfu sighed, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and just as he seemed about to speak, he closed his mouth again, his eyes looking lifelessly at the ground.
At this moment, Li Dafu, seated on the kang, spoke up, "San'er, come here and listen to what your eldest uncle has to say."
Li Jianqing glanced at his seated uncle, walked over wearily, leaned against the side of the kang instead of sitting down. He feared that if he were to relax even for a moment, all the pent-up anger inside him would be released.
Li Dafu sighed and said, "You already know what happened. Your sister went out, and then she headed straight for the Commune. By noon, when we went looking for her, she was nowhere to be found."
Li Dafu merely stated the events in a calm manner, without a hint of emotion, yet in his plain narration, he conveyed to everyone a stark reality: the child was not taken away by force!
Li Jianqing, eyes burning red with stubbornness, countered, "Eldest uncle, little sister, she isn't that sort of person. Little sister wouldn't run off with someone. There's definitely something we don't know going on here!"
Li Dafu sighed with a sense of helplessness, reaching out to pat the boy's head, but Li Jianqing pushed back and refused the gesture. Li Jianqing knew that no one believed him, but he could not believe it either. He knew his sister well; she wasn't shameless or the type to elope with someone! When asked how he could be so sure, he just knew it!
Desperately obstinate, Li Jianqing dashed out of the cave dwelling, ignoring the calls from the people behind him, going to the kitchen. He grabbed some cornmeal pancakes and began to eat. He needed a full stomach to continue the search for his sister.
Li Jianqing's eyes were still red. He did not believe it; he was determined to find his sister!
It was then that Li Jianqing noticed something out of place on the kitchen window—a piece of paper that should not have been there. A paper in his house, where only Er Fu and he had notebooks that they were too sparing to tear from. That paper was too peculiar.
Li Jianqing, in a daze, hurried to the window and tremblingly unfolded the paper. There was writing on it.
Suddenly, tears streamed down Li Jianqing's face; all the pressure and anger turned into tears, and in that moment, his eyes were filled with an unprecedented clarity.