That afternoon, Song Yujia’s parents rushed to the hospital.
Shen Xin was downstairs to et them.
A taxi pulled up. The back door flew open, and a young woman in a down jacket with disheveled hair hurried out.
In her haste, she stumbled.
Then she suddenly realized she hadn’t closed the door and quickly turned back to shut it.
A man, not very tall, got out of the front passenger seat. He anxiously turned to pay the driver.
Then he caught up to the woman, and they both looked around.
"Over here!"
Shen Xin was in plainclothes, so they didn’t recognize him at first.
The man’s na was Song Weiguo, and his wife was Li Li.
"You must be Officer Shen. Hello, hello."
Song Weiguo eagerly shook Shen Xin’s hand.
Just then, Li Li’s legs gave out, and she started to kneel. Her eyes were already red as she murmured over and over, "Thank you. Thank you for helping find Jiajia."
Shen Xin quickly moved to help her up.
At that mont, the taxi driver, who was about to pull away, rolled down his window and shouted, "Hey! Your bag! You forgot your bag!"
"Oh, right, right! My bag."
Only then did Li Li realize she’d even forgotten her bag. She rushed to open the car door to get it, thanking the driver profusely.
Shen Xin led the two inside, saying, "I know you’re very emotional, but let’s try our best to stay a little restrained."
"The child has been through a lot. She was only two years old when she went missing, and it’s been two years since then. Let’s just take it slow."
Song Weiguo nodded repeatedly, thanking him nonstop.
They hurried upstairs to the hospital room.
Just as they reached the door, Li Li suddenly stopped.
"Let’s go," Song Weiguo said.
Li Li’s body began to tremble, her lips quivering. "I... I’m scared."
"I’m the one who lost Jiajia. I’m afraid she’ll bla ."
As she spoke, large teardrops were already streaming down her face.
Song Weiguo’s eyes reddened too. He sniffled, stepped forward, and took his wife’s hand. "It’s okay. We’ve found her, haven’t we?"
With that, he led his wife to the door and they peered inside through the small observation window.
Ding Yuwei was holding a toy gun, having a "PEW PEW PEW" shootout with Tang Ziyi. Then she got "shot," performing an exaggerated, slow-motion death throe that made Tang Ziyi laugh out loud.
Beside them, Song Yujia was also giggling.
Li Li’s gaze was fixed on her, unable to look away.
Just then, Wang Qiang, who was sitting on the bed watching them play, noticed Li Li at the door. He imdiately reacted, quickly signing to Song Yujia.
[Your mother is here.]
Song Yujia didn’t have much of a reaction.
Wang Qiang had taught both her and Tang Ziyi sign language, but unlike Tang Ziyi, Song Yujia was a slow learner, so she didn’t understand much.
Song Weiguo took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
Li Li followed behind him, her head lowered as if she had done sothing wrong.
Song Yujia finally looked up, staring at the two of them with a blank expression.
Their eyes t. Song Weiguo instantly lost his composure and turned his head away.
Only then did Li Li dare to raise her head and look at the daughter she had longed for day and night.
Shen Xin stood silently to the side, not wanting to intrude.
They say silent tears are the most heart-wrenching, and this mont was proof.
Li Li was crying, but she made no sound.
She slowly approached Song Yujia, her gaze dazed, as if the little girl’s face wasn’t real.
She reached out, wanting to stroke her child’s face.
Then, she saw Song Yujia’s twisted feet.
In an instant, her eyes flew wide open. She quickly clamped her right hand over her mouth, barely stopping herself from screaming.
Her hand trembling, she reached for her child’s feet, but she didn’t dare to let it fall. Her mouth was open, but no sound ca out.
Tang Ziyi looked up at Ding Yuwei.
Ding Yuwei was already wiping away tears.
Tang Ziyi tugged on the corner of Ding Yuwei’s clothes and signed quizzically.
[Big sister, why are you crying?]
Ding Yuwei couldn’t understand sign language; she just silently pulled Tang Ziyi into her arms.
Wang Qiang quickly signed again.
[Say, "Mama."]
Song Yujia looked at Wang Qiang, then at Li Li in front of her, and shrank back in fear.
That single movent shattered Li Li’s last shred of composure.
A wail finally escaped her throat. Clutching her heart, she broke down into loud sobs.
Shen Xin’s eyes stung. He turned and walked out of the room.
The wailing inside continued, and soone from the next room poked their head out to see what was happening.
A long while later, soothed by her husband, Li Li finally cald down.
Li Li took out a worn-out Mickey Mouse doll. It had been Song Yujia’s favorite toy when she was little.
But it was obvious the child had forgotten.
Overco with grief, Song Weiguo went outside, squatted down, and cried silently.
"Officer Shen, have you caught the trafficker?" he asked, looking up after a few sobs.
Shen Xin nodded.
Song Weiguo asked again, "Will he get the death penalty?"
Shen Xin hesitated for a mont.
Normally, it wasn’t appropriate to answer such a question.
But Shen Xin still said, "He should."
’As the pri suspect, Li Yihao was guilty of child trafficking, organizing disabled children to beg, intentional injury, abuse, and violent coercion. The circumstances were severe, the social impact was heinous, and with multiple offenses combined, the death penalty was entirely possible.’
Song Weiguo nodded, and just kept nodding.
Ding Yuwei ca out as well.
The atmosphere inside was too suffocating; she couldn’t take it anymore.
After waiting a while longer and accompanying the couple to see the doctor, Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei finally left.
On the way back, the atmosphere in the car was silent.
Ding Yuwei opened the car window, letting the cold wind blow on her face. It made her feel a little better.
"Alright, don’t give yourself a cold."
Shen Xin rolled up the window and then asked, "Do you know Zhang Qian’s dad?"
Ding Yuwei nodded.
Shen Xin continued, "He told once that if you’re in this line of work for a long ti, you see too many dark things. If your empathy is too strong, your mind can’t take it. You’ll break down."
"He also said that we can sympathize with the victims, but we can never truly understand the pain they’ve endured. Just feeling sad for them doesn’t help. We’re police officers. What’s most important is to solve the case and make sure every suspect receives the punishnt they deserve."
"I’m passing those words on to you, free of charge."
Shen Xin turned his head to look at Ding Yuwei.
Ding Yuwei bit her lip, trying to control her emotions. After a long mont, she said, "I know. I know all that. But I just wish there was sothing I could do."
"You want to do sothing, huh? I actually have an idea. How about you help with it later?" Shen Xin said.
Shen Xin felt sympathy and empathy too, but he was a man of action.
"Tell ," Ding Yuwei said imdiately.
Shen Xin had had this idea since yesterday. He said, "Here’s what I’m thinking. You know, I’m a natural-born Druid, after all."
Shen Xin had openly accepted this nickna.
"Our country has a shortage of police dogs. Big cities are better equipped, but in remote areas, it’s... well, it’s tough."
Nanjiang is considered a prosperous coastal city, and it still has a shortage of police dogs. Needless to say, the situation is even worse in remote regions.
"And child trafficking cases are most prevalent in those remote areas. So I was thinking, what if we could train a batch of police dogs and send them to those remote mountain regions?"
"If a child abduction occurs, maybe they could use the dogs to track the culprits within the golden window."
’The police dogs I train have a real, tangible boost in their affinity for people and their ability to understand.’
’And these abilities don’t disappear just because I’m not around.’
’So the dogs I train are simply more capable.’
Ding Yuwei’s eyes lit up. "Shen Xin, that’s a great idea!" she said eagerly.
But a mont later, her brow furrowed.
Shen Xin held up a hand to stop her. "I know what you’re going to say. That traffickers plan everything out, use disguises, and move quickly across regions. That it’s hard to track them using only police dogs."
"But what if? If we can successfully track down and bring back even one child, doesn’t that an one less family has to suffer? If so, then I think it’s worth it."
’Saving one is better than saving none. If you do nothing, you can’t save anyone.’
’Besides, if we really do send these dogs out, they won’t just be for tracking traffickers. They could also help local police solve other cases.’
’They’d still be useful.’
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