First Meeting

Chapter 3

The entire village knew that another “matchmaker” had arrived with a “Trafficked Bride.” Consequently, women who had been heading out with baskets on their backs, men carrying hoes, elderly people with children strapped to them, and kids who had been on their way to gather duck eggs all flocked toward the Zhang Family courtyard.

The surrounding air was filled with a festive atmosphere that was unusual for a normal day.

Sha Niu wanted to go see as well. She wasn’t interested in seeing the Outsider Wife; she wanted to see the Immortal Lady. However, Sha Niu’s mother wouldn’t allow it.

The people of this village held the Immortal Lady in high esteem and would not permit anyone to offend her. If Sha Niu ran out claiming that the Outsider Wife was the Immortal Lady, she would likely be punished by being forced to kneel at the temple.

Thus, Sha Niu’s mother locked the cellar door, ensuring Sha Niu couldn’t get out.

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t plan on watching the Outsider Wife herself; she didn’t care for the spectacle. Carrying her hoe, she walked along the ridge of the fields, heading toward the hillside.

Below the Gangban Field was the Zhang Family courtyard. If she just turned her head, she could see that the place was packed with people.

She took a few steps toward the mountains, but in the end, she turned back and went to the Zhang Family courtyard anyway.

Outside the Zhang Family courtyard, circles of people watched those inside with festive expressions.

Sha Niu’s mother’s gaze swept across the faces of the villagers. Once, she had been in the position of the newly arrived Outsider Wife. Back then, she hadn’t understood what these people were so happy about.

But now, she had been here for so long that she actually understood.

For these people, opening their eyes every morning meant day after day and year after year of heavy, exhausting labor without a single moment to catch their breath.

So, when a “matchmaker” brought an “Outsider Wife” here, they naturally came to watch the commotion. It had become one of the rare moments of relaxation in their lives.

The courtyard was bustling and festive. The woman Sha Niu called the Immortal Lady was dressed in blue cloth clothes and was currently being introduced by name.

If one only looked at this scene, it truly seemed like a joyous occasion.

Sha Niu’s mother’s ears were filled with the laughter of those around her. This laughter fell upon her like lashes from a whip, striking the grim-faced middle-aged woman from all directions.

As Sha Niu’s mother watched all this, a somber mood wrapped around her in layers. Sorrow and anxiety intertwined. Standing in the middle of the joyous, bustling crowd, even breathing became difficult for her.

It was as if she had become that young Outsider Wife in the center.

Back then, she hadn’t known she was being married off. She thought she was going to work at a textile factory.

After arriving here, she became an Outsider Wife. If she tried to run away, she was considered restless and unfaithful to her husband¹.

No one could understand her, and no one could help her. Sha Niu’s mother felt a deep ache in her heart, yet she didn’t even know why she was hurting.

It would take a long time for Sha Niu’s mother to realize that at this very moment, as she stood here, the agonizing torment she felt was real.

Beneath all of this, once this phenomenon was torn open by civilization to reveal its true, bloody form, her pain would be truly seen. There would be news reports; this was the human trafficking that the civilized world loathed.

But right now, she was just a middle-aged woman whose pain was masked by a false facade, unable to make a sound. She had even been brainwashed by the “matter-of-fact” attitude of those around her into thinking there was something wrong with her.

Not far from her, the so-called matchmaker was introducing the new bride brought for this generation to the Zhang Family.

“Her name is Ming Wen. She’s only twenty this year. Her leg? Her leg just has a bit of an injury. You’ll be able to fix her up after some rest. You’re getting a bargain; this one is a college student.”

“A college student? Can she live a stable life with my son?”

“Look at what you’re saying. What choice does she have? Her leg is broken, so she can’t run. Besides, she’s a woman. No matter how stubborn she is, once she has a child, which mother doesn’t settle down and live a stable life?”

Sha Niu’s mother felt a sharp sting in her heart upon hearing those words.

Her gaze remained fixed on the college student.

The college student called Ming Wen still didn’t speak.

Sha Niu’s mother pulled herself out of her own emotions to finally get a clear look at the young girl.

The girl was about twenty years old and quite tall, like a potato sprout growing out of fertile soil, standing a bit taller than the people around her.

There was no fear of the impending pain on the young woman’s face, nor was there any deliberate attempt to curry favor to avoid the coming hardship.

She simply stood there, neither pained nor frightened by the stares of the people here.

It was as if she were the master of this world, simply here to observe its condition.

No wonder Sha Niu thought she was the Immortal Lady; she really did resemble the goddess in the temple.

Perhaps because Sha Niu’s mother’s gaze was so distinct, the woman Sha Niu called the Immortal Lady looked over.

Sha Niu’s mother froze as their eyes met.

Maybe it was because of her preconceived notions, or maybe it was because she had heard her daughter call her the Immortal Lady too many times, but Sha Niu’s mother felt that the other woman seemed to pause for a moment when she saw her.

As if… as if she recognized her.

But that was impossible. The girl looked less than twenty years old; how could she possibly know her?

That look lasted only a few moments before it turned into a sort of understanding, as if by glancing at Sha Niu’s mother, she had already grasped her entire life.

The scrutiny frozen in those eyes was filled with a sense of divinity. Sha Niu’s mother felt as if she had suddenly returned to her hometown, back to when she was still a young girl. Back then, her grandmother’s house was just a couple of steps away, and a few more steps took her to her eldest aunt’s house, and everyone around her was a relative…

That sense of familiarity hit Sha Niu’s mother all at once, and she reflexively lowered her head.

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t dare look at her. She felt she was being influenced by her daughter’s talk of the Immortal Lady.

Perhaps she was mistaken; the girl was likely just looking at the villagers.

She lifted her head again.

The college student was still looking at her. Out of all the people here, this young girl was looking only at her, as if she had pinpointed her with precision among the crowd.

For some reason, Sha Niu’s mother’s nose felt a bit stingy.

She didn’t understand why it was happening. It was as if as long as they didn’t make eye contact, she was just like the other women around her, here to watch the spectacle. But when she was looked at by her, it felt as if all the pain in her body was finally being seen.

The person on the other end of the line kept talking. “This one’s a university student. If she has a son later, the boy will be able to get into university too.”

For such a remote area, this was indeed a massive temptation.

Sure enough, the Zhang family agreed to pay a high price for the student.

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t understand why someone like that would end up here, and her heart grew even heavier.

It didn’t matter if this young girl was a university student; no matter how smart she was on the outside, it was useless here. Unless she was a literal deity descending to earth, no one ever escaped.

——————————————————

Criminal investigator Yun Song was fifty years old. Three days ago, an unidentified body was found in a derelict building on Hongshi Road. The Hongshi Road Police Station identified the victim as a local entrepreneur, Ming Qingfu. Simultaneously, her daughter, a medical student, had gone missing.

The case was transferred to the criminal investigation brigade with Yun Song in charge. To find the victim’s daughter as quickly as possible, Yun Song had spent the last two days leading her team through an investigation of the victim’s social circles, searching for a breakthrough.

The victim’s social connections were extremely complex. After a full round of screening, they had found nothing. The case remained stalled, and the medical student daughter was still missing.

While sleeping that night, Yun Song had a very vivid dream.

In the dream, she wasn’t a fifty year old veteran investigator, but a young university student. It was before dawn, and she seemed to be running along a misty highway.

The road in the dream was incredibly long. She ran and ran, as if there were no end.

Soon, the sound of crying appeared in the dream. The student ran toward the sound to find a mother and son crouched by the roadside, having been hit by a car.

“Please, help us! Save my mommy, she’s bleeding so much.” A child whose face was a blur pulled at her arm.

Seeing through the eyes of the student in the dream, she finally saw clearly. The woman beside them was covered in blood all along her arm.

The student in the dream quickly took off her jacket, helping to stop the bleeding while asking about the situation.

“Were you hit by a car? Does it hurt anywhere besides your arm? Are you dizzy?”

The woman didn’t answer. The child cried as he spoke. “Mommy was taking me to Grandma’s house. A car hit us and drove away. Mommy is bleeding so much.”

The injured mother also began to speak fitfully. “Miss, please help…”

The student in the dream constantly transmitted her anxiety and worry to Yun Song, but the veteran investigator felt that something was wrong.

It was early morning. The woman was wearing a coat, and the student out for a run was wearing a jacket, yet the child was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt. There was no sign of a child’s coat nearby.

That was the first point.

Second, she could hear that the mother habitually swallowed her sounds when speaking, but the child did not have the same habit.

Based on her instincts as a detective, she could sense that there was something wrong with this mother and son. But she had no way to relay this information to the student in the dream.

The student in the dream seemed unable to calm down. With a child begging her to save his bleeding mother, she was already frantic and disoriented.

At that moment, a kindhearted driver pulled over and asked about their situation. In the dream, the veteran investigator Yun Song couldn’t see the driver’s face clearly. She only knew the person looked honest and seemed concerned for the injured.

The driver was originally prepared to take them to the hospital, but upon realizing the mother had been hit by a car, he said, “I want to take them to the hospital, but… but I’m afraid they’ll blame me and say I was the one who hit them. I have a family to support, too.”

Hearing this, the child immediately knelt on the ground, crying and begging the driver for help. “Mister, we won’t! Mommy and I are good people, we won’t frame you.”

“Child, get up. I have children too, I can’t stand to see this…” The driver stepped out of the car.

As soon as Yun Song heard him, she noticed the man had the same habit of swallowing sounds². There was an eighty percent chance he came from the same environment as the woman.

In the dream, she felt as if she were split in two. One half was a fifty year old veteran investigator who saw several red flags; the other half was a university student who hadn’t yet entered society, focused entirely on saving lives, oblivious to the fact that she was the one in the most danger.

Yun Song desperately wanted to tell the young student what she knew. They’re together! Don’t get in the car!

But the student couldn’t receive her message. The student simply said, “I’ll go with you. I’ll be your witness, so you don’t have to worry.”

The student got into the car. She was still tending to the injured mother’s wound and soothing her when suddenly, a hand reached out from the back seat. A rag in that hand covered the student’s nose and mouth.

As a veteran investigator, Yun Song immediately tried to fight back, but her consciousness was not in control. She could only struggle along with the student. Her neck was gripped tightly.

Amidst the struggle, Yun Song jerked awake. Before her eyes was the hotel ceiling, illuminated by a few streaks of light—the faint glow from the streetlights outside the window.

Yun Song realized she was drenched in sweat, and her throat was parched.

A lingering pain remained on her neck, as if the sensation of fingernails digging into her flesh during the struggle in the dream was real.

She hadn’t had a nightmare in a long time. Before she became a police officer, she used to have them frequently. At the time, a psychologist told her they were caused by post-traumatic stress and excessive anxiety.

Later, when she first became a police officer, she would have nightmares, but not like this one.

Back then, every time she visited a crime scene and thought about the case before bed, she would dream that she was the victim, being murdered by a killer whose face she couldn’t see. In those dreams, her younger self would desperately try to claw at the killer’s face to see who it was.

Of course, she could never see the killer’s face in the dream. After all, her dreams were a product of her own subjective consciousness, not a message from the dead. Therefore, she always had to find the killer in real life.

As she handled more cases, the nightmares became rare.

Why was she starting to have them again now?

She had three years of experience with psychological therapy and could quickly assess her own condition.

Perhaps it was because she was getting older, but her physical functions had been declining rapidly over the last two years. Every time it rained, her legs flared up with rheumatic pain. Her superiors had been constantly pushing for her to move into a management role rather than staying on the front lines.

The water by the bed had finished boiling. She propped herself up and poured a glass of hot water for herself.

The warmth of the water allowed her to relax slightly.

There was a notepad and a pen for ordering food on the hotel desk.

Yun Song stood up and began to organize the details of the previous case.

The female entrepreneur’s final phone call had been to her business partner, asking her to look after her daughter. It was clear she had been aware of the danger she was in.

As Yun Song wrote, her mind suddenly went blank. She didn’t know how much time had passed until the garbage truck downstairs arrived to collect the trash, letting out a loud bang that snapped her back to her senses.

She looked down and realized she had filled the entire sheet of paper.

Yet, there were only two words written over and over again.

Ming Wen.

Yun Song stared at those two words, lost in thought.

At that moment, it was three o’clock in the morning in Ping City.

Outside the window, layers of dark clouds obscured the full moon, leaving the sky without a single trace of light.

Beneath that night sky, rows of streetlights emitted a soft, steady glow.

Translator’s Notes