CH 38

Villainous Poor Student (3)

The bus rattled all the way for about an hour or so before it reached a county.

Song Xu Yi did not expect that He Siyu would get motion sickness.

In this era, the country roads were not yet well built, and the bus often traveled on a concrete road followed by a dirt road, which made Song Xu Yi feel a little dizzy, whereas He Siyu had just recovered from a serious illness and was weak, plus she had never been in a bus before and had a poor tolerance.

Song Xu Yi had no other choice but to rub He Siyu’s back and whisper comforting words.

As soon as she got off the bus, He Siyu rushed to the side of the road and vomited dryly.

At this time, some markets and shops in the small county had already started to flourish, with large billboards hanging on the streets, and big loudspeakers playing discount information in front of the shops, and a mess of motorbikes and tricycles driving around on the road, with the occasional private car or bus passing by…

It was a completely different scene from the deadly silent mountain village.

He Siyu’s beautiful eyes were alertly surveying the scene around her, even though she seemed to be intentionally controlling her vision, Song Xu Yi found that He Siyu’s gaze was still more on the vehicles around her…

Remembering that He Siyu’s future career was in mechanical research and development, Song Xu Yi began to guide He Siyu intentionally: “This is a car, it burns gasoline inside and the motor turns it into power, then the wheels roll up, it’s amazing, isn’t it…”

……

He Siyu did not say anything as she listened to Song Xu Yi’s words in silence and slowly turned her head to look at Song Xu Yi’s face.

This little girl from the city seemed to have changed. Her eyes were no longer as misty as they had been in the village, nor were they as disgusted as they had been before, there was a smile in her eyes, as if she had hidden the starlight in the sky…

——She seemed to know everything and was capable of everything, and had actually led her to the city, away from He Biao’s pursuit!

Was this the wisdom of the people of the city, as her mother had told her?

……

He Siyu gave Song Xu Yi a complicated look and pursed her lips – this time, she took the initiative to hold Song Xu Yi’s hand…

Seeing He Siyu take the initiative to show her goodwill, Song Xu Yi had some happiness in her heart.

She bought two large steamed buns at the roadside for a yuan, and the two of them finished gnawing on one bun each, before setting off on a new journey.

Song Xu Yi asked for directions and spent half an hour walking to the long-distance bus stop, Song Xu Yi didn’t repeat her trick this time, she led He Siyu to squeeze into the middle when it was crowded, and the conductor asked ” Where are your parents” Before the conductor finished asking, Song Xu Yi already spoke loudly at the conductor, “My parents are at the back. We want to use our New Year’s money to buy tickets…”

Song Xu Yi paid 20 yuan to get on the bus.

There were too many people at the back, and the conductor was too busy collecting money to tell if their parents were on the bus…

Finally, the two arrived in the next city before nightfall.

The city next door is a bit more prosperous than this small county, with neon lights flashing at night, unlike the silence of the village nights, the city night symbolises the beginning of the night life: the shops with lights on, the pedestrians walking around, the smell of kebabs on the street…

Even if He Biao was smart, he wouldn’t be able to chase them here in ten days and a half!

“Sister, we’ve finally escaped…”

Song Xu Yi sighed with relief, and only then completely put her mind at ease, spending the last two yuan to buy herself and He Siyu a meat bun each.

This was the best food the two of them had eaten in years.

“Sister, don’t be afraid, we’ll have plenty to eat later…”

Song Xu Yi finished her bun in two to three bites, but when she turned her head to look at He Siyu, there was still a large portion of her bun left. As she watched He Siyu take small bites of the bun, seemingly worried that she would soon finish it, Song Xu Yi’s eyes warmed up a little and she took a deep breath and led He Siyu into a shop with a landline phone——

“Grandpa, we got separated from mum and dad, can you help me find a police uncle…”

……

An hour later, Song Xu Yi and He Siyu entered the police station.

Song Xu Yi revealed the name of the city and her parents deep in the original owner’s memory as well as her entire experience of being abducted and sold.

The police officer did not expect the young girl’s memory and logic to be so clear, but the astonishment in his heart gradually turned into pity after hearing the original owner’s experiences over the years…

Unlike Song Xu Yi’s side, the work of the police on He Siyu’s side did not go smoothly.

Because of the resistance shown by He Siyu to men, the police station specially assigned a female police officer to He Siyu, but He Siyu seemed to have no idea what a police officer was, nor did she understand the accent of a police officer, and kept sitting silently in her chair with her head down, the female police officer eventually had to call Song Xu Yi over to assist…

He Siyu remained silent, and when Song Xu Yi asked her at first, she only replied ‘hmm’. It was only after Song Xu Yi held He Siyu’s hand and told her that “this aunt is the one who can lock up He Biao” that He Siyu cooperated and opened her mouth, telling the police her name and age, as well as all the pain and suffering she had suffered over the years.

He Siyu’s mother did not die of illness, but was beaten to death by He Biao. He Biao pushed He Siyu’s mother’s head and smashed it against a hoe, which clearly bled all over the ground, but the people of the village flatly said that her mother died of illness…

Before He Siyu’s mother died, He Biao had already tried to trick He Siyu into sleeping with him when she was five or six years old. Fortunately, He Siyu’s mother had already taught her about sex because she had suffered the consequences, and He Siyu didn’t let him get away with it, recklessly biting him on the arm when he touched her…

And since then, He Siyu began to make herself dirty at her mother’s bidding, and likewise received punches and kicks from He Biao, who even deliberately scalded He Siyu’s left arm with boiling water when she was ten years old…

He Siyu’s whole person seemed calm as she spoke, yet the more this calm narrative was told the more heartbreaking it became:

Has she run out of tears, or has she become so thoroughly used to suffering that she can recount it without changing her face?

……

Whichever is the case, what He Siyu is going through is beyond heartbreaking.

In order to verify He Siyu’s words, the policewoman took He Siyu to the next room and took a brief look at He Siyu’s body. Most girls start to develop at the age of thirteen, however, both He Siyu and Song Xu Yi were skinny and looked only eight or nine years old…

Looking at the old scars that crisscrossed He Siyu’s body and the large scar on her left arm and shoulder from the boiling water burns, the policewoman moved away to the window and managed to restrain the tears in the corners of her eyes.

“You were all very brave!”

The policewoman turned around and dropped her head to gaze into He Siyu’s eyes, “We will definitely bring your stepfather to court!”

The girl had previously been extremely resistant to strangers until the other girl told her that “this aunt is the one who can lock up He Biao”, and only then did she withdraw her prickliness and start cooperating with the investigation…

The policewoman knew the girl’s wish, which was originally her mission——

Where the sun can shine, whether deep in the mountains or on the islands, at home or abroad, no sin is spared!

Justice and fairness, based on the law, punishing the wicked and protecting the weak…

It is a long process, but one that is bound to come.

……

“She’s suffered so much! I must be extra good to her from now on…”

Song Xu Yi began to wipe her tears since she heard about He Siyu’s experience, and when she saw the scars on He Siyu’s body she couldn’t help but cry out, even the system kept sighing in Song Xu Yi’s mind.

The two spent the evening at the police station.

The police called the police station where Song Xu Yi’s father was from and also started looking for the culprit based on the physical characteristics of the abductor provided by Song Xu Yi, and contacted the police station in the next city to investigate the death of He Siyu’s mother in the village…

These two girls stirred up the sky in the village of sinful ignorance, spilling in with the light of modern law and justice…

It was midnight after the two had been addressed.

In the latter part of the night the policewoman put together a ‘cot’ out of a stool and let the two girls sleep on it.

Song Xu Yi felt exhausted both mentally and physically after this day’s struggle, and her sleepiness came over her, she thanked the policewoman and lay down on the stool, but after waiting for a moment, He Siyu, who was standing, hesitated to lie down…

Song Xu Yi looked at He Siyu, a thin, scrawny girl with a palm-sized face and eyes that looked unusually large. She looked around with her eyes wide open and did not seem to have the slightest intention of sleeping…

Yet how can you not feel sleepy?

Especially since He Siyu is also motion sick and must have reached her limit of endurance after this day…

Song Xu Yi sighed in her mind and forced herself to sit up, pulling He Siyu to sit in the chair.

“Sister, this is the most trustworthy place in the whole country…”

Knowing that He Siyu lacked common sense, Song Xu Yi began by talking about the country, and then about the functions of the government and the division of labour among the various departments… He Siyu really listened attentively.

“I know sister is probably thinking in your mind right now why no one came to protect you when you were in the mountains before——”

……

He Siyu had been silent before, but her eyebrows twitched when she heard these words, turning her head to look at Song Xu Yi.

“I was confused once too,” Song Xu Yi brought in this moment to the original owner, whose mother had told her to call the police uncle for help, yet there was no police to be seen in a desolate village like that——

“Our country is so big that there will always be corners where the sun does not shine, but we have to believe: everything will slowly get better. In the near future, knowledge will spread to all the deep mountains and forests, the sun will overcome all the darkness and we girls will become stronger and more powerful…”

Song Xu Yi actually had many more things in mind that she wanted to say, such as that when the two of them had power, she could actually become the sun and help more girls; for example, when He Siyu had learned knowledge, she could also go and protect the weak…

But after thinking about it, Song Xu Yi swallowed those words back——it was too far away for He Siyu at present.

Yet what she said was enough for He Siyu at that moment.

Many years later, He Siyu still remembered what Song Xu Yi had said to her at the police station that night: “Sister Siyu, get some sleep, I will protect you! You must believe: you have escaped the devil’s lair and have come to earth…”

The little girl from the city wasn’t lying.

He Siyu originally did not want to sleep, however, after sitting in the chair and listening to the soft and tender voice of the little girl, He Siyu could not help but fall asleep…

That night, after closing her eyes, He Siyu did not have a nightmare.

She has come to earth——an earth brought by Song Xu Yi, full of sunlight and no longer dark and obscure.

Because of the time needed to investigate the case and wait for the original owner’s relatives to come, the police officers, after discussing the matter, sent Song Xu Yi and He Siyu to the local orphanage for the time being.

The conditions in the orphanage may not look like much to many, but it was the best day the two girls had in years!

The two were put in a temporary room, and the policewoman even bought the two girls a change of clothes and a large pile of food on the way, and the two slept in single beds with running water and toothbrushes and fragrant soap for bathing…

In her spare time every day, Song Xu Yi took He Siyu to the orphanage to learn Mandarin and basic number operations with the five and six year olds…

The teachers were more amazed by Song Xu Yi’s learning ability, after all, Song Xu Yi has the soul of an adult, but Song Xu Yi was deeply amazed by He Siyu’s learning speed: He Siyu learned many words as soon as she could, and within a few days she had learned to work with numbers within a hundred…

When seven days had passed and He Siyu began to learn to write her own name, Song Xu Yi’s parents, finally arrived!