CH 3

Chapter 3 – Li Chuan

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Yang Yuan was shocked, “Looking for someone? You came to this shitty place to look for someone? Genius Li, you …. are looking for who?”

Pigs were grunting in the yard and the light was dim. Yang Yuan, who is timid, was frightened that the enamel basin in his hand clanked to the ground as he grabbed Li Chuan’s arm, “Ma ah! … I really don’t want to stay in this hellhole for another day. I want to go home.”

Li Chuan is 1.9m tall and is one head taller than him. While they were in high school, he assumed the highest attractiveness index in class. He is handsome, a god of learning and good-natured who treats others gently. Not only girls like him, even boys can’t loathe him.

There are a total of five girls who came to teach this time. Three of them enrolled and came to this backward place because of Li Chuan.

During high school, Yang Yuan heard that Li Chuan’s family was well off and could be considered as a rich second-generation[1], hence he could not fathom why the impressive Genius Li would come to such a place to find someone.

Li Chuan frowned and took his arm out of Yang Yuan’s hand but he didn’t answer him.

He came to find his wife from his previous lifetime, Su Qin.

Lying in bed at night, Li Chuan couldn’t sleep no matter what.

He heard the girls crying next door. He thought of Su Qin, thought of her usually dewy eyes. The fire came to mind and the sight of Su Qin holding their daughter in her arms as he recalled their last gaze at each other amidst the flames.

When he returned home from his lectures, he saw his small villa burning up with thick billowing smoke and intense fire.

Li Chuan defied the obstruction of the fire controller and the property management as he charged into the sea of flames, thinking he could save the mother and daughter but he underestimated the potency of the fire and was burned to death with them.

He has not forgotten the pain of burning flesh but how can the suffering of flesh match the pain of losing the mother, Su Qin and their daughter.

Most likely he had never done anything bad in his previous lifetime that Heavens took pity on him and let him come back to the time before he met Su Qin.

The first thing he did after he woke up was to go make inquiries at Su Qin’s house.

Yet, he was a step late as Su Qin had already been abducted.

He went back to school to get some documents when he saw the information on the public notice board about the enlistment of fresh graduates to undergo the program of bringing education to the underdeveloped mountain villages.

Li Chuan immediately applied to teach in Tongluo Township before hurriedly getting in touch with his childhood friend, Zhang Cheng, asking him to accompany him on a trip to Tongluo Township to save a girl who had been abducted to the mountains.

Li Chuan heard a great deal about the village from Su Qin and had a smattering knowledge about the villagers’ hooliganism.

The mountain village is inaccessible by traffic and surrounded by mountains on all sides. Due to the terrain, there is only one way out of the village.

The villagers are cunning. Once the police go up the mountain, they will inevitably be notified and immediately hide the abducted girls. 90% of the wives/daughter-in-laws in the village are girls abducted from everywhere.

Pursuing some clues, two police officers once investigated this village but they never came out again after entering that mountain.

Two police officers had disappeared. Yunyang City set up a task force to investigate all the inaccessible mountain villages near Tongluo Township but ended up empty-handed.

In the vast and obscure Dashan, no villagers admitted that outsiders had come. As no evidence was found, the two police officers have been classified as missing persons till date.

Li Chuan vaguely told Zhang Cheng about the dangers of the trip: the villagers are crafty and unruly, flout the law and even dare setting fire to kill people.

Zhang Cheng is a criminal police officer in Yunyang City, a tough guy who alone beats ten. He was placed on mandatory leave for making a mistake in his duties a while ago.

As soon as he heard about going to save a girl in the mountain, he immediately geared up for action and excited like a monkey.

After listening to Li Chuan’s narration, Zhang Cheng slammed his fist on the dining table, “Dammit, absolutely lawless? Don’t say anymore, Laozi[2] will pick the weapon and go with you!”

“……..” Li Chuan was silent for a while, then said, “This temper of yours, should properly restraint, lest others scathe you with underhand methods.”

This fellow is thick-skinned and impulsive. But he will not pursue with questions of what he doesn’t want to say, which is why he sought his help.

“Crap … Brother Chuanchuan, why do you sound … like my dad? Okay, okay, you don’t have to worry about my affairs. You want to save someone, then let’s handle your business first.” Only when he almost hung up the phone did Zhang Cheng ask, “By the way, this buddy just spoke out of turn, what’s the affair with the girl ah? You are usually not meddlesome, you will walk past unconcernedly when girls by the roadside are being taken liberties … “

Before he finished his sentence, Li Chuan had already hung up the phone.

No more than ten minutes later, Zhang Cheng received a detailed ‘operation plan’ from Li Chuan.

Rather than a plan, it was more a set of rules and regulations that keep him within bound.

**********

Li Chuan then contacted Su Qin’s parents from the phone booth, informing them of Su Qin’s whereabouts as an informant.

Her daughter has been missing for a week. Su Qin’s mother is so anxious that her hair turned gray after several nights.

They have acquired hope from Li Chuan and immediately contacted Captain Wen, who was in charge of Su Qin’s missing case.

As a precaution, he made another phone call as an anonymous person to the local police station to inform against the practice of human trafficking in that village.

He stated that he is a villager of Zhangjia Gorge and because he despises people in the village dealing with human trade, he took the risk of violating the village taboo to make this call to report against them.

He expressed in the call that he could not tell the police his identity in order to protect himself.

***********

Li Chuan came with the teaching group and arrived at Tongluo Township one day earlier while Zhang Cheng rushed over the next day and stayed as the PE teacher, coaching the children here somersaults and shadowboxing.

While Li Chuan and Zhang Cheng are fully prepared here, there is no movement from the police side.

Li Chuan called Su Qin’s parents and was told they had already notified the police but the information gotten from the police was — it was still under investigation.

To wait another day meant Su Qin will be in peril for one more day.

When Li Chuan proposed to the mayor about gathering cultural material in Zhangjia Gorge, he intended to go with Zhang Cheng to scout out the condition first.

They are going over as teachers and the villagers have always ‘honor’ teachers and will unlikely make things difficult for them.

It has been the third day since Zhang Cheng arrived here. Coaching shadowboxing and somersaults to the children are damn exhausting.

After class, he rushed into the leaky office of Li Chuan and impatiently asked, “My Genius Li, when are we setting out to rescue the person ah? I’m almost suffocated to death!”

The conditions here are poor and it is unbearable as it is damp and cold sleeping under the quilt.

At night, the boys and girls hug in pairs when they sleep to keep each other warm. Last night, Zhang Cheng tried to squeeze into Li Chuan’s quilt but was kicked out mercilessly by him.

Zhang Cheng, “ …….” Alright, okay, you are the boss, the prince charming, Laozi doesn’t yearn to share a quilt with you!

Confronted with Zhang Cheng’s question, Li Chuan seemed not in a hurry to pack the books up.

Su Qin is trapped in the tiger’s mouth, he is more anxious than Zhang Cheng.

These few nights, as long as he closed his eyes, he would dream about Su Qin being subjected to tortures in the village.

But without the police’s support now, merely him and Zhang Cheng, it is difficult to confront a village of unruly people.

He can’t be impulsive nor should he act rashly. Not only would he not be able to save Su Qin, he might even risk his and Zhang Cheng’s lives.

In order not to rouse the villagers’ suspicion, he has to find the suitable pretext to go to Zhangjia Gorge.

That afternoon, the mayor came to find Li Chuan and told him, “Teacher Li ah, I mentioned to Village Chief Zhang about you wanting to go Zhangjia Gorge to gather cultural material. Here’s the thing, I … don’t recommend you going there. The villagers don’t have much inner quality, the terrain is complicated and the mountain paths are difficult to traipse through, what’s there to gather? What about this, I’ll arrange for you to go to Liuja Village or Xinghua Village? The scenery there is not as bad or lacking compared to Zhangjia Gorge.”

Smiling at the mayor, Li Chuan gripped the other party’s hand cordially, “Mayor Li, while giving composition lessons to the children these past two days, one of the students depicted Zhangjia Gorge as a paradise on earth. I am really curious about the scenery there. Furthermore, it’s precisely due to the complicated terrain and difficult mountain paths that have created its current beautiful surroundings. Mayor, you don’t have to worry about me and Teacher Zhang. We have taken part in wilderness survival training and have no problem with our physical strength.”

Seeing that the mayor was still hesitating, he added, “By the way, Mayor, this is a little token of my appreciation. You take it and see how to distribute it to buy something for the children.”

“Oh? Teacher Li, this is?” The mayor took the thick envelope and was dumbfounded once he opened it. Inside were thick stacks of red banknotes, estimated to be around 20,000 yuan.

The mayor’s salary is only 800 yuan a month. If the harvest is good, he can increase a little of his household income every year. The annual household income of the mayor’s family is only 10,000 yuan. He was shocked beyond words to receive more than 20,000 yuan of donations from Li Chuan

In fact, the mayor also knows a little of Zhangjia Gorge’s shady business. He is also clear why Zhang Xing would reject outsiders from entering the village so much.

He pondered over it again. Teacher Li spares no effort coming so far to teach the children for free and even gives the children money. If he can’t even do this for him, what kind of mayor is he?

Mayor Li accepted the money. Cupping Li Chuan’s hand, he spoke with gratitude, “Teacher Li, you are a good person ah. Don’t worry, I will arrange for you as soon as possible! By the way, how many days will you be going?”

“Here’s what I plan to do, “ Li Chuan said unhurriedly. “Now that spring is in full bloom, there are wild flowers all over the mountain. I plan to take the children to Zhangjia Gorge for a lesson on gathering cultural materials and teach them to draw. I have bought some watercolors and drawing paper here which I will take along with me. Of course, teaching the children to draw hastily will bring no success, so it will take about a week or so.”

“Ah? Staying for a week ah?” Mayor Li’s face turned unsightly.

Li Chuan nodded and said, “Mayor Li, you can arrange the accommodation for us. Teacher Zhang and I will pay for the room charge. I also know that it is not easy for the villagers, so I will pay 360 yuan per night for the room, what do you think?”

“No, no, no… Teacher Li, I will be offended hearing such. If you want to stay, I will arrange your food and accommodation. It’s just that … there’s also no place for the children to attend classes either, what’s your opinion?”

Li Chuan looked gentle as he said with a smile, “Since it’s to gather cultural material, of course it will be done outdoors. The children can paint landscapes and draw houses which can be conducted outdoors. I’ve learned from the children that the journey to Zhangjia Gorge is actually about 40 minutes shorter than the trip to Tongluo Township, so it’s also convenient for the children. What do you think, Mayor Li?”

Mayor Li was already enthralled by the banknotes in his hand that he nodded his head promptly hearing him say so, “Yes, of course it’s good … then .. Teacher Li, I will go back and make the arrangements for you. You pack your things and follow me into the mountains tomorrow. Apart from you and Teacher Zhang, other teachers are not going?”

“Other teachers do not have the fundamental knowledge of paintings and it has been hard these days, just let them have a week off.” Li Chuan said so.

[1] 富二代 (Fù èr dài) – children of entrepreneurs who became wealthy under Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms in the 1980s.

[2] 老子 (Lǎozi) – in this context it’s self-proclaimed for I, used arrogantly or jocularly.