Chapter 101: Tiger

No one in the group went home. The public security officers took them straight to the town police station, along with the still-unidentified human traffickers, and the child who had hidden himself behind the stack of firewood, with his family in tow.

When they arrived, Tang Xinyi and Mo Ling were already there. Seeing their two sons safe and unharmed made even Tang Xinyi, usually as hard as iron, blink back tears. She clutched both boys to her and kept murmuring, “It’s okay. You’re all safe. It’s okay.”

Mo Ling moved toward the traffickers with a face gone cold. A police officer had to step in and hold him back.
It wasn’t that he suddenly grew tenderhearted toward them; if he kept striking, those men would be dead, and then none of this would be worth anything.

Mo Ling didn’t argue. Once blocked, he stopped, but he held the traffickers with those black eyes, unblinking.

On the other side, Tang Bansha stepped near Tang Xinyi. “Sister, I’m sorry.”
Tang Xinyi wiped away a tear and touched her sister’s forehead. “It’s not your fault.”
Mo Ling heard them, too. “Little sister, it has nothing to do with you. Don’t blame yourself.”
After all, this matter had been aimed at the two of them, the couple.

Tang Xinyi had heard Wen Mubai’s account, and for a moment she wanted to ride back to the county and reduce those two bastard deputy directors to powder.

But now she had something more pressing to do. She held the two boys and walked over to the little boy who had been hiding by the firewood pile.

“You’re Huzi, right?”
Huzi looked flustered and nodded faintly.
“I should thank you for saving my son.” Tang Xinyi reached out and patted his head.
Mo Shengning, who had listened through it all, bowed to him as well. “Thank you.”
Mo Shensu followed her with a sheepish imitation. “Thank you.”
Mo Ling did, too.

The four of them bowed before Huzi in unison, which frightened the boy even more.

The boy, stubborn as he was and proud in his own way, didn’t know how to meet the kindness directed at him. He reddened and kept waving both hands as if to refuse. “N-no, no need, really—I—I was only doing what anyone should.”

What he didn’t dare admit was this: he had hidden behind the firewood to tease the two brothers.
Tang Xinyi and Mo Ling saw right through his embarrassment. Even if there had once been a little quarrel among the children, what of it?
Mo Ling patted his head and said, “You did well, child. If it hadn’t been for you, Aning and Asu would have been carried away.”

Huang Fang—Huzi’s mother—and Sister Gao, hearing this fierce woman praise her son, were first startled and then suddenly proud.
“Oh, Tang Zhiqing’s elder sister,” she said, “you’re overpraising me. Those traffickers deserved to die. Anyone would have done the same. My Huzi is a bit rough, but he doesn’t have a bad heart.”
Tang Xinyi managed a stiff smile. “I know. Huzi is a good boy.”
It was Huzi’s first time being praised like that. He still wore his stubborn little scowl, but he couldn’t quite keep the corners of his mouth down.

Before long, the officers came out: the traffickers had confessed.
When Tang Xinyi heard the names, she was not surprised. She thanked the public security officers with proper courtesy and asked, “May we go?”

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The officers nodded repeatedly. “Yes, you may.”

Once they stepped out of the station, Tang Xinyi said, “Kids, Ning and Asu will need to stay with you for two more days.”
“No problem, sister. Don’t worry. I promise this won’t happen again.” Tang Bansha understood how serious it had been.
Tang Xinyi smiled faintly and touched each of the three children’s heads. “Ning, Asu—go home with your little aunt first. After I finish some matters, I’ll come back for you.”
For a flicker, both boys’ eyes dimmed, but they nodded obediently.

Though her heart ached, Tang Xinyi steeled herself and didn’t let herself linger on their expressions. She turned to Huzi. “When your aunt is free, let Ning and Asu take you to the county and see the town.”
Huzi’s eyes lit up. He had never been to the county, and he rarely even came to town.

Finally, Tang Xinyi faced Gao Fang. “Sister-in-law, I’ve taken your family’s kindness to heart. If trouble ever comes, come to me. I’ll do everything I can.”
Gao Fang waved her hands in protest. “Oh no, no, nothing like that.”
Tang Xinyi didn’t add anything, simply wrote down her address and then hurried off with Mo Ling.
The thought of anyone touching her son had given her that fierce, cold smile.

When the two figures had disappeared from sight, Tang Bansha said, “Sister Gao, we’ve been tossing around all night. You must be hungry. Let’s eat something.”
Only moments before she had just caught her breath after the promise she’d been given by the Revolutionary Committee director, and Gao Fang said, “I’m not hungry.”
“Even if you’re not, eat a little. Huzi is hungry, too.” Tang Bansha gave Mo Shennìng a look.
Mo Shennìng slung an arm over Huzi’s shoulder. “Auntie is taking us for meat buns.”

At the sound of “meat buns,” Huzi’s eyes went wide with hunger. He truly was hungry—he hadn’t eaten since last night and had been running around all night.
Gao Fang couldn’t quite bring herself to refuse, but with Tang Bansha’s good-natured urging, she went along, half reluctant, to the state-run canteen.

They arrived just in time for the last round of breakfast. Tang Bansha checked the tables and frowned. Everything had been taken.
Each person got a bowl of egg soup, a meat bun, and a white flour steamed bun. The three children ate like wolves.
Gao Fang at first was still a bit reserved, but she couldn’t resist Tang Bansha’s coaxing and eventually ate until she was full. The leftovers were packed and carried back to Gao Fang and her husband.

Back in the village, everyone finally saw Ning and Asu safe and sound and all the way exhaled.
“Mercy of heaven,” someone muttered. “The children are all right!”
Their show of concern wasn’t about courtesy at all; it was simple fear for the children.

After thanking everyone for their help, Tang Bansha took the two boys home, brewed a calming herbal broth for them, and stood over them until they drank and drifted to sleep.
Then she fetched the pork ribs Wen Mubai had once brought back, put them in a shoulder basket, and carried them to Huang Xiaocui.

“Auntie,” she called.

“Tang Zhiqing, how did you end up here?” Huang Xiaocui and Hu Xiayu were both at the brigade office. He was one of those men who could not endure idleness; with only him at the clinic, he practically lived in the brigade office anyway. It was nearby and didn’t delay anything.
Tang Bansha put down her basket and showed the half-rack of cured ribs.
“I want to treat everyone in the village. Please help me with the arrangements.”

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Huang Xiaocui stared at the half-rack of pork ribs with eyes gone wide.
“Little Tang Zhiqing, what is this?”
Tang Bansha laughed softly. “Everyone was up all night. This is no big thing.”

“That’s exactly what anyone should do. When one family’s child is in danger, no one can stand by. Still…” Huang Xiaocui’s eyes never left those ribs.
“Good heavens, little Tang Zhiqing is generous.”

Tang Bansha said, “Then think of this as me treating everyone to meat.”
“Auntie, please don’t decline. If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the noon meal.”
With no room for refusal, she said immediately, “Xiayu, come on. Let me see—have you improved lately?”
Then she led him to the clinic next door.

The rest of the staff in the brigade office were left behind, staring at the ribs as if they might melt.
Huang Xiaocui pressed her lips together. “If Tang Zhiqing says it, then we follow.”
“I’ll call for people to set up the fire and cook.”

Accountant Hu said, “It’s about time. Everyone has been tired with spring plowing, and this will help them recover a bit.”
“But make sure everyone knows this meat is from Tang Zhiqing.”
“Of course.”
Shi Jianying answered at once.

Accountant Hu added, “Xiaocui, add some radish and potatoes and make it a stew. Let them eat till they’re full.”
“Got it!”

As the cadres got to work, word spread that Tang Zhiqing was inviting everyone to a meat meal.
It warmed people’s hearts in a way they couldn’t explain.
It was something they should have done anyway, but when kindness is remembered and repaid with sincerity, it settles differently inside a person.
After this storm of a day, everyone’s impression of Tang Zhiqing only deepened.

Tang Zhiqing herself did not dwell on it that much.
Since that accident, Tang Bansha never let the two brothers stay overnight at other houses again, and she reminded them every day to avoid remote places.
The pair were frightened by then and behaved themselves.

Life ran on like water and slipped away.
Half a month later, Tang Bansha had already changed into a light spring blouse. Tang Xinyi and Mo Ling came back to Guyu Village, bringing a piece of news that left Tang Bansha utterly speechless.