Chapter Nine: Birth Mother and Stepmother

She didn’t know many people in City C, and all the acquaintances whose numbers she had were already saved in her phone. She hadn’t given her number out to many people, so at this hour, who could possibly be calling? With curiosity, Qin Ruonan answered the phone. The caller was Qian Yuling, whom she had met just over an hour ago—the mother of Fang Wansheng.

“Officer Qin, I know it’s a bit presumptuous to call you at this time, but I wonder if you have a moment. I’d like to talk,” Qian Yuling said on the phone.

Qin Ruonan instinctively glanced at the wall clock; it was already past nine. “Is it about Fang Wan?”

“Yes and no…” Qian Yuling replied vaguely, then suddenly broke into sobs. “Officer Qin, please come talk with me! I can’t bear it any longer!”

Qin Ruonan didn’t know how to respond. She suspected Qian Yuling might not actually want to talk about her son, Fang Wan, but hearing the heartbreaking sound of her crying made it impossible to refuse. In the end, she agreed, and they arranged to meet at a place not far from Qin Ruonan’s residence.

Qin Ruonan was always brisk in her movements. She had just arrived home and was wearing her newly changed casual clothes; she threw on a coat and went out directly. The meeting spot was a small restaurant. When Qin Ruonan arrived, Qian Yuling had not yet come, but the restaurant owner immediately noticed her searching around and asked if she was Qin. After she confirmed, he led her upstairs to a small private room, and poured her a pot of tea that had little color and even less flavor.

She waited for more than ten minutes before Qian Yuling entered, her eyes red.

“The owner here is my cousin-in-law. He saved a small room for me so we could talk privately,” Qian Yuling explained as she poured herself a glass of water. “Have you eaten yet, Officer Qin?”

“Not yet.”

“Me neither. With my child missing, how could I possibly eat?” Qian Yuling replied quickly, heaving a heavy sigh.

Qin Ruonan watched Qian Yuling silently, waiting for her to speak.

Qian Yuling’s fingers kept rubbing a small chip on the rim of her teacup. She hesitated for a long time, as the steam from the tea gradually dissipated until it became a glass of cold water.

Suddenly, Qian Yuling let out a loud wail, like a wounded beast. Qin Ruonan was startled, but at least felt relieved that she was finally willing to talk. Otherwise, the two of them sitting here in silence was not going to lead anywhere.

“I don’t know what sins I committed in my past life to make this one so difficult!” Qian Yuling began to lament after her crying fit. “I didn’t marry for money, but right after getting married, life was tight. Things got better for a bit, and then I realized that the man I married—he’s no husband! Stick a tail on him and he’d be a donkey! Every day I worked hard at the hospital, came home exhausted, had to care for the child, do laundry, cook, and still put up with his temper! I endured humiliation and hardship all these years, and in the end, all I got was a divorce certificate! Officer Qin, we look to be a few years apart—you probably think I’m exaggerating or just can’t understand. But let me tell you, if you ever go through this, you’ll know how bitter it is!”

Realizing she might be upsetting Qin Ruonan with her words, Qian Yuling quickly corrected herself. “I’m not wishing you unhappiness in the future, it’s just a metaphor. Until a woman reaches a certain age, she can’t understand the mindset and feelings of people at that age! When I was your age, I was nothing like this. I was patient, no matter how people treated me, I kept it to myself, wouldn’t even show a hint of displeasure. I only became like this because Fang Da drove me to it!”

Qin Ruonan could sympathize with Qian Yuling’s circumstances: divorced and single, living frugally, her ex-husband had married a young, beautiful woman, and now her child had gone missing. Anyone would be devastated by such blows. However, listening to her pour out the miseries of her life at this hour didn’t help or change anything.

“About your son, Fang Wan…” she tried to steer the conversation toward the child.

But Qian Yuling immediately took up the thread, her voice heavy with tears. “Speaking of Fang Wan, it breaks my heart. Kids these days are just as calculating as adults! Whoever feeds them is their mother! I nearly died giving birth to him—difficult labor, massive bleeding. I struggled to raise him. When we divorced, his grandparents begged me not to take away their only grandson. I softened and agreed. But then he grew more and more distant from me. Once, he had a parent-teacher meeting, his father was away on business, and I offered to go. Guess what he said? He told me not to come, let his stepmother go instead, because she was pretty and well-dressed. It would give him face among his classmates, but I’d only embarrass him.”

“He’d rather recognize that vixen, that homewrecker, than his own mother! The child’s heart is so cruel!” she wailed, her tears almost dried up. “But no matter how thoughtless he is, no matter how shallow, he’s still flesh of my flesh. Now that he’s missing, it feels as though half my soul has been snatched away! Sister, I beg you, please help me find my child. I’m begging you!”

Qin Ruonan nodded silently. Even without such pleas, as a police officer, she naturally hoped to find the child and return him safely to his family. But Fang Wan had been missing four days with no news. Based on past experience, the signs were not promising, and she didn’t dare give Qian Yuling too much hope, lest the disappointment be even greater if things didn’t turn out well.

“Why did you call Fang Da’s new wife a homewrecker just now?” she decided to shift the topic slightly.

As soon as Qin Ruonan asked, Qian Yuling perked up, slapping her hand on the table in agitation. “Isn’t it obvious? If you want, investigate it yourself! See how long after our divorce Fang Da married that little witch! I know him too well. If he hadn’t hooked up with her before, where would his ‘charm’ come from? He must have started an affair before the divorce, so when I asked for a divorce, he agreed so quickly!”

“You were the one who initiated the divorce?”

“It was all Fang Da’s trap!” Qian Yuling’s face flushed. “He deliberately provoked me, drove me mad, forced me to say it first, and then got exactly what he wanted! I was tricked! Neither he nor that little witch are any good! My son told me she treats him terribly, doesn’t act like a stepmother at all, does nothing at home. I even quietly checked out her workplace—people say her character is awful!”

“How did you find out about her?”

“We work in the same field. I’m a nurse at the hospital, she sells medicine at a pharmacy outside!”

Qin Ruonan felt the urge to rub her forehead, but restrained herself and remained silent.

Qian Yuling didn’t mind her silence and was happy to keep talking. “Fang Da is the worst! We divorce, he immediately brings that vixen home, but whenever someone tries to introduce me to a decent man, he interferes and messes things up. After a while, people are afraid of trouble and don’t want to get involved with a woman still entangled with her ex-husband. Isn’t that infuriating? Why can he search for a second spring after divorce, while I have to live alone and miserable? Why does he get to prevent me from remarrying? If he had lingering feelings and couldn’t let go, he’s still living happily with the little witch! It’s so unfair!”

“You said Fang Wan is rather calculating—he looks down on you for not having his father’s means or his stepmother’s looks?” Qin Ruonan asked. Qian Yuling nodded sadly, so she continued, “Do you blame him for it?”

“No, not at all,” Qian Yuling replied quickly, as if she’d anticipated the question. “How could I blame my own child? He’s my flesh and blood, I could never bear to blame him! Maybe I was hurt at the time, but soon forgot. Besides, Fang Wan is only ten, still so young, he doesn’t understand anything. I believe he’ll grow out of it.”

“You said his stepmother treats him poorly—how exactly? Has she abused him physically or verbally?”

“I can’t really say. Fang Wan is just like his father in this respect—his mouth is tighter than a city gate, and once shut, you can’t get anything out of him. If you ask too many questions, he gets impatient. I’ve checked his body—no visible injuries. But there’s a kind of abuse called emotional neglect; you police must have heard of it! Leaving the child alone, ignoring him, deliberately making things difficult for him—that sort of thing. You must investigate this for me, just as you search for my son. Will you?”

As she spoke, Qian Yuling’s tears fell again. She twisted her hands and said, “When my child is found, I won’t care how many grandsons the Fang family has. Since Fang Da remarried and didn’t take proper care of my son, this time I’ll go to court and let them know just how unfit Fang Da is as a father. I’ll demand that his custody be revoked! From now on, my son must live with me! A child should always stay with his mother—stepmothers can never be trusted!”