Chapter 18 — My Daughter's Iron Box

The little girl told me that you bled a great deal in order to rescue her.

Shen Zhiqiang felt a sudden, searing heat behind his eyes. He spoke in a low, quiet voice.

Tell Anan that I am all right.

"Teacher Jiang let out a soft sigh."

She asked me to pass along a message to you.

Shen Zhiqiang immediately straightened his back.

"Please tell me."

Teacher Jiang's voice grew very faint and gentle.

She said, "do not let anything happen to yourself just to prove that you are a good father."

The hand gripping the mobile phone slowly tightened. These words stung him more than any harsh rebuke or cursing ever could. The young girl still refused to forgive him, yet she could not bear to watch him die. His voice was hoarse as he replied.

"I understand."

"Please tell her that I will not act recklessly."

After the call ended, the car fell into a heavy, suffocating silence. Officer Lu glanced at her sideways.

She is remarkably clear-headed.

Shen Zhiqiang murmured quietly.

She has always been clear-headed.

The foolish one is me.

The car stopped by the side of a dirt road three hundred meters away from the old water tower. The rain had finally ceased. The wasteland was thick with sucking mud, and the distant water tower loomed like a blackened, withered bone standing desolate against the night sky. Shen Zhiqiang walked forward alone, adhering strictly to the plan. A tracking device was concealed within the collar of his coat, and the earpiece hummed with the voice of Officer Lu.

Maintain communication.

"Do not get too close."

Shen Zhiqiang did not reply; he merely touched his earpiece in quiet acknowledgement. When he reached the base of the water tower, the surrounding area was utterly dead. The iron door at the foot of the tower was half ajar, and from within came the voice of Tang Meiqin.

Shen Zhiqiang.

"You certainly have a lot of courage to come here."

Tang Meiqin stepped out from the shadows. Her hair was disheveled, and the usual gentle demeanor on her face had completely vanished. In her hand, she clutched a small fruit knife tightly. Yet, Shen Anan was nowhere by her side. Shen Zhiqiang stared at her with unblinking eyes.

"Where is Anan?"

Tang Meiqin let out a harsh, mocking laugh.

Now you only know how to ask about her.

"We have lived together for all these years--have you ever searched for me with such intensity?"

Shen Zhiqiang's voice was chillingly cold.

When you handed the child over to your older sister, did you ever consider that she was only fifteen years old?

Tang Meiqin's face suddenly twisted in a grotesque expression.

"What of it if she was fifteen?"

At fifteen, I was already out working to earn my own living.

By what right does she get to go to school, and by what right does her dead mother continue to weigh heavily upon my head?

Shen Zhiqiang looked at her without a single trace of pity in his eyes.

"No one ever used her mother to oppress you."

"It is simply that your heart is too small to accommodate a child."

Tang Meiqin let out a shrill laugh.

A child?

The way she looked at me was as though I were nothing more than an outsider.

As long as she remained in this household for a single day, I would forever be the interloper.

Shen Zhiqiang refused to argue with her any further.

"What about those three thousand yuan, then?"

Tang Meiqin's expression stiffened instantly.

"I did not sell her."

"I merely wanted her to suffer a little bit."

"I wanted her to realize that once she leaves the Shen family, she is nothing at all."

Shen Zhiqiang took a step forward.

So that is why you told them that Anan's family would never come looking for her.

The hand holding the fruit knife began to tremble. At that exact moment, the sound of rolling gravel suddenly echoed from behind the water tower. Tang Meiqin hastily whipped her head around, as though she had laid eyes upon something deeply terrifying. The next second, a man lunged out from the darkness, his hand shooting forward to wrap tightly around her throat.

Stupid woman.

"Who gave you permission to lead him here?"

The man moved with terrifying speed. With one hand choking Tang Meiqin, he dragged her backward into the gloom of the water tower. Tang Meiqin's face turned deathly pale in an instant. The fruit knife slipped from her trembling fingers and clattered loudly against the ground. Shen Zhiqiang remained rooted to the spot, refusing to rush forward rashly. In his earpiece, Officer Lu's voice was suppressed to a low, tense whisper.

"Keep him talking."

"We are closing in."

Shen Zhiqiang locked his gaze onto the man's face. The features were unfamiliar to him--a man of about forty years, bearing an old scar right above his left eyebrow. He suddenly recalled the old mobile phone down at the docks, which had a contact saved under the name Scar-face. It appeared that the ones truly managing the trafficking of children were not limited to Du Meiquan and old man Qiu. The man looked at Shen Zhiqiang with a cold, mocking gaze.

"You are the father of Shen Anan?"

Shen Zhiqiang's voice remained steady.

"I am."

The man sneered.

"What is the point of putting on this affectionate father-and-daughter act now?"

When we first took the child in, didn't your household say that you no longer wanted her?

Tang Meiqin struggled violently, letting out a choked cry.

"I did not say I did not want her."

The man tightened his grip on her arm, instantly cutting off her voice midway.

Shut your mouth.

Had you not changed your mind at the last moment, we would have been out of the city long ago.

Shen Zhiqiang's gaze grew colder with every passing second.

So it was she who leaked Anan's information to you people?

The man chuckled darkly.

"We take money to do a job."

She provided the information about the child, and we paid the referral fee.

"No family searching for her, sickly yet excels at studies, timid and obedient."

This sort brings the least amount of trouble.

A blazing fire seemed to rage within Shen Zhiqiang's chest, yet he held his ground. He knew he needed to buy time. He spoke.