The older boy could recognize some characters.

While waiting for the test results in the doctor’s office, he was able to communicate with everyone by writing.

Fortunately, the hospital had a nurse who knew sign language, which made communication much easier.

"You only remember that your name has ’Qiang’ in it and that you were abducted when you were three or four?" Chen Chao asked.

The boy nodded, then signed some more.

He explained that he had given himself a name: Wang Qiang.

He didn’t know the younger boy’s original name. Li Yihao had brought him over and named him Qianqian.

As for the other girl, Li Yihao just called her Niu Niu.

Chen Chao had the nurse ask about other things, like the circumstances of his abduction.

The two communicated in sign language, and the nurse’s eyes turned red.

She explained that Wang Qiang’s right foot had been intentionally broken by the traffickers the first time he was abducted.

They staged an accident, letting a car run over it.

When he was taken to the hospital, it was amputated.

Afterward, they sold him to another gang.

He had been bought and sold three times in total. Li Yihao was the fourth person to take possession of him.

As for his muteness, the third group of traffickers had found someone to perform surgery on him, intentionally destroying his ability to speak.

The examination revealed that his vocal cords had been deliberately destroyed.

The doctors found no scars on his neck and speculated that an instrument had likely been inserted directly down his throat to do the damage.

That meant whoever did this must have possessed a certain degree of professional medical knowledge.

He also said that when Li Yihao brought Niu Niu here, both her legs were already crippled.

The examination revealed inverted ankle joints and significant tissue overgrowth.

The doctors speculated that her ankles had been forcibly broken when she was a child.

He added that Niu Niu could talk, but Li Yihao forbade it, beating her whenever she spoke.

As for Qianqian... the name Li Yihao had given him made Shen Xin sick to his stomach.

Qianqian was also examined.

An ENT specialist came for a consultation and diagnosed it as congenital sulcus vocalis.

It was quite severe.

But it was treatable.

With this condition, he should have been able to make some hoarse sounds. But since Qianqian didn’t speak at all, his situation was likely the same as Niu Niu’s.

He was beaten whenever he spoke, so after a while, he became too terrified to speak at all.

"Do you remember anything about your family and parents?" Chen Chao asked, squatting down.

Wang Qiang thought for a moment before signing.

He said he remembered a few things.

He vaguely remembered being abducted just before he turned four, he thought from a marketplace.

He was nine now, so more than five years had passed.

For such a young child to be passed from trafficker to trafficker, one could only imagine the horrors he had endured.

That’s why his memories of his family from before the abduction were fragmented.

A child of three or four can form memories, but they rarely become long-term, and what is remembered is often unclear later on.

He only remembered his mother’s name had a "Ling" in it.

His dad was very tall, probably had the surname Wang, and drove a truck.

He didn’t have a grandfather, but he had a grandmother. The day he was taken, he had gone to the market with her.

Chen Chao nodded, not pressing him for more.

The three children were first hospitalized for treatment.

As for the expenses, the Civil Affairs and Welfare Department sent representatives who agreed to cover the costs, and the hospital also opened a green-light channel for them.

Blood samples were also taken.

The samples would first be compared against the anti-trafficking DNA database, hopefully for a match.

After handling things there, Shen Xin and the others hurried back to the station.

On the way, Ding Yuwei’s mood had improved somewhat. She confidently told Shen Xin that the three children’s parents must still be looking for them.

"I hope so."

Of course, Shen Xin hoped for that as well.

Despite the grueling night and day, Shen Xin didn’t feel tired.

Back at the station, Sun Zhao and his team had already interrogated Li Yihao.

The old woman’s name was Niu Guifang, and the younger woman was Yang Jie.

Niu Guifang was Yang Jie’s maternal aunt.

The three had clearly anticipated being caught. Their stories were perfectly aligned: they admitted to using the children to beg.

But they claimed Li Yihao was the one who bought the children.

When asked who he bought them from, Li Yihao claimed he’d only contacted the seller online. During the transaction, the other party wore a mask the entire time, so he didn’t know their real identity.

And when asked for the specific online channel, he said he couldn’t remember.

"He’s obviously not being straight with us. He’s lying," Shen Xin said, eating in the cafeteria, his voice filled with righteous indignation.

Shen Xin truly felt that for a monster like this, one who incurred the wrath of both gods and men, they should just use the Great Memory Recovery Technique.

Chen Chao sighed. "He won’t give it up easily. The more he confesses, the longer his sentence. Let’s take our time. We’ll see what happens after a few more interrogations."

Shen Xin nodded and told Chen Chao his idea: using the station’s short-video account to help Wang Qiang and the others find their parents.

"You could do that."

Chen Chao nodded, then added, "But once you do, you need to be prepared for the consequences. You’ll be constantly contacted by parents of abducted children, all asking you to post information about their own missing kids."

"If you can’t handle it all, you could end up being blamed. Your good intentions could backfire."

Shen Xin froze for a second, then immediately understood. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’It’s true. Human nature is complicated.’

"Captain Chen, since I chose to wear this uniform, I’m not afraid of the responsibility. I’ll just do my best. As long as my conscience is clear, that’s all that matters," Shen Xin said with a relaxed expression.

Chen Chao reached out and patted Shen Xin’s shoulder.

"Good man."

He gave Shen Xin a thumbs-up, his face filled with proud relief.

Beside them, Ding Yuwei turned her head to look at Shen Xin, and just like that, found she couldn’t look away.

He didn’t rush to post the video.

It was better to wait for the DNA database results first.

「On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.」

Ding Yuwei burst into the office.

For the past two days, she had been checking on the progress of the DNA matching whenever she had a free moment.

"We got a match!"

She waved the results paper excitedly.

Everyone in the office looked up.

Shen Xin rushed over and snatched the results sheet to look at it.

Niu Niu and Qianqian—they both had matches.

Niu Niu was from Xu Province.

And Qianqian was from Kang Province.

The records showed that Niu Niu had been abducted in early 2016.

Qianqian had been taken in May of the year before last.

Amid his excitement, Shen Xin asked, "No match for Wang Qiang?"

Ding Yuwei shook her head regretfully.

Wang Qiang had been missing for over five years. It had been so long; perhaps his parents had already given up the search.

"It’s alright. I’ll post the video later. Maybe we’ll be able to find them that way."

Getting a match was a good thing.

’It means their parents hadn’t given up looking for them. It wasn’t the worst-case scenario—parents selling their own disabled child.’

They contacted the two families that same day.

「City First Hospital.」

Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei went to see Qianqian, bringing a toy with them.

No, he should be called Tang Ziyi.

That was his real name.

And Niu Niu’s name was Song Yujia, a particularly lovely name.

The hospital had made special arrangements to put all three children in the same room.

When they entered, the three children were watching a cartoon.

Tang Ziyi’s surgery was already scheduled. It would be performed once he had recovered some of his strength.

Li Yihao had treated him as a tool to make money and hadn’t cared for him at all; the little boy was suffering from severe malnutrition.

Song Yujia’s feet were a more complicated matter. The injury was old, and the hospital had already held a consultation to come up with a surgical plan.

Seeing Shen Xin, Tang Ziyi got the most excited. He immediately bounced up on the hospital bed, holding his arms out for a hug.

Ding Yuwei quickly stepped forward and picked him up.

Perhaps because she was the one who had rescued him, the little boy was particularly attached to Ding Yuwei.

Wang Qiang picked up a pen and wrote, asking Shen Xin if there had been any DNA matches.

He pointed to Tang Ziyi and Song Yujia.

Back with Li Yihao, he had been the oldest, and he had looked after the other two like they were his own little brother and sister.

Shen Xin nodded slightly.

Xu Province was closer, so Song Yujia’s parents could arrive this afternoon.

As for Tang Ziyi’s parents, they would arrive tomorrow at the earliest.

Wang Qiang was overjoyed and hurriedly began signing to Tang Ziyi.

[The policeman helped you find your mommy. You have a mommy now.]

Tang Ziyi froze for a moment before signing back.

[Really?]

Wang Qiang nodded vigorously.

Overjoyed, Tang Ziyi then pointed to Niu Niu.

Wang Qiang nodded again.

Tang Ziyi excitedly signed to Niu Niu.

Niu Niu had been beaten often. Being so young, and a girl, she had been timid and cautious ever since her rescue.

But after seeing Tang Ziyi’s signs, she froze for a second before a smile finally broke out on her little face.

Tang Ziyi was especially excited, but then something else occurred to him, and he hurriedly signed to Wang Qiang.

[Brother, what about you? Did you find your mommy?]

The smile on Wang Qiang’s face froze. He shot a quick glance at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin shook his head slightly, his expression grave.

Wang Qiang froze, then immediately signed back to Tang Ziyi.

[They found her. I have a mommy, too.]

He smiled.

Tang Ziyi smiled too. With his damaged vocal cords, his laugh sounded like a broken bellows—painfully hoarse.