I march to the public toilets at the end of the lane. The wind is harsh and gritty, so I go around to the west side of the structure and hunker against it. Despite the faint scent of coal smoke coming from the stovepipes on the roofs and the snuffling of some pigs penned nearby, I’m struck by the cleanness of the air and the quiet of the lane. The memory of Granddad rushes back, and for a moment I feel like I’m back in my old home. I blink back tears, thinking how different my life was then, before Granddad got sick.
I pull out my phone and nervously punch out the number I memorized days ago.
The voice that answers is deep-toned and curt. “Xiang Investigations.”
Never having spoken to a private investigator, I’m not sure what to say. I hesitate.
“Hello?”
“Yes. My name is Cao Luli. I’m . . . I’m calling about someone you were looking for. Liang Yong.”
“What is it?”
“He’s here. Yong’s here in Yellow Grain Village with his ma and . . . us.”
“Liang Yong was caught with his associate and turned over to police last week.”
“Yes, yes, but he’s out now! He bribed his way out and came home to his ma. We had come too, just before he arrived, Yun and I with the baby, not knowing he was coming. You spoke with her—Yun—once. You tried to warn her but she didn’t listen! She had a baby, his baby. And now he wants to sell her!”
The line is quiet on the other end, although I feel as if I can hear Mr. Xiang sizing up the situation. He’s silent for so long that I start to wonder if I’ve made a mistake. Maybe he’s not going to help me. A panicky feeling overtakes me, as bad as the day Granddad’s neighbor left me at the orphanage. I feel hot tears filming my eyes. Words gush out of me.
“I’m calling for Yun. She begged me to. She just had the baby and it was bloody and difficult. She’s too sick to call you herself. Not just sick, but crazy with worry that Yong is going to take the baby and sell her any day now!”
The lies and half-truths tumble from my mouth. It’s as if I’m the Yun I’m speaking of. I’m blubbering now, snot dripping from my noise, my tears freezing on my face in the cold. I know I’m hardly making sense, but I grasp for anything to say, anything that will make him help me. I tell him Yun named the baby Chun. That Yong didn’t want to get married. And that Yong started looking for a buyer right away, has probably already located one. “He’ll tear Chun away from her mother who loves her. For money! It would kill Yun!”
I sob. Deep-gutted sobs that shake my body. “I have money. We have money to pay you. Please, can’t you do something?”
Detective Xiang’s voice crackles over the line. He says he’ll drive to Yellow Grain Village. He’ll have to wait until something actually happens before he can intervene, but at least he is coming.