Yi Wansan had known for a while about Cao Yanhua sending a letter to his hometown, and he had gradually extracted some new details: for instance, Cao Yanhua’s second cousin was getting married, so he had sent a congratulatory letter with six hundred yuan inside—originally it was five hundred, but considering that marriage is an occasion where even numbers are more auspicious, he had stuffed in another hundred just before mailing it.

These days, while Cao Yanhua eagerly awaited a reply, Yi Wansan had been tormenting him with various worst-case scenarios, such as the letter getting lost or the money being stolen.

However, the letter had arrived safe and sound.

This fact annoyed Yi Wansan somewhat, while Cao Yanhua sat down with a victorious attitude, crossed his legs, and opened the letter to read.

The letter wasn’t long, the handwriting was crooked, and the content was simple. It first expressed regret that he couldn’t return for the wedding, then mentioned that the letter and money had been received, thanking the elder cousin for his thoughtfulness, and so on.

At the end was added: “Also, Jin Hua’s family sent over ten jin of pork.”

This sentence made him feel quite uncomfortable, his brows furrowing into a character resembling “川”. Just at that moment, Yi Wansan suddenly leaned over.

Cao Yanhua thought he was trying to peek, and alertly clutched the letter inward.

Yi Wansan gave him a sidelong glance: “With your petty little ways—I’m looking at the back of the letter.”

There’s writing? Cao Yanhua doubtfully turned it over to look, and indeed there were several scrawled lines near the corner of the letter, which had been folded inside when the letter was folded, so he hadn’t noticed when opening it.

And those few lines left him dumbfounded.

Luo Ren learned about this matter the same day Cao Yanhua received the letter, during a quiet afternoon with few customers. Soft music filled the bar, and everyone was present except for Yan Hongsha, who hadn’t yet returned from Lijiang.

Mu Dai was grinding coffee beans with a hand-cranked coffee grinder, gripping the handle and grinding it down repeatedly. The original aroma of cocoa intertwined with the musical notes in the air, traveling from the ears to the nose.

Yi Wansan was making his coffee, using a latte art needle dipped in chocolate sauce to write words on the coffee’s surface—all fierce expressions.

—Oppose! Shameless! Call the police! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Cao Yanhua hung his head, his face flushed crimson, as he handed the letter and envelope to Luo Ren.

Those few lines read: “Elder cousin, you’re a city person, please save me, I was trafficked here.”

The envelope showed the sender’s address. Seeing Luo Ren examining it closely, Cao Yanhua quickly explained: “Strictly speaking, my hometown, Cao Family Village, is located at the border between Chongqing and Shaanxi, along the Daba Mountain range, closer to Shaanxi.”

No wonder—Luo Ren had always felt that Cao Yanhua didn’t seem like a typical Chongqing person; he rarely even used the local slang and dialect.

Luo Ren put the envelope and letter back on the bar counter: “What have you all decided?”

Yi Wansan turned the coffee cup around, the latte art silently speaking for him.

“What is there to discuss? Call the police.” He glared fiercely at Cao Yanhua. “Get the girl rescued quickly. Fatty Cao, what your second cousin is doing, is it moral or not?”

Luo Ren looked at Mu Dai.

She paused what she was doing: “I also advocate calling the police, but I also feel…”

At this point, she pointed to those few lines on the letter: “There’s no name, no specific information, just this one sentence—can we report it? Would the police take it seriously?”

Luo Ren pondered.

It was indeed difficult to judge. This was different from a detailed plea for help written by a trafficked woman herself. Self-written pleas typically explain the writer’s background and circumstances in detail, allowing police to verify with relatives and friends. After local relatives file a report, local police can coordinate with their counterparts in the trafficking area.

But in the current situation, there was only a single line without context, and no one could guarantee that what they imagined was the truth.

Cao Yanhua mumbled: “My second cousin isn’t that kind of person. Although he didn’t finish school, he’s literate and knows right from wrong. He wouldn’t do… such an illegal thing.”

Toward the end, his voice grew increasingly quiet, clearly lacking confidence in his second cousin, his conviction somewhat insufficient.

Yi Wansan still maintained his initial view: “What if it’s true? We can’t do anything just because there’s insufficient evidence. This concerns a girl’s entire life.”

Cao Yanhua was so anxious that sweat appeared on his forehead: “How about this? I’ll go back immediately. If it’s true, I’ll rescue the girl. I’ll criticize and educate my second cousin…”

He was incoherent.

Yi Wansan said: “If the girl has been raped, your criticism and education won’t solve anything.”

Mu Dai also asked him: “Fatty Cao, what are the local customs like in your hometown? If you go against them, you might not even make it out yourself.”

In movies and TV shows, those remote, uncivilized villages, the villagers all prioritize relationships over reason, and unite against outsiders. Sometimes, even when police go to rescue someone, they must act discreetly.

Cao Yanhua was nearly in tears from anxiety: “The people in my village are all quite good, really not that kind of people, really not that kind of ignorant, backward village…”

Luo Ren thought for a moment: “Alright, Fatty Cao, you should head back today. There are many direct flights from Lijiang to Chongqing, catch the earliest one…”

Cao Yanhua nodded quickly: “Tomorrow, by tomorrow at the latest, I’ll be home.”

“Will you be able to call us when you get there?”

Cao Yanhua hesitated for a moment.

The village seemed to have never had a signal. His second cousin had mentioned on the phone that after finally building a base station a couple of years ago, a mudslide had destroyed everything. When someone needed to make a phone call, they had to walk several li to reach a place with a fixed-line telephone.

Luo Ren asked again: “Are you going to be okay going back alone?”

“I should… be fine. I can now scale a wall in three steps.”

Time was of the essence. Cao Yanhua trotted back to his room to pack. Mu Dai felt very conflicted, thinking he couldn’t handle it alone with a single gun and horse. She wanted to go with him, but first, she had just returned from Nantian, and second, this was Cao Yanhua’s family matter—accompanying him would seem somewhat inappropriate.

Being someone’s sifu was quite worrisome.

She looked at Luo Ren: “Really not going to call the police?”

She felt calling the police would give her more peace of mind.

Luo Ren said, “If it truly is trafficking, we’ll have to report it sooner or later. But in the current situation, we don’t know what’s going on. It’s hard to say whether the police would respond, and even if they did, they might not arrive faster than Cao Yanhua.”

Mu Dai suddenly thought of something.

“Could we ask Wan Fenghuo?”

Wan Fenghuo had people in many small places. If they were truly worried the girl might be in danger, in terms of timeliness, Wan Fenghuo’s people would arrive the fastest.

Luo Ren thought this was feasible.

Mu Dai took out her phone and started dialing, but halfway through, something occurred to her, and she deleted the numbers one by one.

From a cost-saving perspective, it seemed this call should… be made by Shen Gun.

Yi Wansan returned to the room, originally intending to see if he could help—in his imagination, Cao Yanhua would be frantically packing, in complete disarray.

Surprisingly not. He was sitting on the lower bunk of the bunk bed, with a travel bag splayed open at his feet, clutching a toothbrush and toothpaste in his hand, lost in thought.

At such a moment when every second counted, he had the leisure to daydream. Yi Wansan kicked his leg impatiently: “Fatty Cao, hurry up!”

Cao Yanhua looked up nervously: “Brother Sansan, do you think this might be… a plot?”

What? Yi Wansan didn’t understand.

Cao Yanhua said, “Could it be that my family is trying to trick me into going back home?”

What kind of drama was this now?

Fortunately, Yi Wansan was experienced in these matters and quickly understood.

He frowned, looking Cao Yanhua up and down: “Brother Cao, are you… a runaway?”

In earlier years, Yi Wansan had encountered many runaways. The reasons for running away were typically a few: being kicked out by parents (like himself, who had been expelled from the entire Five Pearls Village—a passive runaway), offending someone locally and being afraid to return, or yearning for the outside world, believing the moon in the big city was rounder.

Cao Yanhua’s face was plump and reddish. After a long while, he finally gave a soft affirmative “Mm.”

Brother Cao was a runaway, too—Yi Wansan was surprised; he couldn’t tell at all.

“How many years has it been?”

“Seven or eight years.”

“Did you kill someone? Set a fire? Beat someone to permanent impotence?”

Cao Yanhua hesitated for a long time: “Brother Sansan, if I tell you, you can’t tell anyone else.”

Yi Wansan said, “Of course, don’t you trust me?”

So Cao Yanhua told his story.

After hearing it, Yi Wansan’s expression was rather serious. He gave his opinion: “Brother Cao, we can’t rule out the suspicion that your family might deliberately be trying to trick you into going back, but we have to consider the worst case—what if the girl being trafficked is true? So you still have to go back, and once you’re there… play it by ear.”

Cao Yanhua heaved a long sigh.

As he went out the door carrying his hastily packed luggage, he urged Yi Wansan: “Please don’t tell anyone else about my situation.”

Yi Wansan swore solemnly, repeating his previous words.

“Of course, don’t you trust me?”

That same day, before darkness had completely fallen, everyone, including Zhang Shu, knew the following information:

—Cao Yanhua hadn’t been home for eight years, only regularly writing letters and sending money.

—He only maintained a good relationship with his second cousin, considered a deep brotherly bond, so his second cousin knew his mobile number and would occasionally call him to inform him of the family situation.

—When he was eight years old, Old Man Cao had arranged a child marriage for him. The girl was from the same village, also surnamed Cao, called Cao Jinhua, three years younger than him.

—That Miss Cao had grown taller than Cao Yanhua after she turned twelve, and from then on, she consistently stood a head taller than him, and was also heavier.

—To rebel against the arranged marriage, Cao Yanhua once stood on the roof of his home, beating a gong and declaring that he would not marry her. This rebellion ended when Old Man Cao led several strong young men to quickly storm the roof.

—Cao Yanhua finally made up his mind and left Cao Family Village on a stormy night with thunder and lightning. Before leaving, he slipped a letter under Cao Jinhua’s door—formal, solemn, and official—severing relations with her and asking her to bravely pursue her happiness.

…

And then, after experiencing many twists and turns, Cao Yanhua eventually settled in Chongqing, gathered a group of idle young followers, enjoyed eating tofu fish and spicy hotpot, occasionally read books to improve his cultural literacy, and finally became… Cao Ye from the Liberation Monument.