41: Chapter 41 Police Station Chief Seeks Help

By mid-January, Hukuang Township had entered the coldest days of the year.

A week of continuous low temperatures had frozen the dirt road in front of the Township Government hard as iron; when cars drove over it, they left two stark white tire tracks.

Xu Weidong had been in his post for ten days. In these ten days, he had gone through the Party Committee records, government work reports, and fiscal budget and final account reports of Hukuang Township from the past few years.

Although he spotted quite a few irregularities, he didn't say a word.

He arrived and left work on time every day, and went down to the villages for research three times, each time keeping his investigations superficial.

When cadres came to report their work, he would listen but offer no opinion.

When someone invited him to dinner, he politely declined.

Secretary Hu Dakui muttered privately to Township Head Ge Jiefang, "This kid is a bit interesting."

"He doesn't make a sound, and you can't tell how deep his waters run."

Township Head Ge Jiefang pushed up his glasses and said, "It's good that you can't tell."

"If you could tell, that would be trouble instead."

The two exchanged a smile and went back to their own business.

January 15th, 3:00 PM.

Xu Weidong was reading a document in his office when the door was knocked upon.

"Please come in."

The door pushed open, and a man in his early forties entered. He was of medium build and wore a police uniform that had been washed until it was faded white.

He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and a shallow scar on the bridge of his nose. His gaze was steady but carried a hint of exhaustion.

"Secretary Xu, sorry to disturb you."

The man stood at the doorway and did not walk inside.

"I am from the Hukuang Township Police Station, Li Zhongmin."

Xu Weidong put down his pen, stood up, and smiled, "Director Li, please come in and sit."

Director Li Zhongmin walked in and sat down on the chair across from the desk.

He didn't make small talk or offer pleasantries; he just sat there.

His gaze landed on Xu Weidong's face, as if he were sizing him up or confirming something.

Xu Weidong didn't rush him; he picked up his thermos, took a sip of tea, and waited for the other to speak.

The silence lasted for about half a minute before Director Li Zhongmin took the initiative to speak, "Secretary Xu, I came today to report my work to you."

Xu Weidong nodded and said, "Director Li, please go ahead."

"It is not about the work of the police station."

"It is other work; it is my own personal work, Li Zhongmin's work."

Xu Weidong's eyes shifted slightly. Director Li Zhongmin paused, as if organizing his thoughts or making a final decision.

"Secretary Xu, I want to align myself with you."

The words were direct, so direct that it caught Xu Weidong off guard.

He didn't respond, just watched the other man.

Director Li Zhongmin continued, "I have been the director of the Hukuang Township Police Station for six years."

"In those six years, I have seen more things than what I learned at the police academy or what I did in other places combined."

"Some things, if I don't say them, no one knows."

"Some things, if I do say them, no one will handle them."

"Because they can't handle them, and they don't dare to."

Director Li Zhongmin's voice grew lower, "But I don't want to go on like this anymore."

Xu Weidong put down his thermos and leaned forward slightly, "Director Li, what do you mean by 'aligning yourself'?"

"It is exactly as you think."

Director Li Zhongmin met his gaze and said firmly, "I heard that when you arrived, those leaders personally escorted you."

"I also heard that you haven't done anything these past few days; you have only been watching and listening."

"I know you are doing a background check, seeing who is clean and who is not."

Director Li Zhongmin paused and said, "I am not clean."

"In this area of Hukuang Township, having stayed here for six years, no one can be clean."

"But I guarantee that I have never taken money that goes against my conscience, and I have never harmed anyone who shouldn't have been harmed."

"I just... watched those things happen and then pretended I didn't see them."

Xu Weidong was silent for a moment and said, "Why come to me now?"

"Because the New Year is approaching."

Director Li Zhongmin gave a strange answer. Seeing that Xu Weidong didn't understand, he explained, "Every year around the New Year, Qili Village loses a few children... baby girls."

Xu Weidong's brows furrowed.

"Qili Village is the most remote village in Hukuang Township. It is deep in the mountains, over thirty li from the Township Government. The roads are difficult to travel, and there is no cell phone signal."

Director Li Zhongmin continued, "In that village, the preference for sons over daughters is terrifyingly severe."

"Whenever a family gives birth to a baby girl, it's as if they've birthed a disaster."

"Some families throw the baby girl directly into the mountains after birth."

"Some families wait for people to come and collect them."

"Collect?"

Xu Weidong's voice dropped. He thought of some unpleasant things.

"Collect."

Director Li Zhongmin met his gaze and continued, "Human traffickers."

"There are people who specialize in entering the mountains to collect baby girls. One girl goes for three thousand to five thousand."

"If they look a bit neater, they can sell for up to eight thousand."

"Those human traffickers are very familiar with the village cadres. Which family gave birth to a girl, how old the girl is—the village cadres know better than anyone."

"They are the middlemen, acting as go-betweens, taking money from both sides."

Xu Weidong's fists clenched.

"It's not just babies."

Director Li Zhongmin continued, "There are also women."

"There are many bachelors in the village who cannot find wives, so they buy them from outside."

"The women kidnapped by those traffickers from other places are brought to the village, sold for a few thousand to tens of thousands of yuan each, just like livestock."

"Some women are beaten into submission, accept their fate, and have children to live their lives."

"Some try to run, are caught, beaten half to death, and locked up."

"I have received reports and gone there a few times, but by the time I arrived, the woman had long been moved, and I couldn't find anyone."

"The villagers have a unified story, saying they haven't seen anything and that I made a mistake."

"What can I do?"

Director Li Zhongmin smiled bitterly and said, "Once, I found a woman who had been kidnapped from Xishan. She was twenty-five or twenty-six, had been locked up for three years, and had a child."

"I wanted to bring her out, but the village cadres blocked me and wouldn't let me. The old women in the village surrounded and scolded me, saying I was meddling in others' business, saying she was properly married, and saying I was destroying their family."

"And in the end?"

"In the end, the woman herself didn't dare to leave."

"She said she was afraid—afraid that if she ran away and was caught, she would be beaten even worse."

"She said that at least in the village she had food to eat; if she ran out, she couldn't do anything and wouldn't be able to survive."

Xu Weidong's teeth ground together audibly. He hadn't expected that such a vicious atmosphere actually existed!

Director Li Zhongmin looked at him and suddenly gave a bitter smile, "Secretary Xu, do you know now why I said the New Year is approaching?"

"Every year before the New Year is when human traffickers enter the mountains most frequently."

"Because one needs money for the New Year, and families who gave birth to girls also want to earn some money for the holiday."

"The deal is thus made."

Xu Weidong asked in return, "Why not report it to superiors?"

"I have reported it."

Director Li Zhongmin sighed, "I went to Secretary Hu, and Secretary Hu told me to manage my own patch of land and not worry about things that don't concern me."

"I went to the County Bureau, and the people at the County Bureau said that grassroots work is complex and requires attention to methods and approaches."

"I wrote reports, but once the reports were submitted, they were like stones sinking into the sea."

"Later, someone sent me a message."

"Saying that if I continued to cause trouble, I shouldn't bother being the director anymore."