Chapter 558: Life as a Child
For a child, a life without food or warmth is obviously a painful thing. Especially without one’s closest parents by their side, every day is filled with countless troubles, including the constant worry of whether there would be anything to eat. Yu Linna was four years old this year—or so they said. In truth, she didn’t know how old she was; after all, she was just a child.
As far back as she could remember, she had lived in a basement, crowded with children her own age. Everyone was dressed in tattered rags. When winter arrived, they would all huddle together for warmth. There were no warm clothes or blankets. If one was unlucky enough to freeze to death, the adults would simply toss the body out into the wild, never bothering with a burial. A few of the children Yu Linna knew had already died, their luck having run out. Those who remained were simply the ones with better fortune.
“You, get to work. If you don’t work, you don’t eat tonight.”
“Yes.”
Every day, the adults would drive her out onto the streets. Along with the other children, she would beg on the streets, feigning pitifulness. This life had already gone on for two years. The various discomforts from the beginning were now acceptable. If there was anything she wanted to know, it was that she wanted to learn how to read.
Yu Linna’s only personal belonging was a small bag containing an exercise book, which she had kept with her since she was abducted. She guarded it well, careful not to let the adults see it. There were words written on the exercise book, but she couldn’t understand what they were; she didn’t recognize them. She had asked a few of the children around her, but none of them knew. They were all a group of children who had been abducted very early on. Few had the ability to read, and besides, the words on it were Chinese. Most of the children here were European. How could they possibly recognize them?
And so, Yu Linna slowly grew up.
“Uncle, Auntie, please give me some money. My father and mother are sick and need money. I beg you.”
At a young age, she had learned to kneel on the ground and beg. The people on the street could often see a little girl with golden hair, her face covered in dust, dirty, and her clothes were tattered, kneeling there every day to beg. A careful look showed that this child’s foundation should still be not bad, the type that was good-looking, but her face was covered in dirty dust, and her hair was also messy, with a hairstyle like a boy’s, and she was also dressed thinly.
Some people might throw two coins, but there were also many who felt that this was just a liar and did not give any money.
For these little children like Yu Linna to have food to eat, they had to complete their tasks. There was a rule about how much money to beg for every day. If they didn’t reach this number, there would be no food to eat. If they exceeded the extra number, there would be a reward. Most of the children could not beg for much money, so they could only go and steal. Yu Linna was also one of these children who stole things. She had also participated in a lot of stealing. As soon as the adults came to catch them, they would quickly run away. If they were caught, they would be given a good beating, so they absolutely could not be caught. Although that was the case, Yu Linna had also been caught a few times, and had been fiercely whipped, the pain making her howl.
“Hiss, it hurts, it hurts…”
When she returned to the basement, Yu Linna was covered in injuries. She wanted to find something to apply, but it was impossible for there to be things like medicinal wine here. If she was injured, she could only endure it until she got better. If she didn’t have that kind of luck, then she could only wait for death. Several of the children here had not made it and had gone to see God just like that.
Yu Linna touched her own body. With such a body, she couldn’t beg tomorrow. That way, she wouldn’t be able to complete her task and would have no food to eat. Yu Linna began to be at a loss.
“Blondie, look what I’ve brought for you.”
Suddenly, a girl walked over. She was dressed in tattered rags just like Yu Linna, but she was a few years older than Yu Linna. And because she had not been able to find a suitable buyer, she had been staying here with Yu Linna all along. After a long time, the two of them had also gotten familiar. It was said that this girl had to learn English, and she had also asked her to teach her the English alphabet.
“Monkey, what have you brought?”
The reason Yu Linna had called her this was because one day this girl had received a candy from an adult for completing her task with extra, and she had been jumping up and down, extremely happy. She had never seen her so happy before, just like a monkey, so Yu Linna had called her “Monkey.” But most of the children who lived here did not know their own names. A few of them might still remember what their names were, but most of the children had been taken away when they had become sensible, and many of them did not know their own names.
Even Yu Linna, she did not know that her name was Yu Linna now. She also did not know her own name, only remembered that someone had called her “Nana” a long time ago. That was also a long time ago.
The girl took out a roll of bandages from behind her back, as well as a small bottle of medicinal wine, and made a shushing gesture.
“I stole this. You can use it. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Mmm.”
Although the girl did not know how to use it, she still applied the medicine to Yu Linna according to the way she remembered the adults doing it, put on the bandages, and then pulled down Yu Linna’s clothes to cover the wound. Only after doing these things did she put the things away properly. The two of them smiled.
“Blondie, I think I’ve found a buyer.”
The girl sat next to her and said with a smile.
Yu Linna was very envious. She also wanted to be bought. That way, she could also leave this place earlier. But she was still sincerely happy for her.
“Congratulations.”
“Mmm, thank you. I don’t know who the buyer is, but this is good news. But will you be able to live well here in the future? You’ll be very troubled without me, right?”
“No, it’s better without you.”
“Tsk tsk, you’re a really bad person.”
The two of them laughed again, and then the girl took out a piece of paper and a pen and began to teach Yu Linna how to recognize English. Although both of them spoke English like the adults, many of the children did not recognize the alphabet. It was under such circumstances that Yu Linna had learned English. She also had a dream, to be able to go to school like the ordinary children on the street, to be an ordinary person.
They had spent their last period of time together.
The girl had also been taken away by a buyer.
“I hope we will meet again.”
The girl had said so before she had left.
But life is so long, and not everyone is certain to live past tomorrow. To say whether they could meet again was actually a very slim chance. Yu Linna had never seen this girl again. She had, however, inquired about her after she had left. Later, she had heard that this girl had been sold into the hands of the triads. It was said that she had not been able to hold on and had died, but it was unknown if that was true. Yu Linna had no way to verify it.
But sometimes she would think of a day many years ago, when a girl had stolen some medicine to help her apply it. The smile of that girl was already blurry, and this memory only remained in the depths of her mind. She would occasionally think of it when she was dreaming, but basically she could not remember much more.
Yu Linna had not been bought by a buyer for a long time. On the contrary, the human traffickers in her hands had changed several times, from the distant America to Canada, and then to Spain, and then to Russia. Yu Linna had been in the hands of several human traffickers, and had taken many smuggling ships. She had been squeezed in a crowded black ship time and time again, enduring the threat of disease. To be in that damp ship, it was inevitable to get an infectious disease. Yu Linna had also been unlucky and had been infected once. At that time, she had also felt that she was going to die. She had been abandoned in a separate room with this group of sick children. The whole room was full of a stench. At night, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
The dead children would be picked up by the adults and would be directly thrown into the sea to sink. She could see such a scene every day. Yu Linna did not want to die. She did not want to be thrown into the sea, so she had always persevered. The only desire to survive in her heart had allowed her to cross the gates of hell time and time again.
The infectious disease had not been able to kill her. She had gotten through it. Whether it was being sick or injured, she had basically gotten through it all. Because she wanted to live on, so she had persevered. Even her buyers would say, “How is this baby’s life so good? She has even survived this.”
After going around in circles, when Yu Linna was about to turn five, she had been bought again. This time, it was an Asian buyer.
“I’ve bought this batch of goods, but why are there so many foreigners here?”
“Mr. Sun, you’re really joking. The goods are from Europe. Do they have to be yellow-skinned and black-eyed?”
“Alright then. I’ve already bought them.”
This time, the buyer was an Asian with yellow skin and black eyes. It was said that he was a Chinese person. When he spoke, Yu Linna found it very familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before. That’s right. When she was very young, when she still had a family, her family seemed to have said similar things. But she also couldn’t remember clearly.
After being sold to Asia, Yu Linna’s life was no different from before, but the people around her had slowly been replaced by children with yellow skin and black hair. She, a child with white skin and blue eyes, had suddenly become outstanding. Many of the European children who had been sold here with her had been bought away, and it was unknown where they had gone. Some had also died. For someone like Yu Linna, who had taken so many black ships and could still tenaciously survive, was a minority. Although she had barely survived, she had still not found a suitable buyer.
Especially now that she had been sold into China, there were even fewer people who wanted to buy her.
“Mr. Sun, I can’t have this blonde one. I’ll still have the older one.”
“But this is the best-looking child I have here.”
“Yes, I know. But I don’t want a foreigner. What I want is a Chinese person, not an English or American.”
Yu Linna had never had a buyer. She had been in the human traffickers’ den for many years. In these years, she had changed many buyers and had worked for many people. She was now sold to China. In the beginning, she was all sorts of unaccustomed to it, but she had learned from the children around her. She had suddenly discovered that she seemed to be able to speak a few sentences of Chinese. It was possible that she had spoken it when she was very young. But in any case, her accent had started to change from the original English to Chinese, and it had taken a lot of effort.
This day, she was with the children, begging on the streets as before. It was just that this time it was different. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses, pretending to be a blind person and begging on the streets, because she looked too conspicuous.
She was kneeling on the ground and begging as usual. She had originally wanted to complete her task today, so that she could get more food to eat.
Suddenly, a beautiful piece of music sounded on the street, attracting the attention of the child who was not yet five.
“Only mama is good in the world, a child with a mom is like a treasure, throwing themselves into mama’s embrace…”
This seemed to be a Chinese children’s song. She wasn’t clear. This song sounded so beautiful, so pleasant to the ear. She stood up, walked towards the source of the sound. It was a sound shop. The song that was playing in the sound shop was this children’s song.
She could understand Chinese now. Although she didn’t recognize the words, she could basically understand.
This was a song about a mother.
Speaking of a mother, Yu Linna had had no mother since she had memories. The only impression she had in the depths of her memory was the gentle smile of a woman a long time ago, and a warm embrace. Although she had forgotten her face, forgotten her voice, and had even forgotten the memories of being with her, her body still remembered that warmth that had once belonged to her mother.
“Mama…”
A hoarse sound came from her throat. This title, she didn’t know since when she had not called it. When was it? Was it when she had been sold? Was it when she had entered the human traffickers’ den? Or was it when she had stopped resisting? She didn’t remember. She had forgotten.
“Only mama is good in the world, a child without a mom is like a blade of grass, leaving mama’s embrace, where can you find happiness…”
She didn’t know when she had started to cry. Her tears were like a flood, gushing out, and couldn’t be stopped. She tried to wipe them away, but found that she couldn’t.
The word “mama” was too strange to her. From the time she had memories, she had not had this thing. The only thing she could think of was that smile in the depths of her memory.
She didn’t know how long she had cried. She just stood there and cried, purely crying. She also didn’t know why. After that, her head had hurt very badly. It was as if something had been squeezed into her brain. She had felt very painful and had rolled on the ground. And then she was lying on the ground, panting. By the time she had come back to her senses, her head seemed to have been stuffed with memories that did not belong to her.
