Wang Ya couldn’t figure it out. She spent three days in anxiety, but nothing happened, so she wondered if she had been overthinking it.
On the morning of the fourth day after the burglary, Wang Ya suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number. The area code showed it was from her hometown town, a landline. As soon as she picked up and said, “Hello, who’s this?” she heard a man’s muffled sobbing from the other end: “Yaya, it’s Dad. Where are you? Waaah…”
Wang Ya recognized that mature man’s voice mixed with the tone of a seven- or eight-year-old child, and it twisted her guts into knots. She had no choice but to respond, asking, “Why are you crying again? Did Grandma hit you?”
“Waaah… Ah—waaaah…” The man on the other end burst into earth-shattering wails as soon as he heard her voice.
Wang Ya’s heart shattered! How had she ended up with such a dad? Whose dad cried like hers did? Wang Ya was tormented but still had to comfort him: “Dad, stop crying. I’ll buy you a lollipop.”
“Waaah, I don’t want a lollipop. I want Mom… Waaah… Yaya, they’re beating Mom! Waaa… Yaya, where are you… Waaa…”
Wang Ya froze at the earth-shattering cries and the words “they’re beating Mom” from the phone. Then another woman’s voice came through: “Hey, is this his daughter? Come pick him up quick! How am I supposed to do business? He ran to my shop insisting on making a call, crying and making a scene. I can’t chase him off. Does he have something wrong with his brain or what?”
Wang Ya hurriedly said, “Auntie, where are you?”
“Where? Nearby Town! This is Li Huajiao’s Pepper Shop!”
Wang Ya said, “Auntie, my dad’s cousins with Wang Chengwei from the Police Station. Take him to his house, please. Auntie, don’t hang up yet. I have something to ask my dad.” She mentioned her cousin’s name because the town was small—everyone knew everyone, or at least a quick chat about addresses and names could connect through relatives and friends. Li Huajiao was famous in the Nearby Town too; they’d been selling peppers since she could remember, an old established shop. Almost every household bought peppers there, and it was less than a hundred meters from the Police Station.
“Wang Chengwei’s relative? You should’ve said so earlier! Hey, stop crying. Your daughter’s talking to you.”
“Yaya, waa…”
Wang Ya asked, “Dad, who beat Grandma?”
“I don’t know them. Mom told me to hide. I saw them beat Mom till she bled a lot. Waa… I’m so scared… Yaya, where are you?”
Wang Ya’s heart sank, her scalp tingled, and the hairs on her body stood on end. Her eyes reddened as she asked, “Where’s Grandma now?”
“Mom opened so many, so many pretty red flowers. Mom ran toward where the flowers bloomed! Waa, Mom doesn’t want me anymore, Yaya… Waaa…”
Her dad’s loud crying faded into the distance, and the woman who had answered the phone spoke again: “Alright, girl, that’s it. I’ll take your dad to Wang Chengwei’s.”
“Thanks, Auntie.” Wang Ya hung up. She immediately called Grandma, but no one answered. Sensing something ominous, she quickly dialed her Second Uncle Wang Chengwei. As soon as he picked up, she shouted, “Second Uncle, Dad just called me. Something happened at home. He’s at Li Huajiao’s Pepper Shop in town right now. Please pick him up and go check on Grandma in the village. Tell me everything. I’m heading back right away.”
“Okay, don’t panic. Your old man’s at home—I’ll call him right now and have him check your place.” Her Second Uncle’s “old man” referred to her biological dad, but though they lived in the same village just over two hundred meters apart, she had no contact with him. She wouldn’t turn to the man who had nearly drowned her in a chamber pot and later sold her for two pigs when trouble struck. Wang Ya just said “Mm,” and hung up. She didn’t bother packing anything, just grabbed her wallet, ID card, the ancient bronze coin she always carried, and the Ghost Collecting Bell before rushing out the door straight to the airport.
In this season, near her home, there were no “so many pretty red flowers”! She suspected the red flowers her dad mentioned were Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower! If her suspicion was right, then Grandma had charged into the Yellow Springs! Wang Ya thought of the rental contract stolen a few days ago, and her dad’s words today. Her face paled in terror, wishing she could sprout wings and fly back immediately.
There was no turning back on the Yellow Springs Road, and the Underworld Courts at its end were a one-way trip! What had happened to force Grandma to run into the Yellow Springs? Moreover, her rental contract, ID card info, and hometown address had been stolen a few days prior.
Wang Ya went downstairs and hailed a taxi straight to the airport. She called the Landlord Wife and told her she had to leave for a while with no set return date, so please cancel the jobs lined up. She tried calling Grandma again, but still no answer.
Instead, Second Uncle Wang Chengwei called back. Because she had been adopted into the second branch, he was her Second Uncle by blood. She was close with his family. They lived in town, and during her school years there, she ate lunch at their house every day. Second Uncle had never approved of her learning those “miscellaneous” things from Grandma, but he truly cared for her and thought of her well-being.
Wang Chengwei told her he had picked up her dad, who was terrified and wouldn’t calm down even with candy and ice cream. He was taking him home now, and also said her eldest uncle—her biological dad—had checked her house and confirmed something had happened.
Wang Ya hurriedly asked, “What happened?”
Wang Chengwei hemmed and hawed.
