Chapter 2: The Road to Despair

Xiang Chen ambled slowly along the road. His small stature and short legs meant he hadn’t covered much ground, despite walking for a considerable time.

Instead, the soles of his feet were growing red, swollen, and tender from the constant abrasion of stones and mud.

Having lost his mother early in life, and subsequently pushed to the fringes of his own home by his stepmother and her son, Xiang Chen had found solace with his loving grandparents.

While he certainly wasn’t pampered, he had never endured such physical hardship.

Xiang Chen held his breath, determined not to spend the night outdoors. He persevered until his legs could no longer carry him, then finally slumped onto the roadside, hoping a brief rest would allow him to continue.

Just then, a faint sound drifted from the distance. Xiang Chen paused, listening intently, and indeed, there seemed to be a definite noise. He scrambled up, swiftly ducked into the tall grass, and crouched, his eyes fixed on the road.

A bullock cart slowly approached. Seated within were two adults and two children, all bearing the typical features of Hua citizens. Their clothes, though dusty and worn, were of a style commonly seen on rural elders in Hua.

Xiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Good, I haven’t transmigrated to another world,’ he thought. He hesitated in the grass, wondering whether to ask them for a ride.

Otherwise, with his short legs, he didn’t know how much longer he could walk. Yet, what would he say if he emerged? A child so small, alone by the roadside, would surely seem strange.

Xiang Chen furrowed his brow in thought. Seeing the bullock cart about to disappear into the distance, he gritted his teeth and dashed out, chasing it for a few steps. Before he could even call out, the cart unexpectedly came to a stop.

A surge of joy filled Xiang Chen’s heart. He quickly scurried forward on his short legs, stopping breathlessly beside the cart.

He hadn’t seen them clearly from afar, but up close, he could distinguish the people on the cart. There was a man and a woman, both appearing to be in their late forties or early fifties.

The man had thick, unruly eyebrows that made him look somewhat fierce, while the woman had a kind, round face. Upon seeing him, she immediately jumped down from the cart, her voice filled with concern.

“Whose child is this? What are you doing out here in the middle of the road? Where are your parents?”

Xiang Chen froze when the woman asked about his parents. ‘Do people still refer to them as ‘daddy and mommy’ now?’ he wondered.

His mind raced. Xiang Chen’s eyes swept over the bare wooden board of the bullock cart. Then, in a childish voice, he piped up, “My daddy is in the city. My mommy took me to find him, but I fell asleep on the way and tumbled out.”

Upon hearing his own high-pitched, childish voice, Xiang Chen couldn’t help but scrunch his face into a ‘steamed bun’ expression.

Still, he had to continue. “Auntie, can you take me to find my mommy? Mommy said Daddy went to see the uncles in uniform. They must be waiting for me at the uncles’ house.”

“Uncles in uniform?” The woman exchanged a glance with the man, then smiled warmly, picking Xiang Chen up and placing him on the bullock cart.

“Auntie and Uncle know the uncles you’re talking about. They live in big houses, wear white clothes, and hats, don’t they?”

White clothes? Xiang Chen was momentarily stunned. ‘Do police officers wear white clothes? I seem to recall seeing something about Hua police uniforms being white for a period, but I can’t remember exactly when,’ he thought.

The woman, seeing his silence, didn’t press further. She continued,

“Your mommy is truly careless, not even realizing her child fell out. It’s a good thing we met you. Few people travel this road, and there are wolves at night. A child your size, with tender meat, is a wolf’s favorite.”

Xiang Chen shivered with fright and quickly snuggled further into the cart. He remembered his grandmother telling him how their family pig had been snatched by a wolf when she was young.

If such a large pig could be carried away, what chance did his small weight stand?

Seeing his fear, the woman comforted him, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. We have many people, so the wolves won’t dare come near.”

She then introduced herself, saying her maiden name was Luo and her husband’s surname was Ma. They could be called Uncle Ma and Auntie Ma. The two children in the back were their grandchildren, accompanying them to visit relatives.

Xiang Chen then turned to look at the two children. The girl appeared to be about seven or eight, while the boy was younger, perhaps only two or three.

Both children were incredibly thin. The boy was slightly better, but the girl was emaciated, almost skeletal, which was somewhat unsettling to behold.

Neither child had spoken since he got on the cart. They remained silent, not even looking at him.

“They’re both so thin…” Xiang Chen murmured, watching the two children. He instinctively reached for his candy to offer them, but then remembered his sweets were tucked into a small pocket in his clothes.

If he pulled out the candy, that little pocket would be exposed, so he stopped.

Uncle Ma, who was driving the cart, scoffed at his words, his gaze sweeping over Xiang Chen’s fair, tender face before he turned away.

Auntie Ma nudged her husband with her elbow, then sighed and said to Xiang Chen,

“Your Uncle Ma just has that temperament. In these times, it’s a blessing not to starve to death. At least our children are all hale and hearty. Some families have given away countless children already.”

She then looked at Xiang Chen’s clothes, which, though a little dirty, had no patches and were clearly made of good material. She continued, “You, you look like a child from a good family. What’s your name? How old are you? What do your parents do?”

Xiang Chen’s mind was still processing Auntie Ma’s words. People starving to death? Hua was a major agricultural and industrial nation; when could there have been a food shortage?

He desperately tried to recall his grandmother’s past stories, while on the surface, he feigned the innocent ignorance of a small child, speaking disjointedly. “My name is Chenchen. Daddy has meetings, and Mommy… Mommy teaches Chenchen to read. I…”

He tried to count his age on his fingers, primarily because he himself wasn’t sure how old he was supposed to be now. If he misstated it and didn’t look the part, that would be problematic.

Auntie Ma, seeing him struggle to count for a long time, used her own judgment and asked directly, “Are you four or five years old?”

In truth, she thought the child might even be younger. With food scarce these days, children often didn’t grow tall. Many four or five-year-olds weren’t as tall as this child. However, this child’s family seemed well-off, so he might have grown faster due to good nutrition.

“Five years old,” Xiang Chen replied. He had been waiting for Auntie Ma to guess. Middle-aged women were often remarkably accurate at judging a child’s age.

He couldn’t even tell his own age by looking in a mirror. Choosing a slightly older age based on Auntie Ma’s guess was very convenient.

Before Auntie Ma could ask anything further, Xiang Chen, feigning curiosity, pointed to the two children beside them. “How old are they?”

Auntie Ma glanced at the children and said, “The older sister is eleven, and the younger brother is five, the same age as you.”

Xiang Chen was shocked. These two children were that old? While he wasn’t good at judging ages, he couldn’t be that far off!

“The little brother is five too?” Xiang Chen’s surprise was genuine. “Was he born the same year as me?”

Auntie Ma, having seemingly gotten the information she wanted, appeared somewhat impatient but still replied, “Yes, both were born in ’56.” After that, she stopped bothering with Xiang Chen, turning to talk to Uncle Ma about something.

Xiang Chen was already stunned by Auntie Ma’s words. ’56? If he were still in Hua, that would be 1956, making it 1961 now. His grandmother hadn’t even been born yet!’ ‘That’s right,’ he thought. ‘The white police uniforms, they were from this era, and Grandma told me about the three years of famine when her older brother died. Now, it’s the final year of it…’

The conversation between Auntie Ma and Uncle Ma was very quiet, with only a few indistinct words like ‘cadre,’ ‘shirt,’ and ‘teacher’ drifting on the wind. However, Xiang Chen paid no attention; his heart was still reeling from the shock of having traveled decades through time.

The bullock cart continued for another hour or so. The sun was already high in the sky. Uncle Ma pulled the cart to the side of the road, then tore some grass to feed the ox.

Auntie Ma took out a cloth bundle, opened it, and revealed several dark, lumpy balls.

She took out two of the balls, gave one to Uncle Ma, and broke one in half for herself, then broke off another piece to share between the two children.

The children took them and devoured them ravenously, stretching their necks as they swallowed, unwilling to spit out even a crumb.

Xiang Chen stared at the dark lumps for a long time, unable to discern what they were. Seeing him staring, Auntie Ma broke off a small piece from her half and offered it to him.

Xiang Chen initially wanted to refuse; seeing their situation, he knew food was scarce, so how could he possibly accept?

However, before he could voice his refusal, his stomach rumbled loudly. He had drunk a bellyful of alcohol last night and hadn’t eaten this morning, so he was indeed hungry.

This made refusal impossible; a child so small wouldn’t understand politeness.

Holding the dark lump in his hand, Xiang Chen frowned, wondering what it was. If it was a steamed bun, it was too dark and coarse. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite.

The moment it entered his mouth, Xiang Chen nearly spat it out. What on earth was this? It was hard and crumbly, with a strange, sour, astringent taste.

They had offered it out of kindness, and spitting it out would be impolite. Xiang Chen quickly chewed a couple of times, intending to swallow it, but then discovered there were some things inside that simply wouldn’t break down, becoming even tougher with each chew.

He tried twice, but a child’s throat was narrow, making it difficult to swallow. Left with no choice, he swallowed the parts he could, though it scraped his throat painfully, at least it was edible.

The bits that were truly unchewable had to be spat out. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be roots of some unknown plant.

“Those are wild vegetable roots,” Auntie Ma said, glancing at him before continuing to eat her own vegetable lump. “If you can’t get used to it, don’t eat it.”

Wild vegetable roots? What even were those? Xiang Chen held the remaining small piece of the dark lump, utterly unable to bring himself to eat it.

He had never tasted such awful food. Seeing the two children beside him staring longingly at the dark lump in his hand, Xiang Chen simply broke the thing in half and gave it to them.

The two children took it and swallowed it in two or three bites.

After eating, Uncle Ma drove the bullock cart back onto the road.

Along the way, Xiang Chen tried to subtly gather information from Auntie Ma, but for some reason—perhaps because of the lunch incident—she barely responded to his questions.

Realizing she wasn’t in the mood to talk, Xiang Chen wisely fell silent and focused on the roadside.

They continued for a while, and occasionally Xiang Chen would spot rugged small paths, leading he knew not where. Midway, as they passed a particular small path, Uncle Ma steered the cart onto it. The path grew narrower and narrower, and they made two more turns.

Xiang Chen found it odd. There had been no sign of human habitation for so long; this road was far too desolate. Moreover, shouldn’t roads typically improve as one neared a city?

He feigned impatience and asked Auntie Ma when he would see his mommy. Auntie Ma replied brusquely, “Soon, soon.”

Not long after, Uncle Ma stopped the bullock cart near a crossroads. It was still mid-afternoon, yet they weren’t going any further.

Auntie Ma jumped off the cart, presumably to do something, and soon returned, instructing Uncle Ma to drive the cart into a forest.

Xiang Chen grew increasingly uneasy and again asked Auntie Ma when they would arrive. This time, Auntie Ma completely ignored him. Uncle Ma chuckled strangely and said, “What’s the hurry? We’ll find you a mom right away.”

Xiang Chen’s heart sank. ‘Oh no, this is bad! They’re human traffickers!’