Chapter 19: The Fate of Chen Lan and Her Daughter

Baiyun District, Wenfeng Road.

Lu Feng walked along the narrow street, acutely aware that the security here was much worse than in the Ink Fragrance Quarter. Baiyun District was riddled with urban villages, crowded rental apartments, and a dense population of transient residents. Various forces—outsiders and locals alike—were entrenched here. Gambling, prostitution, drugs, counterfeit currency, even drug manufacturing and trafficking were rampant. In the past two years, serious crimes like murder, arson, and kidnapping had also occurred.

Lu Feng had come alone to Baiyun District by taxi, deliberately shaking off the Su family’s twin sisters. Su Muqing had found nothing useful at the hospital, but in the surveillance footage, Lu Feng had noticed that the three men who had taken Xiaoxiao and her mother didn’t look like decent people. So he decided to investigate further.

The reason Lu Feng came to Baiyun District was because he knew of a clue that others didn’t. The day he revived Xiaoxiao, he had Kirin help her find her stuffed toy, which was in a small backpack. The backpack had Xiaoxiao’s name and her kindergarten written on it.

Lu Feng had already visited the kindergarten, where he found out Xiaoxiao and her mother lived in Sanli Alley, Wenfeng Road, Baiyun District. The contact book at the kindergarten didn’t specify the building or apartment number.

So Lu Feng could only wander through Sanli Alley, asking around and hoping for luck. However, he gained nothing as he questioned people along the way.

As dusk settled, hunger gnawed at him, so he found a roadside stall in Sanli Alley and ordered a bowl of Shahe noodles, eating slowly.

When the stall owner brought the noodles, Lu Feng stopped him, gestured a height, and asked, “Do you know a little girl named Xiaoxiao? About this tall, four or five years old. She was injured in a car accident a few days ago. Do you know how she’s doing now?”

The owner frowned, sizing Lu Feng up before replying with a question: “Why are you asking?”

Previously, everyone he asked had replied they didn’t know. This owner, however, countered with a question—clearly he did know something.

Lu Feng immediately grabbed the owner’s wrist and asked, “Where do they live?”

The stall owner winced in pain, letting out an ‘ouch’. “Don’t ask about it. The mother and daughter are pitiful enough. Don’t bring trouble upon them.”

“Trouble? What do you mean?”

The owner nervously glanced around and whispered, “Don’t ask. There are people from the Lianhong Society everywhere here. Don’t ask.”

The more Lu Feng listened, the more suspicious he became. He held the stall owner’s hand tighter, pressing, “Tell me—what is the Lianhong Society?”

“Shh!” The owner pressed a finger to his lips and said, “If you don’t understand the world of the streets, don’t step into it. Young man, study hard and stay out of this. Eat and leave quickly.”

Lu Feng pulled out a hundred yuan and slipped it to the owner, saying, “I’m just curious. Take it as telling me a story.”

The stall owner pocketed the money, looked around again, then pulled up a chair to sit beside Lu Feng, leaning in. “Alright, since you insist, I’ll tell you. The Lianhong Society is the local gang here. Nearly half of Baiyun District is their turf. That little girl you’re asking about often came to eat here. I recognize her.”

“And then?”

“Xiaoxiao’s mother is named Chen Lan. She married a man and had a daughter, renting an apartment in that building over there. The family used to be honest folk, both parents working to raise their child. Life was bearable. Two years ago, Chen Lan’s husband started hanging out with Lianhong Society people, got into gambling, and lost everything, then fled to another city. The mother and daughter were left behind, and the Society has been chasing them for debts ever since. I heard she tried to run away with her daughter a few days ago, but the Society caught them and brought them back.”

As the owner spoke, his face showed genuine sympathy, but nothing more; in this area, survival depended on the whims of the gangs and societies.

Lu Feng, connecting this story to the car accident, realized the whole picture. That day, Chen Lan had run off with Xiaoxiao to escape her husband’s debts. Judging by the owner’s tone, the amount owed must have been substantial, compounded by interest—not something the mother and daughter could ever repay. Their flight was inevitable.

Yet fate was cruel. During their escape, they were caught in a car accident, and Chen Lan, suffering heavy blood loss, was sent to the hospital.

Worse still, the hospital nurse, using Chen Lan’s phone, found her home number and called to notify her family.

There were obviously no real relatives left; the person who answered must have been from the Lianhong Society.

Once they got the call, Lianhong Society sent people to the hospital to seize Chen Lan and Xiaoxiao.

After sorting through all the details, Lu Feng was fairly certain that the ones who had taken Chen Lan and her daughter were unrelated to Kanglong Pharmaceuticals—it was just a coincidence.

By the time Lu Feng finished listening to the owner’s story, night had fully fallen.

He asked one last question, “Are the mother and daughter still living in that building?”

“They’re not there anymore. I’d say the Society has locked them up to make money. But yesterday, I did see Chen Lan walking on the street across from here,” the owner replied.

“Thanks.” Lu Feng slapped another hundred yuan on the table, then stood up to leave.

His master had always said the world outside was complicated, and harmony was precious. But Lu Feng couldn’t help but walk toward the street across from the stall, hoping to get lucky and perhaps encounter Xiaoxiao and her mother.

The environment in this part of Baiyun District was indeed chaotic. Women loitered on the streets, some even throwing flirtatious glances at Lu Feng as he passed.

He walked the length of the street but saw no one he hoped to find. At the end of the street, he suddenly realized a crucial detail: he didn’t actually recognize Chen Lan.

At the car accident scene, he had performed CPR on Xiaoxiao while Chen Lan, hair disheveled, face streaked with tears and blood, was entirely unrecognizable.

He remembered Xiaoxiao’s face—an adorable, slightly thin little girl with baby fat in her cheeks.

But it was night now, and Xiaoxiao, with a broken rib, certainly wouldn’t be out on the street.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible to find Chen Lan and her daughter. Lu Feng could only sigh, exit the neighborhood, and prepare to hail a cab, planning to return tomorrow for another search.

…

As Lu Feng passed the mouth of a small alley, he suddenly heard a woman’s terrified scream.

Ah!

Two rough-looking men had cornered a woman against the wall. The leader grabbed her chin and snarled, “Run, huh? Why aren’t you running now? Want to leave before I’ve had enough fun? Believe me, I’ll have you disappear in the sea!”

The woman leaned against the wall, terror etched across her face. “Brother Da Wei, I can’t do it. Please, let me go.”

Having just heard of the gangs’ vile deeds in the area, Lu Feng now happened upon such men. He wanted to avoid trouble, to heed his master’s advice, but his feet carried him inexorably toward the three figures.