Chapter 123: Old Lady Wang

2022-05-20

A cold gust slipped through as Li Danan opened the door. But he just stood there, lost in thought for a moment.

The village chief called out, “Li Danan, either come inside or go out, but don’t just stand there blocking the cold. Close the door if you’re not coming in.”

That finally snapped Li Danan back to the present. “Right, Village Chief, I just remembered something.”

He stepped inside as he spoke.

Li Danan glanced at us and said, “It just came to me—when I was heading home today, I ran into someone on the road.”

“You ran into someone?” His words piqued my curiosity, and I sat up straighter.

Li Danan took a seat and, looking serious, explained, “When you were talking just now, I remembered I did pass by someone. It was around four o’clock, I think. I was heading into the village, and Old Lady Wang was heading out, right around a kilometer east of where the body was found. We brushed right past each other.”

“Four o’clock?” I asked.

Li Danan nodded. “There’s a national highway on the west side of the village. Next to it is a small convenience store—better prices, more variety. So I always go the extra mile just to shop there. On my way back, Old Lady Wang happened to be heading out to do some shopping.”

My eyes lit up. If what Li Danan said was true, then by the timeline, Old Lady Wang might have seen the killer. Even if she didn’t witness the act itself, surely she saw the killer or at least the footprints he left behind.

This could be a breakthrough. If we could get some clues from Old Lady Wang, it’d be a huge help for our investigation. Thinking that, I quickly asked the village chief, “Where does Old Lady Wang live? If possible, we really should pay her a visit.”

The words were barely out of my mouth before both Li Danan and the village chief frowned, as if I’d just suggested something wildly impossible.

I looked between them, shrugged, and honestly couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

“Why’d it have to be her…” The old village chief started packing away the tea set, grumbling, “Anyone else would be fine, but Old Lady Wang? Life sure loves a joke. She’s not easy to deal with, not at all.”

He muttered to himself, making it pretty clear this wouldn’t be simple.

I couldn’t hold back my curiosity. “What’s the matter? Is there a problem?”

The old village chief sighed. “Of all the people out shopping at that time—why did it have to be Old Lady Wang? I’ll be honest, in Tougouzi Village, almost everyone has some disability. The Old Lady Wang Li Danan is talking about is actually a deaf and mute woman—her name’s Wang Meizhi.”

“And then?” Guan Zengbin chimed in.

The village chief gave him a look, then said, “You know the saying—most who are deaf are also mute. When Wang Meizhi was three, her parents divorced, and she was sent to live with her father because he had the means to support her. But that man…he wasn’t any kind of father. He took all his anger at his wife out on his child.”

Hearing that, my heart sank again. Stories starting like this always seem to end in tragedy.

The old village chief started telling Wang Meizhi’s story, his tone slow and heavy. “At three, Wang Meizhi really only knew how to cry—what else could she do? That went on until she was six. By then her hearing was already damaged.”

“To hurt your own daughter like that…he’s an animal,” Gu Chen said through gritted teeth.

“You’re telling me,” the old village chief agreed. “Wang Meizhi became reclusive and timid. She never talked to anyone at school, never dared tell her teachers what was happening. People just thought she was shy, but in truth, by the end, she could barely hear anything at all.”

Guan Zengbin’s face twisted in sympathy. “Didn’t anyone notice something was wrong? Didn’t anyone realize she wasn’t like the other kids?”

The old village chief shook his head. “Those were different times. Kindergarten wasn’t what it is now. Back then, it was just a place to keep kids for the day. As long as nothing major happened, the teachers didn’t pay any attention to what the kids were up to.”

Hearing that, Guan Zengbin just shook his head and softly said, “That’s just heartbreaking.”

The old village chief massaged his neck and gave a wry laugh. “What can I say? Her hearing—everything—was ruined. And you could see the bruises plain as day. But I guess the teachers just preferred to avoid trouble when they could, so for three whole years, no one tried to find out what was really going on.”

“For three years, Wang Meizhi couldn’t hear much of anything, and she barely spoke to anyone.” The old village chief gazed out at the white snow beyond the window. “When she turned seven and it was time to start primary school, they did a free physical for all the kids. That’s when the doctors finally saw all her injuries.”

“Monster,” the old village chief spat out, getting worked up. “The wounds horrified even the doctors. I can’t imagine how she survived all that. They asked her over and over, but she just wouldn’t speak. Then one doctor realized something was wrong with her hearing and ran some tests.”

He let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “After she was checked, they found her eardrums were ruptured, and her middle ear bones were shattered. The girl couldn’t hear a thing. And yet, at three, she’d already learned to talk and communicated just fine.”

Another sigh escaped his lips. “But after three years of little contact with people and worsening hearing, her speech faded too. By the time the doctors figured it out, she had no idea how to speak anymore.”

“What happened after that?” Guan Zengbin asked.

“After that…” the village chief replied, “Wang Meizhi was sent to live with her mother. But honestly, her mother wasn’t really any better. She’d remarried and already had a new baby by then.”

He went on, “Her mother had a new family. Three years before, she’d doted on Wang Meizhi, but now that she had a new child, her attention shifted. Plus, Wang Meizhi was skinny, covered in scars, not easy to look at. There was just no way she could fit into the new family.”

A look of anger and sorrow crossed the village chief’s face as he shook his head. “Her mother knew she was deaf and mute, couldn’t call for help. That afternoon, under the pretense of taking her out to play, her mom abandoned her in a small city—Yumu City—and left alone.”

Guan Zengbin’s eyes brimmed with tears. “If you have no intention of raising your child, don’t have one in the first place!”

The old village chief rubbed at his own eyes. “You said it. When Wang Meizhi got off the carousel, her mother was already gone. She waited in the amusement park all night, but her mom never came back. Six-year-old Wang Meizhi cried herself dry. She hadn’t done anything to deserve that, but it was like she was born to suffer.”

The old village chief’s words left my heart aching, like someone had upended a bottle of old vinegar inside me—so sour it nearly made me cry. We’ll never really know what it was like for Wang Meizhi, waiting beside that carousel all through the night. We’ll never know the thoughts swirling through her mind.

This world is strange—some are born into luxury and ease, while others seem destined to pay for some unknown sin, enduring every torment life throws at them.

The village chief spoke softly, “Back then, the authorities weren’t strict like now, so no one came to check on her. But there are still kind people in the world. The following afternoon, an old man found Wang Meizhi, standing lost beneath the carousel.”

“That old man was from Tougouzi Village, right here in Yumu City,” the village chief recalled. “At the time, I was just a brat myself. The old man brought Wang Meizhi back to the village and raised her as if she were his own granddaughter.”

The memory made the village chief smile. “In his care, her wounds healed, more or less. She was actually a lovely girl, and under his guidance, she even learned to say a few words again.”

“But…” sadness clouded the village chief’s eyes. “By then, the old man was already elderly. When Wang Meizhi was about fourteen or fifteen, he passed away. But she stayed in the village, supporting herself by weaving crafts and sewing bed sheets and covers for others.”

“After the old man died, Wang Meizhi never spoke another word. Others tried to coax her, but nothing worked. After eighteen, many tried to arrange marriages, but she refused every time. And so she lived her life—since she was fourteen, she’s lived alone for over fifty years. Talking to her is even harder now.”

It was a story that could make any man silent and any woman weep. Guan Zengbin quietly wiped tears from his eyes.

The village chief continued, “They say Wang Meizhi wasn’t her original name. The old man who raised her was surnamed Wang, so that’s how she became Wang Meizhi. That’s what the elders in the village told me—it was long ago, and now even the kids from back then are old men themselves. Not many remember these things.”

“To others…” the village chief let his head drop, voice growing gentle, “Old Lady Wang is just a deaf, mute, stubborn old woman. None of them ever saw her at fourteen—back then, she was a true beauty…”