Bending down to enter the chess game

Chapter 12 Finding a Lawyer

A week later.

After waking up from her afternoon nap, Liang Hui started getting busy. A few days ago, Lin Xiangsong took their son to participate in a school field trip, and they should be back today. She quickly cooked a lot of their favorite dishes, ordered some small cakes from Xiduole, and drove her electric car to the school to pick them up.

Ding dong.

[Xiao Hui, the tea shop is short one player for mahjong, come quick!]

Liang Hui paused, her hand holding the phone still. She instinctively reached into her pocket, only to find it empty. She then remembered that, as a reminder to herself to quit gambling, she had stored her bank cards and cash in a safe.

She threw away all the keys.

Thinking about this, she felt a surge of joy. What should she say to her husband, Lin Xiangsong, when she saw him later? Should she first boast about how she had recently started looking for part-time jobs, or tell him the good news that the debt collectors had been pressing her less this week? She was also thinking that maybe the two of them could get their marriage certificate soon, since it didn't seem like a big deal.

When she arrived at her son Linlin's Jianxin Elementary School, it was Friday afternoon dismissal time, and many parents were already standing at the gate to pick him up.

"Tingting's mom, you're here to pick up Tingting too?" Liang Hui greeted Niu Tingting's mom, who was Lin Lin's second-grade classmate. Because of her child's issues, they had talked and added each other on WeChat. They weren't particularly close, but they would chat for a while whenever they met while picking up their children.

"Linlin's mom, what's going on...?" Liang Hui stopped beside her. "Today is the end of our study tour, and I've come to pick up Linlin and his dad. You didn't go on the tour either?"

Unexpectedly, she looked surprised upon hearing this: "Didn't Tingting say that Lin Lin dropped out of school and didn't participate in the study tour?"

"Drop out of school?" Liang Hui was stunned.

Before get out of class ended, Liang Hui ignored the security guard's attempts to stop her and rushed into the school. The familiar classroom, the third row of the second-year students' seats on the east side, was empty. Lin Lin's homeroom teacher, a young graduate student, rushed over upon hearing the news and stopped Liang Hui from rushing into the classroom to search carefully.

"Where's Lin Lin? Did you lose him?"

The little girl looked puzzled: "Lin Lin's father withdrew him from school last week."

"Drop out of school? What do you mean, drop out of school?"

"I'm also puzzled. Linlin's mother, Linlin has been here for two years, and he has always performed very well, with excellent grades and good relationships with his classmates. We teachers and classmates are all quite reluctant to see him go. However, Linlin's father said that you have plans to relocate, and it will be inconvenient for him to continue studying here."

"Relocation, what relocation?" Liang Hui repeated like a lost soul.

"I don't know either," the little girl's voice drifted away. "Lin Lin's father didn't say either."

More and more teachers came to watch, and Liang Hui's mind went blank.

"What's going on here?"

"I heard that the child's father withdrew from school, but the child's mother doesn't know."

"Oh! Really?"

"Yes, that's really tragic..."

"Should we call the police?"

"Why call the police? This is a domestic matter between husband and wife. I bet there's some kind of mistress or something."

"Then it's definitely a divorce. Why don't you hurry up and find a lawyer? What are you doing sitting on the ground?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, you look so pitiful."

A pair of soft hands supported her: "Lin Lin's mother, are you alright?" The word "lawyer" entered Liang Hui's ears, and her three souls returned to their place.

"Yes, find a lawyer."

She shakily pulled out her phone, found "Lawyer Yu" in her contacts, and dialed the number.

"Attorney Yu, my son is missing!" Accompanied by the clattering noise of the phone hitting her earring, Liang Hui gripped her left wrist with her right hand to stop her arm from trembling with panic. She murmured, "What should I do? What should I do..." Yu Xingge turned on the speakerphone, the black pen dancing and spinning at his fingertips. The glass door of the living room reflected his nonchalant shadow.

"Ms. Liang, please calm down. What do you mean by 'missing'? First, provide the key information: How long has your child been missing? When was the last time you saw him?"

Liang Hui: "His father took him to a summer study tour on Monday morning this week. I came to pick him up today, but he wasn't there. His homeroom teacher told me that his father had already withdrawn him from school."

"When did you process the withdrawal application? When was the last time you picked up or dropped off your child? Have you contacted your child or his father this week?"

"His dad said it's inconvenient to make or receive phone calls while studying abroad. We communicate via WeChat."

"You didn't even ask to see the child or anything?"

Liang Hui's tone was stiff: "How would I know he ran off with the child? How could I know he was planning this? I'm neither a fortune teller nor like you..."

Yu Xingge interrupted, "Ms. Liang, please calm down. We're not looking for anyone responsible or at fault. You've come to me because you trust me. I'm using our chat history to help you narrow down and pinpoint the child's location so you can find him as soon as possible. What do you think?"

Liang Hui remained silent.

Have you called the child's father?

Liang Hui was stunned: "Not yet."

"Alright, now I'll tell you a few key points, please take notes."

"Wait, I don't have any paper or pen," Liang Hui said, unconsciously glancing at the crowd for help. Soon, someone stuffed a second-grade workbook and pencil into her hands.

She glanced at the other person to express her gratitude, and without saying much more, said, "Go on."

"First, contact the child's father and grandparents to confirm if there is any news about the child. Second, contact the police and report the case as a missing minor child. Third, retrieve surveillance footage from the neighborhood, school, and other locations where the child was last seen to confirm the last time they left and the mode of transportation. Fourth, and finally, back up all communication records, collect evidence of a fake divorce, and compile proof of the child's daily care."

"Wait a minute," despite Yu Xingge's slow tone, Liang Hui still felt her brain and pen were both struggling to keep up: "Attorney Yu, I don't know how. How do I do all this?"

"Which step is difficult?" As Yu Xingge's tone became more gentle, his face reflected in the glass remained unusually indifferent.

"You're so professional! My husband handles all the big and small things at home. I've never done anything like this before..."

Yu Xingge interrupted again: "Ms. Liang, how is your relationship with your son? If you don't mind your son being taken away by your husband, or if there's a one in ten thousand chance he'll be lost, and you accept the possibility of never seeing him again, then you can choose..."

"My heart is with Lin Lin and her son! I'm determined to find my son." Liang Hui almost pleaded, "If I don't know how, I can learn!"

Yu Xingge pulled back his chair and sat up straight: "You added me on WeChat last time, I'll send you the law firm's address. How about we meet at the law firm in an hour?"

Liang Hui stood up: "I'll be there in half an hour."

"Very good, then we'll meet at 18:00 PM."

Seeing Liang Hui hang up the phone, Yu Xingge stood up.

She surveyed the roughly twenty-square-meter rental room before her. The Golden Arch Building's prime location wasn't just due to its high position in the city center; during its initial design, the Dongjiang City government, to emphasize the building's iconic golden arch shape, incorporated Dongjiang Lake, ensuring that all surrounding buildings were no higher than half the height of the arch, maximizing the display of the city's open and spacious beauty to its residents. This also, to some extent, separated residential land from other areas.

However, there are always ways to circumvent policies.

People discovered that dividing this commercial land outside East Lake into extremely narrow houses and renting them out at exorbitant prices was far more effective than attracting large companies to move in. After all, there were far more people working nearby than company bosses. The corner unit that Yu Xingge rented was probably the smallest in the area, a small room of about ten square meters with a living room, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. Because it was commercial property, there was no gas, and electricity was extremely expensive. It didn't matter, though, since she never cooked anyway.

Oh wait, I think I did do it before?

What year was it?

The fall of 2010.

The courtyard was lush with trees, and a rather grand pavilion had been built on the five-room floor of the two-story red brick villa. Autumn leaves were in full bloom, and a three-tiered chocolate cake sat on a marble table in the center of the pavilion, its sweet aroma mingling with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, filling the courtyard. Layers of balloons and ribbons were scattered around. Yu Xingge was sitting in front of the cake in the center of the pavilion, throwing a tantrum. Today was her 12th birthday, coinciding with her father's promotion and her acceptance into Hongye Experimental Middle School; countless classmates and friends had come to congratulate her. It should have been a very happy day, but her mother had been missing since early morning.

At that time, she thought it was just a minor unpleasantness in her otherwise happy life. Little did she know that from that day on, her mother, Yu Dongdong, never returned home. She learned a new phrase from a storybook from her classmate: "abandoning husband and children," and she worried that her father might also suddenly disappear.

Her father became very busy, leaving early and returning late, silently growing thinner day by day. So she wanted to become useful, at least not a burden. But she was hungry… Her father stopped cooking, and the nanny had disappeared for some reason. Within a month, she quickly shed her spoiled attitude. She began secretly searching for money around the house. In various pockets, in cupboards… At first, she bought some fancy cakes and small breads to fill her stomach. Soon, what she found in the corners of the cupboards was only enough to buy some plain steamed buns. Then, she tried standing on a small stool on the stove, which was still taller than her, to steam rice in the rice cooker.

But it's really strange. I clearly saw that the aunt made only half a pot of rice, but how come when she poured in half a pot of rice, it overflowed and filled the whole pot?

And... "Ptooey!" Why is the rice half-cooked? She was clearly trying to stir it.

Frustrated, I managed to force down a couple of mouthfuls of rice, but still couldn't swallow it.

Feeling wronged, the thought of her mother still being alive flashed through her mind, and tears welled up but wouldn't fall.

Worried about what to eat next? Her rumbling stomach left her no time to think further, and she wondered if the two mouthfuls of undercooked rice she managed to eat would last her until tomorrow morning.

Sloppy, with unkempt blonde hair and stubbornly sprouting black hair, like the black soil of ripe wheat fields.

Oh no, she's almost worn all her clothes, but she still doesn't know how to do laundry...

In the past, she wouldn't have dared to utter the words "fate is fickle." Yet, twelve years later, with all her belongings crammed into this small apartment, and most of her savings used to pay its exorbitant rent, all her hardship vanished as she stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room. Across the street, on the 33rd floor of the Golden Gate Building, the seven large characters of the Hongjiang Law Firm gleamed in golden light. Reaching the window to the truth, she finally felt hopeful enough to take a step forward.