Chapter Fifty-Four: The Little Ghost Cries at Midnight

  Liu Handong's indifferent attitude made Zhu Qiangqiang very angry, she stood with her hands on her hips and pointed at Liu Handong, shouting: "Do you have a conscience? Destroying your tricycle was our fault, but we also apologized sincerely. Do you know how many pounds Double has lost because of this matter? Do you know how much effort and connections we used to buy you a new motorcycle?"

  Her small chest heaved up and down, panting heavily, but Liu Handong was not convinced. He knew that these two girls were just playing a prank, from the way they had behaved with regret at the scene of the crime that day. And looking at Song Shuang again, she had indeed lost a lot of weight, her pointed chin was visible.

  "We were both injured and lying in the hospital, heard that you were at the police station, immediately rushed over, what else do you want us to do!" Qianqian stamped her foot.

  Song Shuang pulled at the hem of Qiongqiong's clothes: "Forget it, if he hadn't forgiven us, he wouldn't have risked his life to save us. What he said is right, we're not familiar with each other, let's go."

  Shua said, turning around and wanting to leave, with his back facing Liu Handong, but his eyes were filled with tears.

  "Wait." Liu Handong suddenly remembered something.

  "Anything wrong?" Song Shuang didn't turn his head.

  "Is your family very influential?" Liu Handong asked.

  "In the eyes of ordinary people, I suppose so, my father is Song Jianfeng." Song Shuang said calmly.

  "What's Song Jianfeng doing?" Liu Handong scratched his head, he didn't watch TV much and hadn't heard of this name.

  "He's the Director of Jiangdong Province Public Security Department, isn't that impressive enough?" Zhu Qiangqiang said with a huff.

  Liu Handong scratched his head: "It's indeed big enough. As it happens, I have a favor to ask of you, consider it as repayment."

  Song Shuang finally turned around: "Speak up, no matter what it is, I'll try my best to help."

  Liu Handong said: "I have several friends who were taken away by the police, can they be leniently treated? Among them is a girl, she must be wronged. I know her, she won't do that kind of thing."

  "What kind of thing?" Song Shuang and Qianqian exchanged a glance, both looking puzzled.

  Ling Zijie, who had been silent all along, took out his mobile phone and stretched it over: "The person you're talking about, is it this one?"

  The person on the screen is Blue Lotus with a double-shoulder bag on her back.

  "It's her." Liu Handong nodded, "She works at Mei Jie's hair salon, but she is not a fallen woman who engages in that kind of business."

  Ling Zijie was overjoyed. After searching high and low, he finally found his investigation target without much effort.

  Song Shuang said: "Okay, this trouble can be helped, but it takes time, go through the regular channels, apply for administrative reconsideration."

  This answer made Liu Handong very satisfied. If Song Shuang promised to release Mei Jie and the others immediately, Liu Handong would look down on her instead. Prostitution is only a minor offense, and with the help of the director's daughter, those clever public security personnel will definitely know what to do.

  "There's still one more thing." Liu Handong said after some thought.

  "You say." Song Shuangba couldn't bear Liu Handong mentioning a few more requirements.

  "A while ago, a drunk driving accident occurred at the Nanjiao big roundabout, resulting in two deaths and one serious injury. The deceased were a mother and daughter, with the child only three years old, destroying an entire family. However, the perpetrator fabricated his age to escape legal punishment and has now been released on bail. If you have the ability, reflect this to your father and bring this guy to justice through the law. By the way, the person's name is Xia Zhou, and he is the son of Xia Baishi."

  Song Shuang took out her phone and tapped on it, writing in the memo: "I've taken note of this, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."

  "One last thing, go give those cops outside a shout, don't let them keep asking back and forth, I heard what they meant, they still want to charge me with assault and lock me up for a few days."

  Song Shuang bit her lip: "Don't worry, you're just standing up for justice, they're just making sure the record is correct, that's all."

  "I should head back." Liu Handong stood up, stretched his waist due to sitting for too long, and pulled on the wound on his back, causing him to take in a breath of cold air. Song Shuang and Qianqian both shuddered as if they were the ones in pain.

  Liu Handong was about to leave, and no one stopped him. The police had already made a record of the incident. He was a good citizen who had bravely stood up for justice, and he had saved the leader's daughter, so no one would make things difficult for him.

  Song Shuang and the others followed him out, insisting on sending Liu Handong home.

  "What are you following me for?" Liu Handong stopped in his tracks.

  Ling Zijie explained, "That's right, we're preparing to do a project, researching the living conditions of fallen women. You're quite familiar with them, can you take us to visit and help us out?"

  Liu Handong took a look at him, wearing glasses and looking like a refined university student. He was indeed the man who had been attacked in the car during the day. Perhaps he was Song Shuang's boyfriend. Liu nodded: "Alright, there are many barber shops on Tiehua Street. You can interview them as you please."

  Ling Zijie and Liu Handong walked side by side, took out their mobile phones, opened the recording function, and asked: "Mr. Liu, how did you get to know these few fallen women?"

  Liu Handong said: "I took care of their business."

  Song Shuang, who was following behind, felt as if she had been struck by a hammer. She couldn't believe that Liu Handong was such a person and had done such despicable things. It seemed that imagination was always beautiful, but reality was always cruel.

  She didn't hear the conversation behind her, she just walked mechanically, with a mind full of worries.

  Unconsciously walked to the middle section of Tiehua Street, and indeed there were ambiguous red lights everywhere on the street. The light boxes were written with words such as leisure, massage, foot washing, and health care. The fallen women sat in the glass door, playing with each other, and from time to time beckoning passersby.

  "This is where Sister Mei washes her hair."

  The storefront is not large, with a sign that reads "Plum Washing Head" and the light box was smashed by thugs sent by Huadipai and has not been repaired.

  Ling Zijie took a few photos with his mobile phone and said, "Let's go."

  Liu Handong suddenly walked towards the rolling curtain door, squatted down, and then lay down, with his ear against the gap under the rolling curtain door. After a while, he stood up, patted the dust off his hands and said: "There's someone inside."

  Ling Zijie was shocked: "No way, are you sure?"

  The people in the hair salon were rounded up by the police, and inside it was pitch black. How could there be anyone? Ling Zijie also leaned down to listen carefully, listened for a while, stood up, with a very serious expression: "There is a sound, like a child crying."

  These words were like a gust of cold wind, and Song Shuang and Zhu Qiangqiang were so frightened that their hair stood on end. It was impossible for anyone to be in the store, could it be... something unclean? The various stories they had seen in "Tian Ya Lian Peng Ghost Stories" floated up in their minds, and the two girls trembled with fear, their voices shaking: "Let's get out of here quickly."

  "Wait." Liu Handong went around to the back entrance of the house, listened again and confirmed that there were children crying inside. He retreated a few steps, then sprinted towards the wall, jumped up and grabbed the top of the wall, flipped over and landed on top of it with movements more agile than a flying thief.

  Confirmed that there was no danger inside, Liu Handong jumped down and opened the courtyard door from the inside. Ling Zijie took out his mobile phone and turned on the flashlight function, calling to the two girls: "Come in and take a look."

  Zhu Qiangqiang tightly grasped Song Shuang: "Don't go, there's a ghost, it's a baby ghost that can possess people."

  Song Shuang was also very afraid, but at this time she had to pretend to be brave, so she pulled up Qiangqiang: "Go, let's go in and take a look!"

  Liu Handong was familiar with the place and felt his way to the light switch, turned it on, and suddenly the room was filled with light. The four of them saw a little girl curled up in the corner, with some leftover food scattered in front of her, including instant noodle packaging, melon seed shells, and an uncooked rice grain. Her hair was disheveled, she was barefoot, and her face was dirty, but her eyes sparkled brightly.

  Ling Zijie asked Liu Handong: "Do you know him?"

  Liu Handong shook his head, "I've never heard that Mei Jie or Nana and Xiaoya have a daughter."

  Since it's not a ghost, it's time for the girls to take action. Song Shuang slowly walked over, squatted down and softly asked: "Little sister, what's your name?"

  "Little Swallow." The little girl's voice was faint and timid.

  "How old is Little Swallow?"

  "I'm three and a half years old."

  "Where is your home? Where are your father and mother?"

  "My home is there, Mom has left." Little Swallow pointed to a bedroom and said that it was Mei's room. She thought it was her own home.

  The truth is out, this little girl is the daughter of a certain fallen woman, it's unknown why she was abandoned here, surviving on leftover food, living like a mouse in this small courtyard, if not discovered by chance, maybe she would have starved to death in a few more days.

  Song Shuang's nose turned sour and she held back tears, saying: "Little Swallow, Mommy is playing hide-and-seek with you. Now we'll take you to find her, okay?"

  "Okay." Little Swallow said in a soft and gentle voice, stretching out her hands.

  Song Shuang didn't mind the dirt and picked up Xiao Yan, but the next step was a problem.

  "Let's go to the hospital, Little Swallow is ill." Song Shuang felt the little girl's body burning with fever as soon as he took her in his arms.

  "Wait a minute, I'll go get the car." Liu Handong took off running, not looking like an injured person at all.

  A few minutes later, a white van came, and Liu Handong stuck his head out: "Get on!"

  Three people hugged the girl and got on the car, Liu Handong's shoulder was injured, using only his right hand to drive, shifting gears and holding the steering wheel without delay, but scared Tongtong: "Is Liu Handong okay? Let Ling Zijie come and drive instead."

  Ling Zijie said with embarrassment: "Sorry, I can only drive an automatic."

  "How stupid!" Pingping said, she had forgotten that she also only knew how to drive an automatic.

  The streets were empty at night, and they soon arrived at the emergency department of the hospital. Song Shuang carried Little Yan inside for examination, while Ling Zijie went to pay the fee and register. The doctor examined her and found that Little Yan had a high fever of 39 degrees, severe dehydration, and extreme weakness, so she was immediately given medication and put on an IV drip.

  "Where did you pick up this kid? Have you reported it to the police?" The doctor could tell at a glance that Song Shuang and her companions were unrelated to little Yan.

  "No need to call the police, we'll take care of all her expenses." Zhu Qiangqiang took out a platinum credit card and waved it.

  Liu Handong walked in with a bag of food, which he had bought from the 7-11 at the hospital entrance.

  Little Swallow looked around in confusion: "Where's Mom?"

  Song Shuang turned around and wiped away her tears, stroking the little swallow's hair and saying: "Good girl, Mommy will be back tomorrow."