While we were contemplating that problem, the door opened and the cold draft whipped into the room. It was Lee Danan but he just stood there at the door. The village head said, “Lee Danan, if you want to come in, then come in, don’t just stand there. It’s so cold. Close the door please.”
“Who?” I sat up straighter, this could be our prime suspect. Lee Danan sat down and said seriously, “When you guys mentioned someone walking away from the village, it jogged my memory. There was indeed such a person. When I was coming back to the village, Granny Wang was leaving the village. We crossed path about 1000 metres away from the spot where the body was found. It was around 4 pm.”
“You sure it was 4 pm?” I asked.
Lee Danan nodded. “More or less. There is a highway near the western side of the village and near the highway is a convenience store. They sell really cheap stuff and have a big selection, so I would travel that 1 hour to get there to make my purchase. When I came back, Granny Lee was leaving the village, I suppose she was going there to buy stuff as well.” My eyes brightened. If Lee Danan was telling the truth, then timeline wise, Granny Wang might have seen the killer or at least the footprints left behind by the killer. This could be our big break. If we could get any clues from Granny Wang, it would be immensely helpful to our investigation. With that in mind, I turned to the village head. “Where does this Granny Wang live? If possible we would like to interview her.”
As I said that, both Lee Danan and the village head frowned like I had asked for something impossible. I looked at them and shrugged.
“Why must it be her?” The village head cleared away the tea set. “Anyone else would be better. This is truly unfortunate. Granny Wang is not going to be easy to deal with.” The village head mumbled, I could hear the helplessness in his voice.
I couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
The village head sighed, “I’ll be frank, this First Drain Village of ours mostly houses handicapped individuals. Granny Wang is a deaf and mute old lady. Her name is Wang Meizi.”
“And?” Guan Zhenglin urged.
The village head glanced at Guan Zhenglin and elaborated, “When Granny Wang was 3, her parents divorced, the court gave her to her father who was more economically sound, but her father was a horrible man. He would vent the anger he had against his wife on their child. Domestic violence was a common thing in this household.” I sighed internally, I knew this was going to be another tragedy. The village head continued, “When she was only 3, Wang Meizi’s father started to beat her. As a girl of 3, all she knew was to cry. That lasted until she was 6. By then, her hearing was already heavily damaged from the physical brutality she suffered.”
“What kind of animal would treat their own child like that?” Gu Chen growled through his teeth.
“You’re right.” The village head continued, “Due to domestic violence, Wang Meizi was introverted and weak. She never spoke to anyone at kindergarten and never dared to tell the teachers about her torture at homr. Everyone else thought she was just shy. But in reality, she could barely hear anything when she was in class.”
At this point, Guan Zhenglin’s face filled with pity and concern, “No one noticed anything wrong about her? No one could tell that she was facing problems in her studies?”
The village head shook his head. “That was way back when, the philosophy of education was that kindergarten was just a place to place the children because the parents needed to go work. As long as the children didn’t create trouble, they could do anything they wanted.” Guan Zhenglin shook her head. “That’s sad.”
The village head worked his neck and smiled sadly, “I’ll put it like this. The child was beaten up for 3 years until it ruined her hearing. Naturally you would see the bruises near her ears and on her face but the teachers probably didn’t want to find trouble when there was none. So everyone just pretended to be blind for the 3 years she was there. For 3 years, Wang Meizi couldn’t hear anything so she stopped conversing with others.” The village head turned to look out at the white snow. “When she was 7, she prepared to go to primary school. All the new students were given free medical check ups by the government. Only then the doctor noticed the bruises on Wang Meizi.” The village head got a little heated. “The doctor was shocked and appalled to see the wounds. He had no idea how the girl managed to even survive for that long. He kept asking the girl to give him more details but she refused to speak. Eventually the doctor noticed something was wrong and did an auditory check.”
With a sigh, he continued, “After the check, they discovered Wang Meizi’s eardrum had been shattered and her ossicle cracked, she could no longer hear anything. Actually when Wang Meizi was 3, she already knew how to speak and she used to talk with people.” The village head sighed again, “But in the 3 years at kindergarten, due to her lack of communication, and her hearing problem, her language skill regressed. When the doctor discovered her problems, she had already forgotten how to speak.”
“What happened next?” Guan Zhenglin asked.
“After that,” The village head said, “Due to the evidence of domestic violence, Wang Meizi was taken away from her father and given to her mother. But things didn’t exactly get better. By then Wang Meizi’s mother had already remarried and had a 2 years old baby.” The village head explained, “She had moved on and had a new family. 3 years ago, Wang Meizi’s mother fought to have her daughter but 3 years later, she had found a better replacement. Under her father’s constant torment, Wang Meizi was thin, weak and covered in bruises, she was an ugly child. Her new family was unable to welcome someone like that into their midst. So one day.” While the village head spoke, he shook his head. His eyes filled with pity and fury, “Wang Meizi’s mother brought Wang Meizi out to Elm Town on the pretext of taking her out to play. She knew Wang Meizi was deaf and mute so she wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop her. Her mother abandoned Wang Meizi at a park and then hopped on a cab and left.”
Guan Zhenglin’s eyes watered with tears. “If you can’t be a responsible parent, then don’t have children!”
The village head was rubbing his eyes too. “Well said. When Wang Meizi got down from the merry-go-round, her mother was already gone. She waited a whole day and night at the park but her mother didn’t return. Wang Meizi at 6 had already cried all her tears. She didn’t do anything wrong but her whole life was filled with suffering.” My heart weakened and my eyes prickled. No one knew that Wang Meizi stood alone by the merry-go-round that whole night, waiting for a mother who would never return. No one knew what was on Wang Meizi’s mind that night. This world was weird, certain people were born into a perfect life; while others appeared to come to this world just for the express purpose of suffering.
The village head said slowly, “At the time, public safety was not as good as it is now. No one cared about Wang Meizi. Thankfully, there is still kindness in the world. On the afternoon of the second day, an old woman found Wang Meizi who was still waiting by the merry-go-round. The old woman was a local at First Drain Village.” The village head reminisced. “At the time, I was just a young kid. The old woman brought Wang Meizi back to the village and raised her as her own.” At this point, the village head finally smiled, “With care and attention from the old woman, the bruises on Wang Meizi healed and she grew into a beautiful young lady. With the old woman’s guidance, she also picked up speech again.”
Then his eyes dimmed. “But, the old woman was already very old when he found Wang Meizi. When she was 14, she passed away. After the old woman died, Wang Meizi stayed in the village, she survived by doing some sewing and simple patchwork. After the old woman died, Wang Meizi never spoke a single word again. Others did try to help her speak but it was to no avail. When she reached 18, she had quite a number of pursuers but she rejected all of them. She lived her life just like that. And Wang Meizi turned into Granny Wang, she has lived alone for 50 plus years already. Now it’s improbable to be able to communicate with her.”
This was truly a sad story. Guan Zhenglin was quietly wiping away her tears. The village head continued, “I heard that Wang Meizi wasn’t even her name, it was because the old woman who adopted her had the surname Wang so she took on his surname. These are all the stories I heard from the village elders. This was a very long time ago. The kid back then is now an old man, there are not many people who know these things now. In the eyes of the others,” The village head lowered his head and said slowly, “Granny Wang might be a mute, deaf, stubborn and eclectic old lady but that is because they hadn't met Wang Meizi when she was 14. She was truly a beauty…”
1 comment:
Thank you for the chapter!!
Granny Wang's life is filled with too much suffering... hopefully her days in the village were healing for her.
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