“Why not do a paternity test? That way we can find out who this child really belongs to.”
“What paternity test?! You must be in cahoots! They are definitely working together to deceive us! You need to arrest them immediately!” As she spoke, the woman shoved her man.
The dark-skinned man rushed over to snatch the child, but Zhou Ying immediately blocked him in front of Li Ping’an. The man shouted, and several villagers rushed out, causing the scene to become chaotic.
As the conflict escalated, some people picked up hoes, and a few police officers rushed over to intervene.
In the midst of the confusion, the police themselves also took a few punches, and eventually, everyone involved was taken into the police station for detention.
Lin Ya quickly squeezed through the crowd, wearing an innocent expression as he told the arriving officers that it was the villagers who had started the fight.
“Ugh…” Zhou Ying covered his swollen cheek, casting a resentful glance at Lin Ya, who was unharmed and casually eating buns on the side. Speaking through his porridge, he mumbled, “Why are you the only one unscathed?”
“I’m just lucky,” Lin Ya squinted as he felt a bit sleepy. He hadn’t slept a wink in the police station the whole night, and needed to go home and get a good rest.
“…”
“By the way, how is that child?” Zhou Ying remembered the child who was burning with fever and felt worried about him. His master was still stuck in the police station and couldn’t go out; he would have to check on the child later.
Lin Ya pinched another bun, took a bite, and wrinkled his brow – it had a leek filling.
“Don’t worry, he’s fine. The fever has subsided; he’s just severely malnourished and still unconscious. He’ll likely wake up this afternoon.”
“Once the paternity test results come in, the police will be able to determine the outcome.”
“Does that mean we have to wait a long time?” Zhou Ying frowned, losing his appetite. He had taken only two days off work and had to rush back in the afternoon.
Lin Ya grunted, calculating, “Probably about half a month or so.”
In this era, paternity testing technology was not particularly advanced, so it took longer.
“Then it seems Master will be staying here for the next half month.” Li Ping’an was suspended from work, so he had the time to stay.
Zhou Ying suddenly thought of something: Master had a pair of twins at home, yet they had only found one child. A few times he wanted to ask but felt hesitant. Watching Lin Ya’s calm expression, he finally asked, “Then… what about the other child?”
“Passed away.”
“Died…?” Zhou Ying’s eyes turned red. He couldn’t bear to think about how desperate Master must have felt upon hearing that news.
Lin Ya didn’t elaborate. In fact, during this era, girls were often undervalued. Many families would secretly suffocate or abandon baby girls that they couldn’t afford to raise, even though they loudly proclaimed that women held up half the sky. Therefore, most human traffickers primarily abducted boys; if they were to abduct girls, they would only target those who had already grown up and could be sold as brides.
The cost of crime was too low; many people abandoned their conscience for profit. If both the buyer and seller were punished equally or faced the death penalty, it is believed that those who resort to such crimes would gradually decrease.
No transaction means no harm.
Without buyers, there would be no sellers.
Lin Ya returned with Zhou Ying, having already seen the outcome of the incident. That family would not face any punishment, and in the end, Li Ping’an returned with the child to Lin City.
The traffickers who murdered Li Ping’an’s wife and snatched two of his children had already been killed two years ago by other criminals; their remains had been devoured by wolves.
After returning to Lin City, Li Ping’an resigned and moved with the child; besides Zhou Ying and Lin Ya, no one knew where he had moved to.
Li Ping’an did not want his remaining child to encounter any harm or danger because of his profession.
Zhou Ying could understand his master’s choice. After these incidents, he had grown more mature and composed, making it likely for him to take on the position of team leader in the future.
Lin Ya continued to set up his stall at the entrance of the police station. Through word of mouth, many people knew he was a talented master; the safety talismans he sold were very effective and turned to ashes after blocking disasters for people.
As a result, many people came seeking him out.
Lin Ya divined one fortune every day and sold three talismans. Each divine reading cost 1000, and each talisman cost 100, increasing in price due to inflation. By the 21st century, his small stall had turned into a Taoist temple.
The Taoist temple located on the outskirts of Lin City was quite famous; rumor had it, it was privately owned. Although the area was not large, it was picturesque with peach trees planted all around. In spring, it attracted numerous visitors coming to enjoy the blossoms.
A small Taoist boy at the entrance nibbled on a peach, the juice running down his chin, very sweet and refreshing.
“Where’s your grandfather?” A visitor dressed in casual attire with slightly graying hair asked.
Shui Yuan looked up at him, chewing on his peach without speaking, and pointed at the inside of the temple.
“Here, a gift from Grandpa Zhou.” Zhou Ying took out a box from behind, the cover shaped like a game console, and smiled as he handed it to him, “Don’t let your mom find out, or she’ll confiscate it again.”
Shui Yuan quickly set down his half-eaten peach and called out sweetly, “Thank you, Grandpa Zhou! Grandpa is drawing talismans inside! He said just come in when you arrive.”
Zhou Ying shook his head with a smile; this little trickster.
Shui Yuan blinked his eyes, watching his figure enter as he gleefully hid the game console under the table.
Someone else arrived.
“Draw a lot for a divination, one fortune a day. If you win, you can enter, but the talismans will be gone.” Shui Yuan saw someone approaching from afar and quickly sat up straight, although the peach juice on his mouth and nose ruined his pretended seriousness.
“Grandpa, is the divination here really effective?” A boy with sweat on his forehead looked skeptically at the small temple, no bigger than his house, and glanced back at the elderly man supported by bodyguards.
Zhang Run shot him a glare, “If it weren’t effective, you wouldn’t even exist! Go draw the lot. If you don’t win, I’ll draw you!”
This little brat didn’t know what misfortune had befallen him lately, and if he didn’t invite a master to tell his fortune soon, he might choke to death just trying to sip water.
“Alright, alright.” The boy reluctantly stepped forward and casually drew a stick, flipping it over to find it was a red stick.
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