Chapter 74

"Hey... Hey, easy there, young man, my old bones can't take your grip."

In his haste, Qin Feng couldn’t control the strength in his hands, causing the old man to cry out in pain. By the time Qin Feng realized and released his grip, several red finger marks were already visible on the old man’s forearm.

"Sir, I’m sorry, really sorry..."

Qin Feng repeatedly apologized, and his right hand delved into his backpack again. When he pulled it out, he had another pack of Hongtashan cigarettes. As the saying goes, more gifts mean fewer complaints. On this journey alone, Qin Feng had already given away two cartons of cigarettes.

"Sir, look, this is my sister. Have you seen her?" Along with the cigarettes, he also took out a portrait of a little girl, which he had drawn from memory, feeling that it was about 80-90% similar to his sister.

"Young man, I understand your feelings, but don’t be so impulsive next time."

Seeing another pack of cigarettes slip into his pocket, the old man’s anger had long vanished. He took a cigarette from the opened pack of Hongtashan, sniffed it, and then put it back, lighting a Da Qianmen instead.

"Hmm, the girl in your drawing, I seem to have a vague memory of her."

After taking a satisfying puff, the old man examined the portrait and nodded. "It should have been in the winter of four years ago. I can’t remember the exact month, but it was probably before the New Year...

At that time, I was out picking up coal blocks and saw a girl get off a flatbed truck. Her face seemed to have blood on it. I wanted to call out to her, but she kept crying and left the station. I... I didn’t chase after her.

Right, that train was probably the one over there. You can see how far it is from here. Even if I wanted to chase, it would have been too late..."

As he spoke, the old man pointed to a train waiting to be reorganized in the distance. Following his finger, Qin Feng realized it was the very train he had been tracking.

The freight station mainly transported coal. People living near the station didn’t need to pay for coal; they just used a rake to pull it off the trains. The old man was raking coal at the time, and the flatbed truck was quite far away, separated by three tracks. He often saw children climbing on trains, so although he found it a bit strange, he didn’t pursue it.

"It... It’s Jiajia!" Qin Feng, suppressing his excitement, shouted out loud, "Yes, it must be Jiajia!"

Based on the time and the girl’s appearance as described by the old man, it had to be Qin Jia. After searching for his sister for several years, Qin Feng finally had a clue about her whereabouts.

It’s no wonder Liu Zimo and others couldn’t find Qin Jia back then. There were hundreds of small factories along the railway, almost everywhere. Otherwise, Qin Feng wouldn’t have spent over half a month walking several hundred kilometers.

"Young man, is it really your sister? I say, how could you be so careless? Hey, hey, easy, easy!" The old man scolded Qin Feng a few times, but before he finished, his arm hurt again.

"Sir, do... do you know where she went?" Qin Feng, in his excitement, almost broke the old man’s arm again, causing the old man to shout in pain.

Perhaps because he had taken two packs of cigarettes from Qin Feng, or because he felt guilty for not stopping the girl, the old man didn’t hold back this time. After Qin Feng released his grip, he said, "I... I really don’t know. Once you leave there, it’s the town area, with many roads. Who knows where she went?"

"Sir, thank you, really thank you!"

Qin Feng didn’t even bother to fill his water bottle. He whistled, and Da Huang, who was soaking in the water tank in the yard, suddenly darted out, shaking water all over the old man’s face as he ran out the door.

Unlike the passenger station, the freight station had a wall around it for almost a kilometer, except for the ticket exit. The freight station could be entered and exited from almost anywhere. The direction the old man pointed to led directly to a major road.

There weren’t many people on the road, and no shops were visible. Qin Feng walked along the road for about five minutes and reached a crossroads, where signs indicated the directions to the capital and Tianjin. It was a national highway.

"Damn it, I’ll ask everyone, one by one, until I find my sister’s whereabouts."

Gritting his teeth, Qin Feng walked in one direction. There were restaurants along the national highway where drivers could stop for meals. If his sister had appeared, someone would have seen her.

---

"Sir, have you seen a little girl a few years ago?"

"Ma’am, did a little girl come here four years ago?"

"Sir, have you seen this girl in the portrait?"

Qin Feng, full of hope, entered one restaurant or small hotel after another along the long national highway, but each time he came out, his face was filled with disappointment.

Two days later, Qin Feng had almost walked from Tianjin to the capital, but he still hadn’t found any information about his sister. Undeterred, he returned to the crossroads and walked back toward Tianjin.

Similarly, when Qin Feng stood by the bustling Haihe River in Tianjin, he still hadn’t found any clues about his sister. It seemed that from the crossroads, Qin Jia had vanished. Despite the many restaurants along the way, no one had seen his sister.

Qin Feng had also suspected that his sister might have been in a car accident, but after asking many people, he learned that no such incident involving a little girl had occurred four years ago. This reassured him somewhat; at least... his sister was still alive!

"Could it be... that my sister was taken away by a passing vehicle?"

Standing on the bustling street, a thought flashed through Qin Feng’s mind, and he felt a sudden sense of helplessness. If that were the case, finding his sister would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Jiajia was already eight years old then. She should remember me. I’ll place a missing person ad in the newspaper. Yes, that’s what I’ll do!"

In the late 1990s, although the internet existed, it was far less widespread than newspapers. With this in mind, Qin Feng didn’t seek out Xie Xuan or Li Tianyuan but went directly to the Tianjin newspaper office.

Placing a missing person ad didn’t require complicated procedures; it was usually charged by the word. Qin Feng wrote a short ad of about twenty words, which cost him over 200 yuan, and requested it to run for ten consecutive days.

Of course, after seeing the sample in the newspaper, Qin Feng had some doubts about whether the small ad would really be seen by his sister or the people who had taken her in.

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