Chapter 141 - 139: Evil Sisters
Just as she was about to get a clear look at them, Jiang Li’s point of view suddenly shifted away.
Jiang Li’s heart was stuck in her throat.
"Sis, something’s wrong with this little bastard. I think he has a fever. Should we take him to the hospital?"
"What do you mean, hospital? You think that’s free? Just get some Analgin and feed it to him. That’ll do."
Listening to their conversation, Jiang Li felt a surge of anger and anxiety. When she was a sick child, Jiang Dewang had done the same thing—fed her Analgin.
All medicine is poison to some degree, let alone a drug like this.
"No, that won’t work. He’s burning up. It’s almost the end of the month—what if someone from the agency comes to check on him? No, we have to take him to a hospital. A small clinic, if we have to."
"Fine. You take him tomorrow. Just remember to avoid being seen."
Jiang Li woke up without ever getting a clear look at the two women. Still, it was a good thing she’d gotten so much information this time.
Jiang Li got out of bed, washed up, and after a couple of quick bites, headed to the police station.
Zhao Shuo sat across from her with a smile. "Miss Jiang, go ahead."
Jiang Li nodded. "I dreamed about a boy, a little over a year old, who was covered in injuries. A pair of sisters are his guardians. I didn’t get a clear look at them, but they’re raising him for a five-thousand-yuan monthly stipend.
I heard them say that the boy has a maternal grandmother. He’s sick, and they’re going to take him to a hospital or a clinic today."
Zhao Shuo jotted down the key details. "Okay. If there’s a stipend, it’s probably through a foster care agency. A boy over a year old, with a maternal grandmother... this shouldn’t be hard to track down."
Jiang Li nodded, then got up and followed Zhao Shuo out.
On her way out, she could still see the two groups of people who had been locked up the previous night.
Zhao Shuo and his colleagues quickly zeroed in on the relevant information.
"The boy’s nickname is Kaikai. His father’s in prison, and his mother’s whereabouts are unknown. He has a maternal grandmother, but she couldn’t care for him, so she applied for foster care.
He had two nannies before. A social worker eventually placed him with the second ones—the sisters, Wang Yunxia and Wang Yunhua."
Zhao Shuo’s brow tightened as he read further into the file. It showed that the two had been involved in a child abuse case while working at a kindergarten. Afterward, they changed their names and joined the Child Welfare League.
"These sisters have a prior record. What was that social worker thinking? As of today, they’ve had the boy for three months and twenty-four days!"
Zhao Shuo’s brow furrowed. He then looked down at the home address.
"This address looks familiar... Oh, right! I remember now. Someone came in yesterday to report that they hadn’t heard from their next-door neighbor in a month."
A colleague beside him picked up the file to compare. "Huh, it’s not the same apartment, but it is the same building. We can check it out today while we’re there."
Zhao Shuo took the file, glanced at it, nodded in agreement, and turned to inform Zhou Tiancheng and the others.
Jiang Li went with them. She glanced at the time. It was only eight in the morning. ’I hope we’re not too late,’ she thought.
The group drove toward the Garden District. After they arrived, Zhao Shuo led the team toward Wang Yunxia’s apartment building.
Zhao Shuo knocked on the door. A moment later, a heavyset woman opened it.
"Who are you looking for?" Wang Yunxia asked, her heart clenching with anxiety as she saw the police officers outside.
Zhao Shuo glanced at Jiang Li.
Jiang Li nodded. The voice was the exact same one from her dream.
Zhao Shuo presented his badge. "Ma’am, we’ve received a report of child abuse. We need to come in and conduct an inspection."
Wang Yunxia’s mind went blank. ’The little bastard didn’t make a peep,’ she thought frantically. ’We were so careful. How could anyone have found out?’
"Officer, this is all..." Wang Yunxia started to explain, but she was silenced by Zhao Shuo’s intimidating gaze.
Zhao Shuo’s expression hardened. "Please cooperate with our investigation."
Zhao Shuo glanced at the officers behind him, and several of them pushed past her into the apartment.
Jiang Li stepped inside and looked around. The apartment was filled with adult belongings, with not a single child’s item in sight. She went and opened two doors; both closets contained only adult clothing.
Just as she was about to open another door, the front door swung open.
Wang Yunhua was stunned to see strangers in her home. She instinctively blocked the doorway. "Who are you people? Get out of here right now, or I’ll report you for..."
Wang Yunhua’s eyes fell on two uniformed police officers, and the words died in her throat. ’Why on earth are there cops in our apartment?’ she thought.
Jiang Li sniffed the air, and a musty odor hit her. She pushed past Wang Yunhua and went inside. In a small, cramped room, she found a pile of children’s clothes. They were tattered, for both boys and girls, and looked like they’d been scavenged from the trash.
Jiang Li went to him. A night had passed since her dream, and the boy’s breathing was even weaker. She took off her jacket, wrapped him in it, and carried him out.
Zhao Shuo came over and took one look, then shouted to one of the officers who had come with them, "Quick! Get him to the hospital!"
Jiang Li left with them immediately. As she walked out, she vaguely heard the sound of a lock turning in the apartment next door.
She faltered for a moment, her eyes catching the apartment number: 14-3. But with the child in her arms, she pushed the thought aside and hurried away.
Seeing that they’d been found out, Wang Yunhua and Wang Yunxia tried to make a run for it, but they didn’t get two steps before Zhao Shuo and another officer apprehended them.
Zhao Shuo stepped into the small room, his brow so deeply furrowed you could kill a fly in it. "The community pays you five thousand a month, and this is how you treat a child?
You two are completely depraved. Take them away!"
Terrified, Wang Yunxia and Wang Yunhua were trembling so badly they couldn’t form a complete sentence.
’It was the little bastard’s own fault,’ they thought. ’He never slept at night, just made a racket. We had no choice but to lock him in the small room.’
’Besides, five thousand a month wasn’t fifty thousand. How was that supposed to be enough?’
Jiang Li and another officer rushed the child to the emergency room.
Jiang Li sat down in a chair, that apartment number coming back to her. She looked at the officer who had accompanied her. "What was the number of that neighbor’s place you mentioned this morning?"
"Oh, that was 14-3. The call came from 14-2. And get this—the neighbor who called it in lives right between Wang Yunxia’s apartment and 14-3. Talk about a coincidence, right?"
Xu Yong gave Jiang Li a shy smile, surprised that she was talking to him.
Jiang Li looked at him. "When I was carrying the boy out, I think I heard a door closing."
Xu Yong was taken aback for a second. He spoke a few words into his radio, then looked back at Jiang Li with a smile. "Other officers have already gone to check it out. Don’t worry, Miss Jiang."
Only then did Jiang Li relax, sitting to one side to wait for news.
Soon, a doctor emerged from the ER. He was about to ask if they were the child’s parents when he realized they looked familiar.
The doctor handed the medical report to the officer, his voice thick with barely concealed fury.
"Malnutrition is the least of it. He has other, severe injuries... injuries you can’t even imagine.
If you’d been even a day later, he... he probably wouldn’t have made it. He’s in the ICU now.
Officer, you have to get justice for this boy!"
Jiang Li gasped. ’I was too naive,’ she thought. ’I thought it was just some bruises... I never imagined it would be this bad.’ It was a level of pain even an adult couldn’t endure.
So those two had been abusing him for a full three and a half months.