Several years ago.
A group of girls were celebrating the promotion of a head waitress in an office of a hotel.
The office was filled with happiness and best wishes.
But one girl came to the office of the a.s.sistant manager. She wanted to see what her manager would say to her.
The a.s.sistant manager was in charge of human resources… of course, he was mainly in charge of the lower levels of the hierarchy. As for the management layer, he had no control over it.
It seemed that the manager knew why the girl came in. He said in an apologetic tone, "Zhao Ru, cheer up, you will succeed next time."
"Didn"t you… promise me?" The girl grasped her hem of clothes with head lowered down.
"Actually, I would like to give you the promotion." The manager shook his head.
The girl in front of him was very hard-working. She completed her work excellently and was responsible in her daily work.
"So…"
"Your education was not sufficient according to the rules of our company." The a.s.sistant manager shook his head and said, "You met all the requirements except for the education part."
"Did she win because of a diploma? I am better than her in all aspects."
The a.s.sistant manager shook his head and sighed, "Some of the rules are rigid… but why don"t you choose to improve yourself? You have worked for so many years already. You can learn in an adult college if you are interested… Let"s do it this way, our company is going to broaden their business in the housing-keeping department. At that time, I will recommend you to work as an a.s.sistant head waitress… Is that ok?"
But the girl shook her head without listening to the manager that was finis.h.i.+ng his words. She said without any expression on her face that, "No need."
The girl was so upset that she didn"t believe the a.s.sistant manager would promote her even if the position existed.
She had been working in this hotel for more than a year. She was the most experienced staff in the house-keeping department. But she was not promoted even when two head waitresses resigned.
To improve herself?
She would like to do so, but reality wouldn"t allow her to do… She earned too little.
She worked since graduating from high school but she didn"t have any skills. At the beginning, she only earned two thousand RMB per month. Until now, she could only earn three thousand RMB per month.
It would be more and more difficult for a university student to find a job… Yet, for Zhao Ru, it would be even harder.
The others were still in the big party celebrating… But she could only squat by the stairs alone. This was not her first time hiding here.
This was not her first job, either.
She looked at the messages on her phone silently.
It"s time to send money back to home.
…
…
Zhao Ru had a dream.
She hadn"t dreamed of these unhappy memories for a long time---This unexpected dream made her wake up earlier than usual.
Why would she have such a dream?
This was abnormal.
This dream made her restless---but she calmed down quickly.
This was because she grasped the crystal necklace habitually. She could always calm down with the help of this necklace.
…
Due to the abnormal dream that made her wake up earlier, Zhao Ru saw Uncle Mai preparing his grandson.
Uncle Mai was going to send Mai Xiaojun to school.
"Sister Xiao Ru!"
Mai Xiaojun smiled and greeted Zhao Ru.
Uncle Mai also smiled kindly, "Miss. Good morning!"
Zhao Ru nodded and went back to her "room".
Uncle Mai paused for a while and came in, too. He said to Zhao Ru, "Xiao Ru, it isn;t very peaceful outside. Please stay at home if there is nothing urgent."
He seemed to be reminding her of something.
Zhao Ru looked at Uncle Mai without a word. A while later, she nodded lightly.
Uncle Mai waved his hand to let his grandson go first and wait for him at the crossing. The old man took out a wrinkled cigarette and smoked.
He said, "People here have no names and they would never chat with others. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
The old man thought for a while and said, "Because there is no place outside for us to belong to. This is actually not a good place for us. But why are we still living here? Because we want to have a home."
Zhao Ru said nothing.
The old man patted her hands and then stood up. He ducked down and said, "You can live here until the time you decide to leave."
The old man was going to send his grandson to school. This was the most important thing for him.
Zhao Ru stayed in this "house" for about half an hour. Then she put on her clothes and left from the other side of the lane.
However, she didn"t know that there was a wisp of black smoke following her.
…
…
Officer Ma couldn"t be angrier…
They found nothing since Zhao Ru escaped one week ago.
"Could she be invisible?"
At the same time, Lin Feng opened the door and came in while holding a file.
Ma Houde asked directly, "Any updates?"
Lin Feng shook his head and continued, "Officer Ma, we didn"t find Zhao Ru but we have contacted her family."
"Go ahead."
Lin Feng opened the file and added, "Her parents are still alive. She had a little brother. However, they all lived in another province. Her parents are both farmers and her brother was expelled from school due to fighting. According to what Zhao Ru"s parents said, Zhao Ru started to work after high school. At the beginning, she would send money back to support her family. However, she had a quarrel with her family on new year"s eve, so they lost connection since then."
"She was not close with her family…" Ma Houde nodded and frowned, "Do you know why she argued with her family?"
Lin Feng said with a shrug, "Her father answered the phone. I tried to ask the question. But her father hung up the phone directly. I didn"t mention about this case and just told them that Zhao Ru was missing."
Lin Feng added, "But her father was indifferent after hearing my words, he just said "Oh""
"Oh?"
"He said "Oh" and then no more."
Ma Houde ma.s.saged his eyebrow and asked, "Have you contacted Zhao Ru"s school? How was she doing at school?"
Lin Feng answered, "I called her head teacher. She said that Zhao Ru was an "A" student and that she was nice to the cla.s.s. She had gotten a letter of admission from a college but she gave it up, choosing to work and said that her family let her down."
In the meantime, another policeman came in. He seemed very hurried and said, "Officer Ma, a student from the cram school called us and said that she received a threatening letter!"
"Where is she?" Ma Houde asked directly without caring about the file held by Lin Feng.
"That student said she would only talk with you secretly. She didn"t want anyone else to know, especially her parents. She hopes that we can help her."
"Fine, I will arrive later." Ma Houde nodded.
He met w.a.n.g Yuechuan when he walked out of his office… Officer Ma watched him and felt that w.a.n.g Yuechuan was like a police dog. He must have "smelled" something and then walked out.
As expected, before Officer Ma could say anything, w.a.n.g Yuechuan started the topic, "I heard what you said just now, Officer Ma, let"s go together."
Ma Houde thought for a while and agreed. They left the police station together with Lin Feng.
…
…
In the prison, a man, who had a tiger tattooed on his arm, was talking to Fatty Zhang.
"Boss! Why did you contact me so urgently? Is your money insufficient?" The man asked directly.
"Idiot!" Fatty Zhang gave him a contemptuous look, "It took me so much time to send a message to look for you. How could it be because of money? The price is high here but I can still afford it."
The strong man scratched his head and asked, "So what"s the matter?"
Fatty Zhang got close to him and whispered, "Listen carefully, if you miss one word, I won"t forgive you!"
The strong man patted his chest and promised, "Boss, your business is mine. Thank G.o.d for your help or I couldn"t be here today."
Fatty Zhang nodded and said seriously, "Listen, Qiangzi, you need to meet a man called Zhou Xiaopeng, he lives in… he will lead you to find a woman. Bring the woman here!"
The strong man…Qiangzi scratched his head again and asked, "Boss, is Zhou Xiaopeng a prost.i.tution organizer? Wait, that"s isn"t correct. It"s not the month couples to meet yet. Boss, do you want woman now?"
"Do you know what I want to do now?"
"What?"
"Fu*k you!"