147: Chapter 237 Clues

Yu Bo did not immediately deny it. Instead, he sat down on a small wooden stool opposite him and weighed his words carefully. "Master Yang, searching for relatives isn't easy, especially after all these years... But since you've spoken up, I will certainly do my best to investigate and ask around. It's just... there are so few clues. Relying solely on a name and a Chinese zodiac sign is, as you said, like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you can recall some more specific details—for example, where was Ms. Lin Xiuying's maternal home? What did she do before? Where did you live back then? Are there any relatives or friends who might know their whereabouts? Even just a small possible lead would make the search much easier."

He asked cautiously, wanting to gather more information while fearing he might touch upon the old man's deeper pain.

Yang Shuming fell silent. He lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously picking at a protrusion on the edge of the stone. After a long time, he spoke slowly in a voice that sounded as if it had been salvaged from distant memories, carrying a sense of rust and decay:

"Xiuying... her maternal home was in Western Yunnan, people from the mountains over in Baoshan. I don't remember the exact village. I seem to recall her mentioning it once—was it called 'Falling Wild Goose Plain' or 'Falling Eagle Plain'? Her family was poor with many siblings. She was the eldest, hadn't had much schooling, and went out to make a living very early on. We met at... a State-owned Arts and Crafts Factory in Spring City. At that time, I was a specially hired carver at the factory, and she... she was a temporary worker helping out in the logistics canteen."

A State-owned Arts and Crafts Factory? Yu Bo's heart stirred; this might be a breakthrough. Although old factories from decades ago might have long since been restructured, merged, or even disappeared, there was at least a unit that could be investigated.

"She was very diligent, didn't talk much, but was meticulous and skillful. She steamed the best mantou in the canteen." A rare, almost imperceptible warmth from the distant past flickered in the old man's voice, but it quickly cooled down again. "We... I suppose we married for love. Back then, I had nothing but my craft, and I had a foul temper. Her family didn't agree; they thought I was poor and had an eccentric personality. But she... was determined to be with me. We didn't hold a banquet or register the marriage. We just rented a shack of less than ten square meters behind the factory, and that was our home."

"The child was born in the third year. When he was born... he looked like that." The old man's voice became strained again. "The gossip in the factory, the chaos at home... it all started from then. I wanted to give the child away, but she protected him with her life. During our fiercest argument, I even smashed the only thermos in the house... Later, she took the child and left. When she left, it should have been... the autumn of 1983. The child was about two years and eight months old."

"When she left, was it possible she went back to her maternal home? Or went to stay with some relatives or friends?" Yu Bo pressed.

Yang Shuming shook his head, his face showing a mix of pain and bewilderment. "I don't know... regarding her maternal home, contact had almost been cut off long ago because of the marriage. Moreover, with her personality, after suffering such a great grievance, I'm afraid... she wouldn't return to a maternal home that didn't really welcome her. As for friends... she was introverted and didn't have any particularly close friends at the factory. At the time... I was blinded by rage and didn't go looking for her immediately. By the time I calmed down a few days later and wanted to find her, she was gone. I asked the people at the factory and the neighbors; they all said they hadn't seen her and didn't know. I... I went to her maternal home once, but her parents said they hadn't seen her return at all and even cursed me out... Later, I asked around everywhere through others, but there was no news. After that... the factory's performance declined, and I left too. I drifted through a few places and finally... hid away here."

The clues seemed to have cut off again. Estranged maternal relations and a likely lack of return; simple social connections; a determined emotional state upon departure with an intent to hide her tracks... all of this increased the difficulty of finding someone exponentially.

"Then... what about the child?" Yu Bo tried a different angle. "Besides the red mole behind the ear, was there anything special about him when he was little? For example, what did he like, what was he afraid of, or did he ever have a serious illness?"

Yang Shuming's body trembled almost imperceptibly. He closed his eyes, as if laboriously digging through the deepest parts of his memory for those fragments that had long been blurred or even deliberately forgotten.

"The child... his nickname was Shitou. His mother gave it to him, saying a humble name makes for an easy upbringing." The old man's voice was as soft as a whisper, carrying endless sorrow. "He... was very good, didn't cry much. It's just... he had trouble nursing and choked easily. When he smiled, because his lip was cleft, he looked... a bit strange. But his eyes were very large and bright; when he looked at people, he was especially focused... He was afraid of thunder; whenever it thundered, he would burrow into his mother's arms. He liked... he liked looking at a piece of scrap on my workbench. It was a piece of white Xiuyan Jade that I had casually carved into a little rabbit. He was always clutching it..."

As he spoke, a drop of murky tear rolled down from the old man's tightly closed eyes again. He raised the rough back of his hand and wiped it away haphazardly.

"That little rabbit... did she take it with her when she left?" Yu Bo asked softly.

Yang Shuming shook his head. "I don't know, maybe. There wasn't... anything valuable in that room, and I never saw that little rabbit afterward."

The main room fell into a long silence once more. There was only the faint humming of the electric light due to unstable voltage.

Yu Bo quickly sorted through the information he had obtained in his mind: Lin Xiuying, born roughly between 1958 and 1962, from 'Falling Wild Goose Plain' or 'Falling Eagle Plain' in the Baoshan area of Western Yunnan, illiterate or semi-illiterate, once a temporary logistics worker at a State-owned Arts and Crafts Factory in Spring City. In the autumn of 1983, due to the child's cleft lip and palate and a fierce conflict with her husband, she left home with the child (nickname Shitou, born in late 1980, with a red mole behind the left ear), destination unknown. The son is 43 years old this year; besides the red mole, he was afraid of thunder as a child and might have an impression of a white jade rabbit carving.

"Master Yang," he finally spoke, his voice sounding exceptionally clear and solemn in the quiet night, "I have noted everything you've said. I cannot guarantee that I will find them, but I promise you that I will use all the resources and connections at my disposal to investigate and ask around based on these clues. No matter the outcome, I will give you an explanation."

Yang Shuming slowly opened his eyes and looked at Yu Bo. After a long time, he nodded slowly without saying a word. He just picked up the stone of 'the person returning home in wind and snow' again, placed it in his palm, and gently stroked it. That movement didn't look like he was examining a piece of jade material to be carved; it looked more like he was caressing a long-lost, scarred relative.

"It's late, go to sleep."