Chapter 16

"Eat up! If we keep talking, the Roujiamo will get cold. The Liangpi will thicken too, and the texture won't be as good." As Huo Baichuan spoke, he grinned and pointed at the three bowls of sauce. "There are three kinds of sauce for the Liangpi: garlic, chili, and sesame paste; some with nothing added; it depends on your taste."

"I like strong flavors. I'll eat anything." At some point, Zhou Yang, who had jokingly claimed that his nose was sharper than a police dog's, had fetched a lunchbox. Grinning, he squeezed up to the table, scooped a chopstickful of Liangpi into it, then poured in the sauce with chili, garlic, and sesame paste along with shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, and shredded carrots. After mixing it up a few times, he stuffed a huge mouthful into his mouth. "Mmm, delicious!"

After saying that, Zhou Yang picked up a Roujiamo and took a huge bite. The chewy, fragrant flatbread held soft, glutinous, richly flavored pork shank that melted in his mouth. The layered textures made the young officer's eyes widen in astonishment.

"This is way too good! This pork shank definitely just came out of the pot—it must've been stewed for at least two and a half hours. The braised flavor is a little sweet, kind of like red-braised pork, but not as sweet. The skin, tendons, and lean meat are all chopped up and stuffed into the bread. It's incredibly fragrant. And not greasy at all. It's so good."

As Zhou Yang ate, he described the flavors and analyzed how the braised pork shank had been made. In just a few bites, he finished half a lunchbox of Liangpi and one Roujiamo.

Still not satisfied, he scooped up another chopstickful of Liangpi and mixed it himself. His ravenous eating made everyone else unable to hold back any longer, and they all picked up their chopsticks. Officer Liang Xin asked curiously, "Why is it called Roujiamo? Obviously, it's bread stuffed with meat!"

"How is this Liangpi made? It's smooth and chewy, and the sauce is sweet, sour, spicy, and fragrant. It's perfect for summer."

Tao Yan sat beside them. Hearing Liang Xin's question, he directly told everyone how Liangpi was made. "...Eating Liangpi in summer really is more appetizing than hot rice and dishes. It's cheap, too. Two jin of wheat starch can make a huge basinful, enough for an entire family."

Just as they were talking, the phone in the police station suddenly rang. The old station chief put down his lunchbox to answer it. After a while, he returned with a grim expression.

"What happened?" Zhou Yang forced down the last bite of Roujiamo, shoved the remaining mouthful of Liangpi from his lunchbox into his mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Do we need to respond to a call? I'm done eating anyway. I'll go!"

Another officer hurriedly put down his bowl and chopsticks. "I'll go too."

"It's not a callout." The old station chief shook his head and sighed. "It's still that human trafficking case."

After the officers at Lianhua District Police Station arrested the trafficking ring, the case had been handed over overnight to higher authorities because it involved too many provinces, cities, and people. But since Tao Yan, Huo Baichuan, and four other orphans were still being housed within their jurisdiction, Lianhua District Police Station had not simply washed its hands of the matter after transferring the case. They still contacted the higher authorities and their counterparts in other provinces and cities from time to time, exchanging information to see whether they could help the six children find their parents and families.

But the country was vast, with a huge population. Helping children who had gone missing years ago find their parents was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Worse still, as the investigation continued, the police gradually recovered many trafficked children based on information provided by the criminal ring. Some of those children remembered details about their families and were incredibly fortunate to be reunited with them with the police's help. Sadly, most were not so lucky and could only be sent to local welfare homes to wait for news. Yet everyone knew that their chances of finding their parents were exceedingly slim.

"Those damned traffickers! For that little bit of money, they've torn apart so many once-happy families! They deserve to be shot! They deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!" Hearing the old station chief's words, the officers were so furious that they could no longer eat. Holding their lunchboxes, they cursed bitterly.

The atmosphere in the police station turned heavy for a moment. That sense of helplessness left everyone feeling low.

Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan exchanged glances, somewhat surprised by the officers' excessive agitation. But on second thought, the police at Lianhua District Police Station were all local officers, usually dealing with petty theft and minor civil disputes. Lotus District had simple folkways and good public security, so these officers clearly had little chance of encountering any major, horrifying cases. Arresting a human trafficking ring was probably the biggest case they had handled in years. They had personally witnessed traffickers cripple healthy, lively children, drug them mute, blind them, and throw them onto the streets to beg for money. They had heard with their own ears how many children were sold into remote mountain villages and could never find their parents again—those were only the ones who had been found. Even more trafficked children had died or been injured, their young lives hidden away in isolated, distant, ignorant, backward mountain villages. They might never learn where they came from, and they might never escape for the rest of their lives.

Ruining someone's entire life for a few dozen or hundred yuan—there was no greater evil in human nature.

"Why not establish a DNA database? Collect DNA samples nationwide from the families who report missing persons and from recovered children, then compare them in the database." Just as everyone sat silently, nursing their anger, a voice broke the quiet in the police station.

The officers froze, exchanged looks, then turned to Huo Baichuan, who had spoken, and asked blankly, "What database?"

"What kind of... what?"

"DNA Paternity Testing." Tao Yan explained patiently, "Human hair, saliva, oral cells, blood, and bones can be used as samples. By comparing the alleles at DNA loci, it can determine whether two parties are biologically related."

The more they listened, the more confused the officers became. They stared at Tao Yan with question marks practically filling their heads, even wondering whether the boy had just spoken Chinese—every individual word made sense, so why did they have no idea what it meant when they were put together?

"It's a method of determining biological relationships using medical technology. Y Country began using related DNA testing technology in criminal investigations in 1984. Our country should have begun using related technology to solve criminal cases in 1987."

As for records of paternity testing technology being used in civil cases, Huo Baichuan had read some relevant materials when he was bored. The earliest record was from 1991, in a child support case arising from a divorce. The man insisted that the child was not biologically his and refused to fulfill his support obligations. After years of deadlock and failed negotiations, the police made an exception and used DNA fingerprint testing technology, which had previously only been applied to criminal cases, to determine the biological relationship.