The beloved but ungrateful girl is reborn: This time she has truly changed.

The ticket seller was an old man. He looked at the ID, then at Qi Weiwei and the two children, and nodded: "Children don't need money, adults pay one cent per ticket."

Ling Heping paid the money, took the bath tickets, and handed them to Qi Weiwei: "You guys go ahead and take your time."

Qi Weiwei nodded and led the two children into the women's bathhouse.

The bathhouse was steaming hot, filled with the smell of soap and hot water.

The changing room had rows of shelves and several lockers, all of which were occupied.

Some of the closet doors were open, and clothes that had been taken off were hanging inside.

Qi Weiwei found a quiet corner and helped the two children take off their clothes.

As soon as she took off her clothes, her heart clenched again.

The two children were so thin they were skin and bones, their ribs clearly visible.

His back, arms, and legs were covered in purplish-blue bruises—some from beatings, some from pinching, and some were old scars.

The bigger one, in particular, has a long scar on its back, as if it was whipped by something. It's faded, but you can still see it.

Qi Weiwei's hand trembled as she gently touched the scar: "Does it hurt?"

The older one shook his head: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

But her body instinctively shrank back.

Qi Weiwei's tears welled up again.

She forced herself to undress the two children, then undressed herself and led them into the bathroom.

The bathroom was filled with steam, and there were quite a few people inside.

When they saw the two dirty, smelly children come in, someone frowned, but no one said anything.

Qi Weiwei found an empty faucet, adjusted the water temperature, and began to bathe the two children.

She washed it very carefully and gently.

First, wet your hair, then take out the egg yolk shampoo that Ling Heping had prepared in advance—a yellow paste with a light fragrance.

"This smells good," the older one suddenly said, his voice tinged with surprise. "Xie Chunqiao uses this to wash her hair, but she only lets us use pig pancreas."

Pig pancreas was the cheapest cleaning product of that era. It was highly alkaline and cleaned very well, but it was also very irritating to the skin.

Qi Weiwei felt a pang of pain in her heart and moved her hands even more gently.

She carefully rubbed the children's hair, white foam piling up on their dry, yellow hair.

"Mommy," the younger one looked up, hot water streaming down her face, "your hands feel so good."

This is the second time she has called me "Mom".

The older one hadn't called out yet; she just silently lowered her head and let Qi Weiwei wash her.

Qi Weiwei's eyes were red and swollen, and her vision was somewhat blurred.

She fought back tears and continued bathing the two children.

She scrubbed very gently when she was giving her a bath.

Even so, the two children still had a lot of dirt scrubbed off—they hadn't had a proper bath in a long time.

After showering and drying themselves, Qi Weiwei took out the newly bought clothes and dressed them one by one.

The thermal underwear is made of cotton, making it soft and comfortable against the skin.

The cotton-padded jacket and trousers are thick and warm.

The socks were thick wool socks, and the cotton shoes were made of corduroy and filled with new cotton.

Wearing their new clothes, the two children looked completely different.

Qi Weiwei then took out a towel and dried their hair.

The children's hair was dry, yellow, and tangled, so much so that it couldn't be combed.

Qi Weiwei patiently combed the hair out little by little, and finally braided two small braids for each of them, tying them with newly bought red ribbons.

After washing up, the two children looked refreshed.

The older one had delicate features, and although her skin was still a bit sallow, it had a rosy glow after she took a bath.

The smaller one has big, bright eyes, a cute little upturned nose, and rosy lips.

They are all genuine little beauties.

They looked at themselves in the mirror, then at Qi Weiwei, and were both stunned.

The younger one blurted out, "Mom, how come you've become so young?"

Qi Weiwei then remembered that she had washed off the old-age makeup that Sister Chen had put on her while she was taking a shower.

The person in the mirror now is Qi Weiwei, who is twenty-six years old. She has fair skin and delicate features. Although her eyes are red and swollen, she is indeed young.

She smiled and patted her youngest daughter's head: "Mom is so young."

The two children looked at her with bright, sparkling eyes.

Suddenly, the two children hugged her from both the front and the back.

The younger one held her tightly around the waist, while the older one hugged her from behind.

The older one finally spoke, her voice soft but clear: "Mom...you're so beautiful."

Qi Weiwei's tears flowed again.

She knelt down, hugged the two children to her arms, and cried so hard that her nostrils were blocked, and she could only breathe through her open mouth.

Qi Weiwei threw the old clothes she had changed out of directly into the trash can.

The older one was a little reluctant: "It can still be worn after washing..."

The younger one, however, was quite determined: "No! I don't want Xie Chunqiao's clothes! Bah!"

As she spoke, she actually spat at the trash can.

Qi Weiwei was amused by her appearance, crying and laughing at the same time, like a fool.

While the mother and her two daughters were taking a bath, Ling Heping was not idle either.

He drove back to Fengshou Brigade and went directly to Zhou Binwa's house.

Su Cuilan was feeding chickens in the yard when she saw Ling Heping enter with two soldiers, and her expression changed instantly.

"What...what are you doing?" Her voice was weak, and her eyes darted around, looking for a chance to run away.

"Su Cuilan," Ling Heping's voice was cold, "you are suspected of involvement in child trafficking, and you are now being arrested in accordance with the law."

With a wave of his hand, two soldiers stepped forward and grabbed Su Cuilan from the left and right.

Su Cuilan's legs went weak with fear. She struggled and cried out, "I'm innocent! I'm innocent! I was just helping to pass on a message... I didn't sell the child..."

Ling Heping ignored her, shoved her into the car, and took her back to the commune.

In the commune police station, the old woman who was a human trafficker and Su Cuilan were locked up together.

The moment the two met, they immediately started tearing at each other like enemies.

"You old hag! It's all your fault!" The old woman lunged at Su Cuilan, grabbing her face. "You said it was an unwanted bastard! You said it was nothing!"

Su Cuilan wasn't about to back down either, grabbing the old lady's hair: "You dare talk back to me?! If you hadn't been greedy for my twenty yuan, would we be in this situation today?! I'll beat you to death, you greedy devil!"

The two fought fiercely, pulling hair, scratching faces, and biting arms.

The police officers from the local police station tried to pull him away, but Ling Heping stopped them.

"Let them hit you," he said calmly. "We'll talk when they've had their fill."

The two fought for a good ten minutes, until they were both bruised and swollen, and exhausted, they collapsed on the ground panting. Only then did Ling Heping have them separated.

The police officer in charge was a man in his thirties surnamed Wang, who was the head of the police station.

He walked over and saluted Ling Heping: "Commander, this case..."

I will continue to follow this case.

Ling Heping interrupted him and handed him a note.

"This is my office phone number. Give me a daily progress report. These two people, and that Xie Chunqiao, we can't lose any of them!"