"Ah? What area code?" He Tiantian pretended to be clueless again.
The boss sighed and asked, "Where are you from?"
"My home is in Furong County, Rose Town, Zhao Family in Province A, City B," He Tiantian honestly reported her detailed address.
"Okay, okay, just knowing the city is enough," the boss hurriedly waved his hand.
He felt that if he didn’t stop her, this village woman in front of him would even meticulously mention which street she lived on.
The boss checked the phone directory given by the telephone company and pointed to the section for Province A, City B, "Here, this is the area code!"
He Tiantian dutifully followed the boss’s instruction and finally got through on the phone.
When the village chief’s voice came through the receiver, He Tiantian, like someone making a phone call for the first time, shouted at the top of her lungs, "Uncle, it’s me, from Zhao Baozhu’s family, I’ve arrived in Shenzhen with the child!"
"Yes! Yes, yes, we came to Shenzhen to find Daniu!"
"In a moment, can you go tell our head of household and say we’ll return once we find Daniu, so he won’t worry!"
"...What? Uncle, what did you say? Young widow? What young widow? Ah, uncle, I can’t hear well! Oh dear, uncle, I dare not keep talking, it costs 30 cents a minute!"
He Tiantian pretended she hadn’t heard clearly, and after saying this, she hastily hung up.
She spoke in her local dialect, but with a northern accent, which was fairly close to Mandarin.
Thus, the boss unintentionally heard a couple of sentences and understood them.
As he was giving He Tiantian her change, he casually asked, "Big sister, did you come to Shenzhen to find someone?"
"Yes, comrade, I—my daughter followed the village aunt to Shenzhen to work. She said she’d be doing hair and could make big money!"
He Tiantian still looked naïve, spilling everything to anyone who asked, regardless of whether she knew them.
"But, my daughter is only fifteen this year, I regretted letting her go shortly after she left!"
"And, that aunt who recruits workers doesn’t have a good reputation in our place, I just fear—"
Actually, the moment He Tiantian mentioned "doing hair," the boss’s gaze turned somewhat abnormal.
Clearly, as someone living in Shenzhen, he certainly understood what a "hair salon" was.
Doing hair? That’s just a front for a seedy brothel.
And when He Tiantian mentioned "my daughter is only fifteen," the boss couldn’t help but show a pitying look.
Fifteen years old, that, that’s still a child.
Though in this day and age, everything looks towards money.
Especially here in Shenzhen, where money seems especially important.
However, normal people still maintain a basic moral threshold.
The boss glanced around, lowered his voice, and said, "I’ll tell you about a place, there are many hair salons there. Perhaps, your daughter might be there!"
After saying this, the boss raised his head, regaining his indifferent, unconcerned demeanor.
He Tiantian was stunned for a moment, it took her quite a while to react, she quickly thanked him profusely, "Thank you, thank you so much, comrade!"
The boss felt a bit pained by her old-fashioned term and reminded He Tiantian, "When you’re in Shenzhen, don’t call people comrade, call them boss."
"...Ah, right, right, thank you, boss!"
He Tiantian, pretending to be clever, quickly corrected herself.
Then, she took Zhao Xiaoya and went looking for the address the boss had secretly provided.
Actually, He Tiantian knew the specific address; she even knew where Aunt Hua’s place in Shenzhen was.
Even without the plot clues, He Tiantian could have conducted a search through Student Xiao D.
But, she still had Zhao Xiaoya with her.
She couldn’t break character, and she definitely couldn’t let the female lead, Zhao Xiaoya, become suspicious.
Moreover, most importantly, He Tiantian wanted Zhao Xiaoya to see with her own eyes how her real mother was enduring hardship to find Daniu.
Yes, that was the main reason why He Tiantian kept Zhao Xiaoya by her side.
Not trusting to leave the child with a deceitful father, wanting the female lead to gain worldly experience early—these were also factors He Tiantian considered.
But, even more crucially, He Tiantian was still focused on her own mission.
Thus, the young Zhao Xiaoya saw with her own eyes her mother, seeking her sister, putting on a brave face, occasionally despised and scorned by others.
A month in Shenzhen, a completely unfamiliar place, the mother searched living hand to mouth.
Her voice hoarse from shouting, the already thin woman became nothing but a skeleton.
Her whole body was filthy, looking just like a beggar on the street.
The mother herself refrained from eating, from spending, yet she never let her daughter feel slighted.
Wandering in Shenzhen for a month, Zhao Xiaoya even gained weight, her previously gaunt face now plump.
In her heart, her mother was no longer some wicked mother mistreating her own daughter, but the best, most magnificent mother in the world!