Players, Please Board the Train

According to the Old Director, Shang Shuming had shown extraordinary talent from a young age. He had a high IQ and particularly enjoyed reading medical books. After the psychologist treating him discovered this aptitude, they brought him introductory books on the subject during each visit, both as a way to guide his interests and as part of his therapy.

One time, a child at the welfare home got his leg punctured but was too afraid to tell the adults. While the Director and teachers were in a meeting, the boy hid in the bathroom, letting the blood flow into the toilet. Shang Shuming found him, immediately stopped the bleeding, and went to get the Old Director. That child was incredibly lucky—if he had waited any longer, he might not have survived.

After this incident, both the psychologist and the welfare home teachers felt it would be a waste not to nurture the child’s talent. While treating him, they actively sought opportunities for early training. Apparently, they found an exceptionally skilled psychologist, but for some reason, that doctor never showed up.

So the one who treated Shang Shuming from start to finish was the same person in the group photo.

Xu Huo wasn’t disappointed after repeatedly confirming there was no other psychologist. Just like at the Seventeenth Hospital, the Director, doctors, and nurses didn’t remember the seventh doctor. If that doctor had also appeared at the welfare home, it was normal for the Old Director and others not to recall him.

The Old Director talked about Shang Shuming’s financial support for the welfare home after returning to the country, then mentioned how fond Shang Shuming was of Peng Ya.

Peng Ya herself didn’t remember this very clearly—she was too young at the time and only had vague recollections.

”Shuming really liked you. He often gave you gifts. Sometimes when he came to the welfare home, he would play with you for quite a while.” The Old Director took out a small box from a cabinet, opened it, and pushed it toward Peng Ya. ”These are all things you played with as a child. They were brought by Shuming. Even after you abandoned them, I kept them all.”

Peng Ya looked nostalgically at the items in the box. Inside were a small Rubik’s Cube, a buildable toy car, a folding chessboard, and a red crystal dice.

Xu Huo picked up the dice.”How could there be something like this?” Peng Ya asked, puzzled. It didn’t seem like a child’s toy.

The center of the dice had a solid piece of metal, but the outer shell appeared seamless, not like it had been embedded.

But when Xu Huo pinched both sides of the dice and twisted, it automatically split in half. On the exposed solid metal in the middle, the character ”Shang” was engraved.

Beside him, Peng Ya suddenly reached out to take it. Xu Huo raised his hand and looked at her seriously. ”Can I have this dice?”

A flicker of resistance crossed Peng Ya’s face, but it quickly returned to normal. She nodded, then turned to close the toy box.

Xu Huo’s gaze lingered on her for a second before shifting back to the Old Director. ”Can you tell me more about Mr. Shang? What kind of charity work did he do after returning to the country?”

”Oh, there’s so much to tell…” The Old Director sank back into her memories.

The window wasn’t closed. The curtains, which had been gently swaying in the breeze, had stopped moving at some point. The room was warm with sunlight. The Old Director sat in her chair, rambling on. She wasn’t looking at anyone in the room, her eyes vacant as if completely immersed in her memories, not caring whether her audience responded.

Faint voices echoed in the air. Peng Ya suddenly moved away from the Old Director, took two steps, and made a door-opening motion in the room. After stepping through, she smiled at the empty air and performed a series of actions, then said to the void: ”Doctor Shang, I’ve memorized all these books, but I don’t know what they mean…”

…

”Are you leaving? Can I come with you? I’m not happy here. They always bully me…”

As if carrying on a conversation with someone, Peng Ya repeated the same actions—flipping through books, taking notes, even lying down to rest—then started over again.

Xu Huo watched her go through this four or five times before Peng Ya suddenly began to cry. ”Doctor Shang, I want to go with you… I’m working very hard. I will definitely meet your requirements. Don’t just take them away…”

After her plea, she sat on the floor for a while, then wiped away her tears and got up. Turning around, she hugged the box on the table and said with attachment: ”Mr. Shang is so kind. He even buys me toys. When will he come visit us again?”

What followed were childish, innocent words—writing thank-you letters to Mr. Shang, inviting him to the welfare home to eat cookies she and the Director had baked, wanting to call Mr. Shang… A completely different person from the one who had begged Doctor Shang to take her away.

Xu Huo withdrew his mental interference and items, then poured a glass of water for the Old Director.

The Old Director snapped back to reality, her mouth dry. ”Look at me, I talked so much I lost track of time.”

Xu Huo learned from her about the other children who had been at the welfare home with Peng Ya. After Shang Shuming stopped visiting, five children from the welfare home were taken away one after another—four boys and one girl.

”They were adopted. I checked the families—their financial situations were good. Some moved abroad with their whole families. They must be living well now,” the Old Director said.

”Do you still remember them?” Xu Huo asked Peng Ya.

Peng Ya pulled out some old photos and pointed to the adopted children one by one. ”Our welfare home took pictures every year. That year, a lot of children were adopted.”

”The one I hate most is him.” She pointed at a slightly chubby boy. ”I remember he used to bully me all the time, but I heard after he was adopted, he got into a top university. Sometimes he even sends gifts back.”

”Even now?” Xu Huo pressed. ”What about the others?”

”Two more. I contacted them a couple of years ago when I first started my career. They’re doing fine.” Peng Ya said. ”Only two moved abroad and never contacted the Director.”

Xu Huo memorized the faces and names of the boy and girl, quickly searched online for the immigration office’s address, then said to Peng Ya, ”Let’s go. I’ll take you out.”

After dropping her off where she wanted to go, he headed straight to the immigration office.

Many government offices were completely empty. Xu Huo easily got in. Using the specific addresses and names on the adoption files, he found the countries and approximate locations where the two families had immigrated.

In her hallucination, Peng Ya had called out ”Doctor Shang,” and clearly had spent a period of time with this ”Doctor Shang.” According to the Old Director’s account, ”Doctor Shang” was most likely Shang Shuming. The discrepancy in Peng Ya’s memory might have been because she was left behind, so she only remembered ”Mr. Shang” and needed special stimulation to recall ”Doctor Shang”—this was similar to his own situation.

So Peng Ya might have also been a target chosen by ”Doctor Shang,” only to be abandoned in the end.