Chapter 76

So, Jody used to live in Sand Village, and guess what? Their neighbors were George and Tammy.

Was it really possible for such coincidences to happen in this world?

Back in the day, Alan took some starving kids to Sand Village to beg for food and that's when they met George and Tammy's family.

Alan was a bookworm and that was how he met Cindy's mom, Jody, and her family.

Coincidence? Maybe. But if that was the case, there were way too many coincidences in this world!

Or maybe it was just about being a good person. If you were good, you met good people. Though, that idea had its flaws.

"My perfect world shouldn't be like this. The world isn't made by someone but is seen by someone..."

I remembered what Alan said to the missionary when he was a kid, as Lally recalled. It seemed like Lally might have painted the missionary in a better light.

Maybe Alan was onto something even as a kid. What's important isn't what the world is like now, but how you see it. If you see beauty and keep it in your heart, even in the coldest winter, you'll eventually find spring.

But if your heart is dark and full of hate, it doesn't matter where you are-rich or poor, high up or down in the dirt. Even if you live under the sun every day, you'll still be swallowed by darkness. The world you see will be full of malice and hate.

"Yeah, the George you mentioned was a really good guy," I said, feeling nostalgic.

Lately, a lot of stuff had come to light. The same person can look different from different angles. Some folks seem quiet and boring but are super lively inside, like Tony. Some look weak but have a beast ready to pounce inside, like Frank.

But George and Tammy? Everyone seemed to agree they were awesome. They were genuinely kind people. True goodness doesn't need a test; it shines in every dark corner.

I had to admit it. Some might think this is just a way to honor the dead, making them look better and quietly rewriting history. But if that were true, there'd be no light, no goodness, no law, and no sun today.

"Absolutely, George was a good man, well-respected, even though he wasn't well-educated. My parents had a lot of respect for him. You might not get it, but intellectuals of our parents' generation had a certain pride. My dad was very proud and was pretty upset when he got assigned to the steel mill, but he didn't want to leave George when he had to go. My dad said George made him see his own limitations," Jody said.

Then she remembered something and laughed, "My dad was all about logic, science, and against superstition. George and his wife had been married for years without kids. My dad helped them get a thorough medical check-up, and the diagnosis was that the chances of pregnancy were very low due to a uterine issue. But after they adopted Zack, George's wife got pregnant not long after. My dad invited George to dinner and said something at the table that I still remember."

"What did he say?" I asked.

Jody's eyes were filled with fond memories of her father as she slowly said, "You are destined to be childless, but that child is destined to have parents. You must treat him well and not abandon him just because you have a biological son."

I was floored. University students back then were really something else. Saying something like that was truly impressive.

A person, just by being themselves, changed someone else's view of the world. That's pretty amazing, and it has nothing to do with money, status, gender, or age.

In front of strict, law-abiding, rational intellectuals, he won them over with his own perspective. For things beyond understanding, you could only marvel at fate and karma, those mysterious concepts.

That's the magic of human goodness. Like-minded people are always drawn together by some inexplicable force to make the world a better place.

When people can't understand or reasonably explain something, they call this great, remarkable probability fate.

I believed in beauty, fate, and Alan.

Thinking about this, I decided to give it another shot. I pulled out a photo of the address of the child trafficking crime group from my bag and handed it to Jody. "Mrs. Hernandez, take a look at this photo. Do you recognize this place? Have you been there before?"

Jody studied the photo carefully, not saying yes or no, as if she was deep in thought.

I added, "This place is probably not far from Sand Village, maybe within 6.2 miles. Think about it."

Jody said, "Then it must be right!"

I almost jumped out of my seat, trying to keep my excitement in check. Everything was finally coming together!

I asked, "You mean... you've seen it?"

Jody replied, "Yes, at first I wasn't sure, after all, it's been many years and it's a black-and-white photo. But if you say it's near Sand Village, then it must be right, it definitely is!"

I asked, "Where is it?"

Jody handed the photo back to me, smiling, "This is the steel mill where my dad worked. From the looks of it, the steel mill had already moved by the time the photo was taken. The photo shows the steel mill's main hall. I remember it was a very large courtyard, built specifically for awards and performances."

She pointed to the two buildings in the background of the photo, which I initially thought were old residential buildings, and said, "The one on the left was the fuel storage warehouse for the steel mill, and the large building on the right was originally the office building for clerks."

"But because it was too close to the raw materials, for safety reasons, they moved the office elsewhere, and this place became a warehouse for storing products. The photo only shows a part of it; there were actually many more buildings behind, but they've all been demolished now."

Sand Village was an abandoned place, not far away, quite large, with many children living there.

I had been thinking in the wrong direction from the start, assuming such illegal activities would be in the wilderness, no wonder I couldn't find it.

I didn't expect it to be in the abandoned steel mill around Sand Village!

"Where exactly is it?" I quickly opened the map app on my phone, "Can you point out the direction? I need to confirm the approximate location."

Jody wasn't very familiar with the map app. I roughly explained the directions, and Jody, while sliding the screen and recalling, pointed to a spot on the map after a while. "Yes, that's it."

"Are you sure?" I asked, my voice rising with disbelief.

Surprise, strangeness, incredulity, and for the first time, a sense of fear crept into my mind.

The place Jody pointed to was True Love Entertainment Club.