Xu Ping paid five cents for a local newspaper from a street vendor.
He shook out the pages as he stood on the street. He skipped over the headlines, the international events on page two and the economy section on page three to the local news.
“House caught fire this morning. One death, three wounded.”
“Regular bus pickpocket arrested by undercover officer while passengers cheered on.”
“Free admissions at Beijiao Zoo in accordance with October 4th International Animal Day attracted numerous visitors.”
After skimming everything, he found nothing on missing children or child trafficking.
Xu Ping went through the ad section slipped in between the other sections and found the “Missing Person” ad that his dad had been posting for the last three weeks.
“Xu Zheng. M. 8yo. Last seen Tieshan Dist., City X, Sept 8th 1983, wearing red tank top, blue shorts. Reward for persons with info. Pls contact Xu Chuan.”
Below it was a black and white photo of Xu Zheng and the address and phone number of his dad’s workplace.