The Little Girl Selling Fake Copper

I had a criminal record, involuntary manslaughter. I was also big, burly, and fiercelooking, so everyone in town was afraid of me.

So my scrap recycling business was pretty mediocre. It did not make much money, but it kept me from starving, so I was just living.

The few surprises I had were finding unexpectedly valuable things in the scrap, like rings and necklaces, and I kept all of them on the iron cabinet in my bedroom.

Until two years ago, when I met that little girl who sold “copper.” The copper was fake, and anyone could tell at a glance. But the little girl’s thinness was real.

It was the kind of thinness that came from not having enough to eat and being malnourished, where a gust of wind would press her old school uniform inward and reveal her shriveled frame, and her messy hair was yellow like dry grass.

Copper it was, then. If I refused to buy it or exposed her, she would definitely be scared into tears. That would be annoying as hell.

Besides, it was only fifty dollars, and that little extra money would not make my life better, while losing it would not make my life worse.

When I handed the money over, I saw the little girl’s hand shaking. There was also bright yellow paint on her hand.

Then she took it, turned around, and ran off quickly without saying thank you. But it did not matter.

For some reason, I did not drink that night and still slept very well, and when I woke up, there was even a smile on my face.

When Grace, who drove a taxi, came over to drink, her eyes went wide. “What’s up with you?

Did you find gold again?” Without thinking, I said, “I found copper.” The jewelry I kept on the iron cabinet was replaced by pieces of iron stained with yellow paint.

In more than seven hundred days, I saved up more than a hundred pieces, weighing the iron cabinet down until it looked like it might collapse.

I thought that if the little girl came again, I would have to weld together a new cabinet. But after the new cabinet was welded, I still did not see her.

At first, I said it was raining heavily, so maybe she had been delayed. When the rain stopped, I said she was probably sick, and she would come once she got better.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. The police came and said they needed me to cooperate in the investigation of a missing girl.

When I entered the police station, I thought of the days I had spent in prison, and my legs went a little weak.

Then I thought of the heavy pieces of iron on the cabinet and straightened my back. “Ethan Carter, do you know a thirteenyearold girl named Lily Moore?” I said, “I know a girl who is just over ten, but I don’t know her name.” The police took out a portrait. “Is this her?” I recognized her at once and nodded.

That was the first time I heard her name. Then I learned that she had gone missing. In that instant, it felt like my heart had been grabbed hard by someone.

Her only family was her elderly grandmother, who had already been in poor health, and now she had cried herself blind, saying her granddaughter was very good and would never stay away from home all day no matter what happened.

I thought Lily had probably gotten into trouble.

The town was remote and poor, and in past years people had gone missing every year, while human traffickers were caught batch after batch, but those heartless monsters could never all be caught.

After learning that Lily came to me every week and sold me a painted piece of iron as copper, the police slammed a fist on the table and questioned me coldly. “Ethan Carter, can’t you tell copper from iron?

Why did you pay a high price to buy Lily’s iron as copper?” “Tell the truth, what was your purpose?” I thought for a moment and said. “I had no purpose, I just wanted to help that girl.” The police did not believe me.

But I had already served my time, and I was no longer a murderer.

I was detained for fortyeight hours. My scrap yard was searched from top to bottom.

The reason the police listed me as a suspect was not only because I had a criminal record—on the day Lily disappeared, she had come to my scrap yard again to sell a piece of “copper,” and she stayed for more than ten minutes.

The police asked me what happened during those ten minutes.

I answered honestly that after Lily got the money, she did not rush off, but instead lay on the broken sofa like a kitten and basked in the sun for a while.

I ate lunch and also served her a bowl. There was no communication, no conversation, and it was as calm as an oil painting dream that did not quite feel real.

The police probably did not believe me. But they had no other solid evidence, so they could only let me go after the detention time was up. That evening, I treated Grace to a meal.

Then I took her taxi to Lily’s house. It was an old brick house from decades ago, and the rotten wooden door was not locked, so it opened with one push.

Lily’s grandmother was blind and had been hospitalized, so there was no one in the yard, only an empty clothesline swaying back and forth and the pungent smell of leftover paint. “Grace, do you know who in town sells paint?” Grace curled her lip. “What, you want to look for that little girl?” She nagged that this should be left to the police, and that my job was to get married and have a kid while that thing could still be used, so the Carter family could have someone to carry on the line.

Otherwise, in a few more years, I would not be able to have one even if I wanted to. Once she started talking about it, she never stopped, and it made my head hurt.

Grace was good in every way, except she talked too much. But while talking, she drove me from place to place where paint was sold. The next day, I set my eyes on a hardware store.

This place not only sold yellow paint, but also hardware, and a pile of irregularly shaped pieces of iron sat in the corner of the small store.

The owner was a little old, and when there were no customers, he lay in a rocking chair reading the newspaper. He did not notice me.

I walked to the corner and picked up a piece of scrap iron, but he still did not notice me.

I threw the piece of iron back, making a noise, and only then did he startle and sit up quickly. “What are you doing?” I chuckled. “Buying some paint.” The town was not that big, and when he walked closer, he recognized me at a glance.

Then he took out several kinds of paint and introduced them to me. I chatted with him and brought up my experience of killing someone back then.

That was the biggest piece of gossip everyone in town was curious about.

The owner was very interested, listened with fascination, and even took the initiative to give me twenty percent off.

When I was about to leave with the paint, I changed the subject. “Once paint is opened, you can’t leave it outside, or what if it gets stolen?” He was eager to hear how I finally stabbed the man to death, so he answered casually and perfunctorily, “Oh, it’s just some busted paint and scrap iron, not worth much.” I clenched my fist, then gave him a smile that did not reach my eyes. “Better be careful anyway, because the town isn’t peaceful again.

Do you know the girl nearby named Lily Moore?” “She’s missing.” “No one can find her anywhere.” The owner said “oh,” then helped me load the paint into the car, no longer listened to my story about killing someone, turned around, went back, and started reading the newspaper again.

But his newspaper was upside down. I asked Grace to take me to the police station immediately. “That hardware store owner, Mr. Young, has a problem!”

I suspected the “copper” Lily sold me was stolen from Mr. Young.

I reminded him that the paint could be stolen, and he casually mentioned the pieces of iron too, which meant he knew the paint and iron had been stolen all along.

Besides Lily, who else would steal both pieces of iron and paint together? After I mentioned Lily, he was obviously panicking. But the police told me Mr. Young had no problem.

After Lily disappeared, they had discovered the fake copper and traced its source, then investigated Mr. Young.

They found that on the day Lily disappeared, as well as the two days before and after it, Mr.

Young had stayed in his store the whole time and had not gone out, and the businesses on both sides could prove it.

My behavior instead made the police more suspicious of me. “Ethan Carter, Lily isn’t related to you, so why are you so invested in her?” Grace stepped forward to speak up for me. “Officer, what kind of thing is that to say?” “Ethan did kill someone, but the person he killed deserved to die!

Now Ethan has served his time and changed, so are you not even going to let him be a good person?” “He saw that Lily was pitiful, so he has helped her out with several thousand dollars over the past two years, and he wouldn’t even spend that much on himself...” After leaving the police station, I learned that Lily still had not been found.

No living person had been seen, and no body had been found.

And if she had really been abducted and sold, then as time went on, it would become hard to investigate even if clues were found.

I treated Grace to another meal and even opened two bottles of good liquor.

When she was drunk, Grace threw herself into my arms and shouted drunkenly, “What exactly are you thinking?

Can you just give me a straight answer?” “I’m over forty, and driving a taxi has almost wrecked my body, so in two more years, I won’t be able to have a baby even if you beg me!” “Ethan Carter, if you don’t have another child, you’ll never get out of this for the rest of your life!” She had sprayed on perfume on purpose, and it was a little sharp.

I held her and kept drinking one glass after another. I thought back to when I had just gotten out of prison, when Grace helped me open this scrap yard.

Although I had paid back all the money over the years, I could never repay the kindness. As I thought about it, I heard Grace’s faint snoring. She was sound asleep.

I got up, walked into the bedroom, opened the drawer, and took out several stacks of money. This was all my savings. The money from selling the jewelry I found was also in there.

Originally, I had not planned to sell that jewelry, because after cleaning it up, it looked as good as new, and I had thought I could put it on Grace when I proposed.

That had been the only thing I lived for before. Now it had changed. I also could not figure out what was so special about that girl Lily. She stole Mr.

Young’s iron and paint, so she was a thief. Then she sold pieces of iron as copper, so she was a liar.

She had never said thank you to me, and she could not even be considered polite. But I just could not suppress the voice rooted deep in my heart: I had to save her.

My instincts told me Mr. Young had something to hide. My instincts had always been accurate.

Just like the human trafficker I found back then, the police could not produce evidence, but I pried the truth out of his mouth by force and then stabbed him to death.

But that time, it had been too late, and I had not been able to save my daughter.

This time, I had to save Lily. “Grace, all the money is here, so just take it and use it.” “If I can come back, we’ll do whatever you say.” “If I can’t come back, drink less and don’t stay up late anymore.” After writing the note, I pressed it under the money and went out with a sharp iron rod.

It was late at night. Mr. Young’s house was completely dark.