Gu Sheng was dragged into the car.
What was happening? Was this another group of traffickers?
Before she could think any further, the two people who had dragged her into the car released her and took off their masks. “Ms. Gu, don’t be afraid. We are missing persons detectives, and your parents hired us to find you.”
With that, they pulled out a photo. It was a picture of Gu Sheng taken at the amusement park just a few days before she was abducted.
“This is the photo your father gave us. After discovering your whereabouts, we notified your parents first. They are currently at a hotel in the city, and we are taking you to them.”
Gu Sheng stared blankly. Was this real? But this photo was indeed taken before the incident, and it hadn’t even been developed yet. If they were human traffickers, they probably wouldn’t have this picture.
Gu Sheng decided to remain calm for now and assess the situation once they arrived.
Seeing that Gu Sheng had quieted down but wasn’t talking, the two detectives knew she didn’t fully believe them, but at least she wasn’t making a fuss. Once they delivered her to the hotel, their mission would be completed.
“That van behind us is following us. Shake it off,” the front-seat passenger said.
The curly-haired woman in the driver’s seat replied, “No problem.”
She drove the car straight onto the highway.
As soon as they hit the highway, the car accelerated violently, weaving through the traffic.
The van behind them was biting hard on their tail. The curly-haired driver glanced up at the road sign. There was an exit two kilometers ahead.
A large cargo truck happened to be right in front of them. When they were five hundred meters away from the exit, she quickly overtook the truck. The moment they left the van’s line of sight, the curly-haired driver slammed the steering wheel and turned into the ramp.
When Brother Tie finally saw the minibus again, he had already missed the ramp. He slammed his steering wheel in furious frustration. Once they exited at the next ramp, where on earth were they going to chase them?
The minibus exited the highway, made several turns, and after confirming no cars were following, drove into the highest-grade hotel in the city.
Gu Sheng was surrounded by four people who called themselves missing persons detectives. As she stepped step by step onto the soft carpet of the hotel hallway, it felt like walking on the clouds of a dream.
The four people brought Gu Sheng to the door of a top-floor suite in the hotel. The curly-haired woman knocked on the door. “Mr. Gu, it’s me.”
The door was opened immediately.
The next second, Gu Sheng fell into a warm, familiar, long-missed embrace.
“Sheng sheng, Sheng sheng! Mom has searched so hard for you, Sheng sheng!” Chen Yun hugged Gu Sheng and wept bitterly, releasing all the pain and despair of the past two years in this single moment.
Gu Feng also half-knelt on the floor, pulling his wife and daughter tightly into his arms, his shoulders trembling as he suppressed low, sobbing sounds.
“Mom!” “Dad!” Gu Sheng called out to them softly. She was afraid it was an illusion; speaking too loudly would shatter all of this and force her back to reality.
“Sheng sheng, let Dad take a good look at you.”
Gu Feng looked Gu Sheng up and down, pinching her arms and rubbing her legs.
“Aiya, be gentle, don’t hurt Sheng sheng,” Chen Yun said, affectionately stroking Gu Sheng’s face. “Sheng sheng, why aren’t you talking? Don’t you recognize Mom anymore?”
The real tactile sensations on her body made Gu Sheng believe that these really were her mom and dad, and she had truly returned to their side.
Gu Sheng threw herself into Chen Yun’s arms, hugging her neck tightly, crying and calling out for her mom over and over again.
Chen Yun answered her every call, crying right along with her.
The family of three cried together like this for quite a while.
The curly-haired woman spoke up. “Mr. Gu, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I suggest you return to Shencheng as soon as possible. You cannot stay here for long.”
Gu Feng wiped away his tears, raised his head, and regained his composed demeanor. “Thank you. Truly, thank you both. Rest assured, I am going to make the call right now to transfer the final payment to you.”
The curly-haired woman responded, “You’re too polite. This is just what we do. The final payment isn’t urgent; we trust your reputation. Hurry up and arrange to take Miss Gu back to Shencheng.”
Hearing that they were returning to Shencheng, Gu Sheng hurriedly pulled on Gu Feng’s arm. “Dad, there is someone named Wen Ye there. She saved me many times. Please rescue her too, and bring her back to Shencheng with us.”
Before Gu Feng could speak, the curly-haired woman interrupted. “Miss Gu, I’m afraid that’s not very likely.”
“Why!” Gu Sheng panicked. No, she had to take Wen Ye with her; she couldn’t leave Wen Ye behind.
“We were able to rescue you because we followed you for a few days, and today they happened to have only two guards with favorable surrounding terrain. That’s how we succeeded,” the curly-haired woman explained patiently. “Now they will definitely be on guard. If we go back again, forget about saving your friend; we’ll probably all get ourselves trapped.”
She then looked at Gu Feng. “Mr. Gu, these people are an organized crime syndicate. It’s very difficult for us to go head-to-head with them. I hope you can understand.”
Looking into her daughter’s pleading eyes, Gu Feng couldn’t bear it. “Can we figure out a way? I can pay more money.”
The curly-haired woman shook her head. “It’s not about money.”
She thought for a moment and offered a suggestion. “If Miss Gu knows the exact location of their lair and the physical characteristics of the key personnel, you can choose to call the police. As far as I know, the police have previously cracked down on this type of criminal gang, but because they lacked sufficient information, the gang managed to relocate beforehand.”
Gu Sheng nodded eagerly. “I know!”
Just as Wen Ye came out of the small shop, she ran right into Huangmao. She quickly hid the sanitary napkins.
Huangmao ignored her, his hands shaking as he pulled out his phone. “Sister Rong, Xiao Shi! Xiao Shi has been snatched away! Brother Tie went after them.”
What? Wen Ye’s pupils dilated in shock, and she froze in place on the spot.
Huangmao and Wen Ye waited by the roadside for Brother Tie. Both of them were terrified; one was terrified of being beaten to death by Sister Rong if the person was lost, and the other was terrified that Gu Sheng might be in danger.
Wen Ye patted the sanitary napkins inside her coat, thinking: How could this happen?
When Brother Tie returned empty-handed in the van, Wen Ye looked at the empty vehicle, thinking: How could this happen?
Back at the home base, Sister Rong angrily kicked and beat her repeatedly. Lying flat on the floor and feeling every bone in her body ache, Wen Ye was still thinking: How could this happen?
“We tracked it down. That van belongs to a specialized missing persons agency, and it ended up at the Chuncheng Garden Holiday Hotel,” Uncle Kai said, hanging up the phone and speaking to Sister Rong.
Wen Ye slowly opened her beaten and swollen eyes. Missing persons. Gu Sheng wasn’t trafficked to some other place; her family found her and took her back. That’s wonderful.
The next day, Wen Ye limped around in the crowd. She had returned to the days of working alone. Without Gu Sheng, she couldn’t pickpocket anything, nor did she want to. She figured that getting beaten was just getting beaten, but Gu Sheng would never be beaten again.
That evening, Wen Ye returned to the home base. Last night, she had heard Sister Rong and Uncle Kai say they were going to move locations soon and probably wouldn’t be staying here much longer.
Wen Ye stood empty-handed in line, calmly awaiting today’s punishment.
Before her turn arrived, a huge sound came from behind her. She turned around and saw the door being kicked open. A group of police officers rushed in. Unlike the police usually seen at the railway station, these men weren’t wearing blue uniforms; they wore black clothes, tactical helmets, and held guns.
As soon as they entered, they pressed Brother Tie and Huangmao, who were guarding the door, flat to the ground.
Even Brother Tie’s burly frame was pressed down so hard he couldn’t move at all.
Terrified, Wen Ye quickly hugged her head and squatted down, afraid the police would come over and pin her down too.
The police didn’t pin her down. They bypassed her and chased Sister Rong and Uncle Kai up to the second floor. Wen Ye couldn’t see what happened next; she only heard Sister Rong screaming like a slaughtered pig.
The police handcuffed Sister Rong, Uncle Kai, Huangmao, Brother Tie, Uncle Dong, and the rest one by one and escorted them outside.
Wen Ye saw a female police officer walking toward her. She hurriedly brought her hands together and extended them out.
Instead, the female officer simply helped her up and led her toward a police car.
Wen Ye sat in the back seat of the police car, alongside Xiao Si and the female officer. The others were in different vehicles.
She wondered why she didn’t have to wear handcuffs. Were the handcuffs too big to fit her wrists?
As the police car drove past the market from that day, Wen Ye saw the miraculous doctor sister sweeping the garbage outside the pharmacy, looking like she was getting ready to close up and go home.
The alley was a bit crowded, with many onlookers gathered along the roadside. The police car drove very slowly, and Wen Ye stared unblinkingly at the miraculous doctor sister. I wonder if she received the note Gu Sheng wrote. I stuffed it through the crack in the door early that morning before the pharmacy opened. Could it have been swept away as trash? There was even money wrapped inside it.
Thinking of Gu Sheng, Wen Ye felt a little like crying again, but she held back. Gu Sheng had gone home to live a good life, and she should be happy for her.
The doctor saw the police car passing by the entrance and glanced at it twice. Hearing the surrounding people discussing that a human trafficking ring had been busted, she scoffed inwardly: Serves them right. All traffickers should be rounded up and shot.
After finishing her sweeping, the doctor pushed the door open and went inside. The glass door caught the flickering red and blue lights of the police cruiser, casting the glow onto the wall. Hanging on the wall was a row of silk banners, and beside them hung a small photo frame framing a piece of paper. On it, in childish and neat handwriting, were the words: “Thank you, Miraculous Doctor. This is the medicine money.”
The police car carried Wen Ye to the police station. The officers led them into a room, told them to sit down, and asked if they had eaten.
No one dared to answer, but Wen Ye’s stomach and the stomachs of a few others answered for them.
A police officer smiled and said, “You guys sit for a moment. Uncle will go buy you some food.”
Not long after, the same police officer returned, accompanied by a female officer. They carried in two large bags and placed them on the table, releasing an appetizing aroma.
Wen Ye swallowed hard, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t swallow all the saliva in her mouth.
Wen Ye watched as the male officer untied the bags and pulled out many flat, wide boxes. The female officer opened another bag filled with milk, and Wen Ye’s eyes went wide.
The two officers distributed a box and a bottle of milk to each person in order.
Wen Ye sat up straight.
Finally, it was her turn.
Wen Ye’s eyes tracked the officer’s hand all the way to the spot in front of her. The lid of the box was transparent, allowing her to see inside.
The interior was divided into several compartments containing meat, vegetables, and mounds of white rice.
Wen Ye stared at it, not daring to move until the officer said, “Children, eat up. Stop staring and eat slowly.”
Only then did she finally dare to lift the lid.
Wen Ye first picked up a piece of meat. It looked as if it was coated in a thick layer of savory sauce, dark and brown. She later learned this was called braised pork belly.
The piece of meat was large, as thick as a thumb and as long as a little finger. Wen Ye put a piece in her mouth, and oil and fragrance burst forth. She quickly stuffed a mouthful of rice and a bite of greens into her mouth, her cheeks bulging. Subconsciously, she turned her head to ask Gu Sheng if it was delicious, and then her tears fell. She missed Gu Sheng; if only Gu Sheng were here too.
After finishing the meal, the police said they were going to take them to the hospital to check for injuries. Wen Ye didn’t quite understand, but she had eaten such a delicious meal, so she was willing to go anywhere.