Outside, the afternoon sun still shone brightly, but the alleyway was dark, hidden by many old wooden buildings.
Shadows were everywhere.
A gust of wind carried the chill of the alleyway into the car.
Jiang Mingyu pulled her collar tighter, feigning doubt: “Master, is this the way back to Green Water Town?”
“Of course, we’ll be there soon, and it’s a shortcut!”
The man smiled smugly, rode the tricycle into a courtyard, and suddenly stopped.
“Alright, get out. I said we’re almost there, not that we’re almost at Green Water Town!”
He got out of the car; at 1.6 meters tall, shorter than Jiang Mingyu, his expression was fierce. He lit a cigarette with a match and beckoned to the people inside: “We caught two more today. Didn’t they say there was a seventy-year-old guy who wanted to buy a wife? Li San, Li Si, you two brothers, come out and take a look.”
A woman followed behind the two men.
The men were all around the same age, but the woman was older.
Seeing the beautiful Jiang Mingyu, her eyes lit up, and she immediately surrounded her, sizing her up: “Oh my, so beautiful! Good stuff, good stuff!”
Jiang Mingyu got out of the car carrying three children, feigning wariness as she looked at them: “What do you want?”
She nervously swallowed, trying to appear more frightened.
“I’m not riding in your car anymore! Let me go!”
*Slap!
* “Trying to leave?”
Suddenly, a slap came from behind.
Immediately afterward, the girl screamed.
It turned out to be the girl from the car earlier. Seeing that Jiang Mingyu had also been arrested, she was terrified and tried to sneak away.
But Li San and Li Si, whom the man had called over, spotted her and grabbed her, one in each hand.
With a rustle, her clothes fell off, revealing her hands, red from being bound with rope. The cloth covering her mouth slipped down, revealing the duct tape sealing her lips.
“Waaah!”
“Mommy, what’s going on?”
Da Wa and Er Wa were terrified, while San Ya tightly pursed her lips, her face pale, afraid to cry.
Jiang Mingyu didn’t answer them. Instead, she calmly watched the scene unfold and quietly led her three children back a few steps, distancing themselves from the men.
This way, even if the men suddenly attacked, they wouldn’t be able to harm her children.
The driver who kidnapped the girl kicked her to the ground and spat in her face.
“Damn it! Behave yourself! If you try to escape again, I’ll break your legs!”
The older woman was somewhat dissatisfied and patted him on the shoulder. “Old Hong, where did you get this girl? Why haven’t you trained her yet?”
“Hmph, lucky me. This girl came to our county to visit relatives from out of town. I saw she didn’t know the way and heard her accent, so I kidnapped her. I didn’t expect her to be a college student! She was yelling that she was going to call the police, but I slapped her unconscious, covered her mouth, and dragged her back.”
Old Hong said with a smug smile, turning to the older woman and saying, “Wife, this is a college student. We’ve made a fortune this time.”
A college student?
Jiang Mingyu’s eyes lit up.
Her investment company, which she was planning to open, was short of staff!
Regardless of the girl’s major or skills, as long as she was a college student, she was a talent in her eyes and couldn’t let her go!
Immediately, she stepped forward to protect the girl, her aura changing instantly. She was no longer as amiable as before; instead, her words carried a sharp edge, her eyes piercing the group like knives:
“I advise you to let us go, or don’t blame me for not giving you a chance to regret it.”
As soon as she moved, the three children quickly followed.
The eldest, protecting his younger brother and sister, mustered his courage and shouted, “Yes! Let us go! Otherwise, I’ll call my dad to arrest you! My dad’s a policeman from the security department!”
“Security department?”
The group was indeed startled.
The Li brothers, Li San and Li Si, frowned, looking at Old Hong: “You didn’t bring a cop, did you? This woman doesn’t look easy to mess with.”
“Hmph, haven’t we seen plenty of women who are difficult to deal with? Arrest them, tie them up with the others in the house, and see how she runs!”
With a snap, Old Hong threw out his cigarette, stomped it out, and stepped forward to grab Jiang Mingyu, intending to slap her across the face a few times.
But the woman, who was squatting in front of him just a second ago, struck with lightning speed the next. No one saw how she moved; she executed an over-the-shoulder throw, sending him sprawling to the ground!
Several sharp cracking sounds followed, all from strained backs.
“Ouch! My bones!”
Old Hong cried out in pain.
“What?”
Li San and Li Si were also startled, rushing forward and raising their fists. “You filthy woman! You dare hit our men?”
The woman was shocked, seemingly not expecting Jiang Mingyu to be so skilled, and quickly backed away.
Facing the pursuers, Jiang Mingyu remained unfazed, smiling. “This is called Taekwondo.”
But there was no smile in her eyes.
These people were determined to deal with her; if she didn’t know any self-defense techniques and followed them, she would most likely be crippled.
Immediately, she showed no mercy, quickly taking them all down!
“Wow, so amazing!”
Sanya was stunned, her eyes filled with admiration.
Dawa and Erwa snapped out of their daze and hurriedly untied the girl’s ropes and tore off the tape from her mouth.
“Big sister, are you alright?”
The two children were smarter and finally realized that their mother had come to rescue her.
“I, I’m fine…”
The girl was terrified and quickly pulled the three children back, letting Jiang Mingyu deal with Li San and Li Si.
At that moment, she was incredibly grateful that she had asked Jiang Mingyu for help;
otherwise, her life would have been ruined by these scumbags!
Just as Jiang Mingyu was handling the situation with ease, suddenly, Old Hong, who had previously hidden in the house, blushed and fiercely pulled out a homemade gun: “Stop! Move again, and I’ll shoot you!”
In this era, many weapons were not fully regulated.
It wasn’t surprising that firearms passed down from the old era had fallen into the hands of such thugs.
However, Jiang Mingyu hadn’t expected such a risk when she came.
It seemed she had been living too comfortably since arriving in this era, neglecting this crucial detail.
Narrowing her eyes, she slowly released her grip, tossing aside Li San and Li Si, and looked up at him: “What do you want to do?”
“You two idiots, hurry up and tie her up!”
Old Hong cursed them a couple of times before turning to Jiang Mingyu, sneering, “No matter who you are, if you dare come along and ruin my plans today, you won’t leave here alive!”
As soon as he finished speaking, his hand was on the trigger.
“Mom!”
the three children cried out in alarm. The girl quickly covered their eyes, crouching down and hugging them tightly, afraid of harming the innocent.
Bang!
The next second, a muffled sound suddenly rang in everyone’s ears.