She glanced at the woman, then turned her head and leaned against the window, pretending to sleep. She could feel the woman staring at her the entire time.
Just as Shen Zhixia was about to fall asleep, someone nudged her arm.
She turned her head and saw the woman smiling as she held out a bright red apple to her.
“Little sister, I have some apples here. Have one and try it. Look at us—we happened to get on the same train and even got seats in the same row. That must be fate.”
The woman stuffed the apple into Shen Zhixia’s arms and continued, “My sister-in-law back at my parents’ home is sick, so my husband and I brought our child back to visit her. Little sister, judging by the way you look, you haven’t gotten married yet, have you? Why are you riding the train alone?”
“Let me tell you, trains aren’t safe these days. There are child thieves and people who kidnap and traffic young women like you everywhere. You have to be extra careful when you’re out alone.”
When Shen Zhixia ignored her, the woman cursed inwardly, then asked with another smile, “Little sister, you probably don’t have a job yet, do you? My elder brother is the deputy director of a textile factory in our province. Do you want your big sister here to arrange a job for you?”
The moment she heard this, the genes in Shen Zhixia’s blood that belonged to a novel’s heroine sprang to life. She excitedly let out a scream.
Here it comes, here it comes—the classic human-trafficker sales pitch from every novel.
She was certain that if she agreed now, this woman would have her get off with them at the next station, after which they would sell her.
She turned her head and pretended to be delighted as she grabbed the woman’s hand. With an excited expression, she asked, “Sis, are you telling the truth? You can really arrange for me to work at a textile factory?”
Seeing Shen Zhixia’s expression, the woman sneered inwardly.
She had still been putting on such an aloof, unapproachable act just now, but as soon as she heard that a job could be arranged, she came clinging over. At a glance, it was obvious that she was inexperienced in the ways of the world.
“Of course. I’ve already helped quite a few girls your age find jobs. Don’t worry. You’re so pretty, so I’ll definitely arrange an easy job for you when the time comes.”
Listening to the woman, Shen Zhixia narrowed her eyes!
Oh! She had helped quite a few girls find jobs—which meant quite a few girls had been kidnapped and sold by her.
This was merit practically being delivered to her door. She absolutely had to seize it. That way, she could also earn some goodwill in front of Fu Siyu.
Without revealing anything, she continued to fish for information.
“To be honest with you, Sis, I ran away from home. My parents were forcing me to marry some old man more than thirty years older than me. I refused, so I thought I’d come out and find a job. Once I’ve made some money, I’ll go back home. Then my parents won’t be angry anymore.”
The woman quickly seized on the information in Shen Zhixia’s words. She had run away from home and was being forced into marriage, which meant her parents did not care for her. Someone like that would be even safer to sell, since no one would discover she was missing.
Besides, Shen Zhixia’s appearance and figure were far better than those of the girls she had sold before. She could fetch at least one or two thousand yuan.
Patting Shen Zhixia’s hand, the woman comforted her. “Big sister understands you. For us women, getting married is like being reborn. If you marry well, you’ll enjoy a lifetime of happiness. If you marry badly, you’ll suffer all your life. When all is said and done, we women have to live for ourselves. We have to fight for our own happiness.”
As she spoke, she glanced outside. The conductor’s announcement said that the train would arrive in He Province in fifteen minutes, and passengers who needed to get off were asked to prepare in advance.
She stood up and said to Shen Zhixia, “Little sister, why don’t you come with me to another carriage? My husband and child are over there. We’re getting off soon, and as soon as we do, I’ll have my elder brother take you to have a look at the textile factory.”
Shen Zhixia nodded and followed the woman toward another carriage.
There, she saw a man in his forties holding a child at the connection between the carriages. Beside him stood another man in his thirties with a long scar across his face. There were also two young women.
When they came over, the scar-faced man shifted inconspicuously to the left, just in time to block the way behind them.
The woman smiled and took Shen Zhixia’s hand as she introduced them.
“Little sister, don’t be afraid. This is my husband, and this is my brother from my parents’ family. They came especially to meet us. These two girls are just like you—they’re both going to work at the textile factory. You can keep each other company.”
Looking at the two large, heavily built men in front of her, Shen Zhixia estimated that her odds of beating them were one to nine. The two of them could knock her unconscious nine times in a minute.
It was clearly unrealistic for her to rescue the child and the two other girls by herself, so she could only ask the railway patrol officers for help.
She let out an “Ow!” clutched her stomach, and crouched on the floor as cold sweat trickled down her cheeks.
“Sis, could you wait for me a moment? I think I ate something bad. I need to use the restroom first. I’ll be back very soon.”
As she spoke, she shook off the woman’s hand and headed toward the restroom at the other end. The scar-faced man tried to stop her, but the woman shot him a glare.
“Little sister, I’ll go with you. We’re getting off soon, so be careful not to get separated.”
Afraid of arousing their suspicion, Shen Zhixia nodded.
Once they reached the restroom, she immediately entered her portable space. When she had inspected it earlier, she thought she had seen a box of medicine that contained knockout drugs.
She took out the medicine and poured it onto a handkerchief. Then she opened the restroom door and pretended to be embarrassed as she said to the woman waiting outside, “Sis, I can’t undo the belt on my pants. Could you help me?”
The moment the woman came in, Shen Zhixia pressed the handkerchief over her mouth. She watched the woman struggle for a few seconds before collapsing, then closed the door and walked out. She happened to run into a patrol officer coming by.
“Public Security officer, there are human traffickers on the train! I just caught one of them. There are two men over there, and they have a child and two young women with them.”
Afraid the patrol officers would not believe her, she opened the restroom door and let them take a look at the woman lying inside.
“Comrade, don’t be afraid. I’ll call my colleagues over to help right away.” The officer speaking told another person to go back and call for reinforcements, while he took rope from the duty room beside them and tied up the woman.
The other officer soon returned with four plainclothes public security officers. Shen Zhixia poked her head out and glanced over. She saw that the woman’s husband was already walking in their direction.
She straightened her clothes and walked toward him. “Big sister said she needed to use the restroom, so she told me to come back first.”
After saying this, she took advantage of the man’s inattention and splashed the remaining half bottle of knockout drug directly onto his face.
The plainclothes officers following behind quickly rushed forward and pinned the man to the floor. Seeing that things had gone wrong, the scar-faced man guarding the carriage entrance tried to run, but public security officers coming from the other side caught him as well.
Only after successfully catching all of them did Shen Zhixia step forward to examine the little boy. He had probably been drugged unconscious. Shen Zhixia took out her water flask and fed him several mouthfuls of spirit spring water.
As for whether he would wake up, she had no idea.
The round-faced girl among the two young women still did not know that they had nearly been sold.
Seeing that the person who had just promised to arrange a job for her had been arrested, she asked worriedly, “They’ve all been arrested, but will I still be able to get my job?”
She was still waiting to earn money and send it home to pay for her mother’s medical treatment.
Shen Zhixia looked up at her speechlessly and replied coldly, “Wash up and go to sleep. Once you fall asleep, you’ll have a job in your dreams.”