The vehicle sped along, heading in the opposite direction from the county center.
As they went farther and farther into a desolate area and the surrounding buildings grew increasingly dilapidated, she couldn’t help tightening her arms around Qiao An and asking uncertainly,
“Do you live around here?”
This didn’t look like the county town at all it was practically the countryside.
She was a little unhappy, feeling that Qiao An had fooled her.
He had clearly said before that his parents were key personnel at a factory, that his father was even a leader but what kind of leader lived in a place where even birds wouldn’t stop to poop?
Hearing the displeasure in her tone, Qiao An sneered inwardly, but soothed her aloud,
“We’re almost there. Be good.”
He called her be good?!
Jiang Yanyan’s face flushed red all at once. She bit her lip and fell silent.
Before long, the vehicle stopped in front of a rundown warehouse.
Qiao An got out, pointed at the warehouse door, and said, “We’re here. Go in.”
“T-this… this is your home?”
Staring at the rusted door, the windows nailed shut with wooden planks, and the air of decay everywhere, Jiang Yanyan was completely dumbfounded.
She froze in place, even wanting to turn around and run.
The man beside her clicked his tongue impatiently and shoved her hard.
“Weren’t you the one crying and begging to meet my parents? Why aren’t you going in now?”
Qiao An was like a completely different person.
Once the refined, handsome mask was torn away, his true face was finally revealed.
“Get your ass in there and behave, or don’t blame me for getting rough with you!”
Jiang Yanyan spun around. When she met Qiao An’s vicious gaze, her mind buzzed.
No matter how stupid she was, she sensed something was wrong. She took two steps back, then suddenly turned to run.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t even made it two steps before her hair was yanked back.
Like dragging a dead dog, Qiao An hauled Jiang Yanyan into the warehouse and slammed her onto the cold floor. He shouted to the lackey who had been waiting nearby,
“Watch her carefully. Once the goods are all ready in a few days, we’ll get to work.”
“Yes, boss.”
Jiang Yanyan’s scalp went numb.
She lunged forward, clutched Qiao An’s leg, and cried,
“Qiao An, I don’t want to marry you anymore. Please let me go, okay? I want to go home…”
Before she could finish speaking, a heavy kick landed on her stomach.
The pain twisted her insides together.
As her consciousness blurred, she heard Qiao An’s ferocious laughter.
“Stupid girl, remember this pies don’t fall from the sky. Only human traffickers do.”
She didn’t know how much time passed.
When Jiang Yanyan groggily opened her eyes, the scene before her sent waves of cold through her heart, and cold sweat poured down her back.
In the same dark room with her were four or five young girls!
Everyone was curled up, sobbing quietly.
One slender girl lay motionless in the corner no one knew if she was dead or alive.
She’d fallen into the hands of human traffickers!
A joking remark from a few days ago suddenly flashed through her mind.
Back then, her mother had worried about her being kidnapped if she came home late, and she had boasted arrogantly that traffickers would only ever be sold by her.
Now that she was truly in their hands, she was utterly helpless.
For a moment, Jiang Yanyan wished she could slap herself.
But it was too late now. Once you fell into traffickers’ hands, the only fate was to be sold into some remote mountain village, forced to bear children for crippled, disabled, stupid, sick old bachelors of all ages…
She screamed in terror.
“No no! Help! I don’t want to have children for old bachelors!”
“Help! Help! There are human traffickers here!”
Her hysterical cries quickly drew Qiao An over. The man walked in with a cigarette in his mouth, grinning roguishly.
“Go on, scream. Even if you scream your throat raw, no one’s coming to save you. Jiang Yanyan, do you think just anyone is qualified to be sold to old bachelors?”
He snorted.
“Ugly as you are, you’ll probably only sell to a black coal mine, servicing different men every day.”
That single sentence scared Jiang Yanyan so badly she wet herself.
Her body shook like a sieve as she cried and begged,
“Let me go. I’ll do anything. Qiao An, we were together for three months at least—you can’t do this to me.”
“Ask them who here hasn’t been with me?”
Qiao An looked smug, grinning widely.
“You brainless idiots are just easy to fool. Too bad none of you are good-looking every last one of you is ugly as hell.”
Suddenly, he thought of Ning Xi, and his eyes lit up.
If he could get his hands on that woman, she would definitely sell for a sky-high price.
“Jiang Yanyan, do you want me to let you go…”
Evening.
Only when the sky was dyed with colorful clouds did Jiang Yanyan’s figure appear at the village entrance.
She was hunched over, both hands pressed against her lower abdomen, walking very slowly. With every step, stabbing pain shot through her belly, making cold sweat pour out but what tormented her even more was Qiao An’s command.
He had said.
A life for a life.
Trade Ning Xi for herself.
But her second brother was about to marry Ning Xi. If she did that, he would definitely hate her to death and never acknowledge her as his sister again.
Just as she was locked in inner turmoil, a familiar voice called out.
Cao Xinrou walked over with a bamboo basket on her arm.
“Yanyan, you went into the city to see your boyfriend?”
Hearing Cao Xinrou’s voice, Jiang Yanyan felt as if she’d found her anchor. Tears immediately welled up.
“Sister Xinrou, I—I almost got trafficked. They even beat me…”
“What? Human traffickers?!”
Cao Xinrou was so shocked her eyes nearly popped out.
“Then how did you get out? Yanyan, you’re amazing to escape from human traffickers! You really are worthy of being Brother Chengbei’s sister.”
“It wasn’t that I’m amazing. I made a deal with them.”
Jiang Yanyan truly treated Cao Xinrou like her own sister. Without thinking, she poured everything out. At first, she even felt lucky after all, she’d already escaped the wolf’s den and didn’t need to keep her promise.
But after hearing everything, Cao Xinrou looked uneasy.
“Yanyan, if traffickers could catch you once, they can catch you a second time. Think about it if you break your word and anger them, what kind of end will you face? Do you think they’ll let you off easily?”
That’s right.
Would Qiao An really let her go?
Thinking of the look in Qiao An’s eyes when she left the warehouse it was exactly like looking at a dead person.
Jiang Yanyan shuddered violently. No she had barely escaped. She absolutely couldn’t be dragged back to that hellish place again.
Her teeth chattered in fear. After a long time, she finally made her decision.
Since Ning Xi was heartless first, don’t blame her for being unjust.
Ning Xi had no idea she was already being targeted.
After registering their marriage came the wedding banquet. Even though it would just be a simple affair with a few tables, meat and vegetables still needed to be prepared in advance.
That day, Jiang Chengbei was going into the city.
“Xixi, is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you.”
Ning Xi really did need something but it was too private to ask Jiang Chengbei to buy it for her. Besides, she worried that if a grown man went to buy women’s menstrual pads, people would laugh at him.
“I’ll go with you.”
This time, they didn’t ride bicycles they took the bus.
Not long after, Jiang Yanyan boarded the next bus into the city.
She followed Ning Xi and Jiang Chengbei from a distance, neither too close nor too far, lurking at the entrance of an alley not far from the supply cooperative.
About half an hour later, seeing the two of them come out carrying their purchases, she immediately ran over in a fluster.
“Second Brother, something terrible’s happened!”
“I think I just saw human traffickers they knocked a child unconscious and carried them away!”