The younger officer noticed the man’s intentions and viciously smacked him on the back of the head.
“Behave yourself. Don’t move.”
Unable to struggle free, the man finally quieted down.
With both criminals subdued, a wave of fear suddenly rose from the depths of Jiang Lai’s heart.
She had never felt so painfully clear-headed.
The delayed terror came crashing over her.
What if they had accomplices?
What if these two were released someday?
Would they come after me for revenge?
Public security wasn’t exactly good these days.
If that really happened, she’d probably lose her life.
She stood rooted to the spot, overwhelmed with panic, not even knowing what she should do next.
The older police officer emerged from the room, tightly clutching his left arm and enduring obvious pain.
“The two hostages seem to have been drugged. We can’t wake them up. We’ll have to make a phone call and get more people over here.”
He walked over to one of the criminals squatting against the wall, grabbed him by the hair with his good hand, and forced his head up.
After confirming it was indeed the man they’d been hunting, he sneered before shoving his head back down again.
“There’s a telephone in my office downstairs,” Director Tian said.
The older officer followed Jiang Lai downstairs.
His arm appeared to be seriously injured.
Blood dripped continuously as he walked.
Jiang Lai glanced at him several times.
His face had turned pale, and every few moments he sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
Unable to help herself, she asked,
“Sir… should I take you to the hospital first?”
The words had barely left her mouth before she remembered they had no transportation.
Seeing the concern written all over her face, the older officer smiled reassuringly instead.
“It’s alright.”
“People in our line of work get injured all the time.”
He looked at her approvingly.
“You’ve got excellent instincts.”
“That man with the crippled left thumb is one of Min Province’s most notorious child traffickers.”
“He’s our number one wanted target.”
“I never imagined he’d end up running into you.”
“I’ll definitely apply for a reward for you afterward.”
Jiang Lai immediately waved both hands.
“Sir, I’m just an ordinary citizen.”
“I’d rather not know that much.”
She hadn’t done it for a reward.
Reform and Opening-up had only just begun.
Government departments weren’t exactly swimming in money.
Even ten or twenty yuan wasn’t worth risking her life for.
She preferred to think of it simply as helping someone in need.
Seeing how she’d suddenly become timid, the older officer burst into hearty laughter.
“Don’t worry.”
“It’s our duty to protect people like you.”
Unfortunately, laughing tugged at the wound on his arm.
He immediately sucked in a painful breath.
Jiang Lai led him into Director Tian’s office.
After thoughtfully helping him dial the phone, she returned to the reception office.
The office door was still locked from the inside.
She pushed several times, but it wouldn’t open.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me.”
Hearing Jiang Lai’s voice, Xu Hui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She slowly unlocked the door.
Seeing Xu Hui’s swollen red eyes, Jiang Lai couldn’t help laughing.
“What are you crying for?”
“I haven’t even cried yet.”
“I was scared to death.”
“How could something like this happen?”
Xu Hui still couldn’t believe they’d stumbled into such a massive human trafficking case.
“The police said those two aren’t ordinary criminals.”
“They’re wanted fugitives.”
“What?”
“W-Will they come after us for revenge?”
“I’ve heard people like that have no humanity.”
“They kill without blinking.”
Xu Hui was completely rattled now.
The more she thought about it, the more she regretted everything.
Truthfully, Jiang Lai was frightened too.
But once they’d encountered something like this, there was no avoiding it.
This era was chaotic.
There were simply too many dangerous people.
Yet she couldn’t have stood by and watched that woman and child be trafficked away.
“It’s a good thing they were caught.”
“If they hadn’t been…”
If they’d simply refused the men, the kidnappers would have wandered the streets.
With such obvious targets, the police might eventually have noticed them.
If they were arrested, that would have been the best outcome.
But if they escaped after abandoning the victims…
…and blamed the women at the guesthouse for alerting the authorities…
If those criminals came back in the middle of the night seeking revenge, neither she nor Xu Hui would have had any chance of escaping.
No matter what they’d done tonight, there had always been both good and bad possible outcomes.
Soon afterward, police sirens echoed outside.
A flurry of hurried footsteps followed, all rushing upstairs.
There were many people.
Neither Jiang Lai nor Xu Hui dared peek outside anymore.
Only after everything was over did they finally lose their nerve.
Not long afterward, Director Tian returned, his face deathly pale.
He pointed at Jiang Lai in exasperation.
“You’re far too bold!”
“How could you get involved in something like this?”
“Director, I was scared too.”
“But I couldn’t just watch those two get kidnapped.”
“Don’t ever do something like this again.”
“If anything suspicious happens in the future, report it to me first.”
Director Tian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Jiang Lai muttered weakly,
“I hope there isn’t a next time.”
“Once is already more than enough for anyone.”
They hadn’t exchanged many more words when the young officer entered with another young policeman, both carrying notebooks.
“We have a few questions for you.”
Director Tian clicked his tongue.
“My understanding is limited.”
“These two girls were on duty tonight.”
“You should ask them.”
His mouth felt unbearably dry after everything that had happened.
He turned in a circle before returning to his office.
The young officer sat behind the desk, uncapped his fountain pen, and pointed toward the bed.
“Please have a seat.”
“Tell us everything that happened in detail.”
Xu Hui still hadn’t completely recovered from the shock.
After thinking for quite a while, she finally managed to say,
“We were taking turns on duty.”
“I had nothing to do, so I lay down for a nap.”
“The men’s voices woke me.”
“They said they’d lost their luggage and introduction letter but still wanted a room.”
“That violated the regulations, so I refused immediately.”
“It was Lai Lai who noticed something was wrong and reminded me.”
The officer turned his attention toward Jiang Lai.
“What made you suspect something was wrong with them?”
“It wasn’t any one thing.”
“The man speaking to me deliberately used an out-of-town accent.”
“I grew up in the countryside.”
“I know what rural people are like.”
“His skin was dark—but not the sun-darkened, yellowish complexion of someone who works in the fields every day.”
“It was an oily kind of dark.”
“Country people live frugally.”
“They save money coin by coin.”
“It’s not easy for them to casually pull out a ten-yuan note.”
“What first caught my attention, though, was the woman behind them.”
“Her pants and shoes didn’t match.”
“And her hair was glossy.”
“It didn’t look like the hair of a rural woman.”
As she spoke, she stretched out one foot to show her own cloth shoes.
“When you work in the fields every day, handmade cloth shoes are the most practical.”
“I take good care of my hair, but it’s still dry.”
“That man claimed his wife had mental illness.”
“But it didn’t match that woman’s jet-black, well-maintained hair.”
“I’m not discriminating.”
“But no decent family capable of casually producing a ten-yuan bill would willingly marry someone with severe mental illness.”
“And even if they truly loved each other…”
“A husband who genuinely cherished his wife wouldn’t hand her over for his brother to support.”
Xu Hui stared at Jiang Lai with admiration.
“I never imagined you could think through all that at the time.”
“I just felt something wasn’t right.”
She hesitated before asking quietly,
“Were they really major criminals?”
The young officer carefully recorded everything she had said before looking up.
“Anything else you’d like to add?”
“If not, please come sign your statements.”
After thinking for a while, Jiang Lai couldn’t remember anything else.
She and Xu Hui signed their statements one after the other.
Then Jiang Lai suddenly remembered the address the man had written earlier.
She found the registration record and pointed to it.
“This is the detailed home address he wrote down.”
The officer merely glanced at it before replying calmly,
“People like them would never give their real names or actual home addresses so easily.”