At dusk, the aroma of cooking drifted out from every household courtyard.
People on the streets hurried home with quick steps. A plainly dressed woman, carrying a basket on her arm, stopped in front of a dilapidated door.
She looked around, her expression extremely careful and guarded. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention to her did she raise her hand and knock twice.
“Who is it?” a voice called from inside the courtyard.
The woman replied softly, “It’s me. I’m back from buying groceries. There were a lot of people today, so I had to queue for a while before I could get them. I’m a bit late coming back, hurry up and open the door.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the door opened.
A rough-looking man walked out from inside. First, he cautiously scanned the surroundings. Then he stepped aside and lowered his voice to the woman, “Come in and talk.”
After the woman entered the courtyard, the rough-looking man looked around again before closing the door. Even then, he still didn’t feel at ease and pressed his ear against the door to listen for movement outside.
At the same time, a figure quietly climbed up onto the wall and sat there, panting.
From a high vantage point, she surveyed the courtyard. Seeing the man’s foolish behavior, she nearly laughed out loud.
In the courtyard below, a woman in her fifties stopped and turned back, seeing the man with his face pressed against the door. She said unhappily, “I was careful all the way and kept watching. No one followed me.”
“Xiao Wu, you really don’t need to be this overly cautious.”
The rough-looking man, whom the woman called Xiao Wu, didn’t think his caution was unnecessary at all.
In their line of work, they had to remain vigilant at all times.
Not hearing any unusual movement outside, Xiao Wu finally relaxed and walked to the large tree in the center of the courtyard.
He turned back to the woman and said, “Boss always says, caution keeps a ship sailing for ten thousand years. If we weren’t this careful, we would’ve been caught several times already.”
“You should be careful too. We’ve received word from above, some unidentified people have entered the county. The boss’s order is that after this batch of goods is delivered, everyone is to lay low for a while.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll listen to you all.” The woman agreed on the surface, but inwardly she didn’t take it seriously at all.
Xiao Wu knew this old woman was full of schemes, so he didn’t bother wasting more words warning her. Instead, he went straight to the point. “You coming at this time means you’ve got goods?”
“Of course. Anyone I, Xu Daniu, set my eyes on has never slipped away,” the woman said proudly, a smug smile on her face. “I’m not bragging, but this girl is exceptionally good-looking.”
“She’ll definitely sell for a good price. When she’s sold, you all better give me a bigger cut for my trouble.”
“Let me tell you, this girl is a bit clever. I even used my granddaughter to trick her into coming home.”
“You must give me more for the hardship. I and—”
“You won’t be shortchanged,” Xiao Wu interrupted her endless chatter. “Where is the goods right now? Have you arranged for someone to watch her?”
Seeing Xiao Wu’s impatience, Xu Daniu quickly replied, “She’s at my house. No need to post anyone to watch her, I’ve already mixed something you gave me into her water.”
“She’s sleeping soundly now. Even thunder wouldn’t wake her up.”
Xiao Wu nodded in satisfaction, then made arrangements. “Alright. Go back first and keep an eye on her. After it gets completely dark, we’ll go over and move her here.”
“Alright.” Xu Daniu nodded.
“No need for all that trouble. I’ve already followed you here myself.”
A clear, crisp voice rang out.
Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu under the big tree in the courtyard both froze at the sound, turning their heads toward its source almost at the same time.
They saw a young woman sitting on top of the wall, wearing a fine cotton shirt and blue work pants. She was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features, an unmistakable beauty.
Sitting there, she lazily swung her legs, looking completely at ease.
Just as Xiao Wu was about to rush over and grab her, Xu Daniu caught his arm.
At that moment, Xu Daniu was cursing inwardly, but on the surface she forced a gentle smile. Looking up at the person on the wall, she asked softly, “You… how are you here?”
The woman sitting on the wall was none other than the “goods” Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu had been talking about, Song Yueying.
It was the first time she had been treated as “goods,” and Song Yueying was very displeased.
“Of course I followed you here,” she said, blinking innocently. “Otherwise how could I possibly have gotten to this… place?”
After answering, she didn’t forget to express her “gratitude” to Xu Daniu.
“Thanks for leading the way, Aunt Xu.” She also thanked this old woman for personally trying to trick her, and when that failed, switching to using a little girl instead.
Song Yueying was guarded against everyone, except she had no defenses against children, which was how she ended up being tricked by the little girl. The moment she realized she had been deceived, she immediately decided to play along.
She pretended to drink the water the girl brought her and passed out. After Xu Daniu left the house, she knocked the girl unconscious and followed Xu Daniu all the way here.
Xu Daniu ground her teeth in anger. Who the hell was leading whom? Clearly this girl had followed her on her own. No, her heart suddenly jolted.
She had personally seen this girl drink the drugged water.
There was no way she could have woken up so quickly.
The drugged water had been given to many people before, and there had never been a single case of someone waking up this quickly. Was this girl’s body unusually resistant, or had the mixture gone wrong?
Xu Daniu was shocked, but she also knew this was not the time to search for answers. She gritted her teeth secretly and forced a pleasant expression. “How did you get up onto the wall?”
“By climbing with my hands and feet,” Song Yueying replied.
Xu Daniu was so furious she nearly spat blood, and she wanted nothing more than to beat this girl on the wall to death.
From their exchange, Xiao Wu understood that Xu Daniu had clearly suffered a misstep this time. The woman sitting on the wall was the very “goods” Xu Daniu had just mentioned.
Xiao Wu narrowed his eyes and fixed a cold stare on Song Yueying, speaking slowly. “I don’t care how you got up there. Get down now.”
“And if I don’t?” Song Yueying asked with a smile. Her words were infuriatingly casual. “It wasn’t easy for me to climb up here, and you want me to go down? That would be so embarrassing.”
“Then don’t blame me for being rude.” As he spoke, Xiao Wu pulled a handgun from his chest and aimed it at Song Yueying.
“A gun too! How scary, how scary!” Song Yueying said she was scared, but her eyes were full of excitement.
Hearing her completely insincere “how scary,” Xiao Wu’s mouth twitched. There wasn’t even a trace of fear on her face.
“If you don’t come down now, I’ll shoot,” he warned one last time.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t! Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot!” Song Yueying quickly admitted defeat. Just as Xiao Wu’s lips curled into a smile, thinking she had surrendered, she turned her head and shouted toward the outside of the courtyard wall.
“Captain Hong! The human traffickers have guns, they might be more than just traffickers. Your chance to earn merit has arrived!”
Xiao Wu’s expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a bullet struck his hand. The gun fell straight to the ground.