The mother and daughter burst into tears. After Liu Dinglan came to her senses, she smiled sheepishly at Xia Qingqing and Liang Shuang.

He quickly pulled Liu's mother to stand in front of the two of them:

"Mom, these two are the people who saved me. This is Qingqing. If she hadn't stopped the human traffickers at the critical moment, you and Dad might never have seen me in this lifetime."

"And this is Sister Liang Shuang. It's all thanks to Sister Liang Shuang for calling the police in time that the human traffickers were caught."

Upon hearing this, Liu's mother grabbed Xia Qingqing's hand and said, "Girl, thank you so much. You are our family's benefactors, our great benefactors."

Xia Qingqing subtly withdrew her hand, a suitable smile appearing on her face: "Auntie, you don't need to be so polite. It was just a coincidence. Others would have stepped forward to help if they saw something like this."

“Yes, yes,” Liang Shuang nodded in agreement. She felt that she hadn’t done much; it was mainly Qingqing’s doing.

Upon hearing Xia Qingqing's words, Liu Dinglan immediately retorted, "That's not true at all. At first, many people around us didn't believe what I said. Instead, they believed that damned human trafficker. Without you, I would definitely have been taken away."

Liu Dinglan had a very good impression of Xia Qingqing from their first meeting at the supply and marketing cooperative. This time, Xia Qingqing saved her again, and her feelings for her exploded.

Mr. and Mrs. Liu warmly invited Xia Qingqing and Liang Shuang to a state-run restaurant for dinner, insisting on thanking them properly, but Xia Qingqing and Liang Shuang declined.

“We still need to catch the oxcart. Once the oxcart leaves, we’ll have to walk back to the village.”

After hearing this, Mr. Liu pondered for a moment and thanked the two for not being in a hurry, as they were not fully prepared today.

So he carefully asked Xia Qingqing and the others for their address, planning to visit them directly the next day to express his gratitude.

When Xia Qingqing and Liang Shuang walked out of the police station, Liang Shuang was still a little shaken and gave Xia Qingqing a good scolding:

"Qingqing, next time you encounter something like this, just ask someone for help. Don't try to do it all by yourself, okay? You almost got hurt today."

Xia Qingqing sensed Liang Shuang's concern for her and nodded obediently, "I know, it just happened so suddenly. I promise I won't be so impulsive next time."

Actually, she rushed forward because she was confident in herself. If she wasn't confident that she could subdue those two human traffickers, she wouldn't have acted so impulsively.

She knew that even when helping others, one should do one's best.

Hearing Xia Qingqing's words, Liang Shuang nodded in satisfaction: "That's more like it. You really scared me today."

"I know you care about me. I haven't treated you to the meat buns I promised. Let's go buy some now," Xia Qingqing smiled sweetly at Liang Shuang.

It just so happened that Uncle Ding's oxcart was parked not far from the state-run restaurant, so Xia Qingqing stopped by the restaurant and bought 10 meat buns to go.

She and Liang Shuang each ate two, and took the remaining six back for Zhang Hongyan and the others to eat.

——

Early the next morning, Liu Dinglan and her parents rode two bicycles to the Shihe Production Brigade with gifts of gratitude.

Zhang Hongyan and Xia Heping were still a little dazed when they were called back. The messenger said that guests had come to their house, riding two bicycles and bringing many gifts.

Where did they get such wealthy guests? How come they don't know?

When the two returned home, they learned that their daughter had kindly saved a girl the day before, and the girl and her family of three had come to thank them today.

Zhang Hongyan glared at her daughter angrily. How dare she not tell the family about such a big thing? This child is getting bolder and bolder.

Xia Qingqing secretly stuck out her tongue. She was afraid that her parents would worry if she told them. Besides, she felt that she had just done it on a whim. She didn't expect that Liu Dinglan's parents would actually come to thank her today.

Liu's mother held Zhang Hongyan's hand tightly, her voice filled with gratitude: "Sister, thank you so much for your Qingqing. If it weren't for her, my daughter's life would be over, and our family would be over too."

As she spoke, Liu's mother began to choke up again, a reaction that left Zhang Hongyan somewhat at a loss.

"Big sister, don't cry. Let's go inside and sit down. Qingqing, go to the kitchen and make a cup of tea for the guests."

Xia Qingqing obediently went to the kitchen to make tea, and Liu Dinglan quickly followed, saying, "Qingqing, let me help you."

Zhang Hongyan wanted to stop them, saying that it was unacceptable to let guests brew tea together.

Liu's mother tugged at Zhang Hongyan's hand: "Little sister, just let her go. She really likes Qingqing now and definitely wants to spend more time with her."

Seeing that his wife and children had gone inside, Liu's father quickly took the gifts hanging on the car handlebars and carried the things in both hands to the house.

Xia Heping was startled when he saw so many gift boxes: "Brother Liu, this is unacceptable."

How could you accept so many gifts? Even in the countryside, the betrothal gifts for a wedding aren't this much.

"Brother Xia, don't be so polite. This little gift is nothing. Qingqing saved our daughter's life. No amount of money is too much," Liu's father said forcefully as he carried the gift into the main room.

The gift boxes were placed one by one on the dining table, filling the entire table.

Zhang Hongyan listened intently as Liu's mother recounted what she had heard from her daughter the day before. She was stunned. Are human traffickers really this brazen these days?

They dared to snatch people right on the street, and were even clever enough to pretend to be the girl's parents. If she were standing next to them, she might have believed the human traffickers.

When she heard that the human trafficker actually had a dagger in his hand, she was immediately startled and broke out in a cold sweat.

She said that when her daughter came home yesterday, her sleeve had a tear, and she lied and said that she had accidentally been scratched by a tree branch. She was really too bold.

What if that human trafficker is even more ruthless? Would it be their own daughter who gets hurt?

Zhang Hongyan secretly made up her mind that she would give her daughter a good scolding after seeing the guests off.

Since the Liu family had come all this way, Zhang Hongyan insisted on having them stay for a meal.

However, the Liu family of three had also taken leave to come, and they had to go back to work at the factory in the afternoon. They didn't have time to eat, so they said goodbye and left after sitting for a while.

When Xia Qingqing saw the Liu family off, Liu's mother slipped 200 yuan into her hand.

Even Xia Qingqing was somewhat surprised by her generosity. This was not 200 yuan in later times; 200 yuan now was equivalent to half a year's wages for a worker.

"Auntie, I can't take this money."

Liu's mother smiled and took her hand, saying, "Qingqing, the kindness you have shown to our family can't be repaid with gifts and money. Please keep this money; we won't feel at ease if you don't."

Liu Dinglan chimed in, "That's right, Qingqing, just take it. Is my life not worth 200 yuan?"