Chapter 69 Human Traffickers

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Throughout the journey, Xia Qiuxia took good care of She Ning, letting her lean on her shoulder and close her eyes to rest. Only when the tricycle arrived at the bus station did she gently pat She Ning's arm to help her get up.

She Ning hadn't been asleep at all. She knew as soon as the car stopped. She turned her gaze away from Ya Ya and woke up as Xia Qiuxia moved.

Unlike the spacious, bright, and modern stations of later times, the stations at this time were rudimentary, with only a simple waiting room, ticket window, and departure area in the main hall.

As a pioneering city of reform and opening up, the bus station in Kapok City is often overcrowded, especially during holidays and the Spring Festival travel rush. Passengers waiting to board buses carry large and small bags of luggage, crowding together shoulder to shoulder.

Today wasn't a special holiday, and the station was fairly crowded. The next bus from the city to the town was scheduled to depart in twenty minutes. After buying their tickets at the ticket window, the two women carried their luggage and searched for their bus at the departure point.

Before you even get to the bus, you can hear the ticket seller loudly calling out, "Get on the bus first, it'll leave when it's time!"

On the bus, Yuan Lingling's gaze inadvertently caught sight of a familiar figure. She jumped down from the bus steps with delight, and after recognizing the person, she quickly went forward to take the package from She Ning's hands, greeting her warmly, "Sister Ning, what are you doing here?"

"I have some business to attend to in the city. Sister Ling, have you changed your shift?" She Ning was a little surprised to run into her.

After all, according to She Hongmei, she usually takes the earliest train, and at this time she should be on her way.

“My colleague had something to do today, so I switched shifts with her,” Yuan Lingling replied as she helped her into the car.

Knowing that She Ning gets carsick, she specially arranged a front-seat window seat for her. After everything was arranged, she asked, "And who is this?"

Yuan Lingling's gaze fell on Xia Qiuxia, who was standing to the side, and she was a little curious.

When Yuan Lingling first met She Ning, she thought that she was accompanying Chen Yuzhen to the city for a follow-up visit, just like last time. However, when she looked around, she did not see Grandma Yuzhen. Instead, this woman and She Ning seemed to be very familiar with each other.

"This is my teacher, Director Xia Qiuxia of Xiahe Middle School," She Ning introduced solemnly, her eyes full of respect.

Yuan Lingling was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed with delight, "So it's Director Xia! I've heard so much about you. My sister also studies at Xiahe Middle School, and she often mentions you, saying that you are her most respected and favorite teacher."

Director Xia scrutinized Yuan Lingling's appearance closely, and a smaller version of Yuan Lingling suddenly popped into her mind. "You're Yuan Qingqing's older sister?"

“Yes, I am her second older sister,” Yuan Lingling answered cheerfully, a hint of pride in her voice.

Yuan Lingling and her younger sister have always had a good relationship. After she started working, she could only go home once a week because of her work schedule. Last time she went home, she found that her sister was acting strangely. When she asked her sister, she wouldn't say anything, and just kept saying that nothing was wrong.

Now that she had the rare opportunity to meet a leader from her sister's school who knew her, Yuan Lingling seized the chance to ask Xia Qiuxia about her sister's situation at school.

Director Xia not only strictly supervises academic studies, but also pays close attention to the students' physical and mental health. After hearing Yuan Lingling say this, she also made this matter a priority in her mind.

The two chatted enthusiastically, but She Ning did not participate.

Sitting by the window, She Ning, true to her motion sickness persona, leaned against the slightly ajar window, multitasking and constantly switching between different viewpoints.

The crow perched on a yellow-skinned fruit tree in the traffickers' yard. It was a high vantage point, the best position to observe the entire house and listen to their previously discussed relocation plan. The trafficked children were still safe until dark.

The three suspects in the room were still playing cards.

With her left fingertips lightly tapping on her knee, She Ning's eyelids drooped slightly. The female voice that spoke first was not among the three people in the room. The exact number of people in this gang still needed time to be ascertained.

She instructed Ya Ya to keep a close eye on the yard and report any unusual activity immediately. She Ning then sat up straight, took out a map of Kapok City from her bag, and began to study it.

Before leaving, Chen Xiaomin handed her a detailed map of Kapok City, which had been marked with many places to eat and have fun. Since she had come and gone in a hurry this time, she didn't have time to eat, drink, and have fun. Chen Xiaomin made an appointment with her to go shopping together next time she came.

I originally kept the map so I could visit it with Xiaomin next time, but I never expected it would be used here.

This map came at the right time and is very useful.

She Ning had only been to Kapok City twice. Apart from the hospital and the No. 1 Middle School, she didn't recognize many places. Based on the streets and landmarks she had walked through before, She Ning deduced the approximate address of the house where the human traffickers were located on the map.

The bus departed on time. The muddy road from last time had been repaired, and the journey was smooth. The bus quickly returned to town.

After getting off the bus, She Ning did not leave with Director Xia. She made an excuse to go to She Family Restaurant to find She Hongmei. After She Ning helped Director Xia load all the packages onto the tricycle, they went their separate ways.

After strolling around town and buying some things, She Ning went straight home.

When I got home, the house was quiet. It was still early, and She Ni hadn't come home from school yet. She Hongmei was busy at the shop, and Chen Yuzhen wasn't home either. I didn't see my grandmother under the big tree at the intersection. I wondered if she had gone to the village secretary's house to chat with her best friend.

Back in her room, She Ning spread out the newspapers she had bought and resumed her old ways, cutting out the words from the newspapers one by one, arranging them according to her needs, and pasting them onto the paper.

As she continued cutting, she shifted her perspective back to Ya Ya's.

The three people in the room have stopped playing cards. One is sleeping in another room, and the other two are eating. There is now another person in the room. The woman who spoke first has appeared; she is the one who brought back the food she had packed.

"You can eat later. First, help me move the wooden planks in the cellar," the woman commanded, pushing the man beside her.

Having been hungry for most of the day and barely having eaten a few bites, the man who had been pushed was somewhat unhappy. However, upon meeting the woman's calm and unwavering eyes and exchanging a glance with his companion, they put down their chopsticks and obediently complied.

The three people came out of the house, and She Ning finally saw their faces clearly. The two men looked very ordinary, the kind that you wouldn't notice if you threw them into a crowd. The woman was probably in her forties, slightly plump, with a round face, almond-shaped eyes, slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and rosy skin. She looked gentle and non-threatening.

The three of them walked one after the other towards the corner of the yard, and finally stopped in front of the wooden frame.

The wooden frame did not completely seal the opening; a gap was left on the right side of the board, specifically for ventilation.

"Open it," the woman commanded, standing still.

Upon hearing this, the two men quickly squatted down, each reaching out to grip the sides of the wooden plank tightly.

"One, two, three!" the men chanted softly, working together to slowly move the heavy wooden planks away little by little.

As the wooden planks were completely removed, a foul odor wafted from the cellar. The woman frowned and waved her hand near her nose.

The yellow-skinned fruit tree was located above and to the side of the cellar. Ya Ya was perched on a branch, and She Ning's eyes were fixed on the cellar entrance that had been opened.

In the dim light, the cellar was pitch black, and only the bottom could be vaguely seen to be covered with something.

"You two stay here and keep watch, I'll go down and take a look." Stepping forward, the woman lowered a long ladder on one side. With a bamboo basket slung over her arm, she held onto the ladder and descended step by step.

She Ning let Ya Ya follow her down. Receiving her host's intention, Ya Ya spread its wings and flew "whoosh" towards the dungeon.

It flew by, bringing a cool breeze. One of the men looked at the yellow-skinned fruit tree with its leaves motionless and wondered, "Did you just notice? It was such a sudden and strange gust of wind."

"You didn't sleep well, were you dreaming? Where's the wind?" Another man, standing a bit far away, yawned and said lazily.

He stayed up all night yesterday and was exhausted. He originally planned to catch up on sleep after dinner, but before he could even eat a few bites, she dragged him over to be a pillar.

I should have known he'd follow the eldest brother's example and skip dinner, going straight to sleep.

Stealthily following her down into the cellar, She Ning shared Ya Ya's view. The moment the kerosene lamp was lit, She Ning's heart tightened. Under the dim light, the woman's smiling expression looked particularly eerie. When she saw everything in the cellar, she almost couldn't help but reveal herself and teach him a lesson.

In the roughly thirty-square-meter cellar, a row of cold iron cages was piled up against the wall. Each cage contained several children, both boys and girls, who looked to be no more than seven or eight years old, the oldest no more than ten, and the youngest an infant, held in the arms of the older children.

They huddled together tightly in the corner of the iron cage. When they saw someone come down, their round eyes were filled with fear and dread, and their small bodies trembled uncontrollably.

"Come on, are you hungry? Have some steamed buns." The woman took down the bamboo basket she was carrying on her arm, which was filled with many white steamed buns, and said with a smile.

Hearing her deliberately soft voice, the children couldn't help but tremble even more violently.

Having not eaten all day, their stomachs were growling with hunger. The children looked at the steamed buns in her hands with longing in their eyes, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva. But thinking of the beatings they had suffered in the past few days, they dared not go forward to take them.

"What, you don't like the steamed buns?" After waiting for a while, no one took the steamed buns in her hand. The woman, who had been smiling just now, suddenly turned hostile and threw the bamboo basket on the ground. The white steamed buns rolled a few times on the ground and turned gray.

"You won't even look at steamed buns, what else do you want to eat? Dragon meat?"

She fiercely rebuked the woman, who was caught off guard and attacked. She pulled out the whip wrapped around her waist and lashed the cage repeatedly. "Crack," "crack," "crack," the whip ripped through the air and struck the iron bars of the cage heavily.

The children huddled in the iron cage, wishing they could blend into the wall. Their eyes were tightly closed, their faces were streaked with tears, and their lips were bitten until they turned white, afraid to cry out.

The woman's movements were so sudden that She Ning hadn't even had time to react before she had already struck the iron cage a few times.

#AbsoluteTerritory#

Connected with She Ning's thoughts, Ya Ya instantly used her new skill and extinguished the kerosene lamp in the cellar, turning the dimly lit cellar back into its original dark state.

In the children's eyes, the woman's figure disappeared into the darkness.