Chapter 24 Goodbye 2 She regretted not listening to Qiu Xiaoman that night…

Liang Yuting was unaware that Shen Qinghuai had bought a car for Qiu Xiaoman. Her trouble with Qiu Xiaoman stemmed purely from her desire to prevent Qiu Xiaoman from taking a share of the Shen family's assets.

In fact, she didn't even know how much money Shen Qinghuai had; she could only guess a rough estimate through the company's informants.

Preliminary estimates suggest that Shen Qinghuai's assets, even if not ranking among the top five in Beidu, are at least in the top ten.

So, how could she not hold on tightly to such a wealthy and powerful man?

When she was going through the divorce, she had already thought it through. Her youth, her body, and all the energy she had invested were all hidden costs. She had finally managed to keep Shen Qinghuai by his side until he became a towering tree. How could she allow others to come and enjoy the shade under his tree? She would never allow anyone else to pluck the fruits of her victory!

Therefore, she still needs to find a way to get rid of Qiu Xiaoman.

Even if we can't get rid of him, we still need to prevent this wild child from contacting Shen Qinghuai again.

She took a deep breath and asked, "That wild child, is he really in the Public Security Bureau? Does he have a permanent position?"

"What are you thinking? She's not a resident of Beijing, yet she wants a government job?" The voice on the other end was that of a young man, his voice sounding rather mature.

Liang Yuting pondered for a moment and said, "I have to take the child to get vaccinated today, so I don't have time to keep an eye on her. You think of a way to get in touch with those wild kids in her yard, build friendships as soon as possible, and get them to open up to you."

In this way, it becomes very simple to keep track of Qiu Xiaoman's movements.

The young man replied, "Don't worry, I'm already in contact with him. That Li Tuantuan wants to be an apprentice. I tried to persuade him to learn hairdressing from my brother-in-law, but he thought the pay was too low and didn't agree."

"Then tell your brother-in-law to give him 300 yuan a month during his apprenticeship, and add more if that's not enough, so that Li Tuantuan can't refuse." Liang Yuting had money, although Shen Qinghuai strictly controlled most of it, she still had tens of thousands of yuan in cash.

There's no need to tempt a mere country bumpkin with tens of thousands of yuan. These days, an ordinary worker in the capital only earns around two hundred yuan a month. Three hundred yuan should be enough for an apprentice, right? Just say the hair salon is doing well and the commission is high.

Only a fool wouldn't agree to such conditions.

He responded and hung up the phone. Then he went out and bought a basket of steamed buns and a few cups of soy milk before heading towards the courtyard.

Qiu Xiaoman was used to waking up early in the countryside, and besides, she was a senior high school student before, so her biological clock was quite unreasonable. She woke up just after 5:30.

She looked at the gloomy sky, remembered that she didn't start work until eight o'clock, closed her eyes, and stayed in bed a little longer.

At 6:30, footsteps were heard in the courtyard. Since the Song siblings were not home, the task of buying groceries and cooking fell to A-Yue and Xiao-Qiao.

The two girls went shopping together. When they returned, Li Tuantuan had already prepared millet porridge with four eggs in it.

Xiao Qiao stamped her foot, breathed warm air into her palm, closed the door, ran closer with small steps, and looked up with her rosy cheeks, asking, "Brother Tuantuan, didn't I tell you last night that I would cook from now on? Why didn't you listen?"

Li Tuantuan smiled and rubbed Xiao Qiao's head: "It's okay, I'm just killing time anyway. You've just recovered from your cold, so take a rest."

"Okay." Xiao Qiao sniffed. Oh dear, it's so cold in the north. My hands and feet are freezing after going out. I need to warm them up on the stove.

Li Tuantuan turned around and took the pork belly and celery from A Yue's hand: "Are you hungry? Eat breakfast quickly."

"Should we wake Sister Xiaoman up?" Xiao Qiao is a light sleeper. She knew that Qiu Xiaoman didn't come back until midnight last night. She also learned from Li Erhu that Sister Xiaoman had successfully found a job. She was very happy, but also felt sorry for her. She didn't want to see Sister Xiaoman working too hard, but she was also worried that she would starve herself. She was very conflicted.

Li Tuantuan shook her head: "No need to shout, just keep her warm on the stove, seal the vent, and leave a small gap."

Alright, Xiao Qiao quickly went to the kitchen, cut the pork into chunks and soaked it to remove the blood, and then came over to eat after she finished.

Li Tuantuan was quite moved. From these small details, it was clear that Xiao Qiao was a poor little thing who often did manual labor. If it were someone who never lifted a finger, they would never know about steps like soaking in blood water.

Just as we were eating, the gate to the courtyard rang, and someone arrived.

Li Tuantuan is the older brother, so naturally he's the one who opens the door.

Standing outside the door was a 19-year-old young man with a long face, small eyes, and about 1.7 meters tall. He was wearing a black cashmere coat, and you could tell that his family was well-off.

The young man was carrying several breakfasts and looked at Li Tuantuan with a smile.

This is how Li Tuantuan met him when she went out during the day to inquire about apprenticeships. His family owns a clothing store, his eldest sister is married to a hair salon owner and has a decent income, his second brother is a primary school teacher, and his sister-in-law is a saleswoman in a state-owned department store.

He was surprised and happy, and greeted him warmly, "Brother Fei, it's you."

"I was worried you'd just arrived and wouldn't have everything you need to make breakfast, so I brought you some steamed buns and soy milk. Come on, they're hot." Chai Dafeng stamped his feet; they were cold.

Li Tuantuan quickly invited him in: "If I had known you were coming, I wouldn't have made breakfast. How much is it? I'll pay you."

"No need, you can rely on friends when you're away from home." Chai Dafei walked into the yard and finally saw the other two children, but two of them were still in the hospital, and one probably hadn't gotten up yet.

He doesn't talk too much or ask too many questions, as that would make him seem too scheming.

So after he came in, he helped Li Tuantuan distribute breakfast to the other two girls, then turned around and sat down to eat with them.

They would chat for a few moments now and then, always asking about Li Tuantuan's search for apprentices.

Li Tuantuan sighed silently: "I can't find anything good. Either they don't pay me, or they only give me fifty."

Chai Dafei, puffing out white smoke, comforted him, "Why don't you go to my brother-in-law's place? Spring is coming soon, it's peak season, and my brother-in-law is short-handed. I've already asked around for you, and apprentices get commissions too. If you perform well, three hundred a month shouldn't be a problem."

"Really?" Li Tuantuan was a little surprised. "When I asked yesterday, they were only willing to give me sixty."

Chai Dafei laughed and said, "That's because my brother-in-law is stingy, but my sister is generous. I told my sister about your family's situation, and she persuaded my brother-in-law a couple of times, and he agreed."

Li Tuantuan was extremely shocked, and so excited she could barely contain her voice as she asked, "Really? When can I start working?"

"Weren't you waiting for one of the older sisters to find a job first?" Chai Dafeng pretended not to know.

Li Tuantuan said proudly, "Brother Hu told me that she found a job at the Public Security Bureau!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" Chai Dafeng feigned surprise. "Then why isn't she up yet? Isn't she going to work today?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask. I got back too late yesterday, let her sleep a little longer." Li Tuantuan was overjoyed. Three hundred a month! He wouldn't have to worry about his sister being mistreated!

Chai Dafei said "Oh," and asked, "Will you come with me later?"

"I'll tell her when she wakes up before I leave." Li Tuantuan had to tell Qiu Xiaoman the news in person.

He couldn't explain why, but perhaps because of the mutual support and care they had shared along the way, he had come to regard Qiu Xiaoman as family.

As they were talking, Qiu Xiaoman woke up yawning repeatedly. It only took her three minutes to get dressed and wash up. These were habits she had developed in her senior year of high school, and they were truly ingrained in her.

Drawn by the aroma of the steamed buns, she looked at Li Tuantuan, who was beaming with excitement, and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Why are you so happy?"

"I've found an apprentice! Three hundred a month!" Li Tuantuan stood up, pulled out a chair for her, and made her sit down.

Qiu Xiaoman frowned. Three hundred for an apprentice?

Something's not right, is it?

She looked at the unfamiliar young man sitting opposite her with surprise and asked Li Tuantuan what was going on.

After hearing this, she didn't say anything for the time being, but only instructed, "This is a rare opportunity, do your best."

"Don't worry, Sister Xiaoman, I will definitely work hard." Li Tuantuan was in high spirits.

Qiu Xiaoman sighed silently, thankful she hadn't dampened his spirits, otherwise her good mood for the whole day would have been ruined.

After finishing her meal, she checked the time and said, "I'm going to work now. You can go check out the hair salon first, and I'll go with you on Sunday the day after tomorrow."

"Okay," Li Tuantuan quickly agreed.

Qiu Xiaoman turned around and gave Xiao Qiao a hundred yuan: "Take care of my two injured dogs for me. I'll bring you something delicious when I get back."

Xiao Qiao immediately nodded obediently: "Sister, you go ahead and do your work. I'll take care of the dog."

Qiu Xiaoman called Mango and prepared to go to the police dog base. Just as they arrived at the entrance, they saw that the Jiang family's driver had arrived again.

Jiang Mingyuan sat in the back with a smile on his face: "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get up on your first day of work, so I came over to wake you up. Come on, I'll take you to see Captain Zou."

Qiu Xiaoman was too lazy to wait for the bus, it was cold, crowded and slow. After she got on the bus, Jiang Mingyuan saw Chai Dafei following behind Li Tuantuan.

Jiang Mingyuan frowned, and after the car drove away, he asked, "Why is Chai Dafei in your yard?"

“I met him when Li Tuantuan was looking for apprentices.” Qiu Xiaoman didn’t know much about Chai Dafei, but she was a little suspicious that he had ulterior motives. She asked directly, “What’s wrong with him?”

"In short, his sister-in-law is Liang Yuting's cousin, and his brother-in-law's uncle is Old Wang from the police station," Jiang Mingyuan warned. "Be careful, he might be deliberately getting close to you with a mission."

Qiu Xiaoman suddenly realized that he was Liang Yuting's relative. No wonder he was so generous. She told Jiang Mingyuan, "Chai Dafei paid an apprentice a monthly salary of 300 yuan."

Jiang Mingyuan was speechless: "Then there's no doubt about it, they're definitely here to get close to you. You'd better think of a way to stop Li Tuantuan from going."

"Let's talk about it on Sunday. Let's settle the human trafficking case first." Qiu Xiaoman wasn't in a hurry. After all, it might not be a bad thing if someone was eager to give her money.

Besides, even if Liang Yuting wanted to keep an eye on her, she didn't have anything valuable on her, and keeping an eye on her wouldn't make anyone rich overnight.

*

Yimeng Mountain area.

The white van was bumping along, and inside, Feng Shengnan gritted her teeth, trying not to cry out.

Of all the children abducted in Beidu, only she and Liu Xiangyang hadn't taken action yet. Along the way, three more little girls were lured into the car, so the car set off fully loaded and then entered the mountainous area fully loaded as well.

She deeply regretted not listening to Qiu Xiaoman that night, as she was abducted as soon as she checked into the small hotel.

While transferring vehicles in the hills, she managed to steal a man's ID card and hid it at the scene. She doesn't know if the police have found it or if they can come to rescue them.

Next, it was time to sell her. She was really scared and anxious.

But she was powerless to do anything and could only try to escape when the car stopped.

Soon, the group's leader yawned, got up, and opened the window that had been modified between the cargo box and the driver's cab.

He asked, "How much longer? I can't hold it in anymore, I need to pee!"

Looking at the dark mountain road, the driver said, "We're almost there, just ahead. This family is generous; they give five thousand for a girl. Don't rush them."