Wang Daqing hid in the alleyway, his eyes fixed on the hotel entrance. When Liu Xianghong approached, he said anxiously:

"So? Did you manage to fool that girl?"

"Are you mistaken? This girl is pretty, but she's lame. The way she walks is even more awkward than a duck waddling."

Liu Xianghong looked disgusted as she tried to imitate the steps, but she couldn't quite get the hang of it and ended up with something that looked completely different.

Wang Daqing was positioned so that he could vaguely see what was happening at the hotel reception. He said anxiously:

"That's right, that's right, it's her. That girl is very cunning, she must be faking it."

Liu Xianghong realized what was happening and said with a look of annoyance:

"Then it seems we need to think of another way."

Wang Daqing, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth and a sleazy look on his face, said, "Forget it, you go back first. I'll keep an eye on things here. I don't believe she can stay like this forever."

Wen Jiaojiao lay comfortably in the hotel room, the electric fan whirring. After a while, a feeling of hunger arose in her stomach, so she got up and went to the front desk:

"Could you go buy me some food? I'll give you a tip for running the errand."

The receptionist waved her hand nervously and said:

"No, no, my job requires me to work at this table. Even going to the restroom has time limits."

My boss will definitely yell at me if he finds out. Finding a good job these days is harder than eating shit, so don't get me into trouble.

Wen Jiaojiao took the money back and looked at the sunlit area outside the hotel entrance. She still had the feeling that stepping outside meant entering a toxic zone.

She shook her head and walked into the room: "I dare not go out, I dare not go out at all."

"How about this, you can ask the cleaning staff to buy it for you?" the receptionist called out to her.

“That’s a good idea.” Wen Jiaojiao turned her head back.

Little did she know that her constant back and forth was making Wang Daqing feel as uncomfortable as if a cat was scratching at his heart.

He looked at the person so close yet unable to make a move, as restless as a wolf that hadn't eaten for three days seeing fresh meat.

His stomach rumbled with hunger, and he slumped weakly against the corner of the wall.

"Grandma, please come out quickly! I haven't had a single customer in a month."

A short while later, Wen Jiaojiao sat down at the front desk, contentedly eating braised pork rice and mung bean soup.

"I wish Wen Zhaoye would come back soon."

The young woman was somewhat acquainted with her. Looking at the glistening, juicy braised meat, she swallowed hard and said:

"Hey, what have you been up to lately?"

Wen Jiaojiao ate with relish, saying:

"How about I wander around a bit? While I'm at it, I can check out the job market in Yuncheng and help my friend find a job."

"I do know a few, but the pay isn't great. You know how it is these days, all the ways to make money are written in the criminal law. There aren't many legitimate ways to make money."

While eating, Wen Jiaojiao became interested and said:

"Really? Tell me about it."

The woman thought for a moment and said, "Old Liu's family in the south of the city needs a nanny, the kind who takes care of Old Liu's bodily functions."

Wen Jiaojiao suddenly felt that the food in her mouth no longer tasted good. She stopped eating, but still listened to her continue talking.

The receptionist became increasingly enthusiastic as she spoke:

"And the Qin family needs someone to look after the kids, and the Wang family's hotel needs someone to clean."

There are just too many job seekers these days, so many employers take the opportunity to drive down wages, practically cutting a person in eight pieces but only paying them the wages for one piece.

Wen Jiaojiao has felt this deeply these past two days. She sighed and continued shoveling food into her mouth, saying:

"Isn't there anything better? My friend is ambitious but lazy."

The woman thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she said:

"It seems there really is one. There's a newly opened garment factory near my house that's hiring."

However, the lucrative positions were all taken by the factory manager's acquaintances, leaving only packaging and other similar jobs.

It's a pretty easy job, but the pay isn't very high, so they're currently short-staffed.

Wen Jiaojiao perked up, realizing that they were desperately short-staffed and might be able to loosen the restrictions and let her in.

She wanted to go, but was also afraid that the woman would reveal her whereabouts to Wen Zhaoye, so she deliberately started chatting about all sorts of things:

"You know the Qin family in the south of the city is short-handed, but do you know what good food is around there?"

"How could I not know? My home is nearby, everything there is great, much better than here."

This place has only prospered in the last two years thanks to hair salons and nightclubs; otherwise, it used to be much poorer than our area.

Wen Jiaojiao got a general idea, but the area south of the city was quite large. To ensure she could find the factory's exact location as quickly as possible, she took out some money and said:

"Could you buy a few portions for me near your house tomorrow? I want the kind with the shop's name on the wrapping paper, not the kind from street vendors, otherwise I'm afraid I'll get sick and won't be able to find anyone to help me."

The woman at the front desk readily agreed and immediately took the money.

Wen Jiaojiao turned and walked towards the hotel. She lay on the bed, her head throbbing with pain.

"Even if we knew, how could we get out? What if human traffickers were hiding in the shadows? Wouldn't that be like throwing lambs to the slaughter?"

the next day.

Wang Daqing hadn't slept all night. His stubble was thick, and he leaned against the wall, staring blankly at the hotel entrance. He said weakly:

"Grandma, please, please come out quickly."

Liu Xianghong stepped forward, kicked him, and said:

"We haven't waited for it yet?"

"I can't go on anymore. You stay here and watch over me. I'm going home to get some sleep. This girl is really good at staying up all night."

As Wang Daqing spoke, he leaned against the wall, stood up unsteadily, and walked back.

Liu Xianghong watched for a while and noticed that Wen Jiaojiao took something from the front desk in a cloth bag, and then went back to the hotel.

Then, half an hour later, a woman emerged from the hotel wearing a headscarf, with a large red patch on half of her face, and missing an arm from one of her short-sleeved shirts, walking with her toes pointed outwards.

She frowned deeply: "This person is so disabled, how can they afford to stay in a hotel like this? How lucky they are!"

People around her cast pitying glances at Wen Jiaojiao, but she paid no attention to their stares. With her bag slung over her shoulder and her toes pointed outwards, she walked to the bus stop.

As soon as she got into the car, He Chunya quickly stood up and said:

"Please sit down, please sit down."

She couldn't find a job yesterday and slept on the street for a night. Later, she heard that many new factories had opened in the south of the city, so she decided to try her luck there.

For some reason, Wen Jiaojiao felt exceptionally at ease seeing her. She directly pulled her arm out from under her short-sleeved sleeve and said:

"No need for that, this is just performance art."

A moment of silence followed, and everyone in the car stared at her in utter shock: "..."

He Chunya recognized her voice, looked her over carefully, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Are you the person from yesterday?"

"Hmm, yes." Wen Jiaojiao lowered her voice and said, "That person yesterday was a human trafficker, so we have to be careful. At the time, I just wanted to prevent you from falling into their hands."

He Chunya clenched her fists like sandbags and gritted her teeth, saying:

"Damn it, I'll skin her alive when I catch her."

Wen Jiaojiao sized her up and said with satisfaction:

"Aren't you looking for a job? Let's go together. I know a factory that's hiring."

He Chunya nodded in agreement, and the two went to the garment factory together.

Looking at the large characters "Fengya Garment Factory," Wen Jiaojiao felt a sense of foreboding.

Isn't this the name of the clothing factory that the male and female leads wear?