She thought back carefully and found that the face in her memory completely overlapped with the stunningly beautiful Jiang Zhi's face now. At that time, her parents had passed away, and she didn't know what to do or how to live in the village.

At that time, she even thought about stealing and robbing. Finally, she heard about the most profitable method from an old bachelor in the village, and then she had an idea. She didn't care about Su Chen. Her thought at that time was that they were all children and should find a way to survive.

After learning about the method, she really wanted to go down this path. At that time, she was kidnapped. Although death was more likely than survival, she believed that if she could survive, she could make it to the end.

She knew that her face was an advantage at that time. She had thought about the worst possible outcome, which was that she would be noticed by someone behind the scenes and then cultivated, so that she could obtain countless riches later.

How can one live longer in that situation?

At that time, Su Ran's first thought was that she couldn't appear too smart. A pretty face combined with a smart brain wouldn't get her far at the bottom, so she would obediently be a pretty face.

After all, if you act too clever or too unusually, you'll be more easily spotted, and you might end up getting yourself killed early on.

So Su Ran made herself look more ordinary, mimicking the fear of those around her, and trying to appear more innocent and naive.

So when 12-year-old Jiang Zhi saw through her, Su Ran was surprised for a moment, but she hid her expression well and continued to hug her legs and back away in the iron cage.

It wasn't until her back touched the cold iron cage that Su Ran's emotions calmed down, as if only being locked up could bring her peace of mind.

Although Jiang Zhi's eyes were full of ruthlessness and disdain at that time, the slight sense of justice he exuded made Su Ran feel somewhat dazed.

Twelve-year-old Jiang Zhi also leaned quietly against the iron cage, and became somewhat interested in watching Su Ran, who kept her head down and her body trembling.

He kicked Su Ran with his foot and asked, "Hey, what's your name? How did you get captured? Don't look like that, I know you're not afraid."

When she heard Jiang Zhi's last sentence, her demeanor stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and pretended not to understand what Jiang Zhi had said.

Jiang Zhi didn't give up because Su Ran ignored him. Back then, Jiang Zhi wasn't like he is now. He moved closer to Su Ran and continued to ask.

"Just tell me your name, and I'll help you so you can go home."

Su Ran couldn't help but chuckle at Jiang Zhi's words. Who was he? Could he protect her? He was already here himself, barely able to protect himself, how could he care about others?

Su Ran hated people who talked big, and besides, she had never planned to leave in the first place, so she treated Jiang Zhi's words as if they were jokes and didn't listen to them.

Jiang Zhi couldn't hide his temper at that time. He got angry at the child who was younger than him for ignoring him. He reached out and pushed Su Ran, his tone full of impatience.

"Can't you even answer a question?"

Su Ran was pushed to the ground without noticing. In that instant, she had already thought of many ways to kill him.

However, her actions of concealing her emotions were not perfect and impeccable. The impatience and murderous intent she subtly revealed only made Jiang Zhi more agitated.

Jiang Zhi leaned closer to Su Ran, his voice filled with excitement, "I knew you were different from them. Did you plan to come here too?"

Su Ran was momentarily surprised. Based on Jiang Zhi's words, she realized that he hadn't been captured but had done it intentionally. She stared at Jiang Zhi and said, "Madman."

What Su Ran didn't know was that she had been calling out those two words for most of her life.

Jiang Zhi's voice was filled with barely concealed excitement, "I told you you're different from this group of people. Look at them, how scared they are."

Jiang Zhi pointed to the remaining children and young people, who were disheveled, had lifeless eyes, and were covered in blood. The young people's hands and feet were cuffed.

However, judging from the situation of the others, Jiang Zhi should also be handcuffed, and Jiang Zhi noticed the doubt in Su Ran's eyes.

He leaned close to Su Huang's ear and whispered, "I work for them because I'm smart, so they won't hold me captive. You're smart too, why don't you do the same?"

Looking at Jiang Zhi's expression, Su Ran couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't answer his question, but just gave him a deep look, her eyes filled with undisguised disdain.

Jiang Zhizhen paused for a moment, then nodded to himself and said, "Being a decorative vase is quite good; it saves you trouble at your age."

After saying that, Jiang Zhi continued, "I thought you were mute, but it turns out you aren't. So why aren't you talking to me?"

Why should I bother with you?

Su Ran's question left Jiang Zhi momentarily stunned, but he nodded again. "You're right. Why should I pay attention to you?"

Seeing Jiang Zhi fall into deep thought again, Su Ran really wondered if Jiang Zhi was mentally ill. But now it seems that he is indeed ill, and quite seriously so.

But after a short while, Jiang Zhi asked again, "Hey, what's your name? My name is Jiang Zhi, Jiang as in 'Jiang Lang Cai Jin' (meaning 'Jiang Lang's talent has run dry') and Zhi as in 'Gu Zhi Ji Guan' (meaning 'stubborn and opinionated').

Listening to Jiang Zhi's introduction, Su Ran found him to be utterly incompetent and stubborn, using idioms aptly. She simply ignored Jiang Zhi's outstretched hand.

Jiang Zhi didn't think anything of it, smiled and withdrew his hand, "It's okay, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it now, you'll definitely talk about it later."

She took Jiang Zhi's words as a joke and didn't take them seriously at all. Later, Jiang Zhi kept nagging in her ear, which made Su Ran's ears hurt.

"Hey, I originally thought you were just like everyone else, but I didn't expect that I was wrong."

He then pointed to a boy and said, “Look at that guy, the county magistrate’s son. He’s been fattened up and is now living a life worse than death here because of his obesity.”

Following Jiang Zhi's gaze, Su Ran saw the boy he was talking about slumped on the iron cage with his heavy body. Su Ran remembered this person because his transformation from being aloof and fearless at the beginning to kneeling down to anyone he saw was too rapid.

Moreover, the boy's weight was visibly decreasing, and his obese body was covered with horrific wounds.

Su Ran came to her senses and gently touched her chest with her fingers, feeling a slightly rough spot—that was the scar left from before.

Su Ran didn't let the system erase what could have been eliminated, because this memory was indelible in her heart and constantly served as a warning to herself.

Su Ran glanced at the boy and then looked away. Jiang Zhi continued to say tirelessly, "Hey, do you know that if we try to rescue him after he crosses the border, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack?"

Jiang Zhi's tone was full of anticipation, and Su Ran was also a little excited. After all, wasn't this exactly what she had always wanted? Jiang Zhi also sensed Su Ran's emotional fluctuations.