escape
In her delicate, porcelain-white hand, the paperclip transformed into a long thread, its sharp point piercing the lock cylinder.
"Sister Wen Dai, how come you still have paperclips?" Wen Weiwei whispered, leaning close to Wen Dai who was carefully picking the lock. She watched the woman's hand subtly change the angle and swallowed hard, "Sister Wen Dai... I never knew you could pick locks. Is this what they mean by having many skills?"
With her gaze fixed intently on the door lock, Wen Dai absentmindedly replied, "I guess so. I usually carry a few paperclips with me, because you never know when they might come in handy. But this time it was just lucky that they changed to this new type of door. If it were the old-fashioned latch, I wouldn't have been able to do anything."
Using the tip of a paperclip to poke the protruding part inside, and then poking different parts inside the lock cylinder, she found the point of force to make it turn. After about a minute, the lock was successfully turned open by Wen Dai. She held the doorknob and carefully opened it a crack.
The room, which the human traffickers called the "new goods room," was located in a corner on the first floor of the villa. Wen Dai peered out through the gap and saw that the corridor was empty.
Just as she was about to open the door and go out to check the situation, the sudden sound of footsteps startled her back into the room. The door was not completely closed, leaving a crack. Wen Dai's hand was still tightly gripping the doorknob. She closed her eyes and used her senses to probe the environment outside the room.
There was only one person in the living room. A man with a buzz cut and wearing a leather jacket carried a tea tray and first went into the open kitchen, seemingly to make tea.
Unable to resist, a girl who had moved closer cautiously asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Dai opened her eyes, smiled at the girl, and whispered, "Wait a little longer, there are people outside."
She closed her eyes again, and her consciousness seemed to detach from her body, with the layout of the villa appearing in her mind.
She initially entered through the main gate of the villa. Although there was no one guarding it at the moment, the path leading out was a narrow alleyway through the village. Trying to leave through the main gate without being discovered was a huge gamble.
The other exit is the back door of the villa, which is closer to their room. To get out, turn right, go straight, and then turn left.
Outside the back door was a flat area without a fence, with rows of clotheslines drying clothes that fluttered in the wind. Beyond that was a lush jungle—dangerous, but indeed an excellent hiding place.
When the expected time was about right, Wen Dai lifted her eyelids and opened the door a little wider.
She turned to look at the people inside the room and instructed them, "We're going out now. Stay close to each other, preferably holding each other's clothes or holding hands; be quick, walk as quietly as possible, and don't make a sound."
The girls pursed their lips and peeked at each other. Wen Dai took a deep breath, grabbed Wen Weiwei's hand, and then gestured to the others to hold each other's hands before opening the door completely.
She tiptoed, pulling the long line of girls along, and walked quickly along the route that Wen Dai had laid out in her mind.
The youngest little girl was held in someone's arms, while the older girl was still holding her, struggling with the strength of one hand. Her skin was so thin that it was almost bony, and her skin was red.
The moment Wen Dai turned around, a sense of awe surged within him when he met her eyes, for there was a deep determination embedded within them.
Wen Dai led the group out of the villa. What they didn't see was that as they rushed out of the back door and headed towards the jungle, people gradually came down the stairs.
Having just finished a meeting to discuss the whereabouts of the remaining "goods" in the village, the woman in the red suit said obsequiously to the man walking in the middle, "Don't worry, Mr. Tian, we definitely won't let those 'goods' be discovered. If their investigators come and say we're trafficking people, they need evidence, right? We'll move those 'goods' to a new location right now and let those investigators search the place clean!"
The man surrounded by people was dressed in a low-key jacket and trousers, paired with simple sneakers. His square face showed no emotion, but he had quite a few wrinkles, as his hair was already turning gray.
He gave a deep "hmm" and said, "You should decide how to handle this yourselves. Don't go and enjoy them yourselves anymore. Those things are meant to be sold to buyers, not for you to play with. In the future, find buyers and send them away as soon as possible. The longer they are locked up in the village, the greater the risk of us being discovered."
The man in the leather jacket with a buzz cut, who had been skipping down the stairs to check out the "new stock room," suddenly burst out with a "Hey!"
He rushed to the group of people who had just come down the stairs, his wide eyes filled with terror and panic. "It's terrible! It's all over! I don't know what happened to the 'new goods room,' the door is open! But there's no one inside! They've all run away!"
The woman in the red suit's expression changed drastically. Her previously ingratiating smile vanished in the blink of an eye. With a pale face, she practically flew to the corner room.
Undeterred, she pushed the door open, staring intently at the empty room. Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, she shouted outside, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go find them! I'm telling you, even if we have to turn this mountain upside down, we have to find them. Otherwise, we're all doomed!"
The younger men who followed couldn't help but take a few steps back when they saw the woman in the red suit's bloodshot eyes. In the end, it was the man in the crew cut and leather jacket who answered.
"Damn it, I should have searched her more thoroughly at the beginning!" The woman in the red suit almost ground her teeth to powder. She glared hatefully at a point in the air, filled with regret.
A moment of carelessness could become the catalyst for their complete annihilation.
The man previously known as "General Manager Tian" had the same expression as her, his face hard and cold as if it had been frozen.
After striding over to the woman in the red suit, he glared at her coldly and said, "Do you know about the butterfly effect? I don't know what you did to release this butterfly, but it has flapped its wings... The investigators should be here soon. You'd better not drag me into this, otherwise, the fate of those 'goods' will be the fate of your children."
After speaking, he didn't even glance at the woman, turned around and walked away on his own.
As if all her strength had been drained from her body and she had lost her footing, the woman in the red suit staggered a few steps and fell against the wall.
She slowly shifted her body to the side, turning her arm against the wall into her back, and slid down the wall. Tears welled up in her eyes, which were red from fright, without her realizing it. She raised her hand to grab her hair, and muffled sobs escaped her lips.
She hesitated for a long time before thinking about her children. Her son—was he afraid? No, he wasn't. It wouldn't be too bad; he wouldn't be sent to the Black Triangle to be used for human trafficking of contraband. Her daughter—was she afraid? No, she wasn't afraid. It wouldn't be too bad; she wouldn't be sent to the gray area to become a plaything.
The hand gripping her hair tightened, and the woman in the red suit slapped herself several times without mercy, forcing a smile through her tears. She was terrified, terrified to death. She deserved it, she got what she deserved.
Those eyes, once filled with tears of despair, slowly revealed a resolute and ruthless determination.
She had to find the "new goods" that had escaped; they absolutely could not be discovered by the investigators, and her child could not be harmed.
*
The path in the forest was extremely difficult to walk on; a random step over a bush could easily trip you up. Luckily, it was just a branch; if they were unlucky enough to run into a snake, it would only make their escape even more difficult.
This forest stretched downwards, giving them the opportunity to hide and escape down the mountain.
"Hmm!" A muffled groan and a "thud" sounded as Wen Dai stopped and turned around. What she saw was an older girl who had fallen to the ground while holding the little girl.
The girl's low ponytail was a little loose, and the stray hairs on her forehead were stuck to her skin because of sweat. Her delicate features were all taut, and even if she felt uncomfortable, she hid it behind her tongue.
She first got up on her own, and then hugged the little girl who had obediently stood up after falling to the ground once again.
The girl standing in front of her advised, "Xiaohui, just let her walk by herself. Xuanxuan is seven years old and can walk. Aren't you tired of carrying her?"
The girl called Xiaohui pursed her lips and shook her head. She hugged Xuanxuan in her arms tighter, letting her lean against her shoulder. When her chapped lips parted, her hoarse voice finally reached the air: "I'm tired, but Xuanxuan is still small and can easily trip. It would be dangerous if she stepped on something she shouldn't have."
Seeing that Wen Dai was staring intently at Xiao Hui, Wen Weiwei stood on tiptoe, raised her hand to her mouth, and whispered in her ear, "Xiao Hui is the oldest among us, sixteen years old. She said that she deliberately let herself be kidnapped by human traffickers in order to find her younger sister who was abducted."
"But her sister isn't here, so she's always been very protective of Xuanxuan. We only have one steamed bun and one bottle of water each day, and she always gives half of the bun and half of the water to Xuanxuan, the little girl she's holding. They're not related, but she's willing to take care of Xuanxuan like this, she must be thinking of her sister."
As her gaze traced the girl's face, Wen Dai was inexplicably enveloped by a complex mix of emotions.
After a moment of silence, she walked over and stopped in front of Xiaohui, her outstretched hand hovering in front of Xiaohui, her fingers twitching twice, and she smiled, revealing her dimples.
"Your arms must be sore from carrying her all this way, right? Here, let me carry her. You also need to use one hand to hold onto the person in front. I'm the leader, so I don't need to. I'll have Weiwei hold onto my clothes."
Knowing that time was of the essence, they were in danger until they escaped the mountain, which was neither too high nor too low, and until they left the forest.
Xiaohui didn't hesitate for long. She handed Xuanxuan in her arms to Wen Dai, and when she looked up and met Wen Dai's peach blossom eyes, her lips parted slightly: "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Wen Dai gave Xiao Hui a gentle smile again, then, carrying Xuan Xuan, she turned and returned to the place where she was leading the way. She had Wen Weiwei hold onto the hem of her clothes, and then continued to escape downwards.
The mountain path was steep, and the path through the forest was even steeper.
When they reached a slope that was almost seventy degrees, Wen Dai stopped. She turned around and glanced at the girls behind her, pointing to the slope in front of her feet with one finger and said, "Just think of it as a foot slide. Try to find a relatively open spot to slide down, otherwise you might hurt your bottom. Don't walk or run here. Let's sit down first and then slowly slide down."
The occasional quip of humor that slipped in didn't make them laugh. Wen Dai sighed a few times, then sat down first with Xuanxuan in her arms, demonstrating to the others how to slide down.
The feeling of her bottom scraping against the dirt and stones was far from pleasant; the heels of her shoes were covered in dirt and dust, and scratches were left by pebbles mixed in with the soil. As she slid downhill, Wen Dai narrowly avoided losing her shoes.
Xuanxuan in her arms was quiet and obedient, clinging to her neck and resting against her without making a fuss. Wen Dai, who had just landed, stood up with Xuanxuan in her arms.
When she turned around, she saw the girls sliding down the slope right behind her.
No one was afraid, no one hesitated.
Resilience, decisiveness, and courage are not unique to any one gender. As long as you want them and are willing to have them, who says you can't cultivate them?
Wen Dai, who thought she would have to offer some advice, took a few steps back to make room for them to land. She then slowly exhaled the pent-up anger in her heart.
Unconsciously, a sense of relief appeared in her eyes.
Following this method, they slid down three steep slopes, and were still somewhat dazed after their feet touched the ground at the foot of the mountain.
It was one of the girls who spoke up; her voice was trembling, as if she was about to cry: "Did we...did we escape?"
Sensing the disbelief in her tone, Wen Dai gently lifted Xuanxuan in her arms to hold her steady, and calmly gave a negative answer: "Not yet, we're still a long way from escaping."
She looked up and saw a wide road paved with cement leading directly to another low hill. On that hill lived the old lady and the old man. From there, it would be a long walk to reach the town.
Who knows if they will run into "Auntie" and "Uncle" again? Who knows how many mountains they will have to climb? The road is always changing as they move forward.
Going back into the woods was definitely not a good way to hide, and going any further would be tantamount to exposing oneself to the enemy, but the farmland was flat and low-lying.
Just when Wen Dai was at her wit's end and thought she had no choice but to retreat back into the woods to hide, a Cullinan sped up.
Her gesture of raising her arm as if protecting her chicks, as if trying to hide, stopped when her gaze swept over the person in the driver's seat.
Meanwhile, the driver clearly noticed her, so the Cullinan braked and stopped a short distance away.
Several girls behind her tugged at her clothes, and a soft voice asked, "Sister Wen Dai, who is this?"
Wen Dai's tense muscles relaxed at this moment. She exhaled, stared at the opened car door, and her gaze swept over the tall figure who got off her.
"It's my sister's partner, we're safe."
The man hadn't changed out of his suit yet; the charcoal gray suit jacket and vest were lined with a black satin shirt, and the matching tie was tucked inside. The vest and the waistband of his trousers together outlined his slender waist, and his long legs, encased in the trousers, moved with slightly hurried steps.
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