With her mind blank, Zhou Chunhua stared blankly at Huang Jiabao lying on the ground, completely forgetting her own dangerous situation.
Suddenly, Aunt Liu sprang up from the ground and slammed the door shut.
The clicking sound of the lock snapped Zhou Chunhua back to reality.
"Don't come any closer!" She held a flashlight in both hands and pointed it at Aunt Liu, who was leaning against the door.
Aunt Liu was instantly overjoyed.
“Xiao Zhou! Calm down and listen to me! I’m not with them! Oh, right! You’re looking for Lu Ming, right? He was originally in the village, but the day you came, he led another person they had locked up here to escape to the mountains.” She lowered her voice and kept an eye on the sounds outside the door as she spoke.
Zhou Chunhua looked at Aunt Liu in disbelief.
At that moment, she couldn't tell whether Aunt Liu was telling the truth or lying.
"Really! You have to believe me! Xiao Zhou, I was also trafficked here! And I'm not Huang Er's wife at all, but Huang Jiabao's wife!"
I was only a few years old when I was abducted and brought here! At that time, Huang Er's wife couldn't conceive a boy, so she bought me to be a surrogate mother. They said that with a surrogate mother in the family, a boy would be born soon. So, Huang Er's wife had just miscarried her previous pregnancy, and then she bought me into the Huang family.
So, from the moment Huang Jiabao was born, I was the one who raised him. But later, when Huang Jiabao grew up, he looked down on me because he thought I was too old. Huang Er, on the other hand, felt that I had been bought with money and couldn't afford to lose out, so he forcibly took me as his own.
But when Huang Er's wife found out, she started a fight with him. Huang Er had long disliked his wife for being old and unattractive, so he beat her to death.
That's why I was forced to become Huang Er's wife and Huang Jiabao's stepmother. Xiao Zhou! You must believe me, I won't harm you!
As she spoke, Aunt Liu slowly moved toward her.
"Don't come any closer!" Zhou Chunhua took a step back and pressed the flashlight button. Several crackling currents instantly appeared at the tip of the inconspicuous flashlight.
She's not a three-year-old; who knows if what she just said was made up?
Right now, the only person she can trust is herself.
Fortunately, the sound of the flashlight immediately stopped Aunt Liu in her tracks, and she didn't dare to come any closer to her.
"Xiao Zhou! I'm telling the truth! What do you want me to do to make you believe me?" Aunt Liu asked anxiously.
Zhou Chunhua narrowed her eyes and asked, "Tell me, in August or September of 2017, did they bring a little girl named Nini from outside?"
"A little girl?" Aunt Liu's brows furrowed into deep furrows. "Their entire village is involved in human trafficking! Every year they bring back and take away countless little girls! How could I possibly remember so many?"
Zhou Chunhua then added, "She has a red birthmark the size of a watermelon seed on her right earlobe."
"I don't remember." Aunt Liu shook her head, then said, "But what you said reminds me of someone. I remember she came to the village around 2017. I just really can't remember which month."
But Lu Ming recently returned and tried to take her away, which is why he was arrested and locked in the basement.
"Who? Who are you talking about? Where is she? You just said Lu Ming ran away with his men, did he run away with her?" Zhou Chunhua couldn't contain her excitement.
Lu Ming's trip was because of Nini. If it's someone he wants to take away... then it's most likely Nini!
Her Nini is alive! Her Nini is really alive!
Zhou Chunhua was overjoyed.
This is arguably the best news she has heard in all these years, even though she is still in danger at this moment.
"Quick! Answer me!" Zhou Chunhua excitedly walked forward unconsciously.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Watch what's in your heart!" Aunt Liu, who was already holding her hand up, suddenly raised it even higher.
"Erni! Uncle's granddaughter-in-law! But the night she was going to leave with Lu Ming, someone tipped them off, and before they even left the village, Uncle and his men arrested them."
Both of them were originally locked in the dungeon. But the uncle's beloved grandson cried and demanded Erni, so the uncle released Erni and took her home.
However… although she came to the village 17 years ago, she doesn't have any birthmark on her right earlobe that you mentioned. Her right earlobe looks like it was cut off; it simply doesn't have one.”
Upon hearing this news, Zhou Chunhua's heart skipped a beat.
Her Nini... had her earlobe cut off!
"Where is she? Where is she now?" Anger made her unable to control herself. Her fingers inadvertently touched the flashlight, and a sudden surge of electricity crackled through it.
Aunt Liu was probably startled. She raised her hands and jumped back, her back hitting the door panel again with a dull thud.
Then... a shout came from upstairs: "What are you doing? Talking all the time! Jiabao! Can't you be a little quicker with your work?"
It's Huang Er!
Zhou Chunhua felt her heart leap into her throat.
Since Huang Jiabao was already dead, he was unable to answer Huang Er's questions.
If Huang Er sensed something was wrong at this moment... she began to worry about how bad her situation would be when she was facing two opponents.
Or... Zhou Chunhua's gaze fell on Aunt Liu.
If she takes care of one of them first, she might still have a chance to survive!
With gritted teeth and a determined heart, she was about to press the switch.
"Okay. I'll tell him to be quieter," Aunt Liu suddenly shouted back.
Zhou Chunhua, who had just taken a few steps forward, froze on the spot.
She looked at Aunt Liu in disbelief.
She... helped her!
Why? Could it be... that what Aunt Liu just said was true? She really wasn't lying to her?
"Hmph! They're all useless! They can't even do the smallest things right!"
After Huang Er finished complaining, Zhou Chunhua spoke first: "Why...why did you help me?"
"I've already told you, I'm not with them! Hurry up and leave! If you don't leave now, you might not be able to leave later!" Aunt Liu said as she opened the door and tiptoed out.
"Hurry up!" Aunt Liu said in a low voice, beckoned to her, and then took out a string of keys from her waist.
Judging from the looks of it, that should be the key to the courtyard gate.
Once she realized what was happening, Zhou Chunhua rushed out, pulled the person back into the house, and closed the door.
Aunt Liu glanced warily at what she was holding, then quickly fastened the safety on the flashlight and stuffed it into her pocket.
"Aunt Liu, take me to find Nini," Zhou Chunhua pleaded.
Aunt Liu glanced in the direction of the door and shook her head: "Don't be silly! Neither Lu Ming nor that soldier who came before could take her away, how could you possibly take her away?"
"I must take her with me! Because she is my daughter!"
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