Chapter 219 Encountering Human Traffickers at the Train Station
Vice Minister Zhou is very satisfied with Jiang Haitang now.
Soon, Jiang Haitang was about to get off the train and say goodbye to Vice Minister Zhou.
"Here's your next train ticket, Comrade Haitang. I'll be waiting for you in the capital!"
Jiang Haitang hurriedly expressed his gratitude and promised that he would solve the problem of the textile factory as soon as possible and meet up with the inspection team in Beijing before the specified time.
After getting off the train, Jiang Haitang looked at the time. It was now twelve o'clock noon, and her train would not arrive until after seven o'clock in the evening, which was still six or seven hours away.
She decided to grab a bite to eat outside the station and then visit the local library to see if she could find any useful books.
Jiang Haitang walked out of the train station carrying her luggage. The square in front of the station was crowded with people, including farmers carrying loads, militiamen wearing red armbands, and workers carrying canvas bags.
She looked around and walked towards the state-owned restaurant.
There was a queue in front of the restaurant. Jiang Haitang had just stopped when she heard the heartbreaking cry of a child coming from the alley next to her.
"I don't want it! I want to find my mother——"
The sound stopped abruptly, as if someone had covered his mouth.
Jiang Haitang turned her head alertly and saw a woman wearing a blue headscarf dragging a little boy of six or seven years old into the depths of the alley. The child was kicking his legs desperately.
Jiang Haitang frowned and carefully observed the middle-aged woman with a blue headscarf. She always felt that there was something wrong with her.
Looking at the child again, the fear in his eyes did not seem fake.
"Comrade!" Jiang Haitang stepped forward quickly. "What's wrong with this child?"
The woman's eyes flickered. "My child is throwing a tantrum... You damned child, how could you be so disobedient? How dare you say your mother is a human trafficker!"
The woman slapped the child hard and was about to take the child away.
The little boy suddenly broke free and bit the woman's hand: "She's a kidnapper! My mother is at the station! Big sister, please save me, save me!"
Jiang Haitang's heart tightened, and just as she was about to reach out to pull the child, she was suddenly hit hard on the back of her head!
As the world spun, she saw a man in work clothes holding a wooden stick, and a woman deftly stuffing a child's mouth with rags.
"Nosy woman! She looks pretty, so why not take her away with her?"
The man spat, grabbed her and dragged her towards the cart in the alley.
After being hit by a stick, Jiang Haitang felt dizzy and her head was swollen. She did not forget to struggle desperately, but was slapped in the face by a backhand, causing her vision to go black.
"Behave yourself!" the man lowered his voice. "If you dare to scream, I'll sell you to the mountains to be a communal wife!"
Jiang Haitang tasted blood on the tip of her tongue, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the little boy being stuffed into a sack under the cart.
She immediately realized that this might be a premeditated abduction, and perhaps this child was not the only one abducted.
But at this moment, Jiang Haitang was hit by a stick again. She felt a darkness in front of her eyes and a dull pain in the back of her head.
She tried to force her eyes open, but found her eyelids were as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
I could faintly hear the squeaking sound of wheels rolling over the gravel road and the suppressed sobs of a child.
"Big sister... Big sister, wake up..."
A faint voice came into her ears. Jiang Haitang tried hard to concentrate and finally opened her eyes.
In the dim light, she saw the little boy kneeling beside her, his face covered with tears.
Isn’t this the child who was taken away by the middle-aged woman in a blue headscarf near the state-owned hotel?
"Where is this?" Jiang Haitang struggled to sit up, but found that her hands were tied tightly behind her back with rough hemp rope.
A sharp pain came from the wrist, obviously the skin had been rubbed off.
The little boy sobbed and said, "I don't know... They put us in sacks and dragged us here. There are many other children here..."
Jiang Haitang looked around and found herself in a dilapidated warehouse with several faded posters pasted on the mottled walls.
There were five or six children huddled in the corner. The oldest was no more than ten years old, and the youngest looked only three or four years old. They were all dirty and had terrified looks in their eyes.
Jiang Haitang could understand clearly that she had met a kidnapper.
These children looked at Jiang Haitang but did not dare to approach her.
"Don't be afraid, sister will find a way to rescue you." Jiang Haitang lowered her voice to comfort the little boy beside her, while pricked up her ears to listen to the movement outside.
Perhaps Jiang Haitang's comfort worked, and the little guy stopped sobbing.
"Big sister, my name is Tiezhu. I know you are a good person. You were captured to help me!" The chubby little guy spoke in a very organized manner.
Jiang Haitang listened for a long time. He could faintly hear the voices of several men and the sound of wine bottles colliding outside. He couldn't tell how many people were there, but there were at least three.
"She is really not a human trafficker. Was she captured by human traffickers to save you?" a slightly older girl asked Tiezhu.
Tiezhu nodded: "Yes, big sister caught it to save me. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have been caught like this!"
Tiezhu was about to cry again, and Jiang Haitang quickly said, "It's okay, we'll find a way and we'll definitely be able to get out."
"We can't get out. They're going to sell us to the mountains," the girl said gloomily. "They said they'll ship a batch away tonight..."
The little girl looked about twelve or thirteen years old, and she probably understood the meaning of selling them to the mountains.
Jiang Haitang didn't expect that these people were planning to take them away at night, and her heart tightened immediately.
Time is running out and she must come up with a solution as soon as possible.
"Big sister, if we are sold to the mountains, will we..." The little girl's face was full of fear.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. We will find a way." Jiang Haitang comforted her: "What's your name?"
"My name is Huang Yulan, big sister, I'm scared!"
"Yulan, you are the oldest sister and you are responsible for taking good care of your younger brothers and sisters. If you cry, they will be scared."
Huang Yulan looked at the other children because of Jiang Haitang's words. After finding that the children younger than her were not crying, she finally stopped crying.
"Sister, I won't cry anymore!"
Jiang Haitang felt relieved when she saw that the children's emotions had stabilized.
She tried to move her wrists. The rope was tied tightly, but there was still some looseness.
She moved her body quietly, letting the rope rub against the protruding nails in the corner of the wall.
"Big sister, I can help you!"
At this time, a boy of six or seven years old moved to Jiang Haitang's side and spoke in a low voice.
Jiang Haitang looked at the fair-skinned boy. He didn't cry. Although he was caught here, he still looked very calm.
Looking at the clothes on this child, although they are dirty, you can see that the fabric is well made. It can be seen that this child comes from a well-off family.
"What's your name?" she asked the little boy softly.
"My name is Shao Chengxuan, what's your name, big sister?"
"My name is Jiang Haitang, how can you help me?"
As she answered, she continued to grind the rope, but saw the little boy named Shao Chengxuan turned around and showed her his hands.
In Shao Chengxuan's hand, there was a blade. The sharp blade had cut his hand, but the rope tied to his hand was not cut.
Jiang Haitang guessed that the child was trying to save himself, but because he didn't use the right method, the blade failed to cut the rope.
Her appearance just gave the boy an opportunity.
"Okay, Chengxuan, move over here and put it in my hand." "Tiezhu, watch over there at the door. If anyone comes towards us, alert me!"
Tiezhu nodded and tiptoed to the only door of the warehouse. It was a broken door with a gap in the wooden door, which was just enough for Tiezhu to see the feet of the people outside.
Jiang Haitang nodded and began to try to cut the rope with a blade.
Just when the rope on Jiang Haitang's hand was about to be cut, the iron pillar suddenly rolled towards them.
Jiang Haitang immediately understood that someone was coming.
She immediately increased her speed, cutting the last bit of rope with force, then put her hands behind her back, pretending she was still tied.
At this moment, the door of the warehouse was suddenly pushed open, and a man with a fat face walked in with a wooden stick in his hand.
"Oh, you're awake?" The man grinned, revealing his yellow teeth. "She's a beautiful one, but it's a pity that I can't taste such a beautiful woman first!"
Jiang Haitang was shocked, but she forced herself to remain calm: "You are committing a crime! Trafficking women and children will lead to the death penalty!"
The man laughed heartily. "Out here in the wilderness, who would have known it was us?"
He took a few steps closer and lifted Jiang Haitang's chin with a wooden stick. "I originally only wanted to catch a few small fry, but I didn't expect to catch a big fish. A cultured city girl like you can be sold for a good price."
Jiang Haitang suppressed her nausea and suddenly noticed a bunch of keys hanging around the man's waist. A plan formed in her mind.
She put on a sincere expression. "I see you come from a poor family, so why would you do something so wicked? I'm a cadre at the textile factory and I know a lot of people. If you let me go, I can find you a job..."
The man was stunned for a moment, then sneered, "Don't try that! I'm not buying it! We're living on the edge of a knife. Once we've taken this path, how can we turn back?"
"It's a new society now, and everyone has a way out. Think about it, human trafficking is a serious crime, and those caught will be shot. But if you come back now, I can testify for you and say that it was you who saved these children..."
The man's expression wavered. He turned his head to look outside the door and lowered his voice, "You...you didn't lie to me?"
"Of course, why would I lie to you?" Seeing that the plan worked, Jiang Haitang quickly struck while the iron was hot.
"Think about the rest of your family. Would you want them to worry about you? Isn't it good to have a formal job and live an upright life?"
"But you..."
"Don't worry, I still have some connections. As long as you are willing to help, I promise you will be fine."
The man hesitated. Just then, the woman in the blue headscarf shouted from outside: "Lao Liu! What are you dawdling about? Come and eat!"
"Coming!" the man responded, and glanced at Jiang Haitang again, "You...you don't play tricks!"
After saying that, the man hurriedly left the warehouse.
Seeing that the person in front of her had fainted, Jiang Haitang ignored the pain in her hands, quickly untied the restraints on her feet, and moved her numb wrists.
Then, Jiang Haitang first untied the ropes on the hands and feet of Shao Chengxuan and Tiezhu, and then asked the two to help untie the ropes on the other children.
Soon, the ropes on all the children were untied. Jiang Haitang was afraid that some of the children would get too excited and reveal their secrets, so she immediately made a gesture to silence them.
Fortunately, these children were not stupid and immediately understood what Jiang Haitang meant.
"Children, listen to me," she lowered her voice and gathered all the children together, "We need to escape, but you must do as I say."
The children nodded nervously, hope glimmering in their eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
