It rained heavily the day Su Xiuju went to the countryside. Her van overturned, and a man rescued her and took her home. Ostensibly, it was a heroic rescue, but in reality, he abducted and imprisoned her to be his wife. She would be beaten if she tried to escape, and the villagers united against her, tacitly approving of this behavior.
These days, there are too many single men who can't find wives, and cases of buying wives or snatching men are common.
Meng Shuyun couldn't even imagine how difficult and painful Su Xiuju's life had been over the past month.
After the van arrived at Hongqi Commune, they had to transfer to an oxcart to enter the village. Along the way, Meng Shuyun kept a record of the route, making plans for their escape.
That heartless bastard will succeed tonight; she and Xiuju don't have much time left.
To leave this place, you need a car; asking the villagers for help is obviously not a realistic option.
We must find a chance to report this to the police!
Meng Shuyun held Aunt Hong's hand and smiled as she gave her ten yuan as a gift.
"Aunt Hong, congratulations! Let me share in your joy and come over for a drink. Maybe my son will come along too, saving me the trouble of looking for him everywhere."
Aunt Hong smiled broadly upon receiving the ten yuan gift money, responded warmly, and led the people home after getting off the bus.
“Oh, Sister Meng, I’ll definitely come. I promise you’ll eat and drink well. Just come with me. Once you and your son have packed your things, I’ll have the village chief issue a letter of introduction and then have an oxcart take you out of the village.”
Mud-brick houses are everywhere in the village, several of them standing side by side.
Aunt Hong's house was much more impressive, a large tiled house with two courtyards, five buildings side by side, with people sitting at the entrance, all there to help with slaughtering pigs and other chores.
"Oh my, Aunt Hong, whose relative is this? Wow, he's dressed so elegantly!"
Meng Shuyun smiled and brought out the explanation she had in the car to explain. Aunt Hong then explained a few more points, and once the curiosity was over, no one paid any attention to her anymore.
Meng Shuyun accepted the water cup from Aunt Hong and thanked her, "You're too kind, Sister Hong. I'll trouble you with the village chief's letter of introduction. I know the location now. I'll go look for my son on the way. You go ahead with your work."
"Okay, the banquet will start at noon. We'll set off firecrackers then, just come over when you hear them."
Meng Shuyun put down her water glass and, under the pretext of looking for a restroom, searched around for people.
As soon as she stepped out of the backyard, Aunt Hong came over, holding a letter of introduction, and stuffed it into Meng Shuyun's hand.
"Sister Meng, this is a letter of introduction. Just write your name on it, and it's stamped with an official seal."
Meng Shuyun was also surprised; it seemed that money really did make things easier. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Aunt Hong was called away to help.
She was standing by the roadside when a motorcycle sputtered up and came along with two people on it.
Meng Shuyun's eyes widened in surprise; the driver was actually Li Dashun!
"Da Shun!" Meng Shuyun exclaimed, drawing the attention of the two.
The thug sitting in the back of the car jumped out and asked, "Do you know him?"
"This old guy isn't from around here; he's a new face."
Li Dashun recognized the voice as Old Lady Meng and bared his back teeth in response, "Brother Zhu, I know her, wait a moment."
Meng Shuyun wasn't gentle; she pulled the person away to create distance and talk to them separately.
"What are you doing here? Are you here to find your relatives?" she asked Li Dashun, puzzled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young man take out a cigarette from his pocket, light it, and smoke it, his eyes filled with wariness.
Meng Shuyun recognized the brand of the cigarettes at a glance: it was Huazi!
Such a young countryman, yet he can afford to smoke Huazi cigarettes!
Even someone as skilled as Su Dahai wouldn't dare smoke such good cigarettes; he would only buy them as gifts when he needed someone's help.
"What do you want? If not, I'm leaving," Li Dashun said coldly.
If it weren't for the fact that she had helped him before, he would never have listened to her say so much today.
"You brat, I'm your elder! Is this how you talk to me? Who helped you? Who took you in? Have you forgotten so quickly?!"
Meng Shuyun patted his shoulder and said in a low voice, "That guy doesn't look like a good person at all. Stay away from him." She gave him some advice before revealing her purpose.
"Hey kid, I need your help with something. Go to the police station right now and tell them that someone is trafficking women and kidnapping them. Can you read? The Women's Federation should also go and tell them that someone is committing marriage fraud."
Li Dashun scrutinized Meng Shuyun from head to toe, then shook his head.
"No, they won't look down on you and won't do anything to you. Just leave. There's a minibus to town in the morning, noon, and evening."
Meng Shuyun flicked him on the forehead and said irritably.
“I have serious business with you. It’s a matter of life and death. If you’re not going, lend me your car and I’ll go myself.”
Li Dashun frowned and pondered for a moment, his expression becoming more serious. "Are you looking for Su Xiuju?"
Her expression turned serious when she heard her daughter's name come out of his mouth.
"Do you know where she is?" His voice trembled as he stared intently at Li Dashun's face, not wanting to miss a single expression.
She searched inside and outside Aunt Hong's house several times, but couldn't find anyone.
The place where people are imprisoned must be locked, but we still couldn't find it.
She wondered if they were locked in the cellar, so she went to the back kitchen to observe for a while, but she didn't see anyone going into the cellar to get food.
This was also what puzzled her the most. She was certain that the person she was supposed to marry today was her daughter, but she couldn't find her anywhere.
In her desperation, Meng Shuyun wanted to grab a knife and stab someone.
Li Dashun's expression also became serious. After hesitating for a moment, the man called Zhuzi became a little impatient, threw away his cigarette and stubbed it out, and put his arm around Li Dashun's shoulder.
He seemed to be concerned, but he was actually interrogating me: "Da Shun, why have you been talking for so long? Is there some difficulty you're facing? You can tell me."
"It's nothing! My mother asked if I was going to my aunt's house, and she's picking up my brother to come back to the city." Li Dashun lied without batting an eye.
Meng Shuyun smiled, took out a red envelope from her pocket, and handed it over.
"You must be Zhuzi. I've heard Dashun mention you before. This is a little money from your aunt, please don't mind it."
"I'm getting old and can't remember the way. I went to the wrong brigade. The Red Star and the Red Flag are only one character different. I was just thinking of borrowing an oxcart to get there, but I don't know if that would be convenient."
Zhu Zi squeezed the red envelope, listened, patted Li Dashun on the shoulder, and smiled with his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, it's you, ma'am. I'm getting married today. Why don't you stay for the banquet? You have a car, so it won't take up too much time."
Meng Shuyun breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, birds of a feather flock together; they're all money-grubbing types.
If refusing now would be too obvious, she smiled and agreed, found a seat, and Meng Shuyun couldn't wait to ask.
"Tell me where Xiuju is, and I'll go rescue her myself. You've been refusing to tell me, are you one of them too?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
