When Qian Yu'an looked up again, she saw that the little girl and the van were gone.
Chen Zhou rushed forward, "Sister Yu'an, what happened just now?"
Qian Yu'an briefly recounted what had just happened.
"Human traffickers are rampant these days! They dare to do it in broad daylight!"
The child became quiet as soon as he heard the words "human trafficker" and sat on the swing. After a while, an old woman with gray hair came over carrying vegetables.
Upon seeing Qian Yu'an and Chen Zhou standing next to her granddaughter, the old lady immediately put on a stern face and said, "Why are you approaching my granddaughter? What do you want to do?"
Qian Yu'an frowned. "Are you her grandmother? She was almost kidnapped by human traffickers just now!"
The old woman didn't believe it. "How could that be?! You're lying!"
"Hey, we're lying to you. Why would we lie to you? If you don't believe me, ask the beef vendor!"
Qian Yu'an: "Someone just tried to trick your granddaughter into crossing the street with candy. There was a van parked on the other side. If you don't believe me, just ask anyone. They all saw it."
Kind words are hard to persuade, and Qian Yu'an didn't want to say more. "Believe it or not, it's up to you!"
Qian Yu'an pulled Chen Zhou away.
The old woman was pointing at the two people's backs and saying, "What human traffickers? I didn't see any."
A few meters away, the uncles and aunts who were stretching their shoulders couldn't stand it anymore and told them what had just happened.
The old lady looked embarrassed. "...Really?"
"Would I lie to you? We didn't even notice. It was that girl who brought your granddaughter back and said there were human traffickers. That's when we saw the van drive away."
"Didn't they crack down on human traffickers recently and arrest a lot of them? How come they've popped up again?"
"Who knows? Just keep an eye on the kids."
Qian Yu'an and Chen Zhou went to get the beef first. When they returned to the store, Song Yun asked them why it took them so long to come back.
Qian Yu'an recounted what had just happened.
Song Yun was shocked. "It's good that you saw it. These people do all sorts of despicable things, even taking advantage of young girls."
There are many good people in society. Someone thought they were doing a good deed, but ended up helping human traffickers out of their own good!
"That's right! Sister Yu'an did a good deed, but that old lady didn't believe it. It's infuriating!"
Seeing Chen Zhou's indignation, Qian Yu'an herself was no longer angry. She smiled and said, "It's alright, as long as we do our best to have a clear conscience."
Song Jianmin finally emerged from the back, yawned, and asked, "What kind of human traffickers?"
Qian Yu'an didn't want to repeat herself a third time, so she had Chen Zhou give a brief explanation.
Song Jianmin's mouth was big enough to fit an egg. "Holy crap, in broad daylight, how dare you!"
After the three finished eating the dumplings, they were about to leave when they unexpectedly ran into the old lady before leaving the park.
The old lady felt embarrassed this time and stopped Qian Yu'an to apologize to her.
"Miss, I'm so sorry, I was in such a hurry just now. Luckily you were here. Here are some peach shortbreads I just bought, take them home and enjoy them."
Qian Yu'an declined, saying, "Next time, please keep a close eye on the children. If human traffickers dare to come directly, they must have scouted the place beforehand."
"Hey, hey, okay, thanks to you guys today."
The three returned to Heping Lane. Now, during the day, only Qian Yu'an is in the Song family home. The grandparents have gone back to the countryside, and Song Yangmin will not return until the weekend.
On the other side, it had been almost three months since Song Guomin's surgery, and his leave of absence was almost over; it was time for him to return to town.
Song Guomin's surgical wound has long been healed. Before, when Song's grandparents were still in the city, his grandmother would visit him every few days. Now, Song Guomin is almost fully recovered. The caregiver left a few days ago, and he is packing up to go back to work in town. Yan Yan and Lele are also going to start school soon.
Song Guomin will need to continue taking medication and have regular check-ups. He can't lift heavy objects or carry heavy loads, so he needs to recuperate for a while longer.
On the day we returned to town, Yan Yan suddenly said, "Dad, we haven't seen Grandma and Grandpa for a long time."
Lele also looked up, frowning slightly, "It's been a long time since I've seen my grandparents."
Song Guomin's face showed bitterness. In the past few months, he had missed his second son's wedding. His parents hadn't seen him since their surgery, and they were probably still angry with him.
Song Guomin sighed, "They're all busy. Let's go see them when we're older. Let's go."
The days passed by, and it was already mid-September.
Zheng Guangyan's eldest sister and brother-in-law also appeared in Heping Lane; they obtained the address from the police.
"Young lady, may I ask where Comrade Song Anmin lives?" the woman asked in a southern accent.
Qian Yu'an was returning home from school when she heard the noise and looked at the two of them.
Zheng Guangping, dressed in a black coarse cloth outfit, exchanged a glance with Lei Liangpeng, then smiled apologetically at Qian Yu'an and said, "We heard from the police that my niece is being taken care of by Comrade Song, so we've come to pick her up."
Qian Yu'an pursed her lips and asked, "Are you Guoguo's aunt and uncle?"
Zheng Guangping's smile deepened. "Yes, yes, yes."
Qian Yu'an thought for a moment and replied, "It's five o'clock now. Song Anmin will be back in about half an hour. You can wait for him."
As they spoke, Qian Yu'an glanced at the man next to Zheng Guangping out of the corner of her eye.
Lei Liangpeng had an honest and simple appearance, and he wore clothes similar to Zheng Guangping's, with two patches on the front of his cloth shoes...
But this face looks so familiar...
Qian Yu'an was the only one at home, so she didn't dare bring him home. She told Zheng Guangping and the other woman to sit and wait at the teahouse at the alley entrance. Song Anmin would come and call them when he returned.
As soon as Qian Yu'an left, Zheng Guangping and Lei Liangpeng's expressions changed.
The two looked at each other again, and Lei Liangpeng whispered a few words in Zheng Guangping's ear, his expression cunning and not at all honest.
After speaking, Lei Liangpeng sat up straight again, a simple and honest smile on his face, as if he were just idly enjoying his tea.
Zheng Guangping lowered her voice: "So it was that brat."
Lei Liangpeng, speaking in a local dialect, said, "We'd better be cautious."
There aren't many children in Heping Lane. There used to be Yan Yan and Lele, but after Zhuo Huai moved in, her daughter Chengcheng joined them. After Yan Yan and Lele left, only Chengcheng was still in elementary school in Heping Lane. The other new children were only a few months or a year old.
Chengcheng is used to playing with her classmates on her way home after school, and she usually gets back to Heping Lane around 5 p.m.
Chengcheng, carrying her little schoolbag, walked and skipped along the way, calling out to uncles and aunts, and occasionally squatting down to play marbles.
Just then, a middle-aged woman came up to Chengcheng.
"Little girl, would you like some candy?"
Chengcheng looked up at her and said, "I'm not eating."
He ran away after saying that.
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