Chapter 94 Human Traffickers Appear
Gu Xixi didn't meet any suspicious people on the way back to the village.
But when she was driving past the locust tree at the entrance of the village, she saw an unfamiliar man peeking towards the village.
Gu Xixi became alert, slowed down the car, and asked, "Are you here to visit relatives?"
The man turned around when he heard the voice, and when they faced each other, Gu Xixi suddenly felt that he seemed a little familiar.
But she couldn't remember where she had seen him.
The man's eyes sparkled as he looked at Gu Xixi, a warm smile on his face, "It's not visiting relatives, it's looking for relatives."
"I heard that your village has several foreign sons-in-law, and one of them was exiled from the capital?"
When Gu Xixi thought about where Mu Nanzhao came from, her heart skipped a beat.
She said calmly, "They were all sent down by the county government to get married. Not only in our village, but also in the surrounding villages."
"The government offices have a record of this kind of people. Since you are coming from afar to look for your relatives, it is more convenient and easier to go directly to the county office for help than to wait at the entrance of the village like this."
While Gu Xixi was speaking, she kept observing the man's expression.
He just smiled and said, "Oh, I was so eager to find the person that I forgot there was this method."
He thanked her and was about to leave.
"Wait." Gu Xixi called the man and gave him a friendly smile when he turned around.
"It's a rare opportunity to meet you here. What's the name of the relative you're looking for? Tell me so I can keep an eye out for you."
A barely perceptible sinister look flashed across the man's eyes, and then he smiled and said, "My surname is Liu, and I am from an ordinary family. I just used my clan rank as my name. Telling it out loud will not help in finding the person, so I won't bother you, young lady."
Gu Xixi watched the man walk away, the smile on her face gone.
She was sure that the man was lying just now.
Under the jurisdiction of Qingtian County, officials had fish tokens and seals issued by the court to prove their identities, and large merchants traveling around also had identity documents issued by the court.
But most ordinary people do not have documents proving their place of origin.
Except Qingtian County, the same is true everywhere else.
Only the capital city of Daye Dynasty was different.
In order to protect the security of the imperial city, the capital’s household registration system was strict, and all local residents of the capital had registered household registration.
This means that they must have their own name from birth.
Even if someone is from another province and is temporarily residing in the capital, he or she must hold an identity document issued by the government office in his or her hometown.
The man who claimed to be looking for his relative first asked about the exiled people in the capital, and then said that the person he was looking for had no name.
It can be seen that this person not only lied, but was also not familiar with the situation in the capital.
Plus his accent.
Although not obvious, there are still traces of this northwest area.
As soon as Gu Xixi returned home, she told Mu Nanzhao about meeting a suspicious person.
Mu Nanzhao flipped through the book without much reaction, "Oh, it's indeed suspicious."
“Maybe he’s the human trafficker gang that Madam Meng told you about.”
Gu Xixi thought it was not that simple, "But I seem to have seen him somewhere, but I just can't remember where."
Mu Nanzhao finally raised his eyes and said, "Human traffickers are roaming around the county town. You just happened to have a quick glance at them, so it's normal that you didn't remember them."
Mu Nanzhao has always been meticulous, even to the point of being suspicious, and he has said this...
Gu Xixi frowned and began to doubt herself, "Am I really overthinking?"
Mu Nanzhao reminded, "There are so many children in the village, you'd better tell Old Qian and notify each family to be alert."
Gu Xixi stood up and said, "Yes, this is an important matter. I'll go right away."
She left in a hurry.
Mu Nanzhao looked at the door, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
A month later, the village school began its New Year holiday.
Gu Xixi woke up early and found that it had started snowing without her noticing. The sky and the earth were already covered in white, and heavy snow was still floating above her head like cotton wool.
Xiaohua was afraid of the cold, so she stuck her little nose out from under the door curtain of the main room, then quickly retracted it.
Aunt Zhang opened the curtain and came out, smiling, "With this snow, the wheat harvest next year is guaranteed."
Gu Xixi looked up at the snow, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously rose.
"Yes, what a wonderful snow, and it comes at just the right time. It kills pests and diseases and preserves moisture."
Not only winter wheat benefits, but the fruit trees in Zhang's nursery no longer need to be watered separately this winter.
Thinking of the nursery, Gu Xixi asked, "Where are the stones?"
Aunt Zhang said, "He went out to play a long time ago."
"He woke up early and saw the snow. He was so happy that he didn't even bother to eat. He just ran away with two roasted sweet potatoes in his pocket."
Gu Xixi was in a good mood at the moment and was also in the mood to play, "Chen Fang! Come out and ride with me!"
After a while, Mu Nanzhao walked out of the west room, wearing a black velvet gray squirrel cloak, exactly the same as the one that was destroyed before.
"Let's go."
The horse borrowed from the Northwest Army was named Fengchi, a chestnut mare.
During this period, Mu Nanzhao taught Gu Xixi how to ride a horse as promised.
Gu Xixi initially thought that in ancient times, riding a horse was equivalent to taking a driver’s license test for modern people.
These are basic skills that serve the convenience of life.
But after she became proficient, she gradually fell in love with the feeling of riding a horse and feeling the wind.
In the heavy snow, Gu Xixi had already ridden her horse twice in the open space outside the village.
She stopped in front of Mu Nanzhao and couldn't stop laughing, "It's still not satisfying enough."
"It would be great if I had the chance to make a thousand-mile raid someday."
Mu Nanzhao said, "Maybe there really is."
Gu Xixi felt that he seemed to be pointing at someone, and as she was staring at him, she suddenly heard a child shouting.
"Someone come quickly!"
“Help!!!”
The sound came from the village, not far away.
Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao looked at each other, and Mu Nanzhao immediately jumped on his horse.
The two of them rode together towards the village.
As soon as we got to the big locust tree, we saw a few children running out.
Gu Xixi pulled the reins, "Whoa!"
"What happened?"
A boy panted and said, "Gou Wa, Brother Gou Wa saw a few people put Xiao Tao and Dou Dou into such a big sack and carried them away!"
Xiaotao and Doudou are both girls from the village and they also go to school in the village school.
Gu Xixi was shocked. Human traffickers?!
She asked hurriedly, "Where is Gou Wa? And Shitou, have you seen Shitou?"
Another little kid who was only four years old said in a baby voice, "I saw it!"
"Brother Gou Wa and Brother Shi Tou have gone after those bad guys."
Gu Xixi's head buzzed, and she immediately turned her horse's head, saying anxiously: "What are they chasing? Don't they know to call the adults first?"
"Now it's good, I lost two and got two more as a gift."
Before leaving, she warned in a stern tone, "You guys are not allowed to run outside!"
"Hurry back and call for help!"
The little kids looked at each other, still hesitating.
Until Mu Nanzhao gave him a cold look and asked, "Did you hear everything?"
The little ones seemed to be back in the village school classroom and were suddenly startled.
"Yes."
Seeing them rushing back, Gu Xixi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly chased them out of the village.
Mu Nanzhao sat behind Gu Xixi, looking down at the traces left on the snow.
Wheel tracks, cow hoof prints, children’s footprints…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com