Meanwhile, Huo Yan and his team were also busy, digging out the case files from the past few years and, sure enough, finding several cases that had been hastily closed.
Huo Yan instructed Jin Yu to write down the addresses of those girls and to have someone follow up on them overnight.
As he was leaving, he ran into a maid who had just come out of the prison.
The maid named Xiaoduo walked with her head down, carrying a food box in her hand.
As soon as I stepped out of the cell, I almost bumped into a solid wall.
She looked up and was so startled that she quickly took a few steps back.
"Officer Huo... Officer Huo."
Huo Yan crossed his arms and glanced at the maid who was a head shorter than him.
"Huh? Am I that scary?"
Xiao Duo shrank her neck. "No, no, it's not scary."
But her evasive eyes betrayed her.
How could you not be afraid? Look at how powerful and strong you are; one punch from you could probably slam her against a wall.
You may not be able to see the scar on your face, but others can.
If you have nothing to do, touch your face more often to feel a sense of self-worth.
Huo Yan's expression darkened further. He didn't say anything and stepped aside to make way. Xiao Duo breathed a sigh of relief and was about to escape.
But Huo Yan called her from behind.
"How is Su Ruanruan?"
Xiao Duo hadn't expected him to stop her to ask this question. She looked left and right, but wouldn't look at Huo Yan.
"The female physician has come to see her, but Miss Su is still not awake."
"Has she changed her clothes?"
Xiao Duo: "..."
"It's been changed."
"Go and find me the coat she took off. I'll wait for you here."
Xiao Duo: "..."
Huh? What does he need this for? The clothes are stinky and torn in several places. She was going to burn them, but she's been busy and hasn't had time yet.
She wanted to ask Officer Huo why he wanted Miss Su's clothes.
But she didn't dare to ask.
Xiao Duo looked up at the sky and said, "Officer Huo, please wait a moment, I'll be right back." With that, she ran off in a flash.
Su Ruanruan lives in the wing room in the backyard, so it wouldn't be appropriate for him, an outsider, to go there.
Niu Mang and Jin Yu followed after finishing their work.
Niu Mang glanced at the little maid who had run away.
"Hey, this girl talks with her nose in the air, she looks down on people. She never says a word when she sees me, and she ignores me when I talk to her."
Jin Yu remained silent. Was that a sign of disrespect? The girl was simply frightened by her older brother.
As for why he ignores you, it's probably just because he doesn't like you.
Huo Yan touched his face. "Is it really that scary?"
Niu Mang: "What's the big deal? So what if you're a little injured? That's what makes a man. Jin Yu, am I right?"
"Yes, yes, you're right. How about I carve a word on your forehead tomorrow?"
"screw you!"
When Xiaoduo arrived, she saw two tall men fighting.
It's childish, especially that guy named Niu Mang, who always keeps saying "I, I, I," and she's tired of hearing it.
"Here you are, Officer Huo, Miss Su's clothes."
She was still holding a meat bun wrapped in oil paper in her hand, which she had just sneaked out to buy for her mistress.
She said that, turned around and left. She wanted to deliver it to her mistress while it was still hot, otherwise it wouldn't taste good.
But the next moment, she was bumped into by the playful Niu Mang, who shoved her into the flower bushes with a thud.
Not only did he slip and fall flat on his face, but the two fragrant meat buns in the oil paper package also rolled to the ground.
"Niu Mang".
Xiao Duo was afraid of Huo Yan, but not of him.
Niu Mang knew he had gotten into trouble again, so he quickly went over and helped the girl up.
He was incredibly strong, and his pulling made her delicate arm ache a little.
"Hiss, let go."
"Oh." Niu Mang quickly let go of her arm.
His arms were as thin as sticks, and he was afraid she might break them.
Xiao Duo rubbed her arm where he had touched her, her face burning hot.
She grew up with the young lady and was her first-class maid, so the servants in the mansion treated her with utmost respect.
She has never had any physical intimacy with any other man.
Today, however, this brute has taken advantage of us for nothing.
"You reckless fool, look what you've done! My young lady is still hungry."
Xiao Duo picked up the steamed bun and, by the light of the lantern under the eaves, finally saw that the snow-white bun skin was covered with a lot of dirt and was no longer edible.
She was about to throw it to the black dog kept by the yamen (government office) with disgust, but Niu Mang stopped her.
"Don't give it to me, we can't let it go to waste."
He took the bun from Xiaoduo's hand, patted off the dirt with his hand, blew on it, and then ate it with relish.
He took a bite and frowned. "Where did you buy this? This bun isn't as good as the one from Guihua Lane."
Xiao Duo pursed her lips, "You're eating this bun even though it's dirty? Aren't you afraid of getting sick?"
Niu Mang chuckled, "What's the big deal? Back in the day, when we were..."
“Back then, my family was poor, and I’ve experienced all kinds of hardship. When there was a flood and famine, I even ate tree leaves.”
Nothing is more important than surviving.
Niu Mang's eyes sparkled, and a single sentence from him stirred up her memories.
Back then, my hometown suffered a drought, and the crops yielded nothing.
With no other choice, her parents sold her to a brokerage firm so that her younger brother could live.
She was lucky; the master and mistress bought her back.
Even though she was young at the time, she still remembers the scenes of selling children and families, and the separation of wives and children.
The cries were heart-wrenching.
Even now, the memory still evokes sadness in her. Perhaps she's become too used to a good life, and she's forgotten that before her parents sold her, she also went hungry.
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