As evening fell, the aroma of food wafted from the courtyards of each household.
Pedestrians hurried home on the street. A simply dressed woman, carrying a basket on her arm, stopped in front of a dilapidated door.
She glanced around, her expression extremely cautious and careful. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention to her did she raise her hand and gently knock twice on the door.
"Who is it?" came a voice from the courtyard.
The woman answered softly, "It's me, I'm back from grocery shopping. There were a lot of people shopping today, so I had to wait in line for a while to get my groceries. I'm a little late, so please open the door for me quickly."
The door was opened as soon as he finished speaking.
A rugged-looking man came out. He first cautiously looked around. Then he stepped aside and whispered to the woman, "Come in."
After the woman entered the courtyard, the burly-looking man looked around again before closing the door. But he still felt uneasy and pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sounds outside.
At the same time, a figure quietly climbed up the wall and sat down, panting.
Looking down at the courtyard from her vantage point, she almost burst out laughing at the man's foolish behavior.
In the courtyard below, a woman in her fifties stopped and turned around, seeing the man pressed his face against the door. She said irritably, "I've been carefully observing the area the whole way; no one is following me."
"Xiao Wu, you really don't need to be so cautious."
The rugged-looking man, whom the woman called Xiao Wu, didn't feel that his cautiousness was unnecessary.
To work in their line of work, one must always be vigilant.
Not hearing any unusual noises outside, Xiao Wu felt relieved and walked to the big tree in the middle of the yard.
Xiao Wu turned to look at the woman and said, "The boss always says, 'Better safe than sorry.' If we weren't so careful, we would have been arrested several times over by now."
"You'd better be careful too. We got word from above that a group of unidentified people have come to the county. The boss's order is that after this shipment is handed over, everyone should keep quiet for a while."
"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say." The woman replied, but she didn't really mean it.
Xiao Wu knew this old woman was cunning, so he didn't waste any more words reminding her and asked directly, "You're here at this time, do you have the goods?"
"Of course, I, Aunt Xu, have never failed to catch anyone I've set my sights on." The woman smiled smugly. "I'm not bragging, but this girl is absolutely gorgeous!"
“It will definitely fetch a good price. Once this girl is sold, you should give me a share of the profits for my hard work.”
“Let me tell you, this girl is quite clever. I even used my granddaughter to trick her into coming to my house.”
"You have to give me a bigger share of the compensation for my hard work, me and..."
"You'll get your money's worth for your hard work." Xiao Wu interrupted Aunt Xu's endless chatter and asked, "Where is the goods right now? Have you arranged for someone to keep an eye on them?"
Seeing Xiao Wu's impatience, Aunt Xu quickly replied, "She's in my house, there's no need to find someone to watch over her. I added the things you gave me to her water."
"She's sleeping soundly right now; even thunder won't wake her."
Xiao Wu nodded in satisfaction, then made arrangements, "Alright, you go home first and keep an eye on the person for me. We'll go back and bring the person over after it gets completely dark."
"Okay." Aunt Xu nodded.
"No need for that trouble, I came along myself." A crisp voice rang out.
Xiao Wu and Aunt Xu, who were under the big tree in the courtyard, froze upon hearing the sound and looked in the direction of the sound at the same time.
A woman wearing a polyester shirt and blue overalls sat on the wall. She was strikingly beautiful with delicate features.
She sat on the wall, swinging her legs leisurely, looking very comfortable.
Just as Xiao Wu was about to rush over and grab the person, Aunt Xu grabbed his arm.
At that moment, Aunt Xu was cursing inwardly, but a gentle smile appeared on her face. Looking at the person on the wall, she softly asked, "You... what are you doing here?"
The woman sitting on the wall was none other than Song Yueying, the "goods" Xiao Wu and Aunt Xu had mentioned.
Being treated like merchandise for the first time, Song Yueying was very unhappy.
"Of course I came here with you!" Song Yueying blinked, her voice utterly innocent. "Otherwise, how could I have gotten to this... place?"
After answering, he didn't forget to thank Aunt Xu.
"Thank you, Aunt Xu, for leading the way." She was also grateful that this old woman, having failed to abduct her herself, had sent a little girl instead.
Song Yueying was wary of everyone except little girls, which is why she was tricked by one. Once she realized she had been abducted, she immediately decided to turn the tables on her.
Pretending to have fainted after drinking the water the little girl brought her, she knocked the little girl unconscious after Aunt Xu went out and followed behind Aunt Xu.
Aunt Xu gritted her teeth. Who the hell would lead her? This girl clearly followed her on her own. Wait a minute, a sudden realization struck her—she'd seen the girl drink the spiked water with her own eyes.
This girl couldn't possibly wake up so quickly.
She'd given that spiked water to many people, but never had anyone woken up so quickly. Was this girl's body unusual, or was there something wrong with the spiked water?
Aunt Xu was terrified, but she knew this wasn't the time to seek answers. She gritted her teeth and asked gently, "How did you climb onto the wall?"
“I crawled on my hands and feet,” Song Yueying replied.
Aunt Xu was so angry she almost vomited blood, and she wanted to beat the girl on the wall to death.
Listening to the conversation between Aunt Xu and the woman, Xiao Wu knew that Aunt Xu had really messed up this time. The woman sitting on the wall was the one Aunt Xu had just mentioned.
Xiao Wu narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Song Yueying sitting on the wall, and slowly said, "I don't care how you climbed up the wall, get down now."
"What if I don't?" Song Yueying asked with a smile, her words infuriating. "I finally climbed up the wall, and you want me to come down? How embarrassing would that be?"
"Then don't blame me for being impolite." With that, Xiao Wu pulled out a pistol from his pocket and pointed it at Song Yueying.
"There are guns too! I'm so scared, so scared!" Song Yueying said, but her eyes were filled with excitement.
Hearing her unconsciously say "I'm so scared," Xiao Wu's lips twitched involuntarily, but there was no trace of fear on her face.
"If you don't come down, I'll shoot," Xiao Wu warned for the last time.
"No, no, no, don't shoot! Please don't shoot!" Song Yueying's words of surrender fell, and Xiao Wu's lips had just curled into a smile when he saw her turn around and shout to the people outside the wall.
"Captain Hong, the human traffickers have guns, and it's very likely that they're not just human traffickers. Your chance to make a contribution has come."
Xiao Wu's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a bullet struck his hand holding the gun, and the gun instantly fell to the ground.
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