Luo Yan crawled out of the dog hole and, by the moonlight, looked at the blue and white house number nailed to the wall by the door. She memorized the house number and ran to the gate of a courtyard with a village committee sign hanging on it.
Climbing under the gate, Luo Yan ran through the gravel-covered courtyard to the door, jumped onto the windowsill, and peered into the house.
The old man who was responsible for the night watchman at the village committee opened his eyes groggily and saw a dark figure lying on the window with a pale face facing him. He was so frightened that he rolled his eyes and fainted.
Luo Yan saw a telephone on the table inside the room and climbed in through the open window.
There was no 110 emergency number back then, and Luo Yan didn't know the police station's phone number, so she stood by the table scratching her head in distress.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through her mind. Luo Yan picked up the notebook on the table, tore off a page, and began to write furiously.
After finishing writing, Luo Yan put down her pen, walked to the bedside, took off her shoes, stuffed them under the bed, picked up the flashlight from the chair next to the bed, and climbed onto the bed.
Luo Yan raised her small hand and slapped the old man twice. The old man was woken up by the slaps, and in his dizziness, Luo Yan helped him up from behind.
Riding on the old man's neck, Luo Yan clamped his head between her two little legs, pulled his hair with one little hand, and pointed her chubby little feet at the desk.
The old man couldn't see what was riding on his neck, and he trembled with fear, remembering the mountain spirits and monsters that adults used to scare children when he was a child.
Seeing the little feet pointing at the table, the old man shakily put on his shoes, got off the ground, and walked to the table.
Luo Yan pointed with her toes to the chair next to the table, and the old man sat down.
Luo Yan turned on her flashlight and shone it on the paper she was writing on.
Shine the flashlight to clearly see the hat-wearing uncle holding a telephone at the top of the painting.
The old man opened the drawer, took out the phone book, flipped to the page with the phone numbers drawn on the map, and dialed the police station one number at a time.
After the call connected, Luo Yan used her flashlight to illuminate the following line of text.
No. 21, Dadong Village.
Next came another drawing, this time depicting ten dolls, with two men grinning and grimacing beside them, and another man carrying a wailing child as he walked away.
The old man was illiterate, but he knew the village name. He didn't recognize the character for "number," but he recited it as "number."
"Dadong Village 21..."
Looking at the painting, he continued, "A bad guy kidnapped ten children, and took one away."
Fortunately, the old man was quite good at interpreting pictures, which relieved Luo Yan.
The other side made the old man repeat himself several times, and then asked him where he was. The old man told them, and the other side told him to stay where he was and not move.
The report was successfully filed, and Luo Yan used a flashlight to illuminate the bottom.
The painting depicts an old man lying in bed with his eyes closed.
The old man did as instructed. Luo Yan got out of bed, took out her shoes from under the bed, put them on, took the paper from the table, moved a chair to the window, climbed onto the windowsill, jumped out of the window, and ran away.
After running out of the village committee, Luo Yan tore the paper into pieces and threw it into the roadside drainage ditch before sprinting back to No. 21.
I crawled through the dog hole and slipped into the house; the two human traffickers were still asleep.
Luo Yan snuggled back into Yan Yuan's arms and listened quietly to the sounds outside.
About half an hour later, Luo Yan heard the sound of a car engine and faint footsteps approaching.
Luo Yan patted Yan Yuan, who suddenly opened his eyes. His mind was still processing what he had just learned, and he sat up abruptly from the kang (a heated brick bed).
Looking down, Yan Yuan saw the little girl in his arms pointing out the window. He listened carefully, then kicked the oblivious Old Li to the ground.
Old Li was cursing and swearing, but Yan Yuan slapped him across the face and immediately shut him up.
"Something's not right, let's retreat."
After Yan Yuan finished speaking in a low voice, he kicked open the back window with Luo Yan in his arms, jumped out, ran a few steps to the back wall, leaped over it, and ran away as fast as he could.
Luo Yan leaned on Yan Yuan's shoulder and saw that Old Li had just climbed up the wall but was pulled back down. She smiled and waved to Old Li.
Old Li stared at Luo Yan in disbelief, then belatedly realized that they seemed to have been outmaneuvered by the little girl.
Yan Yuan carried Luo Yan into the mountains, crossing three mountains before stopping in front of a house at the foot of the mountain.
Yan Yuan was so exhausted from running that he almost died, while Luo Yan was so sleepy after staying up all night that she fell asleep on Yan Yuan's shoulder, drooling all over.
Yan Yuan knocked on the door and entered the room. He put Luo Yan on the kang (a heated brick bed), and was almost driven to the brink of collapse by the little girl who was fast asleep.
Whose child is this? They're so carefree! Can't they at least show some respect and be a little scared? Even if they're not scared, they shouldn't be sleeping so soundly.
Zhang Yulin poured a glass of warm water for Yan Yuan. Yan Yuan took the glass, took a big gulp of water, and slowly swallowed it.
Zhang Yulin cooked a bowl of noodles and placed it on the table, handing the chopsticks to Yan Yuan.
"What's going on?" Zhang Yulin sat down at the table and asked Yan Yuan, who was slurping noodles like a madman.
Yan Yuan ate several mouthfuls of noodles, and his feeling of exhaustion eased considerably before he replied.
"The cops raided the place, and all ten of the goods we just received are gone. Old Li was arrested, and I asked Old Zhao to deliver the goods before, and we agreed that he would bring back the money today, but I guess that's unlikely too."
Zhang Yulin pondered, "Could it be that Old Zhao exposed you and gave you away?"
Yan Yuan finished the noodle soup in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and said, "Possibly."
Zhang Yulin pointed at Luo Yan, "Where did this girl come from?"
Yan Yuan said, "It was sent by my relatives. They just asked that I send her far away so that her family can't find her."
“Reliable?” Zhang Yulin’s eyes flashed with coldness.
Yan Yuan nodded, "If they dare to steal someone else's child and give them away, they would never betray us."
There's some truth to that," Zhang Yulin said, suppressing his murderous intent.
"They're short-handed in Lincheng. Go there temporarily to avoid trouble and help them sort out their goods."
Yan Yuan nodded.
Zhang Yulin added, "You must be tired too. Take a rest for a day and leave tomorrow."
After saying that, Zhang Yulin got up and went back to the east room.
Yan Yuan was covered in sweat from running. He went outside to the well to fetch water to wash himself clean, then went back inside, sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and fell asleep immediately.
Yan Yuan was sleeping soundly, unaware of the time, when he was suddenly woken up by someone pinching his nose. When he opened his eyes, he saw the little girl's bright smiling face.
"What's wrong?" Yan Yuan rubbed his eyes and sat up.
Luo Yan patted her stomach and pointed to her mouth.
"Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?" Yan Yuan asked.
Luo Yan nodded and looked at Yan Yuan with a smile.
No child had ever smiled at him so sweetly. Yan Yuan patted Luo Yan's head, put on his shoes, and went to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Zhang Yulin's wife was cooking.
Yan Yuan lifted the pot lid and saw that it was pork stew with green beans. He picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and tasted it. The meat was stewed until it was tender. He then took a bowl, scooped out a few pieces, and brought them into the house to hand to Luo Yan.
Luo Yan, they didn't even give her a pair of chopsticks, how is she supposed to eat?
Yan Yuan raised his hand and gently pinched Luo Yan's nose. "What are you looking at? It's not hot."
Is this a matter of whether it's hot or not? Is this a matter of whether we're hygienic or not?
Seeing that Luo Yan was not moving, Yan Yuan belatedly realized what was happening and went back to the kitchen to get a spoon for Luo Yan.
Luo Yan obediently held the bowl and used a spoon to eat the meat. Yan Yuan poured a glass of wine and teased Luo Yan, "Want some...?"
When Zhang Yulin came in, he saw Luo Yan eating a piece of meat by herself, and Yan Yuan feeding her a sip from his wine glass. He smiled in surprise.
"No wonder you took this girl with you when you ran away, how interesting."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
