Yan Ci saw the two enter the neighboring Willow Tree Village, and that night he quietly sneaked into that courtyard.
Hearing two people whispering to each other, the shorter one said:
"Brother Qian, can Ding Cuihua be trusted? She's taken a lot of good stuff from us."
Tall Money Guy: "Don't worry, she won't dare to play any tricks. Otherwise, I'll kill her."
The shorter man asked, "Our little one hasn't eaten all day, is he alright?"
The tall man said, "Go feed him something later."
The short man nodded in agreement.
The tall man then said:
"Don't worry, this isn't the first time we've done this. We'll bring the kids from the Red Star Brigade back tomorrow."
"Take action immediately, and we'll never have to worry about food or drink again."
The short man asked, "Brother Qian, this boy is valuable, so why does Ding Cuihua insist on getting a girl?"
The tall man said, "She said the girl was her enemy's child, and she didn't want money, just wanted to sell the little girl far away."
"Wu Degui, why are you asking so many questions? Looking for a beating?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Ci clenched his fists tightly. He thought to himself, "I'll definitely make sure the two of you, no, all three of you, have plenty to eat and drink."
Yan Ci quietly returned home.
Bai Xiaoyue asked, "Aci, why are you so late coming back?"
Yan Ci: "I noticed that Ding Cuihua was acting strangely, so I went to investigate."
Bai Xiaoyue sat up straight immediately: "Does she really want to abduct Chang Le?"
Yan Ci: "Wife, don't worry, they're planning to make their move tomorrow. Tell Chang Le not to go out tomorrow."
Then he consulted with Bai Wenyi and Yan Xiaosong.
There are two roads leading out of Hongxing Brigade: one is the main road at the entrance of the village, and the other is a mountain road.
They figured that if the three bad guys wanted to take the child out of the village, taking the main road would be too risky and would make them too conspicuous; they would most likely choose to take the mountain path.
Therefore, Bai Wenyi was tasked with specifically tracking Ding Cuihua. Yan Ci had met the two men, so he waited at the village entrance for the two human traffickers to come to his door.
Yan Xiaosong was working and waiting near the entrance of the mountain road. The three of them had a clear division of labor and were just waiting to catch the turtle in the jar the next day.
The next day, Ding Cuihua distributed candy to the children as usual, but when she didn't see Ye Changle, she stomped her feet in anger.
The girl wouldn't eat her candy, and she was determined to get rid of her even if it meant knocking her unconscious.
Immediately, she rolled her eyes and pointed to two children to call Chang Le over.
They were promised that if Chang Le came, each of them would receive five extra candies.
The two children were only four years old. One was Wang Sanbao, the grandson of Grandpa Wang who drove the oxcart.
The other is Li Qiusheng, the grandson of the old hunter Li.
Grandpa Wang can drive a cart, and Grandpa Li can hunt; their families are slightly better off.
The two children are chubby and adorable, very cute and lovable.
Upon hearing this, Wang Sanbao and Li Qiusheng offered them five candies and, with their short legs, ran to the Bai family to find Chang Le.
Bai Xiaoyue is sleeping; she has become very sleepy since becoming pregnant.
When Chang Le heard the knocking, she opened the door and saw her two little brothers inviting her to play.
Chang Le dared not go; her mother had said she would break her legs if she dared to go out today. She waved her hands repeatedly.
"I can't go out to play today, but I'll take you guys out to play in a couple of days."
Seeing that Chang Le wasn't leaving, the two boys got anxious, as they couldn't get the candy that was already in their mouths.
Li Qiusheng had a quick idea:
"Sister Chang Le, we just saw a little red bird."
Chang Le asked excitedly, "Where did you see it?"
Li Xiaopangzi pointed in the direction of the Yan family:
"It flew over there, it's so beautiful, isn't it, Sanbao?"
Wang Sanbao, that glutton, nodded vigorously at the thought of the sweet candy:
"Really, really, it's so good."
Chang Le was very tempted. She went back to her house, grabbed her little slingshot, put some pebbles in her pocket, and followed the two chubby boys to catch birds.
Chang Le ran all the way to the Yan family's door and stopped when he saw Ding Cuihua.
When Ding Cuihua saw Chang Le arrive, she was overjoyed and invited them into the house.
Seeing that Chang Le wouldn't go in, he provoked her:
"What are you afraid of, little girl? Are you too scared to come in? Look at these two kids, they're not afraid at all. You're not even as brave as them."
Chang Le was easily provoked and fell for it: "Who's afraid of you?" She then followed the two children into the Yan family's courtyard.
Ding Cuihua pretended to be a kind person and took out candy to give to the three of them. When she saw that Chang Le didn't want it, she gave some to the two little boys.
Wang Sanbao and Li Qiusheng took the candy, unwrapped it, and eagerly put it into their mouths.
Seeing that his two friends had received the candy, Chang Le urged them, "Let's go catch birds."
Just as the three were about to leave, Ding Cuihua closed the door. Chang Le then sensed something was wrong and shouted at her:
"What are you doing? Open the door right now."
Ding Cuihua's eyes flashed with a fierce light as she said menacingly:
"This is called 'the daughter paying for the mother's debts.' Your mother caused me to go to jail, so I sold you."
Upon hearing this, Chang Le was both shocked and frightened. She wanted to take out her slingshot, but then she remembered what her mother had said: "Don't act impulsively, or you'll suffer the consequences."
Now I am facing an enemy stronger than myself, so I cannot act rashly.
Looking at his two friends, who had already fainted, he kept telling himself to calm down.
She saw Ding Cuihua about to tie her up with a rope; if she got tied up, she was doomed.
Chang Le, on a sudden inspiration, loudly proclaimed:
"It's all my mom's fault. She won't let me eat the candy you gave me. Actually, I really want to eat candy. I want to eat it right now."
Ding Cuihua seemed unconvinced: "You little brat, you're trying to fool me."
Chang Le was thinking about how to gain sympathy. When she thought about how she was about to be sold because she disobeyed her mother, tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
She wiped away her tears and said pitifully to Ding Cuihua:
"I'm not lying to you, my mom is pregnant with my little brother now, and she only likes my brother, not me."
She never gives me candy, and she won't let me eat other people's candy either. She's so mean.
Ding Cuihua believed it to some extent, because in her mind, all parents preferred sons to daughters.
Furthermore, Bai Xiaoyue was a second-time bride, and Chang Le was a burden, so it's normal that Bai Xiaoyue didn't like him.
She lowered the rope and fed Chang Le a candy laced with a sedative.
Chang Le let Ding Cuihua put it in her mouth, chewed it a few times in front of her, and opened her mouth to indicate that she had eaten it.
Ding Cuihua was relieved:
"Little girl, be good, and I'll have someone find you a good family."
He turned around and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). In that instant, Chang Le spat out the candy from under his tongue and grabbed it in his hand.
She suddenly sat down on the ground and slowly fell down, her hand just touching Wang Sanbao. Chang Le took the opportunity to put the candy in Wang Sanbao's pocket, and then pretended to faint.
Chang Le kept the candy in her mouth for a while, and although she spat it out, it still had some of the drug on it, making her head feel dizzy.
She thought to herself, "Oh no, if I'm really sold, I'll never see my mother again. Even if my mother breaks my legs, it's better than being sold."
Her little fists clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms. She had to stay alert; she couldn't let herself be sold out. She had to find a way to escape.
When Bai Wenyi saw that the three children had gone into Ding Cuihua's house and hadn't come out, he knew that Ding Cuihua must have arrested them.
He was very anxious, but since he hadn't seen the traffickers or Yan Ci yet, he had no choice but to remain still and secretly observe from outside.
When Yan Ci saw the men surnamed Wu and Qian sneaking into the village, he quietly followed them.
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