RYEY -Chapter 330 Escaping the Wolf’s Den Only to Enter the Tiger’s Mouth

After the man left, little Cheng Li quietly opened the door and looked around. Only then did he realize he had been taken to a guesthouse. Overjoyed, he opened the door and started to walk out.

As he passed the front desk, the receptionist called out to him, startling little Cheng Li. He thought this receptionist might be in cahoots with the man.

His mind raced. Mom always said good children shouldn’t lie—but now, lying was the only way to escape.

Outside, a middle-aged woman was eating a sesame cake. Seeing the cake, Cheng Li was reminded of Cheng Qiao. Mom always made them sesame cakes, saying they were a specialty from Huizhou.

Convinced that anyone eating sesame cakes must be good, little Cheng Li didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the woman’s arm and said, “Mom, take me home!”

The woman froze for a moment and gave him a suspicious look, her heartbeat quickening. This was far too easy.

“You good child, want some sesame cake? I’ll give you half.”

She broke the cake in half and handed it to him. Cheng Li quickly took it—without noticing that she had already sprinkled some powder from under her fingernail onto the cake.

When he woke up, he was lying on a large kang (heated brick bed), surrounded by over a dozen other children, both boys and girls.

Little Cheng Li realized with horror that he had fallen into the den of human traffickers. In trying to escape the wolf’s den, he had plunged into the tiger’s mouth. He wondered if his parents, grandparents, and younger siblings would be worried.

“How did you get in here?”

A girl nearby saw Cheng Li open his eyes and quickly came over. The kang wasn’t heated, and the room was as cold as an icehouse, but this handsome boy seemed like a furnace, warming her frozen body.

“Are you cold?”

The girl felt embarrassed to stay too close now that he was awake, so she moved a little aside. But as soon as she stepped away, she shivered, her voice trembling.

“Mm… Big brother is warm.”

“Then come closer. We can keep warm together.”

The girl’s eyes curved with a smile as she hurried closer, absorbing the faint warmth radiating from Cheng Li. Then she whispered to him:

“I’m Wu Xiaolin. Wu, as in mighty; Xiaolin, as in dawn with the ‘wood’ radical. I’m from the capital. Someone covered my mouth with a handkerchief, and when I woke up, I was here.”

“I’m Cheng Li. Cheng, as in future; Li, as in dawn. I walked right into the trap myself.”

Wu Xiaolin paused, unsure of what Cheng Li meant, but obediently didn’t ask further. Instead, she whispered in his ear:

“Cheng Li, I arrived here a day earlier. I’ve been here for three days. This is the human traffickers’ lair. When someone comes to buy children, they bring them here to choose. If they like one, they take them away.”

“Do you know where this is?”

The girl shook her head. She had been here since she woke up. Every day someone brought food, and even using the toilet was done in this room. Since they were all kids, there were no secrets at all.

“No one bought you in three days?”

“I’m six years old this year. I’m a bit older. They like to buy smaller children—one or two years old, maybe two or three. Once over five, few people want to buy them.”

Cheng Li felt a pang of worry. Older boys were somewhat safer, but girls like her would likely suffer, perhaps being sold cheaply to poor rural families as child brides—a tragic fate.

“Is there someone guarding at night?”

The girl shook her head. She didn’t know. It was too cold at night. With only a few thin blankets, they huddled together, burying their heads in the quilts just to keep warm.

Cheng Li sat up and began inspecting the room. It was quite large, with big kangs on both sides. Older children were on his side, while smaller children were across from him.

Those children were probably drugged; each one slept soundly. Their blankets were thicker and heavier than his.

The opposite kang had two windows, but it was winter. The windows were tightly closed, and several planks were nailed across them—obviously to prevent escape.

Cheng Li stared at the windows. He had been strong since childhood and could spar with Li Huan, although he didn’t know Li Huan had held back. He believed opening the windows wouldn’t be difficult.

The problem was, he didn’t know where he was. Even if he escaped, he didn’t know if anyone would be guarding outside, or where he should run.

Suddenly, Cheng Li’s ears twitched. He quickly lay down and made a “shh” gesture to Wu Xiaolin. Her eyes flickered, and she quickly closed them, pretending to sleep.

Not long after, the door opened, and a familiar voice sounded. Cheng Li’s heart sank—it was the woman who had drugged him and brought him here.

“Hey, wake up, wake up.”

Cheng Li’s pink cheeks were smacked red. He could only open his eyes and look at the woman smiling at him, clearly pleased with his appearance.

“How old are you, child?”

“Eight.”

“What do your parents do?”

“Who are you? Why did you drug me?”

“Who am I? I’m a human trafficker. I drugged you to bring you here, then sell you for money.”

“How much will you sell me for?”

“You’re worth five or six hundred yuan.”

“Auntie, please let me go. I’ll have my mother pay you, okay?”

“Fool. If I let you go, I’d be wasting my effort. And if your mother gives me money? I’d be lucky not to be beaten.”

“I’ll fight you then!”

Cheng Li was furious. He jumped from the kang and bit the woman’s arm.

“Ah… Let go, let go!”

The door opened again, and a man came in. He grabbed Cheng Li by the hair and yanked him backward. In pain, Cheng Li had to let go.

“Smack…”

Cheng Li’s face was slapped hard. The woman quickly stopped the man: “Don’t hit the face! That face is worth money.”

“You little brat… I was going to feed you, but with so much strength, I’ll starve you for two more days.”

The two left, locking the door behind them. Wu Xiaolin quickly got up and took a handkerchief from her pocket, carefully wiping the blood from Cheng Li’s mouth.

“You’re silly. We’re all trapped inside. What good will biting her do?”

“Can we open the window?”

Wu Xiaolin shook her head. She didn’t know. With only a bowl of thin porridge each day, she was too weak to do anything extra.

Cheng Li moved to the opposite window to look outside, but it was covered with newspaper—he couldn’t see a thing.

He pulled at the horizontal planks nailed across the window. With all his strength, he tugged one toward himself. He didn’t know if it was his power or the rotting wood, but the plank broke in the middle.