RYEY -Chapter 337 Arrest Them

The door was finally knocked open. When the trafficker saw that it was the woman who had come in the morning to buy Cheng Li, she couldn’t help frowning. Before she could speak, the woman spoke first:

“Big sister, this kid seems to have some problems. Can I switch him for another one?”

The trafficker’s heart skipped a beat. Her man had thrown this boy down and hit his head—could it be that something was wrong with his brain now? Switching was definitely impossible. Better to find an excuse to get her to buy another child instead.

“No switching, no switching. This isn’t buying vegetables—you can’t keep changing your mind. But, sister-in-law, if you’re not satisfied, you can just buy another one. I’ll give you a cheaper price for this one.”

“That works. I want a girl, about the same age as him.”

“Oh… I get it. Come in with me.”

“I won’t go in. It’s pretty scary inside. Just tell me the price and bring one out for me.”

“Two hundred. There’s a girl, about six or seven years old, looks pretty good. Do you want her?”

“Bring her out first so I can take a look.”

“Alright, wait here.”

She was an old customer, so the trafficker felt at ease. She closed the door and went inside to bring the little girl out. The bureau chief waved his hand, and little Cheng Li quickly led the woman to stand off to the side.

The woman wanted to tie Cheng Li’s hands with a rope to stop him from escaping again. But just as she took the rope out, it was snatched away by someone behind her—and then she herself was tied up instead.

“Child, what are you doing? I’m your mother!”

Cheng Li smiled faintly at her. “Auntie, I already have a mom. When my mom comes, she’ll give you some money. You won’t suffer a loss.”

The woman’s eyes grew sore, and her vision blurred as she looked at Cheng Li. She truly wanted to raise him as her own son—she would never have abused him.

When the door opened again, Cheng Li immediately saw Wu Xiaolin standing to the side. At that very moment, the bureau chief seized the instant when the trafficker froze in shock and rushed straight inside.

Seeing that things had gone wrong, the trafficker tried to shut the door, but the bureau chief had already grabbed the woman, twisted her arms behind her back, and snapped the handcuffs on.

At the same time, Wu Xiaolin was pulled out by another police officer. At first she screamed in fright, but when she was placed beside Cheng Li, the fear turned into joy.

“Cheng Li, you really brought people to save me!”

Caught off guard, Cheng Li was hugged tightly by Wu Xiaolin. His face instantly turned red. Ever since he started school, aside from being hugged by his mom and little sister, no one else had really hugged him before.

“Bang—”

Hearing the gunshot, Cheng Li didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Wu Xiaolin and threw them both to the ground. He knew that sound well—his dad always carried a homemade rifle into the mountains to hunt.

“Cheng Li, who’s shooting? Is it the police uncles or the traffickers?”

“The traffickers.”

Only a homemade rifle made that kind of sound. The police carried real pistols. Though he had never heard a real gunshot before, he could definitely recognize the sound of a homemade rifle.

The woman was terrified too. She was very familiar with that sound—anyone who had lived in the countryside knew what a homemade rifle was like. It was a fearsome thing.

Before long, Cheng Li and Wu Xiaolin heard children crying and people shouting curses. Soon after, the shouting stopped, leaving only the overlapping cries of children.

The two kids cautiously lifted their heads. The white uniforms, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, seemed tinged with red. But the people being escorted forward in the middle ruined that sense of beauty.

“One, two, three, four, five… wow, there are five traffickers. We’re lucky we didn’t escape earlier, or we definitely would’ve been beaten to death.”

As Cheng Li counted the traffickers being arrested, he stuck out his tongue, thankful he had escaped disaster. Wu Xiaolin smiled and pulled on his hand, slowly standing up.

As the two children stood, the woman also stood up. The moment she did, she caught the traffickers’ attention. Seeing her standing there, they immediately understood everything.

The woman who had tricked Cheng Li went berserk, struggling wildly. She wanted to kill that woman—so what if she had scammed her out of an extra 250 yuan? How dare she betray them!

But she only managed to rush forward two steps before being firmly pinned down by the police. Soon after, more people appeared on the street, gathering to watch the police arrest the traffickers.

“So they’re traffickers! That woman even bought vegetables from me before—she was quite polite.”

“Yeah, yeah, that man even bought cigarettes at our supply and marketing cooperative. Who would’ve thought he was a trafficker?”

The bureau chief walked over to Cheng Li and Wu Xiaolin, crouched down, and looked at Wu Xiaolin.

“You’re Wu Xiaolin. Do you remember your parents’ names? And your grandfather’s name?”

“My name is Wu Xiaolin. My mom is Wang Ling, my dad is Wu Jiawei, and my grandpa is Wu Hongxin.”

“Good child. I’m Yang Jianguo, bureau chief of the Jin County Public Security Bureau. Shall I take you back to the station?”

Cheng Li and Wu Xiaolin looked at each other and nodded with smiles, holding hands as they followed the bureau chief away. The woman let out a shrill cry:

“Son, come back!”

“Take her away.”

The bureau chief frowned. Although this woman had rendered some service, her clinging to Cheng Li like this would definitely anger Ye Jun. Lock her up for a couple of days first—let her clear her head.

The phone at the Beijing Public Security Bureau rang again. The first call had been to say that Cheng Li had been found. This time, it was to say that Wu Xiaolin had also been found—and that she had been detained together with Cheng Li.

Officers from the bureau had already gone to Ye Jun’s traditional Chinese medicine hospital, but Ye Jun was in the middle of a very important surgery. They didn’t get to see him, so they went to the siheyuan to look for Cheng Qiao instead.

But the siheyuan’s doors were tightly shut—clearly no one was home. Meanwhile, the Cheng Qiao they were looking for was sitting at the entrance of the guesthouse where Cheng Li had once stayed, her eyes scanning the surroundings anxiously.

“Qiao, let’s go back first. If there’s any news about Cheng Li, we don’t want to miss it.”

“Alright. Let’s go to the public security bureau first and see if there’s any news.”

Cheng Li had been missing for eight days. Cheng Qiao’s face had changed from oval-shaped into a sharp, gaunt face, her chin frighteningly pointed. Her eyes were even larger now, but all their sparkle was gone.

Li Huan no longer dared let Cheng Qiao ride her own bicycle. Instead, he had her sit on the back of his bike as they headed toward the public security bureau.

“You’ve finally come. We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

When the officers saw Cheng Qiao and Li Huan, they greeted them with smiles. Both children had been found—what joyful news.

“My son has been found?”

Hearing that tone, shattered starlight appeared in Cheng Qiao’s eyes. Tears blurred her vision, making anyone’s nose sting with emotion.

“Yes, he’s been found. He’s at the Jin County Public Security Bureau. The comrades there are taking care of him. We’ll set off tomorrow to bring him back.”

“No, I’m going right now.”

Cheng Qiao couldn’t hold back any longer. But the officers looked troubled. They had no car. A motorcycle couldn’t possibly bring two children back in such cold weather—they’d freeze to death.

As for the train, there was no train to Jin City tonight. And even after arriving in Jin City by train, they’d still need to transfer to a long-distance bus to Jin County. So they could only leave the next day.

But Cheng Qiao refused to listen. She insisted that Li Huan take her to the traditional Chinese medicine hospital. Ye Jun’s unit had assigned him a car—they could borrow it. If that didn’t work, they would look for Liang Qingya. He also had a car.