CHAPTER 37: 37

Mo Junhua was eating steamed buns while thinking about Lan Tian’s situation, realizing that going to the police station to report the case was the only option. He approached Grandma Sun and said, "Grandma Sun, Lan Tian must have been taken away by the kidnappers; we can’t find him with just us few. Let’s go to the police station to report it so the soldiers can look for him. They are more capable and have more people."

"Yes, yes, let’s report it, let the soldiers search for him." Mo Junhua’s words were like a lifeline for Grandma Sun, who grasped his hands tightly and wouldn’t let go.

The market was not far from the police station, about ten minutes away, and the group hurried over there. Hearing the news, some families followed as well.

It was a time of peace and prosperity, and the town had been peaceful for decades, the worst incidents being someone losing chickens or ducks.

The police station was suddenly flooded with dozens of people. The people were reporting missing children, and it was not just one but several—a major case. The chief exploded with rage on the spot, vowing to catch the criminals.

Lan Tian leaned against the corner of the bed pretending to sleep. Having not eaten all day and exhausted from hunger and thirst, she needed to conserve her energy for the night, unsure whether the traffickers would provide food.

The children had too much energy and kept crying loudly. After crying for a long time, they still had the strength to wail, but eventually cried themselves to sleep.

Suddenly, the door was flung open from the outside, and three burly men entered. The leader was the same naive-looking farmer who had asked about Lan Tian at noon. Following him were men with treacherous looks, and the last one, as burly as Mo Yuanle, had a face full of cruel scars and looked fierce. Each held a basket, shouting as they entered, "Get up, get up, it’s time to eat."

The other children cried and thrashed, refusing to eat while calling for their parents. This infuriated the three men. They dragged out the child who cried the loudest and beat him ruthlessly in front of everyone—the louder he cried, the harsher he was beaten.

"SMACK SMACK SMACK."

Lan Tian watched in pain. Seeing someone get beaten, the other children became obedient, sobbing as they got out of bed to eat.

Hungry already, Lan Tian was worried about them putting drugs in the food, so she didn’t approach but went over with the other children.

The naive-looking man lifted the cloth covering the basket, which contained about a dozen corn cakes, giving two to each child.

Having not eaten all day, the children hadn’t felt hungry amidst the crying, but now, smelling the fragrance of the cakes, they devoured their food ravenously.

There were no chairs in the room; some children sat on the floor while others climbed onto the bed. Lan Tian took her corn cake and went to the bed. Turning her back to the men, she smelled her cake. There were no strange scents, it seemed edible, so she ate with relief.

Eating too fast, two children choked. At this time, the man with treacherous looks came over with the basket, pouring water for those two, waiting for them to drink before giving water to the others.

Lan Tian held her bowl and glanced at the treacherous-looking man. She slowly moved her head close to the rim, sniffed the water, and tentatively sipped. It was slightly sweet, probably well water from home, and she didn’t smell any drugs. Lan Tian drank it in one gulp.

After eating the cakes and drinking the water, the fierce-looking man grabbed a pair of scissors, shouting at everyone by the door, "Hurry up, come here, I’m going to cut your hair. Be obedient. Those who don’t listen will be beaten to death and thrown behind the mountains to feed the wolves, got it?"

The man looked so fierce that the children were scared. Hearing the threats about being beaten to death and fed to wolves, they instantly behaved and timidly slowed their pace.

The man didn’t care; he grabbed one and started cutting—boys were shaved bald, and the girl’s hair was cut as if gnawed by a dog. When it was Lan Tian’s turn, she simply closed her eyes to ease her discomfort.

"SNIP SNIP" sounds rang out. The well-kept shiny hair fell to the floor, making Lan Tian feel a pang of pain watching it.

After the haircut, Lan Tian touched her hair, feeling its unevenness which made her heart sour. The Red hair rope her aunt bought her couldn’t be used for now, so she wore it on her wrist instead.

The little imps stopped crying, a few dim-witted ones pointed at Lan Tian and another girl, laughing until they were out of breath, still having the mood to joke.

"HAHA, so ugly, even uglier than the mangy dog in our village," they laughed, not too harshly, but also touching her. Lan Tian glanced at them disdainfully and led the other girl back to sit on the bed.

"What’s so funny? Nothing’s funny here."

The fierce-looking man glared, his eyes as big as a bull’s, scaring the children into stillness.

Seeing this, the treacherous-looking man quickly intervened, "Look at you, arguing with children. Kids, listen to uncle, whoever behaves and obeys, tomorrow uncle will take you to find your parents, and uncle will give you candy, who wants some?"

Hearing about the candy, everyone calmed down, staring eagerly at him. The treacherous-looking man was pleased and handed out four or five candies each, saying, "Eat up, there’ll be more tomorrow. If you don’t finish today, there won’t be any tomorrow. Whoever needs to pee or poop, speak up quickly, uncle will take you outside to go, hurry up and sleep after, sleep well, and tomorrow we’ll find your parents."

"I need to poop"

"I need to pee"

Voices filled the room.

Lan Tian followed everyone out of the house, carefully assessing the terrain. There were woods on three sides, mountains behind the house, and a rough path leading out through the woods.

A vegetable garden with rapeseed plants indicated rare human presence. The house seemed abandoned by the owner of the garden; the three kidnappers knew this and dared to hide them here, indicating they were local villagers.

To escape, she would need to run along this rough path.

When some went to the toilet, the naive-looking man followed closely. Lan Tian noticed small stones, around the size of a thumb, and collected a handful into her pocket. The boy next to her, finding it fun, also collected a pocketful. The farmer glanced at Lan Tian, then towards the woods outside.

After everyone finished, they herded Lan Tian and the others inside and locked the door, walking away with the basket. Lan Tian peered through the crack in the door. This place was probably very remote, as the three men walked away directly without leaving anyone to watch, which presented an opportunity.

Lan Tian took out the candies from her pocket, detecting a faint acrid smell mixed in with the sweet scent of the candy—precisely the sedatives that had knocked her out earlier. Lan Tian couldn’t decide whether to see this as the kidnappers being overconfident or underestimating them, the children.