Yang Shuli couldn’t understand what they were saying outside.
But the closing car door and the restarting of the vehicle seemed to make one simple thing clear to her.
She had been rejected as cargo.
Actually, this kind of thing happened often—after buying a delivery, if it didn’t meet expectations, you’d return it.
But she had been kidnapped, bound, and brought here, seen all these things. Even if she were rejected, would they return her?
She asked herself honestly. Under these circumstances, even she wouldn’t let her go.
The only option was disposal. After all, there was no way to erase memories in this world.
That meant her chances of survival were even slimmer than before.
Even though she was still pretending to sleep, Yang Shuli’s small body curled up involuntarily.
“Big brother, what do we do now? What about the one in the back?”
“What else can we do? Bury her somewhere no one will find, then we lay low for a while.”
“Big brother, that’s a human life.”
“Her life is a life, but ours aren’t?”
The noisy discussion somehow sealed Yang Shuli’s fate.
She buried her head even lower.
“Big brother, there are people ahead! People!”
A sudden brake. Yang Shuli bumped against things twice.
A dense crowd surrounded the car, even blocking the light coming through the windows.
“What the hell? Didn’t they let us leave? Why are they stopping us now?”
The driver couldn’t figure it out either.
“Big brother, maybe he just wanted to wash his hands of it, not let us go?”
“Damn it!”
The driver glanced at the gate not far away. It had closed too. They couldn’t get out.
So he turned to look at Yang Shuli lying in the back of the van.
But before he could make a move, a steel pipe landed on the window glass, as if warning him.
He didn’t even have a chance to grab her as a hostage.
Maybe at this moment he really regretted taking this job.
But he only regretted picking the wrong job, not doing this line of work.
The crowd blocking the way suddenly parted to make a path, but it was only wide enough for a person, not a car.
“I thought we’d completely stamped out this kind of human trafficking back in my day. I remember giving you a warning then.”
A young man with delicate features walked up to the car, while the portly man fawned over him.
“Of course. I didn’t even know about this. I just happened to run into them and brought them here.” The man beside Xu Nian rubbed his hands together. “Ever since Master Xu taught me a lesson, I’ve been a law-abiding citizen.”
Xu Nian glanced at the man beside him and ignored him.
Then he reached for the rear door of the van.
He pulled. It didn’t open.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, tapped lightly on the driver’s window, and pointed downward with his finger.
He signaled for him to roll down the window.
“Big brother, this guy seems easy to talk to. Maybe we should go along with him?”
The driver gritted his teeth.
He had no choice but to go along.
So he rolled down the window.
“Open the lock.” Concise.
Maybe he just wanted to open the back door, but if the other party really intended to do something, this open window was enough.
Xu Nian pulled open the back door and gently lifted Yang Shuli out of the van.
“Wake up. I’m here.”
Yang Shuli opened her eyes. It was Xu Nian, the one who still owed her a meal.
She thought she was supposed to die, but tears glistened in her eyes.
She was scared.
“I’m not dead yet?”
“I won’t let you die.” Xu Nian said softly.
“I’m so scared.” Yang Shuli burrowed into Xu Nian’s arms.
“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
He lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Yang Shuli’s forehead, not caring that she was now dirty and disheveled.
Yang Shuli grabbed Xu Nian’s jacket, sniffled, and tried to hold back her tears.
Xu Nian’s face was gentle. He carefully set Yang Shuli on the ground, then supported her back until she was steady.
Then he untied all the ropes binding her hands and feet.
“Does it hurt?”
“Yes.”
Yang Shuli moved her wrists. There were red marks where the ropes had tightly bound her.
Xu Nian stood up.
It was already leaning toward evening, and autumn and winter were naturally cold.
“Are you cold?”
“Yes.”
Because she was next to Xu Nian, she could act spoiled to her heart’s content.
He took off his jacket and draped it over Yang Shuli.
Then, like magic, he pulled a lollipop from his pants pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it into Yang Shuli’s mouth to calm her down.
“We’ll go back soon. We can still make it for dinner.” Xu Nian said.
“Mm.”
Then Xu Nian turned around and straightened up.
“I’ve never used this rule before, but after all this time working with me, you should know by now—touch the big brother’s woman, and that’s not a good thing.”
Xu Nian ignored the man’s trembling. He waved his hand, and both the driver and the passenger were dragged out, even tearing the seat belts.
Then they were forced down in front of Xu Nian, kneeling on the ground.
Xu Nian reached out, and a steel pipe was placed in his hand.
There was also a cigarette, but he ignored it.
“Are you left-handed or right-handed?”
He asked sincerely.
“Big brother, we were wrong. We really didn’t know. If we had, we wouldn’t have done this.” The driver kowtowed twice to Xu Nian.
“You don’t know you’re wrong. You just know you’re going to die.” Xu Nian tapped the man’s shoulder lightly with the steel pipe. “You were just unlucky enough to be brought here. If you’d gone somewhere else, you might already be counting your money.”
“I…”
“I’ll choose for you. Don’t do this kind of work again.” The sound of bones cracking was faintly audible.
Then a miserable scream. The man rolled on the ground, clutching his limp left hand.
The gentle expression on Xu Nian’s face didn’t change. He watched the man’s misery calmly.
Then he swung the steel pipe in his hand toward the portly man who was watching the show.
“I’m a little tired. You take care of the other one, how about it?”
On that gentle face hung sharp eyes that seemed to slice him to pieces.
This was a warning.
“Yes, Master Xu…”
The portly man lowered his head, took the steel pipe, and turned to the remaining man. “Don’t blame me. At least you’re just getting beaten, not locked up for decades.”
Another blow fell. Another scream rang out.