Passengers on the bus were not allowed to take their luggage away. Everyone got off one after another, with Li Xianglu dragging her feet at the very back, while Qin Xi had gone ahead to keep an eye on that man and woman.
The people ahead did not look back, allowing Li Xianglu to seize the opportunity to bend over, feeling beneath the seat in the second to last row and then rising to walk forward naturally.
After everyone had left, a public security officer remained with the driver and conductor to conduct an inspection.
They entered a large courtyard surrounded by five or six public security officers, and were then led into a building that resembled an abandoned factory, very spacious.
The doors were closed, and the officers asked everyone to line up properly and present their letters of introduction and household registration certificates.
Almost everyone had them, except for a few who were originally from Provincial City, but they too had letters of introduction, although issued by their workplaces in Provincial City for travel to the county.
In short, everyone had one.
Li Xianglu, sharp-eyed, noticed that the man and woman two people ahead of her were also presenting their letters of introduction and squeezed over to take a look, saying, "Oh my, why doesn’t this include the child’s na?"
Li Xianglu’s words made the two of them very nervous, but the person lined up behind said, "What does the child need a letter of introduction for? They don’t take up a seat when buying a ticket, nor do they need a room when staying sowhere."
Li Xianglu feigned realization and said, "Well, it must be convenient to carry soone else’s child out, and no one would notice!"
The woman who had engaged in conversation with Li Xianglu was even more surprised and gaped, puzzled by the response.
But the man and woman in front panicked instantly, with the woman angrily retorting, "How can you falsely accuse people like this? He is my son!"
Li Xianglu snorted disdainfully and shook her head, "Do you have proof then? How can you prove the child is yours?"
Suddenly, everyone was stunned. Could soone really be carrying another person’s child on the bus? Could these two be human traffickers?
The woman beca frantic, her eyes furious and round with anger, about to lash out at Li Xianglu.
Li Xianglu deftly stepped back, continuing to shout, "Just look at the two of you, not even a couple, yet taking a child out with you. Did you steal soone else’s child or what?"
As these words ca out, everyone started suspecting the pair, for throughout history traffickers have been the most detestable, previously known as ’kidnappers’, and now as human traffickers, universally abhorred.
Losing a child is unbearable pain for a mother, for any family.
At that ti, people had a particular abhorrence for criminal offenders. No one would stand by idly, and people quickly surrounded the two, with an elderly woman comnting, "It’s strange, with all this commotion, why doesn’t the child wake up?"
Li Xianglu said, "Yes, the child was crying at noon on the bus, and then that uncle gave the child so water, and he fell asleep. Who knows what kind of magical water that was, that could put a child to sleep just like that!"
None of the encircled crowd was naive, and they imdiately realized that the child might have been given a sedative. Everyone beca angry; if she were his real mother, how could she bear to treat her child like that.
At this mont, two public security officers arrived, asking the people to line up properly, and everyone started discussing the suspicions about these two individuals.
So, these two beca the primary subjects of scrutiny, bemoaning their misfortune while occasionally shooting daggers at Li Xianglu with their eyes.
Li Xianglu, unconcerned, said to the officers, "Officer, that child has been unconscious. We should see what’s going on. I noticed on the bus that the child’s cheeks were very red, hope he’s not running a fever."
Upon hearing this, the officer nodded and gestured for soone to co and pick up the child. The woman started to dodge, but upon seeing the imposing peaked caps, her legs trembled: "Officer, please don’t hurt my son."
The policewoman sneered coldly, "First, we need to confirm whether he’s your son or not!"
Upon hearing this, the woman’s legs went weak and she began to tremble uncontrollably.
The man, however, remained extrely calm and suddenly let out a sigh, "This child is indeed not ours."
Everyone was taken aback.
The man continued, "Actually, this child is the result of my wife’s affair with another man. In a mont of anger, I took the child. I was furious; she bore another man’s child before we even divorced!"
Stunned by this revelation, everyone thought was flabbergasted by such a shaless woman who had an affair while still married. Suddenly, everyone started sympathizing with the man before them, finding him to be extrely pitiful.
The woman tily interjected, "I’m just helping Mr. Lin look after the child. He isn’t the biological father, but since they aren’t divorced, why can’t he take away his wife’s child?"
This man turned out to be a teacher, and everyone suddenly understood. Although cultural workers faced disdain in society at that ti, the underlying respect for the educated couldn’t be erased. Everyone’s deanor beca solemn as they sought an explanation.
Li Xianglu smiled. This man was clearly an experienced child trafficker, skillfully manipulating public opinion to clear his na, portraying himself as a victim to gain everyone’s sympathy.
Back then, communication was especially undeveloped; not like in previous tis when a single phone call could resolve such a situation. Most truths were conjectured based on the circumstances at hand.
Li Xianglu grew puzzled; why was this man so calmly admitting the child was not his own? Wasn’t he afraid of being caught lying?
For a while, everyone felt extrely sorry for the man, with several other male passengers even offering him cigarettes to console him.
Li Xianglu felt sothing was off, and at that mont, a driver and a ticket collector entered, carrying a blue bundle and a brown suitcase.
The lost items were found, and everyone was montarily overjoyed, except that the package of biscuits Li Xianglu ntioned wasn’t amongst them.
Qin Xi ca over and whispered, "We’ve contacted the county town, and no child was reported missing."
What?
Li Xianglu was taken aback for a mont, then glanced again at the man surrounded by people and suddenly realized.
Yes, he was delaying ti!
She rembered, from a previous life, watching an explanation on how human traffickers transported children.
If traffickers had a gang, they would have transit stations in major locations. Generally, everyone would bring the children to the stations at a pre-arranged ti. If soone didn’t arrive on ti, the traffickers would change the location of their children, making it harder to track down the trafficking ring.
Then there was the issue of sentencing. If this man insisted this was his first ti kidnapping a child, the punishnt would differ from that for multiple abductions!
So cunning!
With that in mind, Li Xianglu turned to Grandpa Li standing beside her and said, "Grandpa, check the ti."
Grandpa Li looked at his watch and said, "It’s just past eight, why?"
Li Xianglu pulled Qin Xi aside and started whispering. Qin Xi’s expression changed; although shocked, she quickly walked over to her friend to relay the situation.
ps: If there’s no additional update, there will only be one in the afternoon. I’ll post it later—off to make dumplings!
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