I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 104: Human Traffickers

"Comrade, how much is this dress?"

Yuan Xiu felt once again that her pregnancy was perfectly timed; with her big belly, the weather was warm, allowing her to wear skirts throughout her pregnancy.

She has quite a few pieces of fabric sent by her mother-in-law, but she doesn't have time to make anything with them right now, so she's just buying one to tide her over.

The salesperson told them the price and the amount of cloth coupons needed.

"I'll take it. Please wrap it up for me."

She bought the dress for about ten yuan so readily that the sales clerk glanced at her a couple more times.

After buying the clothes, Yuan Xiu went to the counter selling buttons and bought some more, to use when she had time to make clothes later.

Having her own salary, Yuan Xiuhua felt much more confident spending money. When she walked to the cookie counter, she was so tempted by the aroma of peach shortbread that she couldn't resist buying another pack...

"Fine, just give me three packs!"

The convenience store also sells peach shortbread, but she always felt that the peach shortbread from the department store was more fragrant.

"It definitely has to smell good!"

While wrapping peach shortbread, the saleswoman said to the customer next to Yuan Xiu, "Our peach shortbread factory is local. It's delivered from the factory in less than half an hour. We make it fresh almost every day. You'll eat it within three days at most! The fresher the food, the better it tastes."

Yuan Xiu nodded. The peach shortbread from the service shop wasn't as fragrant as the ones here, probably because they had been stored for a little longer.

After buying the peach shortbread, seeing that it was almost time, Yuan Xiu started walking towards the door.

She stood outside the door for a while before Comrade Xiao Lin came out, carrying quite a few things.

The bus stop isn't here; we have to walk a bit further.

A shop on the street was moving things, blocking most of the way. Comrade Xiao Lin turned around and reminded him, "Watch your step."

Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "Thank you."

As soon as she finished thanking him, Yuan Xiu looked up and saw a short man holding a child. The man was wearing a hat, and the child in his arms was about three or four years old, completely covered by a headscarf.

The child would move occasionally, and whenever the child moved, the man would pull his headscarf up, as if afraid the child would catch a chill.

Yuan Xiu's subconscious thought was that this was a parent who had brought their child out to see a doctor.

However, when she noticed that when the man saw Comrade Xiaolin in his military uniform, he pulled his hat down to cover his eyebrows and eyes, and his steps clearly hesitated. For a moment, he half-turned his body, as if he wanted to take another route.

Yuan Xiu didn't know why she suddenly noticed these details, but she just did.

Could it be that she's been preoccupied with the question of whether Master Cheng is a spy these past few days?

Is she overthinking things?

The man carrying the child brushed past Comrade Xiao Lin, who was walking ahead. The road was narrow, and the two accidentally bumped into each other. The man revealed a set of teeth stained yellow from smoking, looked up at Comrade Xiao Lin, smiled, and said sorry.

Yuan Xiu: It seems she's overthinking it.

Pulling on the hat probably means the hat is unstable, and wanting to change routes is likely because there are too many things on this route, and it's too narrow and difficult to walk on.

Yuan Xiu smiled helplessly, laughing at herself for being a little too wary.

When the man approached, Yuan Xiu stepped aside to make way for him.

Just then, the child in his arms tugged hard at the headscarf covering his head. He only tugged it once, and then his little hand fell limply to the man's side.

The child's head had barely peeked out when the man quickly covered it again with a headscarf and pressed it down forcefully with his hand.

Yuan Xiu paused, "Is this child sick?"

"Yes, yes, she's sick. We're just about to take her to the hospital."

"There's not much wind today, so there's no need to cover her up so tightly." If it weren't for the fact that a little bit of her hair was showing, Yuan Xiu wouldn't have been able to tell that this was a girl; the clothes she was wearing were clearly those of a boy.

"Yes, yes, she caught a chill and got sick." The man wasn't impatient with Yuan Xiu's sudden conversation; instead, he explained how the child caught a cold and got sick.

These days, it's normal to stop and chat when faced with a stranger's sudden enthusiasm; if you don't say a word, it will seem strange.

However, this only happens under certain circumstances...

Yuan Xiu's gaze lingered for a moment on the child's bare ankles, exposed from being held up by his pants.

Seeing that she had suddenly started chatting with a strange man with a child, Comrade Xiaolin urged her impatiently, "If you don't leave now, the car will be here."

Yuan Xiu beckoned to him: "I'm tired, come and help me carry this."

Comrade Kobayashi: "!"

That tone?

As a grown man, I should naturally help a woman if she says she's tired.

Comrade Kobayashi was slightly surprised, then stepped back and held out his hand, "Give it to me."

The man smiled at them and prepared to leave, holding the child.

Instead of handing the item to Comrade Xiao Lin, Yuan Xiu gave Comrade Xiao Lin a meaningful look and then shouted loudly, "Catch the human traffickers!"

As soon as those words were shouted out, the man instinctively tried to run. Originally, Comrade Xiao Lin did not understand what Yuan Xiu's eyes meant, but seeing the man running away with the child, how could he not understand?

No normal person would run away after hearing that!

Comrade Xiao Lin threw what he was holding on the ground and took off after him!

Although he worked in a clerical position at the hospital, he was still a member of the military and participated in a lot of training. His physical fitness was much better than that of the average person. In addition, he was tall and had long legs. He caught the shorter man in his hand before they had even run a hundred meters.

"Why are you running away! You're a fucking human trafficker!" Comrade Xiaolin was a head taller than the man, and he lifted the man up like a chicken.

Because of Yuan Xiu's shout, people on both sides of the street gathered around the commotion.

Yuan Xiu didn't dare to run, so she walked over, only to find herself surrounded by layers upon layers of people.

She finally managed to squeeze in, and then she heard the man say, "...I heard there were human traffickers, and I was afraid they would snatch my child, so I ran away! Comrade soldier, you can't wrong an ordinary citizen like us."

"Are they really human traffickers?"

"Doesn't look like it?"

"Hey, I recognize this man. Isn't that Master Sun from the coal briquette factory?" Someone recognized the man. "It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Master Sun used to deliver coal briquettes to my house. He's holding his own child."

Comrade Xiaolin asked the man, "Do you really know this person?"

"I know him, I know him. If you don't believe me, you can go to the coal briquette factory and ask. Just release him now."

Comrade Xiaolin subconsciously loosened her grip, but Yuan Xiu said, "Don't be in such a hurry to let go!"

She turned to the person who was verifying Mr. Sun's identity and asked, "How old is his child? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I've only met his son, who must be about four or five years old."

"Really?" Yuan Xiu looked at Master Sun. "Do you have a daughter?"

Master Sun's eyes gleamed: "Yes, the one I'm holding is my daughter, she's a year younger than my son."

"It's a girl? I thought he was holding your son." The man said again, no wonder the child seemed a little smaller.

Mr. Sun hugged the child in his arms even tighter, saying, "My child is sick and needs to go to the hospital right away. Don't stop me. If anything happens to my child, you'll be responsible!"

He suddenly became anxious and desperately twisted his body, trying to break free from Comrade Kobayashi's grasp.

"Yes, yes, let them go quickly, the child is sick, it's a big deal!" Everyone started to side with Master Sun, urging Comrade Xiao Lin to release the child.

Comrade Xiaolin looked at Yuan Xiu, wondering what was going on. Should he let go or continue to hold on to her?

He thought they were really human traffickers.

If this is fake, wouldn't that be a huge misunderstanding?

Yuan Xiu: "We'll go to the hospital with you! I'll pay for the child's medical expenses. If I've misunderstood you, I'll give you ten yuan as compensation."

The onlookers' eyes lit up; was there really such a good thing?

The man who recognized Master Sun said, "Master Sun, you should quickly agree to such a good deal. You're so lucky!"

A bead of sweat trickled down Master Sun's temple. "No need, no need. I never take advantage of others. I can take the child myself. If you don't believe me, you can come to my house and wait for me. I live in the staff quarters of the coal briquette factory..."

He gave the address.

Comrade Xiaolin whispered to Yuan Xiu, "It seems there really was a misunderstanding."

Yuan Xiu chose to trust her own conscience: "I'm not afraid of misunderstandings, I'm afraid of them being true."

She reached out, wanting to lift the headscarf covering the child's head to take a look.

"Children shouldn't be exposed to drafts." Mr. Sun immediately turned the child around.

Yuan Xiu's hand froze in mid-air. "Master Sun, can't I even look at the child? Isn't your reaction a bit excessive?"

"You're acting strangely. If you were really worried about the child, you should have agreed when I offered to go to the hospital with you. After all, even if you didn't want the medical expenses and compensation, you'd have plenty of opportunities to refuse later... What are you panicking about? It's so cold, why are you sweating?"

As soon as Yuan Xiu finished speaking, Master Sun turned around, threw the child in his arms to Comrade Xiao Lin, who was still holding onto him tightly, and pushed through the crowd to rush out!

Xiao Lin instinctively let go and caught the child. He handed the child to Yuan Xiu and chased after her!

The tossing and passing caused the headscarf wrapped around the child's head to fall off. When Yuan Xiu saw the child in her arms, her eyes widened in shock: "Little Flower?"

The little flower in her arms struggled to open its eyes, gave Yuan Xiu a smile, and then fell into a peaceful sleep.

Yuan Xiu: "..."

The child's eyes... are so strange.

Master Sun was caught. As soon as he ran, the crowd chased after Comrade Xiao Lin, shouting "Catch the human trafficker!"

The helpful bystanders reached out to help stop him, and in no time they were all caught by the crowd.

The police officers arrived quickly. Comrade Xiao Lin and several enthusiastic citizens went to the police station with them, and also informed Zhou Lei. Yuan Xiu and a female officer from the police station took Xiao Hua'er to the hospital.

"It's nothing serious, someone just gave him a little sleeping pill. He'll be fine once he wakes up." The doctor didn't prescribe any medication, just told him to drink plenty of water to flush out the effects of the drug.

Yuan Xiu sat by the hospital bed, her gaze lingering on Xiao Hua'er's face.

Can a three- or four-year-old child struggle to save themselves after being drugged?

Yes, it was self-rescue. She must have been awake the whole time and hadn't completely fallen asleep. As she passed by them, she used all her strength to try to pull off the headscarf on her head, but she failed and her hand fell limply to her side.

Even when she was too weak to move anymore, she never closed her eyes.

Just before he saved himself, was it because he saw her through the gap in his headscarf?

Or perhaps it was Comrade Kobayashi's military uniform?

This child has incredible perseverance.

Thinking of the look in her eyes and the smile on her lips just before she closed them, Yuan Xiu's heart pounded!

If a normal child sees someone they know in this situation, will they laugh or cry?

"Yuan Xiu!"

A series of hurried footsteps echoed down the hospital corridor, and the next moment, Jiang Zhou appeared at the door of the ward.

The moment he saw her, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed. "How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?"

He gripped Yuan Xiu's shoulders with both hands, turning her over and over like a pancake, examining her closely.

"I'm fine." Yuan Xiu placed her hand on his wrist reassuringly. "Why are you here?"

"I……"

"My little flower! My little flower!"

Zhou Da Niang cried out as Zhou Lei helped her run into the ward. She lay on the bed and gently stroked Xiao Hua'er's face with her wrinkled hands.

"My little flower, it breaks my heart! That heartless beast! He wouldn't even spare such a young child!"

Zhou Lei's eyes were also red. Seeing that Xiao Hua was alright, he stood up and saluted Yuan Xiu. "Sister-in-law, I heard about it on the way here. You were the one who discovered the human traffickers were acting strangely, and you saved my Xiao Hua. Thank you! If you ever need anything from me, Zhou Lei, just let me know. You are a benefactor of the Zhou family!"

Yuan Xiu didn't say anything polite, only saying, "I didn't save Xiao Hua'er by myself. Thanks to Comrade Lin, he not only saved Xiao Hua'er, but also caught the human traffickers."

Without Comrade Xiaolin, Yuan Xiu, being pregnant, would have had to seek help from others. In that situation, she couldn't guarantee that she could stop the traffickers and save her child.

"I know, and I will thank Comrade Kobayashi as well."

Aunt Zhou wiped away her tears, grasped Yuan Xiu's hand, and said, "Girl, thank you so much. If anything had really happened to my little Hua'er, I wouldn't want to live either. You saved not only Xiao Hua'er, but also me!"

"I knew you were a good girl, I knew I was right!"

Zhou Lei and Yuan Xiu still had to go to the police station to give a statement, while Aunt Zhou stayed at the hospital to take care of Xiao Hua.

When they arrived at the police station, Yuan Xiu was the first to give a statement, and she explained in detail the unreasonable things she had seen.

"...Upon seeing Comrade Lin, he pulled down his hat and turned away, as if he were subconsciously afraid."

Before a crime is confirmed, all suspicions can be refuted; once a crime is confirmed, these suspicions become empirical evidence.