Her face streaked with tears, she sobbed uncontrollably, her body trembling slightly as she repeatedly kowtowed.
"I truly know I was wrong! I am also a victim, I was kidnapped and sold, I was wrong, spare me! I will never dare to do this again! Please, let me go!"
The other two men stared blankly at the scene.
The woman's voice was too loud, and the child in Zhuo Ni's arms was starting to stir. He lifted his head and looked around confusedly. Seeing he was in the arms of his favorite sister, he felt a little reassured.
He called out softly, "Sister."
"Mhmm," Zhuo Ni kissed his forehead. "Are you still sleepy?"
"Sleepy," he mumbled, reaching to touch his little stomach. "Still hungry."
Zhuo Ni gently comforted him, "Good boy, sleep a little longer. When you wake up, you can eat. You can eat your favorite meat, okay?"
"Okay."
He buried his little head in Zhuo Ni's neck, his small arms wrapped around her throat, and slowly closed his eyes again.
"Hush," she said to the woman. "Keep it down. If you wake him up again, I'll throw you into the water to feed the fish."
"Okay! Okay, I'll be quiet. Please don't kill me, don't kill me."
"Mhmm," Zhuo Ni smiled. "I won't kill you."
The woman finally breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing onto the ground, showing no reaction for a long time.
Zhuo Ni checked on her. "Do you remember who sold him to you?"
Sister Hong immediately replied, "It was a woman, around thirty years old, with a slight limp in her left leg."
Zhuo Ni lowered her voice. Compared to her seemingly joking tone earlier, her current voice was truly as cold as ice.
"Do you remember what she looked like?"
"Yes, yes."
"Go find her. Break both her legs completely. And her fingernails, I want them bloody, understand?"
"Yes, yes."
"If you understand, then go quickly."
The woman, as if escaping from a ghost, scrambled to her feet and tried to run.
"Wait."
Her footsteps halted. She slowly turned around, looking at the young woman.
"I don't kill bad people in prison. Others, however, will still die."
The woman quickly said, "I understand. I, I'll turn myself in. I'll help you get rid of her, and then I'll turn myself in."
"Don't kill anyone."
"Yes!"
She ran out as if pursued by demons. She fell once while climbing up from under the bridge. Despite being covered in injuries, she didn't dare to stop and limped away.
Only when she had completely disappeared were there still four people awake.
"Still want to play?"
The other three didn't speak.
"Not playing anymore then," Zhuo Ni said thoughtfully. "Then we won't play. He's hungry and wants to eat."
"Remember to call the police."
She hugged the child and turned to leave. The trafficker boss suddenly leaped up, a dagger appearing in his hand from somewhere, and stabbed straight towards her back.
"Watch out!"
"Bang!"
Just as Chen Youyou raised her foot to rush over, she heard a loud bang and a strong smell of blood wafted over. The air around her seemed to turn blood-red, splattering her face.
The blood in her body instantly froze. Her pupils dilated, and she stood there, stiff as a statue.
Another bystander's eyes widened. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly screamed. He seemed to go mad, weeping and shouting as he jumped into the river. The piranhas, which had been watching in the water, swarmed him instantly, tearing him to shreds.
The child was woken up again. As he looked down at the river, he only saw the colorful, beautiful piranhas, nothing else.
"Are you scared?"
Zhuo Ni gently patted his back.
The child reached out towards the piranhas in the river, "Fish, such pretty fish."
"Do you like them? Should I catch one for you?"
The child's eyes lit up. He was about to say yes when he seemed to remember something and shook his head gently. "No, the river is dangerous. Sister, I want to eat. I'm hungry."
Zhuo Ni hugged him and slowly walked away. "Mhmm, I'll take you to eat. Good boy."
The child lay softly in her arms, his little head nodding. He looked extremely sleepy. Before they even left, he was so tired that he fell asleep again.
Zhuo Ni carried him into a restaurant, ordered two dishes, woke him up to eat, and then they left. The child was now over two years old, the age when children are most active and boisterous, and also the most prone to accidents. Children his age in the village were often covered in scars, constantly bumping into things.
Only Chong Yan had fair and delicate skin, comparable to a little girl, with not a single mark on his body. He was soft and tender, the best-looking child in the entire village.
Furthermore, compared to the rambunctiousness of others, he was very well-behaved and obedient, especially in front of Zhuo Ni, appearing docile and adorable.
"Have a piece of braised pork. Does your hand still hurt?"
Zhuo Ni looked at the burn mark from a cigarette on his hand and felt that the person who inflicted it died too easily.
Chong Yan also glanced at it. "It doesn't hurt now. It hurt a lot before."
Zhuo Ni reached out and stroked his head. "It's okay, it won't happen again."
"Sister," his voice was soft. "Why did those bad people catch me? And that auntie, why did she sell me to those bad people?"
"Because she is also a bad person."
She wanted to see how far that woman would go in her revenge. The instigator of all this would not be allowed to die easily, even if it meant her own death.
"Oh." The child was actually a little sad.
The adults in the village all liked him. He never expected someone to lie to him. That's why he struggled so violently when the fierce uncle said he had been sold.
Then that person burned his hand with a cigarette.
It still hurt now, but he didn't want his sister to worry.
"From now on, no one but me can take you away, understand?"
"Understood." The child leaned closer to her, burying his little head against her. "I like you the most, Sister."
"Mhmm, good boy."
She first let the child eat his fill, then took him to the hospital to treat his wound.
Halfway through the treatment, Liu Cui, carrying a cloth bag, rushed in, followed by Yang Yun, the man, and several police officers.
"Little Treasure!" she cried, rushing forward. "Oh, my precious grandson, where are you hurt? Doctor, how is my grandson?"
The doctor had never encountered a young girl who brought someone in so calmly, while the adults who followed were so flustered.
"He has a burn on his hand, and we are treating it. The child is young, so be careful in the future. It shouldn't leave a scar."
Liu Cui breathed a sigh of relief and then hurried to look at the wound. To clean out everything inside the wound, the doctor had to peel open the entire wound with tweezers. It was a small circle about one centimeter in diameter, bloody in the center, with swollen red edges.
The child closed his eyes, not daring to look.
"How did this happen?"
"A trafficker burned him," Zhuo Ni's tone had calmed considerably.
"Those damned traffickers!"