Chapter 2: Beating the Human Trafficker

She had always had a good impression of the girl before her. She often saw Zhao Lingling returning home from school in the neighborhood. However, the little girl seemed to be a left-behind child; Shi Yi had lived here for a year and had never seen her guardian.

When Shi Yi spotted the little girl, a gentle smile naturally appeared on her face. She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of candy.
“Lingling, you’re home from school early today. Here, have some candy,” she said.

The little girl bounced over to her, took the candy from Shi Yi’s hand, and said cheerfully, “Thank you, big sister!”

But as their hands touched, Shi Yi trembled all over.
She saw it again...

In that instant, a gruesome image flashed through her mind: the little girl at the entrance of the neighborhood, abducted by traffickers, sold to a freak show circus, locked in a dog cage, her limbs severed, put on display for others to gawk at.

Shi Yi felt as if she had fallen into an ice-cold abyss, goosebumps rising all over her skin.
Before she could process it further, the little girl ran toward the neighborhood gate.

There weren’t many people around at this hour; the place seemed deserted. Suddenly, a van pulled up to the entrance. Two men got out, approaching the unsuspecting and candy-happy girl with feigned kindness.

“Little girl, you’re so cute...”

Oh no!

Shi Yi’s heart skipped a beat. She jolted into action, rushing forward as fast as she could.

Zhao Lingling, sucking on the lollipop Shi Yi had given her, looked up at the two strangers with innocent curiosity.
“Uncles, who are you? I don’t think you live here. I haven’t seen you before.”

The two men rubbed their hands together, edging closer while casting wary glances around.

“Little girl, are you lost? We can help you find your mom and dad, how about that? Come with us, we’ll take you to get something delicious.”
They leered at her, one of them eyeing Zhao Lingling and muttering under his breath, “She’s a pretty one—fair skin, beautiful face. If we sell her to the circus, she’ll fetch a good price.”

The other grinned lasciviously, saying nothing but staring at Zhao Lingling.

At this point, she sensed no danger at all.
“I live with my grandma. My parents aren’t here. Do you know them?” she asked, waving a hand dismissively.

Before she could finish, footsteps sounded behind her.

Shi Yi, swift as the wind, reached the entrance, grabbed Zhao Lingling’s arm, and pulled her behind her.
“Lingling, come home with me!” she said urgently, turning and running with the girl in tow.

The men realized they’d been exposed and their expressions turned nasty. One shouted after her, “Don’t run! You wretched woman, you’ve ruined our business! Fine, you’re coming with us too!”

The two men gave chase, and the van suddenly lurched forward, blocking Shi Yi’s escape route.

Sweat beaded on Shi Yi’s brow. How could these traffickers be so brazen, trying to abduct a child in broad daylight? She quickly assessed her situation: just herself and a child, and she was injured—she stood no chance against the two men, not to mention the accomplice still in the van.

Zhao Lingling, now realizing the two men were bad people, cowered behind Shi Yi in fright.
“Sister, I’m scared...”

Shi Yi gently patted her head.
“Don’t be afraid—I’m here.”

As the men drew closer, Shi Yi’s peripheral vision caught the security booth nearby.

Shi Yi shouted at the top of her lungs, “Fire! Fire! Somebody help, there’s a fire!”

She quickly pulled a personal alarm from her pocket—a device she had bought for safety since moving into the old neighborhood, though she’d never used it before. She yanked out the pin, and the alarm’s piercing wail filled the air.

She added to the chaos, crying, “Fire! Fire!”

Zhao Lingling, a clever child though she didn’t understand why Shi Yi was shouting about a fire when there was none, still joined in, calling out, “Fire! Fire! Help!”

Moments later, the security guard rushed out, his voice anxious.
“Where? Where’s the fire?!”

Footsteps echoed throughout the neighborhood as residents appeared.
“A fire?!”
“Hurry, hurry! This is an old neighborhood—if there’s a gas leak and explosion, we’re doomed!”
“Get the extinguisher!”

Before long, people flooded the entrance.

The two men, seeing the crowd, glared venomously at Shi Yi and jabbed a finger at her.
“You wretched woman, you’ll pay for this!”

They turned, trying to scramble back into the van.

Shi Yi’s only thought was: They can’t be allowed to escape!

She spun around, searching for a weapon—luckily, there was a fire hydrant nearby. Quickly, she grabbed a fire extinguisher, aimed it at the two men, and sprayed them with a blast of smoke.

By now, a crowd had gathered at the entrance—young and old, all tense and searching for the source of the fire.

Shi Yi shouted, “There’s no fire! But there are child traffickers—catch them! They tried to kidnap a child and a woman!”

The word “traffickers” was like a trigger; people surged forward at once.

“Is that really happening here? Quick, help out!” they shouted.

They glanced at the van, now enveloped in fire extinguisher smoke, and someone rushed over, grabbing the extinguisher from Shi Yi and spraying wildly into the van.
“Whoever you are, get out right now! We’ve called the police—surrender while you can!”
“How dare you abduct children and women in broad daylight! Are you looking for death?!”
“Get them, brothers! I hate traffickers the most—let’s beat them to a pulp!”

Somebody had called the police, and sirens wailed in the distance.

The accomplice in the van panicked, slamming the accelerator, but the thick smoke obscured his view; in his haste, he crashed the vehicle into the wall of the old neighborhood.

Bang!

The engine stalled. The residents, seeing this, surged forward, arming themselves with whatever they could grab, and dragged the traffickers out of the van, raining blows and kicks upon them.

Wails and cries of pain echoed from inside.
“We’re sorry, please let us go! We didn’t succeed, just let us off!”
“Stop! Even traffickers have human rights!”

Shi Yi added coldly from the side, “Human rights? You’re lucky we don’t shoot you on the spot.”

The van shook violently as the crowd closed in, more and more people gathering at the entrance.

Police cars arrived. A middle-aged officer stepped out, accompanied by a young man.
“Who called the police? What happened here?” he asked.

The security guard hurried over and explained the situation.

The officer approached the van, which was still rocking from the chaos within, and decided to turn a blind eye for the moment.
“Traffickers, eh? Let them get a taste of what they deserve.”

Once the van finally settled and the cries grew faint, the officers stepped in, handcuffed the three men inside, and hauled them off to the station.

From a luxury car parked nearby, an elderly woman with graying hair hurried out, stumbling anxiously toward the entrance of the neighborhood.
“Lingling! Where’s my Lingling?!”