UCS Chapter 98.2

However, just as the old lady was about to get off, she suddenly grabbed Qi Qiao’s wrist and shouted, “Qiao girl, didn’t you promise Grandma you’d go back and stop running away from home? Why aren’t you coming with Grandma?”

The old lady was completely different from her gentle, soft-spoken manner before. Her shout attracted half the carriage’s attention.

The old lady’s voice continued.

“You’re old enough to get married, yet you’re still playing city folk’s running-away game! You took your parents’ money—a whole year’s worth of crop money they worked so hard to save—and look at the clothes you’re wearing! Think about your parents in the fields. You have no heart, child!”

As soon as she finished speaking, people in the carriage looked at Qi Qiao. Qi Qiao came from a well-off family and wore designer brands. Many gazes immediately turned contemptuous, and several kind-hearted men who had wanted to help withdrew their hands.

Qi Qiao was stunned. She struggled hard, but somehow the old lady had incredible strength. Her withered hand gripped her like an iron clamp.

Only now did Qi Qiao understand—she had encountered a human trafficking gang.

She struggled desperately while shouting, “Who are you? I don’t know you at all! Are you human traffickers?”

Qi Qiao’s girlfriend tried to rush over, but was blocked by a tower-like burly man sitting beside her, held down in her seat.

The old lady said in anguish, “Qiao girl, your full name is Qi Qiao, you’re studying Literature at Beijing University… It’s one thing if you don’t recognize us, but why are you accusing Grandma of being a trafficker?”

She recited Qi Qiao’s information like a catalog. Passengers who had doubts had many of their suspicions dispelled after hearing the old lady’s words.

Someone chimed in, “Young lady, this is wrong of you. If you didn’t know her, how could she know your information so clearly? Just obediently go back and apologize to your parents. You’re enjoying yourself out here while your parents suffer back home—don’t you feel guilty?”

Qi Qiao’s girlfriend growled, “Bullshit! She’s my girlfriend! Her parents are both university professors—how could they be suffering!”

The old lady wiped her tears, “You don’t want to study? Fine, then don’t go back to school. Your parents just said a few words because you were hanging out with unsavory people all the time—did you need to run away from home? Just for this gender-ambiguous thing, you argued with your parents and eloped with her.”

Someone agreed, “Exactly. If you like girls, fine, just talk it through with your parents. Was this necessary? Your parents are doing this for your own good.”

The burly man restraining Qi Qiao’s girlfriend also wiped away tears, saying, “Girl, I know you feel wronged, but this little punk enticed you to steal from your family and run away from home—she’s clearly no good. I just saw her getting handsy with you. Just because you’re both girls doesn’t mean you won’t suffer. Girl, listen to me—you can like girls, but not this one!”

He softened his tone, “I’ll talk to Mom and Dad when we get back. Stop wandering around outside and go see your parents. They’ve missed you so much they’ve nearly cried their eyes out.”

Several “kind-hearted people” stood up, persuading Qi Qiao while secretly pushing her forcefully toward the exit. They were about to take Qi Qiao away, while several men appeared beside the tower-like burly man. They grabbed Qi Qiao’s girlfriend and were about to take her off the train, saying as they walked, “You little punk, daring to make a move on my sister…”

Seeing that Qi Qiao and her girlfriend were about to be taken away, the traffickers’ performance time was ending, and the first stage of stalling was concluding. Yun Zhiyi immediately sent “start” in the group chat, then stood up abruptly, hands on hips, and said angrily, “She’s a classmate who came with us! Who are you people? We’ve met her relatives—we don’t recognize any of you!”

Just then, Gao Gusheng turned off his phone screen and secretly made an OK gesture.

Police notified.

Train conductor notified.

To prevent these two girls from being targeted, they had to catch this trafficking gang in one net as much as possible.

The traffickers in this carriage had a clear division of labor and considerable numbers. Some echoed along, others kept watch. Relying on themselves alone could easily result in the two girls getting hurt in the chaos. Now their mission was to delay as long as possible by any means necessary.

Following Yun Zhiyi’s lead, the team members stood up one after another, all speaking at once to testify for Qi Qiao and her girlfriend.

“That’s right, you’re all human traffickers, aren’t you? She’s our classmate.”

“Qi Qiao’s parents are both university professors. How come we’ve never seen relatives like you?”

“You say Qi Qiao is your daughter? Then let me ask you, what shoe size does Qi Qiao wear? Can’t answer, can you?”

…

The old lady was dumbfounded. Seeing this young girl sitting alone with only a little girlfriend for company, she thought she’d be easy to handle. Who knew she came with a team?

Looking at all these people standing up with a “clang clang clang,” there were more than a dozen of them.

Their usual trick was to have one person gather information, three or four guide the narrative, three or four enforcers, and two lookouts, using crowd tactics to directly kidnap girls in public.

Who could have imagined the other side had even more people than them!

More than a dozen energetic young people in their twenties at their peak!

The group’s faces turned ugly. They stopped trying to grab Qi Qiao. The old woman who previously seemed to have difficulty walking now ran faster than a rabbit, fleeing to outside the train station. Everyone craned their necks to look outside, worried the person would escape. Many enthusiastic passengers also helped pin down several suspicious burly men to the ground.

Soon, everyone saw the old lady with a pale face, step by step retreating back toward the train.

Looking ahead—wow! The train station was surrounded by police cars!

Even those waiting at the train station were caught together. If the old lady ran onto the train, she would find police sitting all around her, with silver bracelets waiting.

Who knew what bad luck these people had run into—a carload of civilian police happened to be on patrol, patrolling to the train station. After receiving the report, they arrived in one minute with a press of the gas pedal. Combined with criminal police already staking out the train station, three carloads of police had the station wrapped up tight. Even if the old lady sprouted wings and flew into the sky, they had ways to drag her down.

A petty thief who had just been released from prison broke out in a cold sweat, thinking what kind of day was this—good thing he hadn’t had any bad thoughts, or he’d be going right back in after just getting out.

…

After the traffickers were taken away, Yun Zhiyi arranged two groups. She would accompany the unlucky young couple to the police station to give statements, while the others would take their luggage to a nearby hotel.

The original plan was to go directly to the village today, but after finishing the statements, they would miss the last bus tonight, so the group decided to rest nearby.

They were all young people. After the initial fear passed, excitement followed. They were at that fearless age. While eating in the restaurant, they chatted and laughed.

However, Gao Gusheng wasn’t in as good a mood as them.

Mo Hua poured Gao Gusheng a glass of cola. “Scared?”

Gao Gusheng forced a smile, “I was almost kidnapped by traffickers when I was little, so how would I be afraid of this scene? I just feel a bit… a bit uneasy.”

His intuition was always accurate. He immediately put down his chopsticks, “Why don’t we go meet Sister Yun? My eyelid keeps twitching.”

Zhou Jing also put down his chopsticks, “I heard people coming in say that the streetlights on one section of road are broken—it’s very dark, and it happens to be the shortest route from the police station to the hotel.”

Mo Hua and Sun Jun also stopped eating. The four of them headed toward the police station.

Zhou Jing called Yun Zhiyi, but couldn’t get through.

Gao Gusheng’s eyelid twitched more and more violently. He pressed his temples, “Let’s hurry.”

The group walked quickly forward. Sure enough, there was a place ahead that was conspicuously dark.

The streetlights were broken, and not just one—looking ahead, it was pitch black with no end in sight.

Passersby seeing this dark hole, if timid, simply took a detour.

Gao Gusheng and the others walked into the darkness.

After walking for about three or four minutes, they heard muffled groaning sounds.

Zhou Jing blurted out, “Zhiyi’s voice!”

On both sides of the road were street trees. The sound came from behind them.

The boys ran toward the trees, following the sound. They saw Yun Zhiyi with her mouth covered by a burly man, her movement controlled.

In his urgency, Zhou Jing didn’t care about his weak combat ability and rushed forward.

However, the next second, they saw that although Yun Zhiyi was making struggling sounds, her expression was extremely calm. She split her two fingers and suddenly stabbed upward—those slender, delicate fingers went straight for the kidnapper’s eyeballs.

The kidnapper never expected this seemingly delicate and weak young girl would have such courage. He was hit squarely.

He let out a muffled groan. Taking advantage of the kidnapper’s pain, Yun Zhiyi twisted around in his arms, raised her knee upward, and hit the kidnapper right in his vital parts.

With a loud “bang,” the kidnapper painfully retreated two steps, both hands clutching his groin, his whole body curled like a shrimp.

The men present all instinctively squeezed their legs together.

Yun Zhiyi broke free from his embrace, casually picked up a tree branch, and swung it downward.

As the eldest daughter of the Yun family, she naturally learned some self-defense techniques.

Yun Zhiyi’s forte was swordsmanship.

She wasn’t just student council president, but also president of the martial arts association.

The kidnapper painfully forced his eyes open, knowing he’d encountered a tough one. Seeing several male students approaching and surrounding him, their positions very scattered, with two of them slender—his arms were thicker than their thighs, looking weak and unable to fight—he charged toward them without thinking, wanting to find a breakthrough point and escape.

That tall, sturdy one definitely wouldn’t work—clearly a trained fighter.

Of the remaining two, both had slender builds.

The kidnapper’s gaze was naturally drawn to Gao Gusheng. In that instant, he made his decision—he’d charge at Gao Gusheng. Maybe he could even snatch a premium prize.

The kidnapper charged forward.

The kidnapper keenly noticed that when he rushed toward Gao Gusheng, the eyes of the boys beside him flashed with a trace of pity.

Behind him, Yun Zhiyi even lowered the tree branch she had raised.

A trace of doubt flashed through the kidnapper’s mind, but was quickly dispelled.

He was someone blessed by that person. A mere little boy…

The kidnapper charged at Gao Gusheng.

The kidnapper flew backward.

Gao Gusheng withdrew his kicked-out foot and nodded, “A perfect strike! Contestant Gao Gusheng scores ten points!”

The kidnapper was kicked senseless. Originally just wanting to escape because there were too many people, he now had murderous intent.

Just then, footsteps sounded. Clearly someone else was approaching. His heart filled with joy, and without thinking, he charged in that direction.

He pulled out a fruit knife from his waistband.

Seeing the fruit knife in his hand, several exclamations rang out. The kidnapper immediately grabbed the neck of the person who had just arrived.

This person didn’t know if he was scared stupid—he didn’t even resist.

The kidnapper took a deep breath, suddenly turned around, and threatened them.

“You little punks, if you dare call the police, I’ll cut open his neck right now. Then he’ll have died because of you.”

Strong and sturdy since childhood, after taking the path of kidnapping and selling people, he’d never encountered such frustrating circumstances.

After making his threat, he wanted to see their terrified, pleading expressions, but instead saw them all looking at him with strange expressions, not the slightest bit panicked.

“Dare to hit me? You wait. If I don’t take you all down, I’m not fit to be in this business!”

“…Is that so?”

The hostage Gao Shi lightly placed his hand on the knife-wielding arm and turned his head with a smile.

***