CH 46

Baozi Street, No. 222 was an address of a residential area.

As soon as the young girl and the three children scampered out of the taxi, they saw a gate that led to a residential area.

Now, they wondered which house they should go to. At first, they believed that the address belonged solely to Zhou Yuan.

The young girl squatted down and peered at the three children, “Do any of you know where his house is? Which floor is it on?”

The three children shook their heads.

The girl was also befuddled by this development.

If you don’t know, how could I find it?

Miaomiao remained taciturn throughout their journey. At this moment, she timidly extended her hand, “I have this…”

But she couldn’t use the watch anymore. Zhou Yuan taught her how to use it during their trip to the hot springs, but she hadn’t used it since then.

She secretly tinkered with the watch one night, but it never turned on. Miaomiao surmised that the watch was broken, but she didn’t say anything about this to Zhou Yuan…

“Phone watch?” the young girl asked, a little surprised.

When Miaomiao lifted her sleeves, the scars on her wrists and back of her arms were naturally visible for all to see.

The young girl was stunned for a moment. She didn’t care about the watch anymore, “What happened to your hand?”

She clutched her phone tightly. The last time she visited Zhihu, she saw the news of a young single girl who was abducted by an old man after he had offered to help her.

Why does this ordinary child have so many injuries on her hands?

Her hands were shaking.

No wonder why this little girl was so taciturn throughout this journey. Is it human trafficking?

After hearing her question, Jingjing hurried to answer, “When she was a child, some bad guys caught her, so she was injured.”

Zhou Yuan had expounded this to them before, and Jingjing completely believed his explanation.

Deng Feng nodded in assent.

The young girl hesitated. Miaomiao’s pink princess-style shoes had a pink bow and butterfly logo on the front. This caught her eye. She remembered this logo since it was from a famous international haute couture. This brand was notorious for their hardline attentiveness towards copyright; therefore, this shouldn’t be fake or counterfeit. They would sue even if the logo remotely resembled their own.

The young girl pondered for a moment.

Traffickers wouldn’t buy such expensive items, would they?

However, she was still concerned, and thus she called her boyfriend to come over.

After that, she started musing about her phone watch. She decided to let the other party come down to pick up the three children; rather than going in with them. This way, they could get the best of both worlds. The children would meet Zhou Yuan, and the young girl could then confirm if he was a trafficker or not.

When she was a child, she didn’t have these high-tech gadgets, so she didn’t know how to use it. She tried pressing the button twice, but the watch didn’t turn on. The watch should be off.

But she tinkered with the watch a few more times, and then it turned on. She checked the contacts and found mom, dad, Zhou Yuan, police…

There was no one else.

The young girl asked, “It’s Zhou Yuan, right?”

Zhou Yuan saved his number himself.

Miaomiao nodded.

Zhou Yuan was watching the financial news as he lay down on the couch in front of the cooler.

Suddenly, he heard his phone ring.

It was very uncomfortable for Zhou Yuan to talk, so he wanted to avoid answering the phone, but the phone kept ringing incessantly. He helplessly picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It stated “Hua Miaomiao”.

As soon as Zhou Yuan pressed the answer button, Miaomiao’s voice bursted out, “Zhouzhou, where’s your house?”

Zhou Yuan found her question strange, “What?”

Shouldn’t she be in class right now?

His voice sounded so hoarse that Miaomiao cried as soon as she heard his voice.

Zhou Yuan then heard another voice emanating from the phone. It was Jingjing who shouted, “Zhouzhou, where do you live? We’re at the front gate!”

Zhou Yuan frowned, “Why are you at the front gate? Why aren’t you in class?”

He took out a mask, put it on, and walked out of the house.

“Are your parents with you?” he asked.

Hearing his hoarse voice, the young girl couldn’t believe that this voice was that of a child. She then said, “I brought them here. Could you come to the front gate to pick them up…”

He received another call on his cell phone at this moment. It was Teacher Li.

Zhou Yuan said to Miaomiao, “Don’t hang up. Wait for me.”

Zhou Yuan put Miaomiao’s call on hold and answered Teacher Li’s call.

Teacher Li spoke, “Did Miaomiao and the others contact you? At noon today, three children climbed over the wall.”

Zhou Yuan replied, “They just called me, and they’re at my front gate of my community.”

Zhou Yuan concluded that they didn’t tell their parents about their little adventure. He picked up his landline and called the security guard of his community.

When Zhou Yuan walked out of his house, the security guard already found three children squatting down at the front gate. They were busy talking on the phone, and a young girl stood next to them.

He told them to wait in the security booth until Zhou Yuan arrived.

When Zhou Yuan approached them, he saw a young girl behind the three children.

His attire and mask made him look terminally ill, which was congruous with the image of someone whom they wanted to see one last time due to an irremediable disease.

When Zhou Yuan approached, Miaomiao was already crying, “Zhouzhou…”

Jingjing looked sadly at Zhou Yuan and supported Miaomiao. Deng Feng also peered at him; his eyes had a glint of solemnity in them.

Right from the beginning, the young girl felt that something was unusual, but the three children arrived safely and found their friend. Although their friend was incongruous in accordance with his surroundings due to his sickly appearance, she felt relieved that the children had reached their goal. She contemplated calling the police…

A feeling of despondency consumed Jingjing, and she recalled the words her mother said to her grandfather. After overcoming her grief, she told Zhou Yuan, “In the future, I’ll take care of Miaomiao for you. You can go in peace.”

Zhou Yuan: “…” What the hell?

The young girl: “…”

Deng Feng began to cry all of a sudden, and Miaomiao’s face flushed red with tears. She was almost unable to breathe.

Taking Miaomiao into his embrace, Zhou Yuan patted the top of her head. Then, he asked Jingjing, “Where am I going?”

Jingjing looked at Zhou Yuan, “Another world of peace and happiness.”

Zhou Yuan: “…when your mother arrives here, I’ll repeat this sentence on your behalf.”

No need to say who came up with this idea or took this action. Zhou Yuan already knew who it was.