Free Web NovelChapter 448: Chapter 448: Scheming
"Oh, why does my head feel so dizzy, Da..." Ding Anmin struggled to sit up slowly, and the first thing he saw was Yi Roujing sitting next to him. The term he was about to blurt out was successfully covered by the alert Yi Roujing, making Ding Anmin swallow it back down.
"Little sis, we’re caught by traffickers." Yi Roujing said, her eyes filled with tears and her face full of pitiful expression. She hesitated to speak, making Ding Anmin blink in confusion without reacting for a moment.
Ding Anmin reached out and touched Yi Roujing’s forehead. There was no fever, "Da..."
His mouth was covered again, Ding Anmin finally realized Yi Roujing was trying not to let him call her sister-in-law.
"I don’t know if big brother is looking for us, little sis, I’m so scared," Yi Roujing covered her eyes with her hands, hiding tears that wouldn’t come out.
But Yi Roujing was faking her crying. Besides herself, the only one who knew her temperament was Ding Anmin, yet the rest of the people didn’t know. Realizing the current environment, they all started to sob too.
"Don’t, don’t cry loudly, if they hear us, they’ll hit us," Yi Roujing reminded in a low voice.
The girl who had been beaten was the best proof, and the crying sounds grew quieter.
Standing outside the room and eavesdropping, Zhu left with satisfaction. Let them cry quietly; this batch was quite obedient. She decided to give them better food in the evening.
The last to wake were four children. They only gradually woke up when Zhu unlocked and brought in the food. Children’s temperament is different from adults; they cry and laugh freely. Being away from their families now, they certainly cried their hearts out, though not all of them. One little girl didn’t cry.
Not only did the little girl not cry, but she began to comfort the three boys.
Yi Roujing and Ding Anmin feared the children’s cries would annoy those people, so they quickly went over and pulled the four kids to their side, comforting them in low voices, "Don’t cry, be good. Now your parents aren’t here with you, you must protect yourselves and not give those bad people a chance to hit you, or else when your parents come, they’ll be very sad to see you hurt."
"You need to give them a surprise, eat well and tell them how brave you were when they come."
Being mothers themselves, the two were good at comforting children, and they soon learned the names of the four kids.
"Look at Chengcheng, even though she’s a girl, she’s so brave and didn’t cry. You guys, as little gentlemen, shouldn’t be outdone," Ding Anmin comforted quietly.
The four children, Xue Chengcheng aged six, and the other three boys all aged five, stopped crying and obediently ate all their meals.
The other five girls also ate their meals. Perhaps having the children as a comparison, they couldn’t appear worse than the kids, right? Originally strangers, they exchanged ages, names, and their home situations in the room.
"We, we should try to escape," suggested Jiang Zidie in a trembling voice, wearing patched-up clothes. "Listening to the voices outside, there are only three of them. Even if we can’t all escape, as long as one gets out, they can go find the police to come rescue the others."
"But what if we don’t manage to escape? The result will definitely be a beating," said Miaomiao fearfully, who had already been slapped several times, her face showing clear handprints. "Even if someone escapes, when they return with the police, don’t you think these few people won’t move us elsewhere? They might take their anger out on those who didn’t escape, and that would be harming others."
"Then, what should we do? We can’t just wait to be sold, right?" Jiang Zidie said, slightly absent-minded.
"We should escape, but we must find the right timing," Ning Jingyuan was the most calm and composed among the girls discovered by Yi Roujing. "The words of that woman while distributing food earlier were heard by you too. She said there’s another girl next door, but her legs were broken."
"She was warning us that the girl is the result of trying to escape. So if we don’t want to have our legs broken, we need to stay calm and seek the most suitable opportunity to catch them off-guard."
"What kind of opportunity would be suitable?" asked Mai Zi, who was from Daigong County. She had come to the city today for an exam. The city’s textile factory was hiring, and she had a high school diploma, meeting the requirements. Confident she could pass, she had not expected to encounter such an ordeal.
The last girl, Qi Qiqi, was somewhat lost in spirit. She had just taken the college entrance exam last month and was eagerly awaiting her acceptance letter. She had always been a top student in her class, and with spare time, she had begged her family to let her visit here from the provincial capital. She hadn’t come alone, though; she was accompanied by classmates from the same high school.
Qi Qiqi was a kind-hearted girl, and she was deceived by Mancao.
"How can there be such a wicked child? Why did she trick me, why?" Qi Qiqi was still deep in remorse for having done a good deed, yet ending up in her current predicament.
"Who’s not like that," Miaomiao said angrily, with red eyes. "That child was wearing winter clothes, and I thought she was abused by her family, wanted to help by calling the police. But doing a good deed was no use, I will never help others again."
Miaomiao’s words did bring Qi Qiqi back to reality from her immersive world, "Now we must look forward, I’ll listen to you all. Although besides studying, I don’t have any other expertise, but I’m obedient."
Everyone started to rally.
"Since we can’t ensure escaping unscathed from their hands, then we’ll tackle them one by one," Yi Roujing came up with a plan. "Among them, the stutterer is the most formidable. When he appears, you all stay away, leave him to me."
"Feign illness, trick one to come in. If nothing unexpected happens, the one who’ll come in will be Niu. Is there anything that can be used to stab or hit someone? Directly jab it at her, settle her first."
"If Zhu comes in, I’ll handle him. I have some skills," Yi Roujing made some bad plans too. "If two come in, both Niu and Zhu, then we’ll split into two teams...."
"If two come in and one of them is the stutterer, then...."
"If all three come in, then this operation must stop. Our group’s abilities are limited, plus there are children, we can’t take risks." Yi Roujing explained the plan quietly, and all eyes in the room were bright with hope, even the four children, whom Yi Roujing assigned tasks, everyone participating together, full of confidence.
"We came not just the two of us, there are others too. They’ve surely discovered we’re missing, and they will find a way to search, we’ll definitely be safe." Boosting morale is crucial, and Yi Roujing’s words made everyone feel invigorated.
Ning Jingyuan looked at Yi Roujing and found her to be extraordinary, suspecting she might have been born into a red family like herself.
