Jiang Cheng left Old Xu’s house, replaying all the events in her mind. She felt certain that something would happen today.

Riding her sturdy bicycle, Jiang Cheng quickly arrived at the scrap yard. As soon as she locked her bike, she heard a heart-wrenching cry.

“No! Take me instead! Arrest me!”

“Mom—save me!”

“Dongzi! Don’t arrest my son, he really knows nothing!”

Sister Kong’s desperate cries pierced the air. Jiang Cheng ran into the backyard and saw the scene before her.

Chief Tang was personally leading the operation. Dongzi was being pinned to the ground by three men, while Sister Kong knelt nearby, kowtowing and pleading frantically.

Sister Wang, standing nearby, wanted to help Sister Kong but was also concerned about her own pregnancy.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng stepped forward to support Sister Kong.

“Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng, my Dongzi knows nothing! Please let him go!”

Jiang Cheng could guess that it was related to the human traffickers’ operation, but she still pretended not to understand. “Sister Kong, what are you talking about? I don’t understand. How can I help Dongzi?”

Sister Kong’s body trembled as she clung to Jiang Cheng’s legs, breathing rapidly. “Dongzi wanted to drug you, but I didn’t help him. I knew what he was doing was wrong, so I didn’t help him! He didn’t succeed, so please don’t arrest him!”

“He was just deceived by others. He only had the idea, but he didn’t actually do anything!”

Sister Kong wept bitterly, kowtowing in circles to beg for mercy.

Jiang Cheng was momentarily at a loss for words.

Her guess had been correct—Dongzi had wanted to use Sister Kong’s help to drug her. What she hadn’t expected was that Sister Kong, who usually doted on Dongzi, had refused to help.

Eventually, Jiang Cheng helped Sister Kong to her feet.

In the end, Jiang Cheng accompanied Sister Kong to the police station.

After nearly a day of interrogation, the situation gradually became clear.

The human trafficking organization had specifically targeted people like Dongzi, using threats and bribes.

As long as they successfully brought in a target—whether a woman or a child—a marginal figure like Dongzi would be fully initiated into the organization.

Dongzi had followed Jiang Cheng for several days but found no opportunity to act, so he had asked Sister Kong to drug her.

Sister Kong had refused.

In her words, Dongzi could choose not to make money, or even hit her, but he couldn’t harm others.

Instead, Sister Kong had drugged Dongzi and kept him locked up at home for many days.

It wasn’t until Sister Kong reduced the dosage, thinking the danger had passed, that Dongzi regained enough strength to escape. His first instinct was to take revenge on his own mother.

Just as Dongzi was about to attack Sister Kong, several police officers subdued him.

Jiang Cheng and Sister Kong left the police station together.

Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything to Sister Kong. How could she comfort her?

She didn’t want to.

After giving Sister Kong a slight nod, Jiang Cheng walked away first.

Sister Kong stood at the entrance of the police station, her expression shifting from confusion to determination, before she headed in the direction of the scrap yard.

After leaving the police station, Jiang Cheng went to night school for her classes.

After her lesson with Teacher Lü, she handed her a thin foreign-language book.

“Translate this into Chinese. It can earn you some money.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes lit up. She knew this meant her recent translation skills had met Teacher Lü’s standards, and she was now giving her real translation work.

“Thank you, teacher.”

“Don’t thank me. If you do a good job translating this book, you can get your translation certificate. Then you won’t have to work part-time at the scrap yard anymore.”

Teacher Lü had always been concerned about Jiang Cheng’s part-time job at the scrap yard.

Jiang Cheng knelt down and began massaging Teacher Lü’s legs.

“Teacher, does that feel good?”

Teacher Lü deliberately put on a stern face. “It’s alright.”

Jiang Cheng immediately increased the pressure, asking, “How about now?”

“Passable.”

The two of them continued to banter playfully, until Teacher Lü finally shooed Jiang Cheng off to her next class.

After leaving the office, Jiang Cheng stood on the third floor, looking in the direction of the scrap yard. She recalled the glance she had exchanged with Sister Kong at the police station entrance.

Why had Sister Kong headed back toward the scrap yard?

Why had Sister Kong been so nervous the first time Jiang Cheng took a steamed bun?

Why were there people speaking Japanese outside the scrap yard?

Another strange thing—Da Huang, the scrap yard’s night watchman, was always asleep in the morning.

Where had Sister Kong gotten the drugs to use on Dongzi?

One question after another raced through Jiang Cheng’s mind.

Today was the 20th, the day the scrap yard took inventory. Everyone should have been resting after finishing their work, so there shouldn’t have been anyone there.

Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng turned and ran to Principal Wang’s office.

“Bang—Principal!”

Principal Wang, who had been drinking tea, was startled by Jiang Cheng’s sudden entrance and began coughing uncontrollably.

“Principal, do you want our night school to become an advanced unit?”

“Cough—Jiang Cheng, are you dreaming? That’s impossible—”

Jiang Cheng didn’t have time to waste. She cut the principal off. “There’s an opportunity right now. I guarantee our night school will become an advanced unit!”

“Principal, are you in or not?”

*

July 20th, evening.

Under Principal Wang’s leadership, the night school organized a nighttime training exercise.

Students from four classes, along with their teachers, formed a grand total of 108 people.

Principal Wang, leading the group, still couldn’t understand why he had agreed to this.

Why had the teachers agreed so readily?

And why were the students so enthusiastic?

Jiang Cheng jogged from the back of the line to the front, stopping to speak with the person in charge of each class as she passed.

When she reached her own class, Advanced Class Two, she found that the person in charge was Zhang Cuijuan.

Finally given a real position, even if only temporarily, Zhang Cuijuan was fully committed to doing a good job.

Jiang Cheng nodded at Zhang Cuijuan, who stood tall and proud like a soldier who had just been praised, as if to say, “None of you can do better than me.”

The night school’s training group jogged in the direction of the scrap yard.

Principal Wang leaned over and whispered to Jiang Cheng, “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Those three words left the principal on the verge of tears.

He should have known!

He had boarded a pirate ship!

“Fire!”

“Quick, put out the fire!”

Suddenly, shouts interrupted Principal Wang’s thoughts.

Jiang Cheng looked ahead and saw that the scrap yard was on fire.

“Students, form groups of three and help put out the fire!”

“Do not rush into the flames!”

Jiang Cheng quickly organized the students—some fetched water, others gathered soil—all working to extinguish the fire while ensuring everyone’s safety.

Ten minutes later, the fire department arrived.

The night school students stepped back to make room.

Thanks to the students’ efforts in creating firebreaks, the flames had been significantly reduced.

Half an hour later, the fire was finally extinguished.

Amid the ruins, a hidden door was revealed in the scrap yard’s storage warehouse.

Things were becoming more mysterious, and the police arrived soon after.

Jiang Cheng and the night school students stood to the side, watching as the police opened the hidden door. Out stepped a person.

Sister Kong.

Sister Kong was immediately arrested, but she seemed indifferent.

A few minutes later, the police emerged from the hidden door, holding a bronze antique. “Captain, there are many more down there!”

Selling antiques?

Suddenly, all the clues in Jiang Cheng’s mind connected into a single thread.

Someone was using the scrap yard as a cover to sell China’s treasures to foreigners.