Chapter 31: Amusement Park

It was Wei Xiaojia’s turn. Ignorance is bliss, and the little guy had no idea he was being targeted. He went to the exam full of confidence.

Zhuo Le couldn’t bear her son’s eventual disappointment, so she quietly sidled up to Yan Su: “Is your Bao’er losing his appetite, listless, and sickly?”

Yan Su squinted at her, “So?”

“Would you like an energetic, lively, lovely Bao’er who eats a lot, poops a lot, and grows up chubby?

Look at my Shanda Wang, what do you think? Isn’t he energetic, strong, smart, and steady?

Let me tell you, my Shanda Wang is especially good at taking care of dogs. Would you like to give it a try?”

Shanda Wang was posing, and under his thick fur, you could vaguely see chunks of muscle.

Yan Su’s pupils shook. In her mind, she inexplicably pictured her Bao’er growing muscles. Heavens, her eyes were blinded.

No, no way, absolutely not.

But, compared to a healthy body, a little muscle doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

Yan Su reluctantly accepted.

“I won’t give you special treatment.”

Zhuo Le said seriously: “I’m not that kind of person.”

Yan Su scoffed coldly.

Awkwardly, she opened her mouth: “Picnic this weekend, are you going?”

Zhuo Le smiled: “Yes, let me know when you’ve chosen a location. I’m new to Dongzhou City and not familiar with the area.”

Yan Su gave a proud “hmph.”

Zhuo Le retreated to Wei Xiaojia’s side, satisfied. Good, she wouldn’t be given a hard time.

The entrance exam was actually very simple. A group of little illiterates certainly couldn’t be tested on cultural knowledge. It mainly tested the darling’s physical health, mental health, psychological health, and the parents’ three views and five senses health. As long as there was nothing particularly bizarre, they could generally be admitted.

Of course, even with a very simple assessment, some people would still be eliminated, which just goes to show that weirdos are everywhere.

Wei Xiaojia and his two little partners, the chubby Cai Quanquan and the bespectacled Jiang Limao, were all selected. If there were no accidents, the three of them would be assigned to the same class.

The three old mothers were very happy and suggested that meeting was fate, and they would inevitably see each other often in the future. While they were happy today, they should go out for a meal together.

That sounded good.

The six people and a dog went to a very popular barbecue restaurant. They could smell the strong cumin aroma from afar. The business was indeed good; they were already working before lunchtime.

They asked for a small private room.

While waiting for the food, they talked about Shanda Wang’s work. Fan Lianlian and Xu Duo were stunned; they didn’t expect to meet a “celebrity.”

“When the movie comes out, we must go see it.” Xu Duo was an outgoing and sociable person. The saying “broad-minded and stout” described her perfectly. The mother and son were very similar.

In comparison, Fan Lianlian was much more introverted, a gentle and virtuous person, dressed like a virtuous wife and loving mother, a pure housewife.

“Okay, we’ll go together then.”

Zhuo Le: “I’ll treat you all then, as a thank you for supporting Shanda Wang.”

“That sounds great.”

The meal was split three ways, since it was the first time meeting and the first time spending time together. It wouldn’t be appropriate for anyone to treat.

Shanda Wang’s portion was grilled separately, and Zhuo Le paid for it separately as well.

After eating their fill, they took the darling to the amusement park.

Zhuo Le, who didn’t have a childhood, didn’t know about this thing. She hadn’t thought of taking the unworldly Wei Xiaojia to the amusement park to play until she had been in Dongzhou for so long.

Obviously, children can’t resist the temptation of amusement parks. The three little darling and a dog all had a great time.

“Go, go, go, are you ever going to finish? Get out of here.”

The security guard rudely shoved a dirty, seven- or eight-year-old girl who looked like a little beggar.

The little girl silently allowed herself to be pushed out, not crying or making a fuss, even quite numb, as if she was used to it.

But the children, seeing this for the first time, were very angry.

“Uncle, you shouldn’t bully people.” Little Fatty Cai Quanquan, with his chubby face raised, accused the security guard of his misdeeds in a fierce, childish voice.

Clearly, the security guard had been mistaken for a bad guy by children more than once, and his expression was calm.

“Little ones, you don’t know, this is a bad kid. She always sneaks in to beg for money and steals things. You have to be careful. If your little snacks disappear, don’t cry.”

Cai Quanquan hurriedly covered his little pockets.

Jiang Limao was very calm: “I don’t have any snacks in my pockets.”

Wei Xiaojia touched his pockets; he had snacks: “With Mountain King here, no one can steal my snacks.”

Mountain King wagged his tail beside him.

The security guard smiled, not intending to argue with the children, and continued to push the little girl out.

The little girl kept her head down the whole time, her emotions completely flat.

Xu Duo clicked her tongue twice: “I heard people say before that some children go to places with a lot of people, like amusement parks and train stations, to beg.

Just begging is one thing, but they do steal things, and it’s hard to guard against.

They’re such young children, you can only scold them if you catch them, you can’t do anything to them, and in the end, you have to let them go.

Moreover, most of these children have some kind of disability, and the victims can’t bear to do anything to them. They just want their things back, and if they can’t get them back, they just have to accept it.

Over time, these kids get more and more spoiled and out of control, which is annoying.

I met a child with a missing arm at the train station before…”

Xu Duo babbled on about her terrible experience. Zhuo Le thought, isn’t this just a particularly infuriating way for human traffickers to make money?

Fan Lianlian didn’t understand and had never seen anything like this before. After hearing Xu Duo’s story, she was very puzzled: “Don’t the child’s parents care? Doesn’t the neighborhood office care?”

Xu Duo pouted: “Care about what? Maybe the whole family is doing this, how can they manage it?”

Zhuo Le: “Perhaps, they are a secretive, well-trained, and clearly divided group, impossible to manage.”

Fan Lianlian and Xu Duo were surprised, hearing this kind of statement for the first time: “What do you mean?”

Zhuo Le: “It means that these children may have been abducted by human traffickers and are specifically used as tools for begging, stealing, robbing, scamming, and various other illegal and criminal activities.

Before they are ready, they will undergo various cruel trainings. Healthy children will have their hands and feet broken, strong-willed children will have their edges smoothed out, and useless children will be cut up and sold… Human traffickers take advantage of the fact that children are easy to control and cannot be sentenced for crimes to profit themselves.”

When Zhuo Le worked the night shift in her previous life, the thing she hated and loved the most was destroying these dens.

Each den was a living hell, a tragedy and disaster for countless families, causing many to be ruined.

The two mothers, who had grown up in a comfortable environment, were dumbfounded; they didn’t know that such things existed.

Xu Duo: “So, that child just now, was she abducted? Her hands and feet are intact; she doesn’t seem to have been disabled.”

Zhuo Le spread her hands: “She didn’t say anything the whole time; maybe her tongue was cut out.”

Fan Lianlian and Xu Duo were so shocked that they couldn’t speak for a long time. If her tongue was really cut off, how painful and miserable would that be?

“Then, then, then… should we call the police?”

Zhuo Le saw that their faces had turned pale and smiled: “These are just my guesses, don’t be afraid. Maybe that child was just sent out by her unscrupulous parents, or maybe she’s an orphan, forced by life to come out and make a living. Anything is possible.

But human traffickers are indeed rampant, you must keep a close eye on your children.”

The two mothers nodded quickly, not daring to look away for even a second.

Zhuo Le glanced at the girl disappearing at the entrance of the amusement park, her eyes gradually deepening.