Chapter 60
Getting beaten

The tricycle roared to life and headed east. The development zone was to the east, with many electronics factories, making the general direction correct and the deception stronger.

Less talk, fewer mistakes.

Xie Qing adhered to the principle of not speaking unless necessary. She humored Ma Lianhua with a few casual remarks while taking in the scenery.

Ma Lianhua inquired about her family background and learned that Xie Qing’s family was from a rural area, with two older brothers—one married and one waiting for a marriage exchange. Satisfied, Ma Lianhua pulled down her wool hat and dozed off against the seat.

While Ma Lianhua relaxed, Xie Qing remained vigilant, memorizing the route, looking for landmarks, and observing the man driving the tricycle.

The man was also observing Xie Qing, likely suspecting her intentions, and made several random turns.

Xie Qing pretended not to notice and shouted, “Brother, how much farther?”

The man replied, “What’s the rush? This is the old district. The meter factory is in the development zone. I heard the meter factory requires at least a middle school diploma. Do you have any qualifications?”

“Right, I almost forgot about that. I did graduate from middle school, so I barely qualify.” Ma Lianhua woke up, grabbed Xie Qing’s hand, and felt it. “Wow, your hands are quite soft. Did you graduate from something? Don’t you do any work at home?”

In reality, her hands weren’t soft anymore.

For the past three days, Xie Qing had been practicing punching a sandbag with her bare hands, causing slight swelling on the back of her hands, similar to frostbite.

When Ma Lianhua said her hands were soft, she meant that her palms had no calluses.

“Please don’t touch, Sister Ma. It feels weird.” Xie Qing pulled her hand back, “I graduated from high school not long ago. I’m not used to farm work; otherwise, I wouldn’t have run away.”

“Wow, you graduated from high school!” Ma Lianhua said excitedly, “That’s great, you can make big money.”

Making big money meant she could be sold for a higher price.

Xie Qing felt a bit uneasy but quickly calmed down. Regarding this, she and the bureau had already considered that if the human traffickers’ business was big enough, it would likely involve high-end sex trade.

High-end meant high education, good looks, and an untouched body.

She anticipated that Ma Lianhua would soon ask about this.

Sure enough, Ma Lianhua enthusiastically moved closer, “Little sister, don’t you like being held hands? Haven’t you dated anyone?”

“No.” Xie Qing looked outside the car, “The teachers didn’t allow early relationships, and I wanted to go to college, so I didn’t have the time. Unfortunately, I didn’t get in, sigh…”

“Ha.” Ma Lianhua pushed her arm, “Isn’t going to college just to make more money? Let me tell you, there are plenty of ways to make money. Stick with me, and you won’t have to worry about making money.”

“Ah?” Xie Qing was a bit confused, “Sister Ma, how can you make big money at an electric meter factory?”

“Cluck, cluck, cluck…” Ma Lianhua laughed again like a hen, “Well, that’s true. What I mean is, since you graduated from high school, after working for a couple of years, you might become a small leader, and leaders certainly earn more than workers.”

Xie Qing responded, “Oh,” then asked, “How much farther?”

Ma Lianhua said, “Almost there.”

The tricycle entered the development zone, where the buildings on either side of the road were newer and more imposing than in the old district.

Xie Qing gazed at the scenery, “This area looks nice. If I can find work here, it’s much better than being at home.”

Ma Lianhua smiled but didn’t say anything.

At this moment, the tricycle turned into an enclosed factory area, where the vacant lot was overgrown with weeds.

Xie Qing asked warily, “Sister Ma, has the meter factory shut down?”

Ma Lianhua asked the man, “Hey brother, this isn’t the meter factory, why did you bring us here?”

The man replied, “What can I do? I need to pee. There’s still some distance to go. You two wait here, I’ll be quick.”

“Oh…” Ma Lianhua turned to reassure Xie Qing, “Let’s wait for him a bit. Sister Ma is here, don’t worry.”

Xie Qing nodded.

The tricycle stopped by an abandoned factory building, and the man got off and headed towards a makeshift toilet in the southeast corner.

Xie Qing estimated the distance; it was about 200 meters from the factory gate, which meant Tan Yi and the others couldn’t follow inside.

She needed to be cautious. While she was thinking, a factory door opened, and four men with knives and sticks came out.

Ma Lianhua shouted sternly, “What do you want? I’m telling you, we have no money.”

She acted the part well, but the amusement in her eyes was barely concealed.

The leader was a man in his early thirties with phoenix eyes, a slightly broad chin, thin lips, and a high nose bridge with fashionable gold-rimmed glasses. He looked cultured but couldn’t hide his gangster aura.

The man with gold-rimmed glasses greedily stared at Xie Qing’s face, “No money? That’s fine, as long as we have people.”

Ma Lianhua blocked Xie Qing, “What do you want? She’s just a girl who recently graduated from high school.”

The one with the gold-rimmed glasses walked over to them, “Haha, really? I was just thinking about trying out what a young girl tastes like.”

Xie Qing turned around and started running—not at full speed.

Two skinny men chased after her, each grabbing one of her arms and holding her back.

Xie Qing struggled desperately, “Let go of me…”

A dagger was pressed against her lower back, the sharp blade piercing her clothes and cutting her skin. It wasn’t very painful, but it was extremely intimidating.

Xie Qing wanted to cry but couldn’t, so she bent her knees and sat on the ground. The man holding the knife didn’t want to harm her, so he quickly pulled the knife back.

The two of them pulled her back.

Malin Hua was roughly held against his chest by the man with gold-rimmed glasses, his large hands roaming up and down, then down and up, thoroughly groping her.

Ma Lianhua was squealing and hitting with her little fists, seemingly struggling desperately, but her body was enjoying it, constantly burrowing into the man’s embrace.

The gold-rimmed glasses man grabbed her by the neck and pushed her into the house. Before closing the door, he said, “I’ll deal with the older one first. You keep an eye on the younger one and don’t let her escape. If you don’t obey, you’ll take turns with her.”

The man with the knife kicked Xie Qing in the thigh and said, “Annoying, we can see but can’t touch!”

“No touching!” Brother Xi shouted, slamming the door shut.

One of the men who didn’t chase Xie Qing was extremely dissatisfied. He raised his leg and kicked Xie Qing in the chest.

The kick landed exactly on the bug, which pressed painfully against her flesh. Xie Qing felt intense pain, and tears streamed down her face as she cried out, “What do you want? I want to go home, I want to go home, boo hoo…”

The man slapped her across the face, “Shut up.”

The slap wasn’t extremely hard, but it was hard enough to cause her ears to ring and her vision to blur.

Xie Qing felt it was time to act, so she obediently went into the factory building. Inside the factory, there was a furnace, a chair, and a military cot with a dirty blanket on it.

Xie Qing was tied to the chair. The factory walls were thin, and the sounds from the adjacent room felt as if they were right beside them.

Ma Lianhua’s cries had turned from screams to sounds of pleasure—brazen and shameless.

The three men looked at Xie Qing like hungry wolves.

One man threw away his dagger, “Damn, who can stand this?”

Another man with a big scar on his forehead said, “You have to bear it even if you can’t stand it. Just endure it.” With that, he kicked Xie Qing’s calf, “What’s your name?”

Xie Qing lowered her head, “Yan Jing.”

“Glasses?” He found it amusing, “That’s a good name. Your parents are clever.”

Xie Qing raised her head, “My family has no money. I came here just to work. Please, brothers, be kind and let me go.”

The man with the big scar said, “As long as you behave, we’ll let you go soon.”

Xie Qing asked excitedly, “Really?”

Just as the man with the big scar was about to speak, the commotion next door grew louder, with applause and the bedframe creaking as if there was an earthquake.

The man with the big scar’s pants became distorted.

“Damn, can’t stand this noise,” the man who had kicked Xie Qing in the chest said as he pulled down his pants…

Just as he was about to pull down the last layer, the man with the big scar stopped him, “This one is good. We don’t know what the future holds, so it’s better to restrain ourselves.”

“Got it!” The man grumbled, turning away, and his right hand quickly started working in front of him.

Another man did the same.

The man with the big scar said, “As long as you behave, we won’t treat you like we treated the one next door. Do you understand?”

Xie Qing looked at him blankly.

Not sure if she understood, the man with the big scar added, “If you resist, we’ll take turns with you until you submit. By then, you’ll be used and discarded, and no man will want you.”

As a high school graduate, Xie Qing definitely understood what “used and discarded” meant.

Xie Qing quickly nodded, “I won’t resist. I’ll wait for you to let me go.”

The man with the big scar pulled out a yellowed tissue from his pocket, wiped her tears and snot, and left, still holding up his pants.

Quite a display of willpower.

This person surprised Xie Qing—he didn’t look like a leader, yet he effortlessly commanded the obedience of the other two.

Was it his charisma or something else?

Outside the factory area, a small truck slowly drove by.

Liu Feng, the driver, asked, “Captain Huang, parking here is too obvious, what should we do?”

Fu Da took off his earphones, “There are at least six of them. Should we move in?”

Huang Zhenyi said, “For now, it looks like Xiao Xie isn’t in immediate danger, and she hasn’t given us a signal. We should wait and see. What do you think, Tan Yi?”

Tan Yi nodded, “Let’s wait and see.”

Huang Zhenyi instructed Liu Feng, “Keep driving straight and turn right at the next intersection.”

Ren Yaguang, who was leaning on the door, said, “Hurry up, the tricycle is coming out.”

Tan Yi advised, “Liu, just speed up a bit. Going too fast will raise suspicion.”

“Right!” Ren Yaguang slapped his forehead, “Tan is right.”

Huang Zhenyi breathed a sigh of relief, sprawling out in his seat, “She’s a real talent. Her psychological resilience is impeccable.”

Fu Da added, “Even seasoned detectives aren’t this good. And she’s a girl—she’s extraordinary!”

Wang Zheng expressed concern, “Xiao Xie took quite a kick. I could hear it without the earphones.”

Fu Da pursed his lips, “That really hurt. She’s crying.”

Huang Zhenyi sighed, “That’s the fate most undercover agents can’t escape. Luckily, she’s a forensic expert. Otherwise, the vulgar words would be unbearable.”

Tan Yi closed his eyes, feeling a tightness in his chest. If he wasn’t sitting here, he could hardly believe that a pampered young woman would dare to take on such a challenging task, face such danger alone, and remain unfazed while continuing to hide her true intentions.