Chapter 8: Saved a Child

The next day, Lin Chaoyang set off toward the county town with the things he had prepared.

Of course, he still made up an excuse for his siblings, saying that he was going to beg for food in the city.

This excuse didn’t raise much suspicion from Lin Chaoyun, even after his rebirth.

When she was young, Lin Chaoyun didn’t have the opportunity to visit the county town, so she didn’t really know what people there were like.

Moreover, Lin Chaoyang had indeed brought back two jin of rough rice yesterday, so she had no reason to doubt him.

Lin Chaoyang left empty-handed, and when he was almost at the county town, he dressed in the same disguise as the day before.

Today, he planned to go around selling only oil, not grain, to the people he had sold to yesterday. If there was enough time, he would visit more of the family compounds and try to sell a bit more.

Since he had made a promise with Sister Han yesterday, Lin Chaoyang’s first stop was still her house.

As soon as the knock sounded, Sister Han opened the door faster than anyone else.

When she saw “Xiao Zhao” standing at the door, her eyes lit up with a smile.

“Xiao Zhao, come in quickly! You already have good stuff so soon?”

Once inside, Sister Han poured Lin Chaoyang a glass of water, her eyes full of expectation.

Lin Chaoyang slowly pulled a jar of oil from his basket, which made Sister Han’s eyes practically sparkle.

“Sister Han, this is top-quality rapeseed oil, no tickets required, two yuan per jin. Do you want some?”

Sister Han nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, yes, of course I want some! In this day and age, who doesn’t need oil?”

Two yuan per jin without needing tickets was considered a fair price. The grain and oil stations still sold it for ninety cents per jin, but you needed tickets, and not everyone had enough oil coupons.

Sister Han immediately went to her bedroom and took out six yuan, placing it on the table. “I’ll buy three jin.”

Rapeseed oil was rare, so Sister Han decided to buy more to avoid running out in the future.

Lin Chaoyang nodded, took the money, and then asked, “Sister Han, do you have any glass bottles?”

Back in those days, oil was usually sold in glass bottles. One bottle held exactly one jin, saving the trouble of weighing it.

Sister Han hurriedly brought out a glass bottle. Lin Chaoyang filled three bottles with oil and even gave her about two extra liang of oil as a bonus.

This made Sister Han so happy that she didn’t know how to thank him enough. After expressing her gratitude, she finally saw Lin Chaoyang out the door.

After leaving Sister Han’s house, Lin Chaoyang quickly knocked on the doors of the other regular customers he had sold to yesterday.

Rapeseed oil was indeed popular, and not one of them refused to buy.

Lin Chaoyang worked hard all morning, selling more than fifty jin of oil.

Since rapeseed oil was so rare, everyone wanted to buy as much as they could, and without realizing it, he had sold so much.

After quickly calculating, Lin Chaoyang realized that he had earned over a hundred yuan in just one morning!

Seeing that it was still early, Lin Chaoyang decided to head to another family compound to sell some more.

This new compound was the coal mine worker’s family area, one of the wealthiest areas in the county.

It was said that the official workers at the coal mine earned about forty yuan a month, and even the temporary workers made more than twenty yuan.

Lin Chaoyang knocked on the first door, then pulled out the noodles and rapeseed oil.

The woman who opened the door wasn’t particularly impressed by the noodles, but when she saw the oil, her eyes lit up.

Even though people in the coal mine workers’ families lived better, oil coupons were still limited, and anyone who saw good rapeseed oil would be tempted.

Unlike the previous family compound, people in the coal mine area were more willing to spend.

The first family immediately bought five jin of oil and five jin of noodles, which earned Lin Chaoyang fourteen yuan in one go.

The next few families were similar; at least three jin of oil were bought each time.

After all, who knew when the next opportunity to buy oil without tickets would come around?

Lin Chaoyang made his rounds, and apart from a few empty courtyards, nearly every household had bought a good amount of oil and noodles.

Seeing that the time was right, Lin Chaoyang hid in a quiet alley to wipe off the disguise on his face.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a suspicious man with shifty eyes hurriedly running past. He was carrying a well-dressed young boy, clearly not his own child.

Lin Chaoyang immediately realized—this was likely a human trafficker!

Without wasting any time, he followed the man.

His body was weak and thin, and he figured a direct confrontation wouldn’t work, so he kept a close eye on the trafficker’s movements while quickly searching through his backpack.

After rummaging around, he grabbed a jar of pickled peppers, opened it, and poured out the brine into a spray bottle.

Prepared, Lin Chaoyang sprinted forward, passing the trafficker and quickly spraying the brine into the man’s face.

He was quick and accurate, and the trafficker’s face was covered in the liquid, his eyes stinging with the pickled pepper brine, causing him to scream in pain.

Seizing the opportunity while the trafficker was writhing in agony, Lin Chaoyang grabbed the boy from the man’s arms and kicked the trafficker to the ground.

Holding the child tightly, Lin Chaoyang didn’t run immediately; instead, he shouted loudly.

“Help! Human trafficker! He’s abducting a child! Someone help!”

His loud cries quickly gathered a crowd.

Meanwhile, the trafficker was still rolling on the ground, clutching his eyes in unbearable pain. Unable to open his eyes or see the path ahead, he couldn’t escape.

As more people arrived, Lin Chaoyang quickly called out, “Help, everyone! Grab him! Let’s take him to the police station!”

The crowd was full of eager volunteers, and once they heard the mention of a trafficker, they sprang into action.

The trafficker couldn’t escape, and fearing he might go blind, he was filled with despair, too weary to even struggle.

With Lin Chaoyang leading the way, holding the unconscious child, the group of concerned citizens escorted the trafficker toward the police station in an imposing procession.

The officers at the police station were taken aback by the large crowd.

Lin Chaoyang quickly explained, “Officers, this man is a human trafficker. He drugged this child and was taking him away when I found him.”

Upon hearing that it was a child abduction case, the officers immediately became alert.

Lin Chaoyang recounted the details of the situation, and the bystanders, listening to the story, were all deeply relieved for the child.

Thankfully, this young man had been the one to spot the situation—if not, the child would have been taken away!

Looking at the child’s fine clothes and fabric, it was clear he came from a well-off family. If he had been trafficked, who knew what kind of hardships he would have endured?

“Officers, this young man is truly a good person! He deserves a big reward!”

“Yes! He saved this child’s life!”

The officers quickly nodded in agreement. Of course, they would reward Lin Chaoyang. If it hadn’t been for him, this would have turned into a large-scale child trafficking case in the county!

Lin Chaoyang didn’t care about the reward. He was just glad to have saved the child.

It was a stroke of fate that he had witnessed the scene; it was as if destiny had led him to save this child.

“Officers, I don’t want any rewards. Punishing the trafficker severely is the best reward for me.”

The people around him, hearing these words, couldn’t help but admire his noble mindset.

What he said was so profound!