Chapter 8

“Xiaoxiao, give me the travel bag!”

Huang Lihong was strong and sturdy, with plenty of strength to match.

She had a cloth bag hanging from her neck, a bundle the size of a small mountain strapped to her shoulder, and she was also carrying Lin Xiaoxiao’s yellow canvas bag in her hand.

When Lin Xiaoxiao refused to let her carry it, she wasn’t pleased.

“Look at you—skinny as a bean pole. What strength could you possibly have?”

“Give me the bag. All you need to do is get on the train!”

The train glided a short distance before coming to a slow stop.

When the doors opened, Lin Xiaoxiao followed Huang Lihong into the carriage.

Huang Lihong placed both of their bags on the luggage rack. When she saw that her seat wasn’t next to Lin Xiaoxiao’s, she swapped seats with another passenger.

Only after they sat together did Huang Lihong remove the cloth pouch from her neck and pull out two golden almond cakes.

She handed one to Lin Xiaoxiao. “Eat—this is an almond cake my mom made. You should try it.”

“Thank you.”

The almond cake made by Auntie Huang was delicious. It had mung bean flour mixed in, with sweet-cured pork in the middle.

It was rich but not greasy, crisp, and very tasty.

After eating one almond cake, Lin Xiaoxiao gave her two pieces of chocolate—actually taken secretly from her personal stash.

“Oh, this dark chocolate is really good!”

Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao so generous—willing to share precious dark chocolate—Huang Lihong was deeply touched.

In her mind, Lin Xiaoxiao had never been favored at home; her parents treated her poorly and even stopped her from continuing school before she finished junior high.

Thinking of Lin’s father and mother, Huang Lihong paused chewing and looked at her sympathetically. “Xiaoxiao, my mom said something happened to your family.”

Lin Xiaoxiao nodded. “Yes. Lin Jianmin turned out to be a deeply hidden spy, and Yan Zhaodi is a human trafficker. They were both arrested by the Public Security Bureau yesterday.”

Hearing her call her parents by name, Huang Lihong was surprised. “Your dad and mom are going to prison… What will you do now?”

In those days, family background mattered a lot. Having parents in prison could ruin a person’s future.

Lin Xiaoxiao said indifferently, “It’s fine. They were never my real parents. I’m the adopted daughter they got by swapping babies.”

“So you’re the Lin family’s adopted daughter—that explains why they treated you badly.” Huang Lihong was shocked again. “Then where’s their real daughter?”

“Their real daughter is in Yang City, living in the military family compound.”

“Then you should go find your real parents! Maybe you wouldn’t have to be sent to the countryside!”

“I won’t go find them. If they want to acknowledge me, they’ll come to me.”

“Have you severed ties with the Lin family?”

“Yes,” Lin Xiaoxiao said calmly. “Yesterday afternoon, I went to the newspaper and published an announcement to cut ties with them.”

Huang Lihong breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good—otherwise it could affect your chances of getting a job back in the city later.”

The two of them spent hours chatting and snacking as the train moved along.

After drinking too much water, Lin Xiaoxiao felt the urge to use the restroom. She told Huang Lihong to watch their seats and walked toward the connection between cars.

When she reached the toilet, she saw the door was closed.

Knowing someone was inside, she waited in the aisle. Soon, a plump, fair-skinned middle-aged woman came out.

Lin Xiaoxiao nodded in greeting before turning to enter the toilet.

“Well, well—this girl looks pretty nice,” the woman thought.

This middle-aged woman, nicknamed Sister Mei, was a human trafficker who often preyed on women and children aboard trains.

She saw that Lin Xiaoxiao looked pale and thin—obviously from a poor family and inexperienced with the world—the kind of girl easy to manipulate.

Best of all, once sold, she might even help you count the money!

Not wanting to miss this chance, Sister Mei quickly entered the adjacent sleeper carriage.

She leaned toward a bald man and whispered, “Brother Biao, quick—there’s a naïve young girl alone in the toilet.”

“What are you waiting for? Go get some knockout drug and make her faint!”

Brother Biao’s eyes lit up, and he jumped down from his bunk.

After a quick discussion, they split the roles:

Sister Mei would stand guard at the toilet door, waiting for Lin Xiaoxiao to come out.

Brother Biao would block the aisle, keeping other passengers from entering.

Three minutes later, Lin Xiaoxiao finally emerged.

Sister Mei greeted her with an overly friendly smile. “Little sister, you bought a seat ticket, right? That must be exhausting. Come—big sis has a free lower bunk. You should get some sleep!”

As she spoke, she reached out to put an arm around Lin Xiaoxiao’s shoulders.

“I don’t sleep in sleepers—I have my own seat!”

Sensing danger, Lin Xiaoxiao quickly stepped back—right into the toilet again.

Sister Mei was overjoyed, pulling out a handkerchief to cover her mouth.

But Lin Xiaoxiao ducked under her arm in one quick move and, turning around, delivered a sudden high roundhouse kick to Sister Mei’s right arm.

The force knocked the handkerchief flying—landing squarely over Sister Mei’s thick lips.

Her head lolled to one side, and she fainted from her own drug.

Without a second thought, Lin Xiaoxiao kicked her back into the toilet and shut the door.

Looking at her now-trapped would-be kidnapper, she smirked. “You human trafficker—you think it’s so easy to trick me? Guess who’s fooled now…”

But before she could finish, she felt a knife press against her back.

A cold, menacing voice whispered in her ear, “Not bad, little girl—you’ve got some skills.”

Lin Xiaoxiao cursed inwardly. She had been so focused on the woman that she hadn’t noticed her accomplice.

She quickly raised her hands, pretending to plead. “Big brother, look how skinny I am—selling me wouldn’t fetch much money. Please, have some mercy and let me go!

I have two parents in their seventies, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters all counting on me to earn money to support them…”

“Shut up!” Brother Biao growled, pressing the knife harder. “As long as you behave, I won’t kill you.”

“Alright—if you say go east, I won’t go west,” she said quickly, thinking first about staying alive until a chance to escape came.

Seeing her compliance, Brother Biao pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to cover her mouth.

At that moment, a tall figure appeared in the aisle, swinging a punch straight at Brother Biao’s head…