"If I'm not mistaken, he's likely a human trafficker…" As Gu Zhihan spoke, he took the opportunity to glance back and saw the trafficker still in hot pursuit. He immediately used the loudest voice he could muster to cry for help from the people on the street.
"There's a human trafficker!!!"
Though Gu Zhihan was proud and self-confident, he was also clear that he, at merely three years old, was not capable of subduing the middle-aged man himself.
"Uncles and aunties, please save us, there's a human trafficker chasing us!" Luo Mengmeng followed suit, playing her part well.
By now, they had run from the deserted alley onto the bustling central street, and it just so happened to be the peak period for school release and workday end, with many people around.
"What? A human trafficker?" In broad daylight, the passersby were instantly stunned. Looking up and seeing a malevolent man chasing after two children, their sense of justice was immediately stirred.
"Don't be scared, kids, we're coming to save you!" Good Samaritans immediately rushed to the rescue.
Cursing his luck, the trafficker turned around to flee, feeling guilty, but he was quickly grabbed by several tall and strong passersby.
Others immediately dialed 110.
Once the police arrived and confirmed he was a trafficker, they immediately cuffed him and put him in the patrol car.
"Children, can you tell your auntie where your home is? I'll take you back," one of the policewomen approached Gu Zhihan and Mengmeng, bent down, and looked at the two little ones with pity.
She had seen the surveillance footage; if it weren't for the little boy's quick thinking, the little girl would likely have fallen into the trafficker's hands by now.
"It's up ahead..." Gu Zhihan was about to speak when Luo Mengmeng suddenly started crying.
"Husband!" Luo Mengmeng's small hand clung to the hem of his clothes, her eyes redder than a rabbit's from the tears, sobbing continuously, "Wuu... I was so scared... I nearly got taken away by the bad man..."
Her petite frame was shaking like a sieve, her eyes filled with terror, looking as pitiable as a deer startled by a hunter's trap.
"Don't be afraid." Gu Zhihan bowed his head, lifted the little girl into his arms, one hand circling her waist, the other continually stroking her head, he spoke with immense guilt, "Luo Mengmeng, I'm sorry..."
It was all his fault. If he hadn't been showing off, walking faster than her, she wouldn't have almost been kidnapped.
"No, it's all my fault for making husband mad, and that's why you didn't wait for me after school. Mengmeng will not make you mad again," Mengmeng, hearing the usually proud Gu Zhihan apologizing to her, quickly lifted her teary eyes and shook her head.
"It's not your fault, it's mine," Gu Zhihan shook his head.
"No, it's my fault…" Mengmeng insisted, shaking her head again.
The policewoman stood there in a whirlwind, listening to the two little friends arguing back and forth until she couldn't help but interrupt them.
"Kids, it's getting late, let's go home first, or your parents will worry," she said.
"Oh!"
Then, Gu Zhihan and Mengmeng stopped their argument and followed the policewoman.
On the way home, Gu Zhihan's hand tightly held Luo Mengmeng's, very tightly, as if he were afraid of losing her again.
Once home, Luo's father, Luo's mother, and Father Su were all away due to work, so the policewoman shared the day's events with Gu's mother, who had just gotten off work.