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"What's your name?" After feeding the stabbed boy some rice soup, Daohua looked to the other boy.
The boy was silent for a moment, seemingly reluctant to speak, but eventually he did, "Xiao Yeyang!"
Once the name was mentioned, Daohua knew this was not a child from an ordinary family.
An ordinary family would not give such a name.
Just like her, even though her father was a Seventh-rank County Magistrate, because she grew up in the countryside, she still bore the plain and straightforward name 'Daohua'.
Daohua sized up Xiao Yeyang.
About eleven or twelve years old, his face was dirty, his hair matted like a bird's nest, and his clothes dirty and smelly; by these appearances, he was hardly different from the refugees outside.
However, from his straight posture and composed demeanor, it was clear this child had been well raised.
As Daohua evaluated Xiao Yeyang, he was also discreetly observing her.
Soft and delicate!
This was Xiao Yeyang's first impression of Daohua.
Although she was dressed as a boy and he had automatically perceived her as one, this boy did not fit his ideal.
To his mind, a boy should be tall and robust. How delicate and tender, even paler than a girl? What was that all about?
Although he did not like her appearance, he admired her courage.
The act of knocking out the trafficker with a stone was indeed brave and decisive!
Having made an initial assessment of Xiao Yeyang, Daohua pointed to the unconscious stabbed boy and continued to ask, "What about him? What's his name?"
Xiao Yeyang shook his head, "I don't know." The children in the hands of the traffickers were abducted from various places. They hadn't been together long and didn't know each other at all.
Daohua was surprised, "You're not together?"
Xiao Yeyang, "No."
Daohua, "Then how did you escape together?"
Xiao Yeyang's expression turned somewhat gloomy, "The others were too cowardly to resist the traffickers. Only he was unwilling to give in; he secretly conspired with me to find a way to escape."
Daohua nodded, "Both of you have quite the guts."
Xiao Yeyang glanced at Daohua and asked, "What about you? What's your name?"
"I'm Daohua."
"Daohua?" Xiao Yeyang furrowed his brows as he sized up Daohua.
Why would he have a girl's name?
Noticing Xiao Yeyang's peculiar gaze, Daohua was slightly puzzled but quickly understood—she was dressed as a boy, so having a girl's name would indeed seem strange to others.
"Cough cough~"
The stabbed boy awoke.
Upon opening his eyes, the boy was full of wariness, but as he recognized Daohua and Xiao Yeyang, he gradually relaxed.
"We... got out?" The stabbed boy looked at Xiao Yeyang.
Xiao Yeyang nodded.
Only then did the stabbed boy truly breathe a sigh of relief.
Daohua checked the stabbed boy's wound again and applied medicine once more, "This is just to stop the bleeding temporarily. Later, you'll still need to go into town and have a doctor look at it carefully, understand?"
The stabbed boy looked at Daohua gratefully, "Thank you." He knew that he owed his life to the youth before him.
If it weren't for his timely action of knocking down the trafficker with a stone, he might have been choked to death.
And the medicine for stopping bleeding mustn't be cheap; it certainly seemed more effective than what the old doctor in their village used.
Xiao Yeyang sat in silence, glancing several times at the small porcelain bottle in Daohua's hand.
What kind of medicine was that?
The effectiveness of stopping bleeding was even better than the golden sore medicine used in the army.
Daohua turned to the stabbed boy, "By the way, what's your name?"
Stabbed boy, "Zhao Ergou, you can call me Ergouzi."
Daohua nodded, his name fit the aesthetics of rural folks perfectly, "How were you two captured by the trafficker?" They were both over ten years old, which is not the usual age to be abducted.
As soon as she spoke, both of their expressions turned grim.
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Zhao Ergou was the first to speak, his tone very somber, "Back home there was a severe drought, and my parents secretly sold me to a family to be an adopted son-in-law. I couldn't believe it, so I snuck back home, but on the way, I ran into those child traffickers..."
Daohua sighed heavily.
Living in ancient times was extremely difficult for common people, and she believed Zhao Ergou's parents didn't want to sell him either, but to survive, they had no other choice.
In Yan Family village, she had also heard of many cases where families, struggling to survive, had no choice but to sell their children.
"What about you? How were you kidnapped?" Daohua turned to Xiao Yeyang.
Xiao Yeyang's face was sour, and he said sullenly, "I was taken along incidentally."
"Huh?" Daohua and Zhao Ergou both turned to look at Xiao Yeyang.
Xiao Yeyang: "I was in a bad mood that day, and somehow wandered into an alley. Just then I saw a trafficker knocking out a kid, and then... I was tied up along with them."
Daohua was at a loss for words, not knowing what expression to make, "You're really unlucky!" Wasn't this just the legendary getting sent for free on a platter?
Just then, Yan Wentao got on the carriage.
As soon as he got up, he hurriedly said, "The child traffickers are searching for us, they are right behind us now. Grandmother told me to tell you all, to keep absolutely silent."
With these words, Daohua, Xiao Yeyang, and Zhao Ergou all felt their hearts rise up to their throats.
Daohua lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and carefully looked back.
Their current location was next to a roadside tavern.
Not only were they there, but so were the people from the Escort Bureau and many others from various places as well.
At the moment, two aggressive-looking strongmen were searching each person, and even went through other people's carriages.
Seeing their determined look, as if they wouldn't give up until they found their quarry, Daohua let down the curtain and furrowed her brows tightly together.
Xiao Yeyang looked around the inside of the carriage; there was simply no place to hide anyone. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe we should get out of the carriage. I'm afraid the traffickers will take their anger out on you if they discover us."
The people who saved them, old and young, were no match for the child traffickers.
Daohua directly denied it, "It's too late to get out now, the moment you do, they'll discover you."
Yan Wentao was nervous, sweat beading on his forehead, "Grandmother said that as long as you all keep quiet, there won't be any trouble. Anyway, we are together with the Escort Bureau, those two men probably won't dare to confront the Escort Bureau."
Daohua shook her head, "The Escort Bureau's people might not take care of us." Saying so, she once again took out her bundle, rummaged through it, and took out two small porcelain bottles.
Xiao Yeyang's gaze flickered, and then he saw Daohua holding the porcelain bottles, stepping down from the carriage and heading towards the people from the Escort Bureau.
When he saw the Escort Bureau's people accept the porcelain bottles, Xiao Yeyang immediately felt relieved.
Qin Wu looked at the porcelain bottles in his hand, then at Daohua skipping with joy back to Old Dame Yan, and sighed internally.
This family's kid was indeed shrewd, actually knowing to bribe him proactively!
Taking a glance at their tightly closed carriage door, Qin Wu instructed a young fellow beside him, "Xiaoliu, go over there and keep watch, don't let those two strongmen cause any trouble."
Xiaoliu immediately nodded, taking two people with him to stand beside the Daohua family's carriage.
After a while, the child traffickers came over, and Xiaoliu straight glared at them, "What are you doing? This is a guest family under our Escort Bureau, get lost quickly!"
The child traffickers looked at the carriage, and then at Xiaoliu and the rest, hesitating for a moment. After weighing their options for a while, they finally turned and left, continuing their search elsewhere.
"Brother Xiaoliu, you are so awesome!"
As soon as the people left, Daohua looked at Xiaoliu with unabashed admiration.
Of everyone in the Escort Bureau, it was he who still had some compassion, probably because he had only recently started working as an escort.
Xiaoliu, feeling a bit embarrassed, laughed and scratched the back of his head, then quietly pointed towards the carriage and whispered, "It's best not to let the people inside the carriage come out in the next few days. That gang of traffickers might follow us for quite some time."
Daohua's eyes immediately widened, "You... you all knew there were people in the carriage?"
Xiaoliu raised his head proudly, "As soon as your carriage joined our Escort Team, my fifth brother noticed."
Daohua's cheeks stiffened a bit, thinking they had been careful enough, she didn't expect they had been discovered!
Weren't these ancient people a bit too capable?
Noticing her disconcerted look, Xiaoliu quickly comforted her, "Don't worry, we won't talk."
Daohua gratefully said, "Thank you."
Xiaoliu waved his hand, signaling it wasn't a big deal.
Afterward, having received a pack of dried meat from Old Dame Yan, Xiaoliu departed with a cheerful chuckle.
Watching his retreating figure and the people from the Escort Bureau in the distance, Daohua reminded herself in her mind that one must never underestimate any ancient people!