Last night, Liu Xiangli didn't book a flight, but booked a high-speed train ticket instead.
Someone asked, isn't flying faster?
Indeed, flying is faster, but considering the crucial and risky period they were in, Liu Xiangli was not pursuing speed but rather prioritizing safety.
About two hours later, the high-speed train arrived at Yungang Station in Jianghai.
Liu Xiangli suddenly suggested they get off the train, leaving He Nanqing puzzled.
Even though they were already in Jianghai City, to her knowledge, Yungang station was still seventy to eighty kilometers away from the city center. Why would they get off the train early?
Whether it's a bus station, train station, or airport, they all pose potential unknown threats to Liu Xiangli. Maybe she was overthinking, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. She didn't want to put herself in danger.
If, as she suspected, they could monitor the entrances of these transit points, wouldn't they also monitor all the intersections in Jianghai?
Jianghai City had roads extending in all directions, unless their enemy had incredible capabilities, controlling all of them was simply impossible.
Before getting off at Yungang Station, Liu Xiangli fully briefed He Nanqing on her circumstances.
He Nanqing felt like they were in a movie. It was nerve-wracking, scary, but also thrilling.
Moreover, Liu Xiangli had added thirty thousand yuan to her bank account. And Liu Xiangli might need the money soon, so she decided to get off the train with her.
Yungang County was the industrial base of Jianghai, so its economic development was many times better than Liang County.
With skyscrapers standing tall, the central area was not far off from Jianghai. After leaving the station and grabbing a bite to eat, they headed straight toward the car rental shop.
Liu Xiangli decided to drive back to Jianghai herself, but with just over forty thousand yuan left, she couldn't afford to buy a reliable car. Buying one would also be a waste, so she had no choice but to rent instead.
The three of them came to a car rental shop named 'Shenzhou', where cars ranged from tens of thousands to millions. Liu Xiangli chose a white Volkswagen Touareg, not luxurious, but not low-grade either. The daily rental cost was a thousand yuan, perfect for them!
Just as they were about to complete the paperwork, a rental shop employee's phone rang. He was occupied with the phone call for several minutes. Such poor service attitude was unacceptable.
Fortunately, this wasn't Feitian Group, otherwise Liu Xiangli would've fired him long ago.
At that moment, Li Huai raised an eyebrow at the conversation taking place in the blue Buick business vehicle parked not far off, which caught his attention.
Yes, they were tens of meters away, and the doors and windows of the car were shut tight. The people inside were talking in hushed tones, but Li Huai could hear everything.
For whatever reason, without notifying Liu Xiangli and He Nanqing, Li Huai walked straight toward them.
"Li Huai, where are you going?" Liu Xiangli couldn't stop Li Huai, so she and He Nanqing followed him.
Upon reaching the vehicle, Li Huai pulled the door open gently. The two men and one woman inside were startled.
Apart from them, there was also a boy around five or six years old.
Round shaped little head, a pair of big eyes shimmering, full of spiritual energy.
Just that the little boy's eyes were filled with tears and his small face had several bruises. It looked like he was pinched roughly by someone.
By the time both Liu Xiangli and He Nanqing arrived, they assumed that Li Huai had mistaken the people in the car for acquaintances, so they were preparing to apologize.
Yes, Li Huai indeed didn't recognize the people in the car, and those two men and one woman didn't recognize Li Huai either. They were infuriated because Li Huai, a stranger, just abruptly opened their car door.
"Kid, do you have nothing better to do..." A middle-aged man with a scarred face glared at Li Huai menacingly, which was nothing short of creepy. But before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Li Huai.
However, Li Huai ignored the scar-faced man and turned his gaze toward the little boy. He suddenly grinned and asked, "Xiao Bao, what are you doing here, where are your mom and dad?"
Xiao Bao? Li Huai knows this child?
Even if Li Huai knew the child, it shouldn't have mattered, but the two men and one woman in the car were all suddenly shocked.
"Who are you?" the scar-faced man asked.
"I'm this kid's neighbor." After answering, Li Huai reversed the question, "And who are you?"
"Hehe, we are Xiao Bao's relatives. I am his uncle, this is his second uncle, and this is my wife, Xiao Bao's aunt. His parents are working overtime this weekend and don't have time to take care of Xiao Bao, so we picked him up. If you don't have anything else, we'll be leaving now."
After the scar-faced man finished speaking, he began to close the car door. The man in the driver's seat had already started the car.
Just as half the car door was closed, Li Huai suddenly sneered and pulled it open once again.
"Brother, do you have anything else?" The scar-faced man asked with a hint of alertness while his hand was groping for something.
"Humph! I don't know this kid at all. He's not named Xiao Bao, you're not his relatives, and this child was stolen by you!" As Li Huai finished, he saw the unconcealed panic on their faces, further confirming his suspicions.
Earlier, he heard whispering from the car which seemed to be about the child.
This was followed by the sound of a child sobbing.
The child seemed to have been hit and though he wanted to cry, he did not dare. An intuition told him that something was wrong with the people in the car.
His habit of meddling in other people's business kicked in. But before figuring out what was going on, he cunningly pretended to know the boy in the car. Unbelievably, these three fools actually fell for it!
Which parents would entrust their child to a stranger?
There was only one possibility: the three men and one woman had taken the boy without his parents' permission. Simply put, the little boy might have been stolen by them!
Child traffickers again? Li Huai's anger surged uncontrollably. Liu Xiangli and He Nanqing were stunned, had they actually encountered child traffickers?
The scar-faced man was seething with anger. This kid had tricked him. But, Li Huai was just a young punk, there was nothing to be afraid of. "Kid, you can eat anything you want, but you can't just say anything you want. Get lost!"
While speaking, the scar-faced man showed his sharp knife, assuming it would intimidate Li Huai.
Unexpectedly, Li Huai raised his fist and punched him in the face. The scar-faced man felt like he was brutally struck by a yak, his head throbbing in pain as if he was going to die.
Seeing this, the man in the front passenger seat drew a knife from under the seat, ready to get out of the car and teach Li Huai a lesson.
But the woman in the back seat stopped him, her intuition telling her that the young man outside was not simple. Combined with their guilty conscience, she said, "Qiang, we can't act impulsively. It's best to leave now. Start the car!"
Qiang irritably threw the knife aside, stepped on the gas, getting ready to make a quick getaway.
"Planning to run? No way!" Li Huai grabbed the car body, effectively holding the Buick business vehicle from moving forward, even as Qiang gunned the engine. Despite rapid spinning of the wheels, the car stayed in place.
The three people in the car were dumbfounded. Fuck! Is this even human? It was like a monster, terrifying.