Translator: Cinder Translations
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As soon as the words were spoken, even Zhou Rong, who usually presented himself as reliable and serious, was stunned. After a long pause, he awkwardly said, "Mr. Yin, you're still so humorous."
Jiang Cheng placed his hands on his waist and said boldly, "I just can't understand, how could Village Head Liu dare to assign such a secret task to an outsider? Doesn't he fear there will be problems?"
His words opened a new train of thought for everyone.
Previously, the group's discussions had focused on Zhao Xiangmei's identity, but Yin Zhiping took a different approach, suspecting a connection between Village Head Liu and Zhao Xiangmei.
The room suddenly fell silent.
Indeed, human trafficking was a serious crime punishable by death, so how could they trust an outsider?
Li Lu, enduring the pain in her leg, spoke up, "Could it be that Zhao Xiangmei's husband is from Xiao Shijian village? Maybe she's considered a part of the village by extension."
"That's a possibility," Zhou Rong replied after thinking for a moment.
The people present were not new to dangerous tasks. They had already sensed the difficulty of this mission, which felt different from their previous experiences. After a whole day and night, aside from one death, there had been no significant progress in the plot.
They couldn't continue like this.
Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes and glanced outside the window before turning back. "It's still not dark. I suggest we split into two groups—one stays here to wait for the food, and the other goes into the village to take a look."
"Isn't that too dangerous?" Jiang Zhongyi asked, swallowing nervously.
His concern was valid. The mountains were different from the outside world; it could get dark quickly, and if they didn't make it back before nightfall, something might happen.
Pei Qian nodded, seemingly deep in thought, and said, "Then I'll leave this to Mr. Yin." He raised his head and looked at Jiang Cheng with genuine concern. "You don't have to worry here. I'll stay and deal with them."
"Eh," Jiang Cheng looked Pei Qian up and down with interest. This self-righteous old man could rival Zhen Jianren from the last mission in terms of pretentiousness, perhaps even surpassing him in the thickness of his skin.
"Then Mr. Pei, please be careful," Jiang Cheng responded with the same concerned expression.
With their plans decided, it was time to split up.
Li Lu had an injury, so she had to stay. Yu Man seemed to disapprove of the idea of going into the village, so she directly stated that she would remain as well.
Including Pei Qian, there were already three people staying behind.
"I'll go outside for a look," Zhou Rong nodded at Jiang Cheng and then announced.
Surprisingly, Chen Xiaomeng also chose to go into the village.
This way, there were three people staying and three people going out.
Among the remaining people, only Jiang Zhongyi hadn't expressed an opinion yet.
Logically, there should be more people going out to search for clues than staying behind, so although Jiang Zhongyi wanted to stay, he kept quiet, wisely deciding not to speak.
"I'll go with you," Jiang Zhongyi said reluctantly, his expression clearly showing he didn't want to.
However, to his surprise...
"No need for you."
Jiang Cheng finished speaking without even looking at him, then walked off with Chen Xiaomeng and Zhou Rong.
Jiang Zhongyi was flustered, but he couldn't show it too obviously. His face turned red from the embarrassment.
The only thing that made him uncomfortable was the cold and strange look Chen Xiaomeng gave him as she passed by, as though she were looking at a corpse.
Jiang Zhongyi was startled by his own thoughts and quickly shook his head. When he looked up again, the group had already walked far ahead.
The sunset hung low over the mountain, and the small path through the village was quiet. In the distance, smoke rose from chimneys.
It seemed that even in the face of such strange events, some people still chose to stay behind.
This was what they called the difficulty of leaving rural life, wasn't it?
The flagstones underfoot seemed to separate two worlds—on one side, the doors were tightly shut, or the windows were broken and abandoned. On the other side, though dilapidated, the vegetable patches showed that some people still lived there.
Poverty was the dominant theme here. The lack of labor force was a disaster for a village that depended on fishing and hunting for survival.
The mountains were rugged and unsuitable for large-scale farming.
Chen Xiaomeng seemed to read Jiang Cheng's thoughts. As she glanced at the vegetable patches, she sneered, "Even if the villagers rely on land cultivation to feed themselves, do you think Zhao Xiangmei would spare them?"
The root of the issue was that Zhao Xiangmei was the inescapable calamity of the village.
Their footsteps echoed as they wandered aimlessly. Jiang Cheng looked around, and Zhou Rong had intended to find a moment alone with Jiang Cheng, but to his surprise, Chen Xiaomeng had come along.
"Who's that?" Zhou Rong asked, suddenly alert.
Following his gaze, they saw a little head peeking from behind a fence in a nearby yard.
It was a girl, around six or seven years old, wearing a pale blue rough cloth dress. She stared at them with innocent, curious eyes.
She probably thought she was well-hidden and wouldn't be seen. So, when Zhou Rong spotted her, she was immediately filled with panic.
She jumped down from the half-sunken fence and turned to run back into her house.
But suddenly, she froze, her eyes locking onto Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng smiled at her, holding out his palm with a wrinkled steamed bun in it.
The girl's throat bobbed as she swallowed.
What happened next was simple. Jiang Cheng successfully lured the little girl out with a steamed bun. They chose a shaded spot to sit down.
"What's your name?" Chen Xiaomeng asked, tilting her head.
"Hong Hong."
The girl took large bites of the steamed bun. It wasn't small, but she still managed to devour most of it in a few bites, eventually choking a little.
As they got closer, they realized the girl looked even more frail than they had initially thought. Her face was an unhealthy yellowish wax color.
"Do you live in that yard?" Zhou Rong asked.
"Mm," the girl nodded, sticking out her little tongue to lick the crumbs off her fingers.
The yard she referred to was the one with the vegetable patch in front.
"Who else is in your family?" Zhou Rong asked, interjecting.
The girl licked her lips, still savoring the bun. After a while, she became bolder.
She glanced at Jiang Cheng, who was also holding a bun, swallowed, and then stretched out her hand. "Give me the bun, and I'll tell you."
After taking the half-bun from Jiang Cheng's hand, the girl's eyes sparkled with happiness. She swallowed greedily but seemed to remember something and stopped herself.
Eventually, she carefully stuffed the half-bun into her pocket.
"There's no one else in my family," the girl said, lowering her head. "Only Hong Hong is left."
She spoke while staring at her toes, looking very pitiful. Yet, her big eyes kept shifting in their sockets. When she thought her acting was convincing enough, she suddenly felt a tight grip around her neck, and her feet left the ground.
Jiang Cheng held her up as if she were a little chick.
He reached into her pocket, pulled out the half-bun, and shoved it back into his clothes.
"I won't indulge you," Jiang Cheng said. "I'm not your father."
(End of the Chapter)
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