Chapter 5: There is Room For the Poor Daughter
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**Chapter 5: Human Traffickers**
“Daohua , what are you looking at? It’s time to go into the inn.”
Yan Wentao noticed that Daohua kept turning her head to look behind them. He tugged at her hand and moved closer to her, carefully shielding her from the crowd around them.
Daohua was strikingly beautiful, and even dressed in coarse hemp clothing as a boy, she attracted a lot of attention. After getting off the carriage, many people were looking their way.
Old Madam Yan also glanced over, “Stop staring around.”
As the two of them pulled on each other, Daohua quickly averted her gaze, suppressing her unease and refraining from looking back again.
She wasn’t really a little child; through the corner of the carriage curtain that had been lifted, she caught sight of a young face that was bruised and swollen, and she immediately sensed that something was off.
But she didn’t dare to investigate the truth.
There were two tall, muscular men standing beside that carriage.
Soon, Daohua was pulled into the inn by Old Madam Yan , just as Uncle Sun and Aunt Sun returned after tying up the carriage.
Old Madam Yan requested two guest rooms: one for herself, Daohua , and Aunt Sun, and the other for Uncle Sun and Yan Wentao.
“After a long day of travel, everyone should go back to their rooms and rest.”
Old Madam Yan led Daohua toward their room. During this time, Daohua couldn’t help but glance back outside the inn again.
Unfortunately, the curtain of that carriage was completely lowered, and nothing seemed amiss from the outside.
However, the two burly men were still guarding it.
Daohua glanced at the men’s bulging waistlines, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.
Once inside the room, Daohua felt a bit distracted, and when the meal was brought in, she barely took a few bites.
Seeing this, Old Madam Yan assumed her granddaughter was tired from the journey and urged her to go to bed and rest.
That night, Daohua tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, that young, bruised face appeared in her mind.
Were they human traffickers?
Or were they involved in some sordid affair of high society?
No matter what it was, it seemed beyond her reach, and she didn’t have the ability to intervene.
Those two men, who looked ruthless and possibly carried weapons at their waists, were intimidating. Meanwhile, her grandmother, Uncle Sun, and Aunt Sun were all old, and her brother was just a 13-year-old boy. They had no capacity to confront such people.
If they weren’t careful, they might end up putting themselves in danger.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet? Are you tired?” Old Madam Yan noticed her granddaughter was still awake and gently patted her back, trying to help her relax.
Looking at her grandmother’s serene face, Daohua ’s heart gradually calmed. She let her mind go blank, her eyelids growing heavier, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Old Madam Yan called Daohua to wake up.
“The number of refugees on the road is increasing. It’s better for us to get to Linyi County early.”
Old Madam Yan was worried about the safety of the journey, so she decided to speed up their travel.
After breakfast and settling their bill, Old Madam Yan led her grandchildren out of the inn.
As they left, Daohua glanced at the inn’s courtyard and noticed that the suspicious carriage from yesterday was gone. She felt a mix of relief (not having to worry about whether to save someone or not) and concern for those inside the carriage.
On the journey, Daohua and her group saw an increasing number of refugees.
Moreover, they often witnessed instances of refugees robbing passersby.
For safety, Old Madam Yan spent some silver to hire a group of bodyguards to travel with them.
Due to the frequent robberies on the road, their travel speed was inevitably delayed. By evening, the bodyguards hadn’t arrived at the designated inn, so they had to find a dilapidated temple to rest.
Once inside the temple, Daohua ’s expression changed dramatically.
That carriage!
The carriage was tied up in the temple courtyard, and the two burly men were squatting beside it, tending to a fire and cooking some meat.
“Wuwuwu~”
As they passed by the carriage, everyone heard noises coming from inside and looked over.
At that moment, a woman cheerfully emerged from the carriage, saying, “My child at home is throwing a tantrum.”
Upon hearing this, the bodyguards said nothing and directly entered the dilapidated temple.
Old Madam Yan ’s face darkened as she tightly held Daohua and Yan Wentao, quickly following the bodyguards inside.
“Brother, that carriage is suspicious; there are at least ten children inside,” one young man from the bodyguards whispered to the leader.
The leader glanced back at the carriage in the courtyard. “We’re away from home; don’t get involved.”
Hearing their conversation, Daohua looked up at the two men.
Old Madam Yan also sensed something was off. She sat close to the bodyguards, quietly reminding her grandchildren not to run around.
As night fell, several more groups of people arrived at the dilapidated temple.
During this time, many noticed that something was wrong with the carriage, but no one spoke up.
Daohua buried her head in Old Madam Yan ’s embrace, carefully observing the expressions of everyone in the temple.
Indifferent, accustomed, ignored, numb.
Did these people have no conscience?
Not necessarily.
They knew that those three people in the courtyard might be human traffickers, but for those who had been drifting for years, safely returning home was their greatest wish. As for the dangers they encountered on the road...
They were barely able to protect themselves, so how could they spare the energy to care about the lives of others?
Seeing Daohua continuously staring into the courtyard, Old Madam Yan suddenly covered her eyes with her hand.
She knew her granddaughter was smarter than most, but sometimes being too clever wasn’t a good thing.
“Go to sleep; we have to travel tomorrow.”
Old Madam Yan softly said to Daohua .
Daohua nodded and closed her eyes, but she simply couldn’t fall asleep.
Human traffickers.
What she learned in her previous life made it impossible for her to turn a blind eye.
Yet she also had no power to rescue those abducted children.
The entire night, Daohua ’s mind was in a haze.
At dawn, in her helplessness and amidst everyone’s indifference, the two burly men drove the carriage away.
Old Madam Yan sighed silently, took out some food, and instructed her grandchildren to eat, but she didn’t eat a bite herself.
Just as the bodyguards were packing up and preparing to leave, loud noises suddenly erupted outside the temple.
“Not good! Those refugees are starving mad; they’re robbing people!”
The bodyguards’ leader’s expression changed instantly, and he shouted, “Quick, let’s leave this place.” If they got surrounded by the refugees inside the temple, their cargo would surely be at risk, and they might not even survive until tomorrow.
Old Madam Yan looked terrified as she tightly grasped her grandchildren, urgently instructing Uncle Sun to bring the carriage.
Although Uncle Sun was nearly 60, he was surprisingly agile, moving faster than the younger bodyguards. He quickly brought the carriage over, and as soon as Old Madam Yan and the others got on, they sped out of the temple.
After racing for over ten miles, Uncle Sun gradually slowed down once they saw no sign of refugees.
“Slow down a bit; wait for the bodyguards,” Old Madam Yan said, worried that it wouldn’t be safe to travel alone.
In the carriage, Daohua ’s heart was still racing.
When people are driven mad by hunger, they become incredibly frantic.
When they rushed out of the temple, she had seen the ground outside littered with crimson stains.
Having grown up in a harmonious society, she had never witnessed such sights; even now, thinking back on it made her scalp tingle.
Daohua felt the atmosphere in the carriage was stifling. She quickly lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, trying to ease the bloody scenes in her mind with the scenery outside.
The carriage swayed gently as Daohua gradually calmed her emotions.
Suddenly, a carriage parked by the roadside caused Daohua to tremble.
“Daohua , what’s wrong?” Old Madam Yan asked, worried.
It was her oversight; she hadn’t expected the drought in the north to be this severe. There were so many refugees along the way. Had she known, she would have traveled with San’er by water. Perhaps Daohua was frightened by what had just happened.
Daohua quickly dropped the curtain, feigning calmness, “I’m fine.”
Old Madam Yan pulled her into an embrace, saying nothing, just patting her back.
Daohua obediently nestled against her grandmother, but after a while, she suddenly straightened up and lifted the curtain again to look back.
The curtain went up, then down; it went up again and again, repeatedly.
Daohua took a deep breath and looked at Old Madam Yan , “Grandmother, I want to get down to relieve myself.”
Old Madam Yan looked slightly reluctant but understood that nature could not be ignored. “I’ll go with you.”
Daohua immediately shook her head, “No need, San’er can come with me.”
Old Madam Yan thought for a moment and looked at Yan Wentao, “Take good care of your sister. Hurry back!”
(End of Chapter)
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