“Help! Help!”
“Mingyuan!”
“Yue Mingyuan!”
The man was pulling on Ye Zhiqiu’s arm, while the little boy yanked at her bag. Afraid of hurting Ya Ya, Ye Zhiqiu held the baby tightly to her chest, only able to scream for help.
Ya Ya was furious, about to summon the nearby small animals.
Then she saw her father come charging over, holding Huo Jiusi.
Yue Mingyuan kicked the man to the ground, while Huo Jiusi punched the little boy.
“Shitou! That’s the bastard who stole your mom! Let’s fight him, boy!”
Whether the man was genuinely unhinged or something else, he scrambled up and rushed at Yue Mingyuan again. “You damned scoundrel, stealing my wife! I’ll kill you!”
The boy tried to get up, but Huo Jiusi acted first, pinning him down with a foot on his chest, keeping him from rising.
The commotion attracted other park visitors, many gathering around to watch.
“You ungrateful woman! Why won’t you come home with me! I don’t care that you ran off with someone else. Just come home, and I’ll forgive you!”
The man was kicked down again by Yue Mingyuan. He got up and yelled at Ye Zhiqiu, “Don’t you have a heart? You’d even abandon your own son?”
“What’s going on? The woman looks so pretty, the man seems decent too. How could they do something like this?”
“You can’t judge a book by its cover. That woman looks like a fox spirit through and through.”
[Little Demon, shout that this man is a human trafficker trying to snatch me, tell people to call the police.]
Ya Ya roared in her heart. [Little Demon, can you hear me?]
“Uncle Yue, catch him! He’s a human trafficker! He wants to steal Ya Ya, that’s why he’s spouting nonsense.”
Huo Jiusi said this to Yue Mingyuan, then immediately turned and shouted at the surrounding crowd, “Human trafficker! A trafficker is trying to take a child! Call the police!”
Hearing this, the man instinctively tried to flee, but Yue Mingyuan subdued him.
Yue Mingyuan pulled out his identification and showed it to the crowd. “I’m a soldier. This is my wife and child.”
The bystanders immediately realized the man was the problem and quickly called the police.
Upon hearing it was a human trafficking case, officers from the nearby police station arrived swiftly.
A short while later, Yue Mingli also arrived with his team.
Yue Mingli recognized the man at a glance as the one who had escaped in People’s Park last time. He took both the man and the boy away.
“Were you terrified?”
Seeing the deep red mark left on Ye Zhiqiu’s fair skin, Yue Mingyuan felt murderous rage.
Ye Zhiqiu shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Huo Jiusi needed to use the restroom. Yue Mingyuan, uneasy, accompanied him. Ye Zhiqiu waited nearby with Ya Ya.
Who could have guessed something like this would happen in such a short time?
Any desire to continue their outing vanished, but it wasn’t yet mealtime. Yue Mingyuan put his arm around Ye Zhiqiu’s shoulder. “Shall we go to Yansha Department Store first?”
“Alright.”
As it happened, Ye Zhiqiu wanted to buy something. Li Xing’s birthday was approaching.
Li Xing had helped a lot with her mother’s situation, so it was only right to show her appreciation.
Ye Zhiqiu thought of getting Li Xing a scarf, which would come in handy in a few days.
By mid-September in Guojing, the temperature drops significantly, and the wind turns biting.
After choosing the scarf, Ye Zhiqiu saw a corduroy pinafore dress suitable for the current weather.
Holding it up against herself, Ye Zhiqiu turned to ask Yue Mingyuan, “What do you think? Does it look nice?”
“Very nice. Buy it.”
Ye Zhiqiu picked up another dress and held it up. “I think this one is pretty too.”
“Then buy them both.”
Yue Mingyuan whispered in Ye Zhiqiu’s ear, “We have enough money. Buy whatever you want.”
Ye Zhiqiu bought both dresses, then got two pairs of shoes to match.
“Shall we go look at the men’s floor?”
“No need. I rarely wear civilian clothes.” Yue Mingyuan gently guided Ye Zhiqiu towards the gold jewelry counter. “Let me buy you a gold necklace instead.”
Ye Zhiqiu opened her mouth to refuse, but Yue Mingyuan used Ya Ya as an excuse. “It’s settled. We’re saving it for Ya Ya.”
In the end, Yue Mingyuan not only bought Ye Zhiqiu a necklace but also a pair of the latest style earrings.
“Mingyuan, I think two people have been following us.” Ye Zhiqiu glanced behind her, stood on her tiptoes as if to thank Yue Mingyuan with a kiss, but actually whispered in his ear.
“Don’t worry. Just a couple of ‘Buddhas’.”
In old Guojing slang, “Buddhas” meant petty thieves.
These two had been tailing them since they entered the mall, probably seeing them as easy targets.
“Got everything. Let’s hurry and get something to eat. Ya Ya seems sleepy. Let her eat and then rest.”
The two followed Yue Mingyuan’s family out of the mall. Seeing Yue Mingyuan get into a car, they didn’t dare follow further.
They weren’t suicidal enough to try robbing a soldier.
At the restaurant, Yue Mingyuan specially ordered a steamed egg custard for Ya Ya.
Remembering what Ya Ya had mentioned, Huo Jiusi broke a steamed bun into tiny pieces, soaked them in some dish broth until soft, and fed them to her.
Halfway through, Ya Ya was too exhausted to continue. She fell asleep with a mouthful of egg custard still in her mouth.
That evening, Yue Mingli returned home and talked about the man and the boy.
The boy wasn’t actually a child, but an adult suffering from a rare condition that preserved a childlike appearance.
The two had worked together using this ruse to abduct several women and children.
[This trick is so hard to guard against. To prevent more people from being deceived, this should be publicized in newspapers and on TV.]
Ya Ya waved her little fist with force. [Combating trafficking can’t rely solely on arresting traffickers. You can’t catch them all. The key is to raise public awareness about preventing abduction.]
Hearing Ya Ya’s inner thoughts, Yue Mingli felt it made perfect sense.
The next day, he discussed it with his superiors. They also thought it was an excellent idea and tasked Yue Mingli with handling it.
Televisions weren’t yet common in every household, but newspapers were widely read. Knowing Tian Man wrote a legal column, he immediately contacted her.
After setting a time with Tian Man, he picked the best writer in his team and had them collaborate with Tian Man on this project.
Meanwhile, Ye Zhiqiu hadn’t forgotten her promise to Wang Yun. She made a special trip back to the song and dance troupe. First, to announce her intention to return to work, and second, to ask Wu Qingyun for her opinion about the modeling job.
“Zhiqiu, how is your recovery?” Wu Qingyun asked with concern.
“Director, I feel fully recovered.” Ye Zhiqiu stood up and performed a few difficult dance moves for Wu Qingyun.
After watching, Wu Qingyun was very pleased. “Excellent, just like before your pregnancy. I’m surprised you’ve regained your former level so quickly.”
“In that case, you can rejoin the team whenever you’re ready.”
“Director, there’s one more thing.” Ye Zhiqiu recounted her encounter with Wang Yun from beginning to end.
Wu Qingyun was hesitant; she’d never encountered such a situation before. “Zhiqiu, I can’t decide this on my own either. I’ll need to seek approval from the higher-ups. I’ll let you know once there’s a decision.”
