Chapter 68 – Asia’s Vinegar King, Bullies the Weak and Fears the Strong

The officer’s gaze instantly became extremely vigilant. He pulled out his walkie-talkie: “Hello? This is HQ, Wang Family Village requests backup, situation is serious, upgrade alert. A major kidnapping case has occurred here. They are six in number, they kidnapped an entire village!”

Over the walkie-talkie: “…How many people did you say were on the other side?”

Young Officer: “Six, two men, two women, and two children.”

—Xie Chian was still a minor, he was just a child.

Over the walkie-talkie: “This sounds more like two families of three out traveling.”

“Police officer, we can explain…” Shen Fubai spoke up.

The young officer raised his baton. “Shut up! You are now suspects.”

Two hours later, they arrived at the town’s Public Security Bureau in the police car.

_

Under a glaring white lightbulb.

Shen Fubai took a sip from the glass of water. “If there were some tea leaves added, that would have been great. Plain boiled water has no taste at all, it’s not even as sweet as the pure, natural well water in the mountains.”

Xie Chian, sitting beside him, said indifferently, “At least you don’t have to worry about this being corpse-soaking water.”

Who knew if there had been any dead bodies in the well in that dark little village.

Shen Fubai put down the cup with a shudder. “The police officer has already upgraded the crew’s disappearance case to a large-scale kidnapping case, you don’t have to drag in another psycho murder case.”

Xie Chian calmly and elegantly took a sip of water.

The wall clock pointed to eleven o’clock at night.

Shen Fubai was a bit sleepy.

Jiang Heng tilted his head to look at him. “If you’re tired, rest your head on my shoulder and sleep for a while.”

Ye Ziran: “Isn’t it better for him to lay on the table?”

Jiang Heng: “Kids, shut up.”

Ye Ziran unhappily played rock-paper-scissors with Xiao Ye.

They arrived at the town’s Public Security Bureau around nine o’clock, then the four of them, plus Xiao Ye, sat here and were questioned for quite some time. Yang Yingying and Mu Yao were taken to another place for their statements.

The misunderstanding was almost clarified – Xiao Ye, who had been abducted, was the best proof. Now, it was only a matter of verification.

Jiang Heng looked at Xiao Ye, who was playing rock-paper-scissors with Ye Ziran, and the more he looked, the more familiar the kid seemed. A child as beautiful as him would leave an impression after seeing him once. Jiang Heng wondered where he had seen him before.

“Xiao Ye, you lost again!” Ye Ziran spread his hand. “Quickly, quickly, give me a candy!”

Xiao Ye silently handed him a candy.

Xiao.

Jiang Heng suddenly thought of something. “Is your father named Xiao Donghua?”

Xiao Ye looked over and nodded. “Do you know my dad?”

Jiang Heng nodded. “We’ve met a few times.” He remembered. The Xiao family and the Ye family were both giants in the catering industry, always in competition in business. Recently, they were fighting over a prime piece of land to open a hotel – that land belonged to the Jiang family.

He probably saw the child at some banquet.

The Ye family had better private relations with him, and the Xiao family offered a higher price. Jiang Yuan had recently been considering which family to give the land to. Businessmen by nature, they were always unwilling to offend either side.

Unexpectedly, fatefully, the adults of both families were at odds, yet Little Ye saved the Xiao family’s young master.

As they spoke, the door to the interrogation room opened, and the young officer, red-faced, followed behind the old chief and walked in.

“I’m sorry!” The young officer bowed deeply to them first. “I misunderstood you!” Thinking about it made him embarrassed. He actually treated the victims as perpetrators… It wasn’t that a bunch of celebrities would bother to kidnap someone, he really hadn’t thought with his brain.

The old chief also said, “Sorry, this kid just took office, inexperienced, causing such a big joke.”

Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng both stood up.

“It’s alright, he was just doing his duty.” Shen Fubai didn’t plan to make a fuss. Given the circumstances at the time, it was good enough that they weren’t shot on the spot as terrorists.

The old chief nodded, the expression on his face was very grave. So late at night, the people drugged had woken up one after another. From everyone’s statements, they could deduce what happened. After finding those abducted women in the cellar, the whole situation was clear.

Liang Chuan Town was only a few hundred kilometers away from Wu Shan, a two-hour drive, the distance of a mountain. Yet, the villagers of Wang Family Village had committed illegal acts under their noses for so many years, the whole village working together, doing criminal things, destroying countless families.

It was his dereliction of duty as the chief.

“We will temporarily detain those villagers, investigate thoroughly, and deal with them according to the law. We’ll strive to send the abducted girls and children back to their original homes,” the old chief frowned. “This matter… is somewhat difficult to handle.”

In reality, there were still a lot of problems to address. The adults were almost the entire village, once they were arrested, what would happen to their children? Would they be left to wander alone at such a young age? Living in a shelter wasn’t a solution either, this place was too small, the shelter didn’t have the conditions.

There were also many women abducted years ago, like Li Wenxiu. They had lived here for many years, had children, and formed attachments, they didn’t fit in with the outside world anymore, nor did they have the face to return home to find their parents. What should be done with them?

There was still a pile of follow-up work to be done.

“Chief.” Shen Fubai said, “I can’t help much, but I can fund the construction of schools and welfare homes to settle those children, and ensure that both boys and girls can go to school.” He had previously discussed this with Li Wenxiu, and he wouldn’t go back on his word.

Even if they hadn’t discovered the human trafficking, after seeing the living conditions of the children in the mountains, Shen Fubai felt… he should do something.

“There is just one thing. This matter… please keep it confidential for us.” Shen Fubai added, “The matter of Wang Family Village will likely become the headline news in local newspapers, perhaps even national headlines… we are just a film crew, we don’t want our names known.”

The old chief was taken aback, then smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll strictly order the entire bureau not to speak of it.”

Then the old chief turned to look at Xie Chian, who was sitting in the chair. “I heard it was you who gave the map to Little Li?”

Little Li was the police officer responsible for questioning them.

Previously, when they were still considered suspects, Xie Chian remained calm throughout, clearly explained the situation, and handed the drawn map to the police. With the cooperation of the villagers’ testimony, they indeed found those abducted women.

“Youngsters these days are impressive,” sighed the old chief. “But you must also pay attention to safety, four high school students running into the mountains, what were you thinking? If it weren’t for the film crew coincidentally arriving, you might not have come out safely, let alone investigate such a dangerous matter alone.”

Shen Fubai thought of Xie Chian’s combat power sweeping through the entire village, and fell silent.

Xie Chian didn’t refute this time, his tone was very gentle. “Won’t happen again.”

“Alright, alright, you’re free to go. All of you, get out, go back and rest properly!” The old chief had the young officer escort them out.

Xie Chian got up from the chair.

As they went out, Shen Fubai saw Li Wenxiu at the door.

In the lobby, there were members of the film crew, Xie Chian’s three classmates, and the rescued women.

Li Wenxiu stood in the corner, staring blankly at everything.

Like having been submerged in darkness for too long, finally seeing daylight and glimpsing sunlight, yet not daring to touch it.

“I didn’t expect them to be so bold, daring to act against so many of you.” Li Wenxiu suddenly said, “Thank you.”

Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai both stopped.

Jiang Heng asked her, “Do you plan to go back and see your family?”

Li Wenxiu lowered her head gloomily. “I want to, I’m crazy about it. But…”

“Just go back,” Shen Fubai said, “While they’re still around.”

Li Wenxiu hesitated for a long time, finally saying, “Mm.”

_

In the lobby, the assistant director in charge of reception was venting to Director Xu, “I waited and waited for you that day, but you never came… How did you end up there?! And when you came, you gave me a big surprise, the police said you kidnapped an entire village, you scared the heart disease out of me!”

Director Xu: “We took a wrong turn.”

Assistant Director: “How could you take a wrong turn? Regular hotels all have routes to Wu Shan. Did you rest at some shady inn? You can’t cut corners on this, it involves personal safety.”

Director Xu: “…Cough.” That temporary inn, after investigation, was indeed a cover for criminals, the people inside were not innocent. Even driver Master Wang was part of the chain.

But Xie Chian asked keenly, “Which Wu?”

Under normal circumstances, even if it was a shady inn, with so many people reporting a place name, they shouldn’t have been sent elsewhere rashly.

The two directors looked at the teenager who suddenly interjected, startled. The assistant director quickly said, “The Wu of Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wang. The whole village is surnamed Wu, the scenery is pleasant, a proper village. I was wondering how you ended up at Old Wang’s house next door…”

Director Xu had him check his phone himself. “Wasn’t the location you gave me this Wu?”

The assistant director fell silent.

Assistant Director: “I, I made a typo…”

The mountain where Wang Family Village was located was called Wu Shan due to its extreme desolation. It turned out to be a mix-up.

But by chance, they stumbled upon and dismantled a den of thieves.

_

Yu Xiaoxiao held a cup of hot water and sat in a chair, still shaken.

The girls present had all been frightened to varying degrees, they had nearly fallen victim to a heinous act. If it weren’t for Jiang Heng and the other six saving the day, whether they would have been unharmed when the police arrived would have been uncertain.

“Are you back to your senses?” Yang Yingying looked down at her.

Yu Xiaoxiao was startled, she looked up, then lowered her head again.

They all heard from the police that it was Yang Yingying and the other six who saved everyone. It sounded incredible, but it was true.

Thinking about how she and Yang Yingying had openly and secretly competed in the past… she now believed that Yang Yingying had indeed been letting her win. With that level of force, she would have been trampled to the ground in seconds.

“Why save me?” Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t understand, they clearly… didn’t have a good relationship.

“Miss Yu, you need to understand, I don’t like you, but I’m not hateful enough to watch you die.” Yang Yingying sat down and played with her phone. “I still don’t like you now, no need to say anything, let’s continue to dislike each other.”

Yu Xiaoxiao: “…”

Yang Yingying was indeed still very hateful.

_

Fu Hengcheng was pulling Shen Fubai, wanting to hear the details. “Exactly how did you six take down the entire village? Sounds very exciting, quickly tell me about it. Oh, why did I fall asleep at that time!”

Jiang Heng endured it again and again, grabbing Fu Hengcheng’s wrist to forcibly separate the two. “That’s exactly how we took them down, want to know more?”

Fu Hengcheng held his wrist: Painpainpainpainpainpain!

Fu Hengcheng cried, “No, no, I don’t want to know anything.”

Shen Fubai looked sympathetically at Fu Hengcheng, the victim of Jiang Heng’s flying jealousy.

Jiang Heng had just dealt with Fu Hengcheng, then turned to see Shen Fubai actively holding Xie Chian’s hand and asking for contact information.

The cool, handsome youth and the stunningly beautiful young man, this combination was quite pleasing to the eye.

Jiang Heng recalled Xie Chian’s feat of breaking stilts bare-handed, the highest combat power in the field. “…”

Forget it, he wouldn’t compete with a minor.