222 Stealing Dogs and Children

"Have we had a visitor?" asked Zhang Xiuying.

She just came back from outside and noticed the fine gifts on the table.

"Yes, that Chen Boyuan from Beijing. He's been here before," said Wang Yao.

"Again? From Beijing?" asked Zhang Xiuying.

"I suppose so," said Wang Yao.

"He's here to ask you to go to Beijing?" asked Zhang Xiuying.

"Yes, I said I would go," said Wang Yao.

"You are going? When?" asked Zhang Xiuying anxiously.

"In three days. The treatment had been delayed for a while. If I don't continue to treat her disease soon, she will possibly deteriorate," said Wang Yao.

It had been over 20 days since Wang Yao's last trip to Beijing. During his last trip, Wang Yao used a Prolongation pill to save Su Xiaoxue who almost died. He then used a number of herbs to try to cure her.

He had tried to consolidate her corporeity. He had also tried to calm her mind and reduce her pain.

He barely stopped the deterioration of her condition, but he didn't have a better way to make her better. After he had left Beijing, even with the assistance of the best doctors in Beijing, Su Xiaoxue's condition just remained the same. Wang Yao hoped that during his second trip to Beijing, he could make Su Xiaoxue significantly better.

"How long will you stay in Beijing?" asked Zhang Xiuying.

"I'm not sure. It will probably take at least one week, or even longer," said Wang Yao.

He had decided to stay in Beijing for a bit longer this time.

"That long?!" said Zhang Xiuying.

"Don't worry. I'm their highly-regarded guest," said Wang Yao with a smile. "They will treat me well."

"Stop bragging!" said Zhang Xiuying.

Wang Yao's father came home a moment later. Wang Yao also told his plans to visit Beijing to his father.

"Go ahead, your mom and I will look after everything here," said Wang Fenghua.

Wang Yao's father was very supportive.

"Great! I've been waiting for you to say this!" said Wang Yao with a smile.

Wang Yao had told his father a lot of what he had planted on Nanshan hill, including those precious herbs and weird trees making people dizzy. Wang Fenghua had stayed overnight on Nanshan hill multiple times. Wang Yao felt comfortable leaving all the business on Nanshan hill to his father.

"By the way, I'm just wondering if anyone is going to use those four empty cottages next to the river at the south end of the village?" Wang Yao suddenly changed topics.

"Why do you ask?" asked Wang Fenghua.

There were four empty cottages close to the main road at the south end of the village. The cottages used to be classrooms of the village primary school. They had been empty since the local school was acquired by a bigger school in town. The area where the four cottages were located was quite big. It also contained a big yard. The yard was temporarily used as the assembly room for the village production team. No one used it afterwards.

"No one is using it now. The cottages belong to the village. But some people asked about it before. They wanted to build residential houses there. Why did you ask?" asked Wang Fenghua.

"I want to buy those cottages," said Wang Yao.

"Buy them? For what?" asked Wang Fenghua.

"I want to build houses there. Otherwise, where am I going to live after I get married?" joked Wang Yao.

"Are you serious?" asked Wang Fenghua seriously.

"Well, I do want to buy those cottages but not for marriage. I want to build a clinic there," said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao had the thought of opening a clinic soon after he had obtained the magical system. But he hadn't made up his mind yet. After Chen Boyuan's recent visit, Wang Yao realized that he couldn't let everyone who wanted to see him go to his home. It was not appropriate. Opening a clinic would be a good idea. It would be helpful to him in the future.

"I see. I'll ask the village secretary," said Wang Fenghua.

"Thanks. I'd be happy to pay for it," said Wang Yao.

The area where the cottages were located was quite big. It could build a house with eight rooms, plus the front yard, so a lot of villagers were interested in that area. But the village authorities didn't want to give it away, so the villagers didn't dare to ask about it anymore. The cottages had been vacant since.

"I see," said Wang Fenghua.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

While Wang Yao was talking with his father, he heard his dog barking outside.

"Don't let him run away!" shouted a villager.

"What happened?" asked Wang Fenghua.

A man riding a tricycle was fleeing in any path he could without heeding which he chose. A number of male villagers with iron sticks in their hands were chasing after him.

"Damn it! Stop running!" shouted one of the villagers.

"What a d*ckhead! Stealing dogs!" shouted another villager.

The man riding a tricycle felt helpless at the moment. He tried his best to escape. He knew if he got caught by the villagers, he would end up being beaten up badly.

The villagers hated dog stealing very much.

Whoosh! Someone threw a brick towards the man riding a tricycle. The brick hit his back.

Ah!

The man was in pain, but he almost reached the entrance of the village.

He saw the entrance of the village as if he saw hope. He then used all his strength to ride as fast as he could.

By the time the man reached the entrance of the village, a van came from the east towards the man. The van was traveling at a ridiculous speed. It ran into the man directly. The tricycle fell on the ground, but the van didn't stop. It continued to run for about two hundred meters before its engine was dead.

"Sh*t! You hit me!" shouted the tricycle rider.

He jumped off his tricycle before it was hit by the van. Although he was not hit, he still fell badly on the ground.

"Boss, what should we do?" said someone in the van.

"What? Run!" said the driver of the van.

With a crashing sound, the door of the van opened, three men jumped out of the van. All of them wore sunglasses.

"What the hell!" The tricycle rider was about to argue with the three men but stopped immediately. They don't look like nice people, thought the tricycle rider.

While he was sitting on the ground, the three men dumped the van and ran away along the road.

"Are you kidding me? You hit my tricycle, not me, why run like this? Is it that bad?" murmured the tricycle rider.

"He is over there!" shouted a villager.

Several villagers ran towards the tricycle rider.

"No!" as soon as the tricycle rider saw the villagers, he got up and ran away without his tricycle. Compared to his precious life, his tricycle was nothing.

He failed to steal any dogs, lost a tricycle, and was almost hit by a van.

What a mess! He actually checked the lunar calendar before he went out this morning, and it said that it was his lucky day today.

As soon as he reached the intersection, something happened.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A number of motorcycles and a car came from the east. Each motorcycle had a passenger who held a stick or a blade.

Shit! What's going on? A group fight?

Those people stopped in front of the van and surrounded it. One of them went into the van with a blade in his hand. He came out with a young child of five years old after a moment. The child seemed to be passed out.

Human traffickers!

Now the tricycle rider knew why the three men coming out of the van were so panicky.

Stealing a child was much worse than stealing a dog. If they got caught, they would probably get stabbed by the angry villagers.

"Take the child to the hospital! Where are those traffickers?" asked one of the villagers.

"Let's continue to chase them!" said another person.

"Stop him!" someone shouted.

Everyone's eyes were set on the tricycle rider.

"He is a thief!" said someone.

"Thief?!"

The eyes of the villagers from the east side turned red.

"I saw a few of them running away. Here comes another one. Although he didn't steal a child from our village, you never know! Is he their accomplice?" said someone from Wang Yao's village.

Oh no!

The tricycle rider knelt down and held his head.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! Please let me go! I just tried to steal a dog, and I didn't even manage to steal it in the end! I never thought about stealing a child!" begged the tricycle rider.

The villagers beat him up regardless.

"Stealing a dog?!" asked Wang Yao.

"Yes, they caught him at the north side of the village. Then, a van came from the east side with a child in it. Those people tried to steal a child. Their van hit the tricycle! Justice is served!" said Zhang Xiuying who just came back from outside. "That guy who tried to steal a dog got beaten up; they called an ambulance for him eventually."

"What about the child?" Wang Yao cared more about the child.

"The child is fine. When the van hit the tricycle, its engine was dead. Those people dumped the van and ran away. But the villagers from Li Family creek eventually caught the traffickers. They almost got beaten to death. Do you remember there was a kid missing not long ago?" said Zhang Xiuying.

"They deserved it!" said Wang Yao.

"One of them had a broken arm; another one had a broken leg. If the policemen hadn't arrived in time, those men would have possibly been beaten to death," said Zhang Xiuying.

While they were chatting, someone knocked at the door; then a strong middle-aged man entered the front yard.

"Hello, Uncle Wang," said Wang Yao.

"Hello, Yao, Fenghua, Xiuying," said the middle-aged man.

It was Captain Wang Jiangang.

"Want a cigarette?" asked Wang Fenghua.

"Thanks. I'm here to thank Yao." Wang Jiangang took the cigarette from Wang Fenghua.

"Why do you want to thank him?" asked Wang Fenghua.

"Yao noticed that thief who tried to steal the dogs first. He called me to ask me to keep an eye on that thief. As soon as he escaped out of the village, he got hit by the van belonging to those human traffickers. What a coincidence!" Wang Jiangang was amazed by how coincidental the whole event was. If the thief hadn't been hit by the van, those human traffickers would have escaped. If the van had gone on the highway, it would be very difficult to chase after it.

"God is punishing those people who have done so many bad things!" said Zhang Xiuying.

"How is the kid?" asked Wang Yao.

"He was taken to the hospital. He should be fine by now," said Wang Jiangang.