CH 4

4. First Arc: Great Prodigy VS Campus Violence (3)

“Domestic violence has become second nature for Chen Lao’er. His previous wife was beaten to death, you can’t marry him.” She was not worried about Liu Yan’s life or death, but she was currently only 10 years old and had to live with her mother. Even if she were to run away, they would still report it to the police. Regardless of her refusal, the police would forcibly take her back to Liu Yan.

The growing environment that the program team had designed for her was especially abominable. The people in this village couldn’t be called bad people, but they were definitely not good people either. They were mean and indifferent, without any compassion for orphans and widows, to the point that they would take advantage of any small benefits available to them.

Therefore, she wouldn’t be able to get any help from them.

Liu Yan rubbed her arms in fear, “But how will we get money?”

Song Juyao looked at her. The icy look of condemnation made Liu Yan feel a bit guilty.

Although the family had lost all their wealth, they still hadn’t sold off all their belongings. Song Juyao sat in the living room and turned on the TV.

A variety show called “I Am a Big Winner” was playing on the TV. This program was a quiz show where the participants acted independently and competed to answer the questions. There was no age limit nor any occupational limit, and you could join simply by signing up, with the prize money increasing with each promotion.

Song Juyao’s gaze was fixed on the screen.

Before going to prison, she had been a top student in the nation’s capital, having passed the college entrance examinations as the top scorer of the year. Although she was a science student, she loved reading; from astronomy to geography, she had mastered various knowledge about the customs of various countries in addition to all sorts of remote trivia. Her classmates called her a “living encyclopedia”, and she rarely failed to answer any of the questions they asked. Now that her memories were no longer suppressed, all of her knowledge had returned to her mind.

In an instant, Song Juyao had a clear plan in her mind.

She got up and went into the kitchen.

At this moment, Liu Yan was crying whilst cooking.

Song Juyao: “Mom, don’t cry, I’ve figured out a way.”

Liu Yan didn’t understand what she was saying and looked at her aggrievedly, “What way?”

“Get your ID and bank card and pack your things, we’re going on a long trip away from here.” Song Juyao explained.

Song Juyao’s indisputable and uncompromising sense of command made Liu Yan feel wronged, but she still obeyed subconsciously.

“How much money do you have?” Song Juyao asked.

Liu Yan stammered, “Around a thousand…”

So poor.

“Give it to me.”

The longer the delay, the easier it would be for new complications to arise. If Liu Guoqing knew that they were going to go far away, he would try any means possible to detain them in order to prevent his red envelope1 from flying away. So Song Juyao had to leave without giving others a chance to obstruct her.

Riding their electric tricycle, Song Juyao took Liu Yan to the bus station in their village and went to buy tickets.

People entered and exited the station. Liu Yan was an eye-catching target and their gazes swept over her from time to time. Song Juyao’s muscles slowly tensed. The waiting time at the station seemed to have been extended.

Would they be able to leave smoothly? That man making a phone call was looking at them. Could it be possible that he recognized them and was informing someone?

At that moment, the bus finally arrived. With a wooden expression on her face, Song Juyao boarded the bus with Liu Yan.

It wasn’t until they finally drove out of Li’an Village that Song Juyao’s tense muscles slowly relaxed.

Inside the bus, Song Juyao and Liu Yan sat diagonal to each other, at the back. A middle-aged auntie stared at the two of them, her gaze flitting between the two of them. Noticing that they seemed to be leaving with their clothes, her eyes burst forth with the fervor of gossip and she took out her phone to make a call.

She whispered softly, “…who else, it’s that vixen in our village, she’s taking her little brat into the city… Her whole family is in the village, who do you think she can go to, I don’t know whether it’s a lover… This kind of woman, you can tell at a glance that she’s restless, I don’t know how many green hats2 she’s put on her men…”

In the rural areas, there were fewer people and less entertainment; there were countless gossipy women who wished to see the world thrown into chaos.3 The speed of spreading gossip was exceptionally fast, and soon, someone spread the news to Liu Guoqing’s ears.

Liu Guoqing was drinking tea at the Chen family’s house. When he heard the news, the joyous expression on his face changed instantly, and the expression on Chen Lao’er’s face—who had been pouring tea for him—also turned unsightly.

Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er immediately drove off to chase after them, and Liu Guoqing called from person to person before finally managing to get the phone number of the auntie on the bus and calling her.

“Please help me stop her, we are on our way there now, when the time comes, we will definitely express our gratitude.” Liu Guoqing hung up the phone and glanced at Chen Lao’er who was sitting in the driver’s seat. Chen Lao’er had fierce facial features, and a hulking figure; he looked as though he would be able to knock out the gentle-looking Liu Guoqing with a single punch. At this moment, his face was gloomy, making him appear even more frightening.

Liu Guoqing was afraid and hated Liu Yan for being so insensible. He was kind enough to help her plan for her future, but she actually ran away with her daughter. Unexpectedly, the rabbit was courageous and ambitious!

The bus drove for nearly three hours and finally arrived at the terminal.

The bus station and train station were close by, adjacent to each other. The flow of people there was very high and the area was crowded with people jostling into one another. Song Juyao held Liu Yan’s hand and pushed past the crowd.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out and grabbed Liu Yan’s hand, catching the mother and daughter with a firm grip.

Liu Yan was startled and turned her head to look at the person, only to exclaim in surprise, “Aunt Mei!”

Song Juyao turned and looked at the woman. Sure enough, it was impossible to leave this place so easily.

Auntie Mei thought of the benefits promised by Luo Guoqing and her coarse hand holding onto Liu Yan’s slender wrist tightened its grip as she smiled and said, “Chengcai’s wife, where are you going with your daughter?”

“Nowhere, we’re just going on a trip.”

“You sure are going far, you even have to take the train and you have luggage with you as well, who are you going to meet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Liu Yan was pained by her tight grip and tried to pull her hand away, but how could her physical strength compare to that of a woman who was used to doing farm work? Her steely grip was unbudgeable as Liu Yan pleaded, “Aunt Mei, let go of me first…”

There was no way that Aunt Mei would let the cooked duck that had already reached her mouth fly away.4 She dragged Liu Yan outside and said, “There are too many people here, it’s too hard to talk. Let’s go outside and talk.”

Song Juyao had already bought the tickets for the next train online and it would be arriving soon, so how could she allow Liu Yan to get dragged away?

“Aunt, let go of my mother!” Song Juyao stepped forward to block her, but Aunt Mei didn’t pay any attention to her. She simply grabbed Song Juyao and dragged both the mother and daughter out.

Song Juyao’s lips curled up into a sneer and she suddenly shrieked, “It’s a human trafficker! Help!”

The little girl’s scream was sharp and piercing, instantly attracting the attention of the people around them. Those with children immediately hugged their children and looked towards the source of the sound vigilantly.

The three of them were instantly pinned down by countless eyes.

Aunt Mei was embarrassed and tugged at Song Juyao. “What nonsense are you talking about?… Don’t listen to her nonsense, I’m not a trafficker, we’re from the same village, they ran away from home and their family asked me to stop them…”

The little girl struggled desperately and the sound of her guileless sobbing stimulated the conscience of the people around them. “You’re the one talking nonsense, I don’t know you! Uncles and Aunties, save me and my mother!”

In recent years, there had been an endless stream of news about human traffickers using deception to kidnap women and children. Several people immediately stepped forward and pulled Aunt Mei away, separating the two parties, and capturing Aunt Mei.

Aunt Mei was extremely flustered: “What is wrong with you all? I really know them…”

“Call the police, call the police first.”

“Whether you’re a trafficker or not, we’ll know when the police arrive!”

“She has such a wicked appearance, she doesn’t look like a good person…”

Taking advantage of the public’s attention being focused on Aunt Mei, Song Juyao quickly pulled Liu Yan—who was in a daze the whole way—to the train station.

Seeing this, Aunt Mei was in a great hurry. Unlike the bus, private cars did not need to pause midway through the journey and the speed was much faster. Liu Guoqing was only one block away from them now, she couldn’t let the person run away!

“Get out of the way, get out of the way…” Aunt Mei broke free from grasp and pushed through the crowd and ran after them.

“You human traffickers, die for me!” But a father whose child had been kidnapped by a human trafficker heard the commotion rushed over from the distance and kicked her. Aunt Mei’s plump body fell onto the ground instantly and she immediately supported her waist as she howled in pain.

At that moment, Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er rushed over to the scene. “Where are they?”

“Ahhh… They just went in, hurry up.” Aunt Mei was filled with hatred. Before, she had just wanted to get some benefits, but now, she really wanted to see Liu Yan and Song Juyao get caught. The more they wanted to run away, the more she wanted to capture them.

Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er immediately ran towards the train station.

Song Juyao had just used Liu Yan’s ID card to pick up the tickets at the self-service station when she turned and caught sight of Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er standing at the entrance and looking around all over the place. Her heart skipped a beat and she immediately pulled Liu Yan and ran towards the ticket gate.

“Ah! Yaoyao, slow down…” Liu Yan still didn’t understand what was going on and made a sound which quickly attracted the attention of the two men who were looking for them, and they immediately ran towards them.

Song Juyao’s heart beat faster, but her face showed no outward signs. She pulled Liu Yan and ran like mad, and Liu Yan almost fell several times.

“Sorry, uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters, please excuse us, we’re late…” Song Juyao dragged Liu Yan to the front of the queue and forcibly cut in line amid the noises and gazes of discontent.

At this time, Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er had already reached the end of the line and rushed forward with red eyes.

Song Juyao and Liu Yan had already passed the ticket inspection.

“What are you doing?! Take out your ID card!” A stern shout came from behind. Song Juyao turned back expressionlessly and saw Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er who had been stopped by the officers at the train station.

Liu Guoqing gasped for breath and suddenly met Song Juyao’s eyes. Those eyes looked at him fixedly with a strange, dark gaze. Song Juyao tilted her head and curled up her lips. In the blink of an eye, she became sweet and innocent once again. It was just that, paired with those eyes, this sweetness and innocence was painted with a cruel and terrible flavor.

Song Juyao raised her middle finger in Liu Guoqing and Chen Lao’er’s direction.

Get out of my world, scum.

At that moment, Song Juyao felt a sense of relief. Her enemies were extremely powerful and they had designed all sorts of traps for her, wanting to see her scream in pain and expose a twisted face. They had already succeeded once, but this time, she would be the winner!

The train rumbled and slowly moved along the track, leaving the shadow of the roof of the train station. The bright light gradually came into view and her eyes suddenly opened to a wide panorama.5 Today, the sunshine was gloriously bright.