svetikya Chapter 363 - 360: Catching the Human Trafficker
Chapter 363 - 360: Catching the Human Trafficker
Lin Lan went to the storeroom and scooped out a basin of red-skinned peanuts. She poured them onto a baking sheet, baked them in the oven until they were cooked, then took them out to cool. Afterward, she and Qiaohui used a rolling pin to crush them, then poured the pieces into a rice sieve to remove the skins.
She placed a porcelain basin of marshmallows into the oven, using its residual heat to melt them completely.
Lin Lan took the basin of marshmallows out and set it on the cutting board. Qiaohui quickly added the pre-portioned milk powder and crushed peanuts into the melted marshmallows and stirred rapidly. A milky fragrance filled the air.
Qiaohui laughed. "Lin Lan, I still remember how my mouth would water at this sweet, milky smell when we first started making nougat. Not anymore."
Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "You get used to it. You build up an immunity."
"Mhm!"
The two of them worked together, pouring the evenly mixed nougat from the basin onto wax paper. They then laid another sheet of wax paper on top and used a rolling pin to flatten the warm nougat into a rectangle.
Qiaohui took the flattened nougat to the refrigerator. After it had cooled, she brought it out. Lin Lan sprinkled some milk powder on the cutting board, placed the unwrapped nougat on top, and cut it into small pieces.
Qiaohui put the nougat pieces into a porcelain basin, sprinkled on a bit more milk powder, and shook the basin vigorously to coat the candies evenly and prevent them from sticking together.
Lin Yuezhen came into the room, brought out the candy wrappers, and placed them on a stool. She began wrapping the nougat and putting the finished pieces into a bamboo basket.
Lin Lan and Qiaohui made more than a dozen batches of peanut nougat before they finally sat down with Lin Yuezhen to help wrap them.
The three of them chatted idly as they wrapped the candies, so the work didn’t feel tedious.
At eleven o’clock, Yang Zhigang returned to the pastry shop carrying his satchel. "The troublemakers are gone, so business is much better. We sold out completely—not a single thing left."
Qiaohui laughed. "With two fewer meat stalls, of course business is going to be good."
Yang Zhigang popped a piece of nougat into his mouth. "Mm, I think Sister-in-law’s peanut nougat is even tastier than White Rabbit candy."
Qiaohui shot him a look. "You have no idea how much good stuff goes into it. There’s milk powder, marshmallows... it’d be weird if it wasn’t delicious."
Yang Zhigang nodded repeatedly. "I’ll wash my hands and help wrap."
Lin Lan remembered the matter of fetching the jars. She stood up, took a key from her pocket, and said to Yang Zhigang, "Zhigang, come with me back to Lexing to pick up the jars."
"Okay, I’ll go get the vehicle key."
The two of them left the pastry shop and rode their bikes toward Lexing. A few steps into the alleyway of the Vehicle Factory, a tall man in a Zhongshan suit walked briskly toward them, carrying a grayish-green canvas travel bag.
Lin Lan glanced at him as she rode past.
Yang Zhigang, who was behind her, caught up. "Sister-in-law, there’s something off about that man’s bag."
"What’s wrong?" Lin Lan squeezed her brakes and stopped, glancing back at the hastily walking man.
Yang Zhigang frowned. "I think I saw the bag move. I deliberately swerved my handlebars and let my calf bump the bag as I passed. I’m sure it’s not clothes in there."
Lin Lan thought of the child from the work team who had gone missing last year. She quickly turned her bike around. "Zhigang, hurry! Go after him and deliberately bump into him."
"Right!" Yang Zhigang turned his bike around. Seeing the man had already reached the intersection, he pedaled furiously after him.
The man seemed to sense someone was chasing him. He shouldered the travel bag and ran toward an approaching bus.
Yang Zhigang sped up, angling his bicycle from behind to ram into the hand the middle-aged man was using to carry the bag. The man couldn’t dodge in time, and the travel bag fell to the ground with a dull thud.
"Are you blind? Watch where you’re going!" The man shot Yang Zhigang a glare and hurriedly went to pick up the bag.
Yang Zhigang grabbed him and said with an apologetic smile, "I’m so sorry, sir. Did I hurt you? Let me take you to the hospital to get checked out."
The man recognized Yang Zhigang as the person who had swerved in the alley. He glared at him with viperous eyes. "No need. If you can’t ride a bike, don’t ride one."
Yang Zhigang was now certain this guy was shady. He held on tight and kept up the apologetic act. "Sir, we should really get it checked out!"
A vicious glint flashed in the man’s eyes. "I said I’m not going, you stupid bastard!"
Lin Lan, who had caught up, jumped off her bike. She rushed forward, snatched the travel bag from the ground, and unzipped it with lightning speed. Inside lay a chubby little boy, about two or three years old, with his eyes closed.
"It really is a child! Grab him! He’s a human trafficker..." Lin Lan shouted, fumbling to open the bag wider to get the child out.
"Son of a bitch! Meddling in things that don’t concern you." A cold glint flashed as the man brandished a knife and lunged at Yang Zhigang.
Yang Zhigang quickly dodged. The blade slashed his arm. The man then kicked him hard and took off running.
Yang Zhigang scrambled up from his bicycle, ignoring his bleeding arm, and gave chase. "He’s a trafficker! Catch the trafficker! Someone’s trafficking a child!"
"Where’s the trafficker?" Passersby stopped and ran toward them.
Lin Lan pointed at the tall man and shouted, "Catch the trafficker! Quick, catch the trafficker!"
People from nearby and from the bus stop all started to converge on the man. "Get him! Quick, get him..."
People poured off the bus. The crowd blocked the man’s path. He whipped around and dashed into a small alley nearby.
Yang Zhigang pointed after the man. "Quick, he went that way..."
"After him!"
The crowd turned and chased into the alley. A middle-aged man pushing a single-wheeled barrow came toward them, its wheel going CREAK, CREAK.
Someone yelled, "Catch the trafficker! Quick, block him!"
The man with the barrow froze for a second, then immediately pulled it sideways, blocking the alley. He grabbed sweet potatoes from his basket and started throwing them. The trafficker hurriedly dodged.
Yang Zhigang ran up and kicked the man in the lower back. The rest of the crowd caught up and swarmed him, pinning him to the ground.
Meanwhile, Lin Lan was holding the unconscious child and addressing the onlookers. "Whose child is this? If anyone recognizes him, please go get his parents. I’m taking the child to the employee hospital up ahead."
"Don’t know him."
"I think he’s the grandson of the Gu family from the Vehicle Factory. I’ll go get Old Man Gu."
Lin Lan hadn’t run far with the child when several members of the joint defense team ran over. "Ma’am, where’s the trafficker?"
"The crowd chased him into the alley up ahead. I’m taking the child to the hospital," Lin Lan said, out of breath.
One of them pointed at Lin Lan. "Oh, it’s you! The one who sells fried fava beans. Give me the child. I can run faster."
"Yes, that’s me!" Lin Lan handed the child to him and said anxiously, "I don’t know what that man gave the child. Please, run as fast as you can."
She was worried it was some kind of drug and that prolonged exposure could be bad for the child’s brain.
"Got it." The man took the child and ran toward the employee hospital up ahead, while the others ran toward the alley.
Lin Lan breathed a sigh of relief. She thought of the injured Yang Zhigang, and just as she turned around, she saw a group of people walking toward her, pinning the trafficker in their midst.