"I know what will happens to these girls who are trafficked to the mountains. Some of them will never
escape the mountains. If they are caught, they’ll be punished badly. You are lucky to have escaped."
The woman said. Then she saw the little child on her back, she asked, "Is this child yours?"
"Yes, I can't let him stay here." Venus said.
The woman nodded. “It's too hard for children to stay in the mountains. My child has to walk a long way
to school every day, and it's always dark when he comes back."
Venus observed the woman’s home quietly for a while. There were no men's shoes or clothes in the
room, so she asked, "Isn't your husband home?"
"He went out to work. He can't make much money a year in the mountains and the kid will have to go to
college, so we have to save money."
Venus had run a long way, and now she could take a rest. She now realized that her pants were
soaked through with mud all over them. Her legs were hurt.
Pulling up her pant, she noticed that her leg had a bloody gash on it that looked horrible.
"You've been scratched by the vines. I'll get some water for you." The woman said enthusiastically.
"Thank you," Venus suddenly remembered something important and called out to her, "Do you have a
cell phone? I want to call home."
"There's a cell phone, but the signal here is bad. I always have to go halfway up the mountain to make
a call.” the woman brought her an old cell phone from her bedside table, “There’s no signal at all. I'm
just using it as a watch."
Venus looked at the phone and saw that there was indeed no signal at all.
The woman knew her feeling, patted her on the shoulder, and went out to fetch water.
By the time Venus finished washing her wounds and changed her clothes, it was already after eleven
o'clock at night. Since there was no extra bed in the woman's house, she shared a bed with the woman
and her son. Although the conditions were very not good, she was happy and fell asleep quickly.
Then she did not sleep well. Her dreams were filled with scenes of her being chased by Gavin's men.
In her dream, she was running, but she couldn't get away from him.
Suddenly there was a loud rapping on the door, and Venus woke up almost immediately. She looked
nervously at the door. She knew the people who could come knocking at this hour were probably
Gavin's men.
The woman also woke up and listened carefully to the door.
"Open the door!" A man was shouting.
Venus held the baby tightly with worry in her eyes, "They're coming after me."
The woman, however, was calm and quickly got dressed. "Don't worry. I'll hide you."
Venus quickly got up from the bed. She shouldered her shoulder bag, picked up the baby, and followed
the woman.
Outside the house, the knocking continued.
With no lights on, the woman opened the door to a room and whispered to her, "This is where we keep
our grain," she said, unlocking a large urn with a bit of corn inside.
Venus struggled to get her foot up and in, but she was unsteady. The child's head almost hit the rim of
the urn, but the woman held her up, "Be careful. I'll put something on it."
Venus protected the child in her arms, and soon the woman brought a round board and placed it on her
head, putting two bags of rice on it.
Venus's head hurt a little from the pressure, but she had to bear it.
"Open the door! If you don't open it we'll crash in." The people outside shouted.
The lady closed the storage room door, turned on the light, and shouted outside, "Who are you?"
"We're looking for someone, open the door."
The woman stood inside the house and said loudly, "You come back tomorrow in the daytime to find
the person. It's the middle of the night, and I don't know whether you are good or bad."
"If you don't open the door, I'm going to break it down."
The woman hurried to the courtyard, "Who are you looking for? There are only my son and I in the
house."
The man was irritable. He said to his men, "You two break down the door."
As soon as the woman heard that they were going to break down the door, she hurried out and stood in
the yard. "Wait a minute, please don't break down my door, I'll open it." She said.
"Hurry up!" The man said in an angry voice.
The woman looked at the darkened storage room again and then opened the door to the outside, "Who
are you?"
Heng stared at her with a grim stare, "Have you ever seen a woman with a child?"
The woman thought, "My God, they sure are looking for her."
"No. It's so remote. People won't want to come here." The woman lied. She pretends to be calm.
Heng stared at her for a few seconds. She was a very plain peasant woman, dark skinned, tall and thin,
with fear in her eyes.
"You guys go in and search." He instructed.
"What right do you have to search my house?" The woman shouted.
Her son was awakened by noises in his bed, rubbing his eyes. When he saw a room full of men with
fierce faces, he woke up and cried out in fear. "Mom, who are they? Why do they come to our house?"
The woman was about to rush over to comfort her son, when Heng suddenly asked the boy, "Did a
woman come to your house just now holding a child."
The little boy was confused and shook his head straight, "No, I didn't see a woman."
But he still had the three rooms searched but no one else was found.
Suddenly Heng saw a small door in the corner and asked in a cold voice, "What room is that?"
"That's where my family keeps food." said the woman, a slight quiver in her voice.
"Go in and search it." Heng gave an order, and someone went up and kicked open the door.
The woman stood at the door and said nervously, "Please don't break anything in my house."
They rummaged around inside for a long time, and finally only three large urns were left unchecked.
"What's in here?" Heng asked.
"There are my grains in there."
The man looked at her, and then opened them one by one to examine them. He found that the first two
were filled with grain. When it was time to check the third one, he moved the top rice bag away, and
then lifted the wooden lid to see that it was grain, then closed it again.
Venus, who was hiding inside, held his breath. Fortunately, the man quickly left.
"Mr. Zhang, I don't find anyone here."
Heng came here by following the traces of Venus' passing, and this was the only farmhouse for miles
nearby, "Did she not go into the farmhouse, but sleep out?"
"Let's go." Heng said indifferently. Then he walked towards the door. As soon as he arrived at the door,
he saw that there seemed to be a pile of stuff behind the door. Then he casually pushed the door open
and saw a pair of linen-colored lady's pants thrown on the ground, still with traces of mud and grass.
The woman saw the pants, too, and her heart sank.
When Venus changed her pants, she was going to throw away the dirty pants, but the woman thought
the fabric and style of the pants were very nice, so she wanted to wash them tomorrow and keep them
for herself. She just threw them at the door and forgot to hide them.
Heng picked up the pants and looked at them carefully. "Venus seems to be wearing this pair of pants."
he thought.
"What's this?" Heng turned around and asked the woman.
The woman pretended to be calm, "Can't you see that? Of course it's pants."
Heng sneered, "I ask whose pants are these?"
"They’re mine. I went to work in the field this afternoon and threw my pants there when they got dirty."
The woman said nervously.
Heng took the pants and walked towards the woman step by step. "These are Versace's pants, and
they cost at least 4,000 yuan. Are you sure they're yours?" he scoffed.
The woman was startled. A pair of pants cost four thousand yuan, which was half a year’s living
expense for her and her child.
Heng already saw the answer in her eyes. He threw the pants on the ground, cupped his hands in front
of his chest and said eerily, "I'll ask you again, where is that woman and child?"
The woman shuddered with fear. But she knew that she couldn't go back on her own word when she
had promised Venus.
"As soon as it's dark I'm at home mending my child's school bags. I've never seen a woman with a
child. You also searched my house and didn't find anyone." The woman said.
"Then explain where these pants came from?"
"I bought it at the market. You must be mistaken. Even if you were right, it's an imitation. How can I, a
farmer, afford to buy such an expensive pant?" The woman explained.
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