Carefree Farmwife: Training the Husband, Raising the Bun - Chapter 62

Ying Su’s hand turned into a claw as she gripped the burly man’s throat and pressed down hard. The man’s face flushed red from lack of air.

“Why did you want to send her to Beishan?” Ying Su asked coldly.

The burly man’s eyes began to roll back from suffocation. Ying Su loosened her grip slightly, allowing him to breathe.

Coughing twice, the man rasped, “Auntie, I’ll talk… I’ll tell you everything, alright?”

The middle-aged couple pinned to the wall by the curved blade panicked when they heard this. Their faces turned uneasy, and they shouted in a flustered voice, “Big brother…” as if trying to stop him from speaking.

Ying Su shot them a cold glare, silencing them instantly. She picked up the dagger the man had dropped earlier, pressed its gleaming edge against the burly man’s neck, and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, “Well? Are you going to talk or not?”

The cold blade cut into his neck, leaving a shallow wound that immediately began to bleed. Staring at Ying Su, who looked like a god of slaughter, the burly man frowned in pain but forced out his words, “There are children we captured hidden in Beishan.”

Ying Su frowned. “Keep talking!”

The man hesitated. He didn’t know who this woman was, but if he didn’t confess, she clearly had no qualms about ending his life right then and there. Yet if he revealed Beishan’s secret, and their hideout was exposed, none of them would escape punishment.

Caught between two dangers, he struggled to decide.

Noticing his hesitation, Ying Su pressed the blade deeper. Blood flowed more freely this time. The sharp pain shattered his thoughts of concealment. Realizing his head would be lost if he stayed silent, he hurried to confess everything he knew.

It turned out the burly man and the middle-aged couple weren’t acting alone. They were part of an organized trafficking ring. Their base was in Beishan. According to the man, there were over twenty guards there watching the children and women, men just as strong and skilled in fighting as himself.

Because the docks at Shili Town connected north and south, and waterway inspections were lax, their group had set up their hideout in the remote Beishan area. From there, they hired private boats to sell trafficked people to the south.

Their operation didn’t target only children. They also kidnapped young, beautiful women. Because Shili Town’s location was special and their den was nearby, they never acted locally. Instead, they abducted children and women from northern regions farther away.

This time, they had taken the little girl on a whim while aboard a boat, never expecting to provoke such a dangerous woman as Ying Su.

Ying Su had no sense of righteousness about it. She only acted because, when she saw the little girl being abducted, she thought of her own little bun. That was why she intervened and rescued the child. She hadn’t expected it to lead to uncovering an organized ring or to reveal the Beishan den, which likely held many more kidnapped children and women.

She raised her brows slightly but didn’t dwell too much on it. Though she wasn’t one to meddle, since she already knew, she might as well inform the proper people. That would count as doing a good deed.

Swiftly, Ying Su pulled the burly man’s belt free, tied him up tightly with a knot few could undo, then bound the middle-aged couple as well, gagging all three with rags. After finishing, she turned to the timid little girl standing in the house, watching her. “Do you want to come with me?”

The girl blinked her big, tearful eyes and gave a small nod. But first, she walked over to the burly man, fished a jade pendant from his chest, tucked it into her own clothes, and then went to Ying Su’s side.

She followed Ying Su closely, tentatively reaching out to grab a corner of her sleeve. Seeing that Ying Su didn’t react, she relaxed and continued clutching the sleeve, sticking close as they walked out of the courtyard.

The girl looked about six or seven years old. Her small face was still red and swollen, but one could see she was a delicate and lovely child.

“Where is your family?” Ying Su suddenly asked.

The girl bit her lip. “My father is in Shili Town. If you help me find him, I’ll have him reward you generously.”

Ying Su’s eyes flickered. Judging by the girl’s tone, her father must be someone powerful. The child was no ordinary commoner’s daughter.

But Ying Su wasn’t interested in any reward. She decided to take the girl straight to the county yamen. If the child was indeed from a noble family, the officials there would definitely find her father.

At the yamen, Ying Su said to the guard at the gate, “I need to see Officer Zhou. Please pass the message.”

The guard found her familiar. Remembering she was the pretty young woman who had helped her brother-in-law in a lawsuit before, he quickly went inside to deliver the message.

Soon, Officer Zhou came out. Spotting the little girl behind Ying Su, dressed finely but covered in dirt, with a bruised face, he asked in surprise, “What’s going on here?”

Ying Su brought the girl forward. “She was kidnapped by traffickers. I happened to come across it and rescued her. She says she’s looking for her father. Your yamen should be able to help her find her family. I’ll leave her to you.”

But the girl looked unwilling, still clutching Ying Su’s sleeve tightly. Her eyes filled with tears, spilling down her cheeks. “Auntie, no… I want to stay with you…”

She was already beautiful, and crying made her look even more pitiful, like pear blossoms in the rain.

Ying Su tried patiently, “This is the yamen, and this is Officer Zhou. He’s a good man. If you stay with him, he’ll help you find your father.”

But the girl threw herself into Ying Su’s arms, refusing to let go, sobbing, “No… I don’t want to…”

She must have been badly frightened by the traffickers. Since Ying Su had saved her, she had naturally developed reliance and trust in her. To the girl, Officer Zhou and the yamen were strangers.

Ying Su frowned slightly. She truly didn’t know how to handle children. Officer Zhou smiled and said, “She’s just scared. Right now, she only knows you, so of course she doesn’t want to leave. Once she calms down, I’ll ask her about her situation in detail.”

Ying Su nodded and then relayed everything she had learned from the burly man about the Beishan hideout, carefully omitting the exact methods she’d used to get him to talk.

Officer Zhou’s face grew grave. He immediately led his men, together with Ying Su, to the abandoned courtyard in the alley. The three traffickers Ying Su had tied up were taken into custody. 

After a round of harsh interrogation, the yamen learned all the details of the Beishan den. Officer Zhou then consulted with the magistrate on how best to capture the gang there.