Fields of Gold

After the group of traffickers locked the door and left, Little Shitou, who had mixed in the crowd in a low-key manner, stood up and went to the place that Sun Yaoyang was being hung. He lifted his arms and supported the soles of his feet. This caused the pressure on Sun Yaoyang’s arms to decrease significantly.

He lowered his head to look at the scrawny young boy under his feet. He was around six to seven years old and had a small stature, yet he worked so hard to support him that his face had turned completely red. Sun Yaoyang felt very moved, and said to him, “Thank you. You won’t be able to support me, so don’t waste your energy!” 

“If you succeeded in prying open the window, it would benefit everyone. If you failed, you would be the only one who gets punished. It’s too unfair! It’s alright, I’ll do what I can. I believe that someone will come save us soon! Let’s endure this together!” Little Shitou’s body had been nourished with mystic-stone water for two years, so even though he had a short stature, he was stronger than most children. 

After wiping his mucus and tears, the chubby boy also got up and went to Little Shitou’s side. He gave him a big thumb’s up and said, “You are both amazing, and I, Liu Xiaohu, admires righteous people the most. I’ll help you, too!” 

He was half a head taller than Little Shitou, so he didn’t need to raise his hands high to touch Sun Yaoyang’s feet. He took one of Sun Yaoyang’s feet from Little Shitou’s hands and placed it on his own head. With one hand holding Sun Yaoyang’s feet, he rubbed his grumbling stomach with his other hand, sighing, “If I’m full, I can support him alone. I’m really hungry right now, so I feel flustered and my legs are shaky…” 

Seeing that there were people helping him, the coward, who betrayed Sun Yaoyang, cried in a low voice, “He caused everyone to go hungry, yet you guys are still helping him? Aren’t you afraid of angering those people and getting beaten up along with him?” 

Little Shitou saw that the others all looked at the coward with disdain, so he fanned the flames and said, “Had you not acted panicky, how would the bad guys notice? If you didn’t sell him out, the window would have probably been pried open by now and everyone would have escaped!! It’s all your fault. You ruined it for everyone!” 

The slightly older girl spat at the coward and said, “Wang Xiaonian, you coward who can’t accomplish anything yet spoils the good things. Do you know after tonight, we will be sold to some unknown place? You ruined our last chance to escape. Why don’t you go die!!” 

The others all showed an angry expression upon hearing this. No one knew who initiated it, but over a dozen boys rushed forward and started beating the coward. The fellow let out an earth shattering scream in hope that someone would come save him. 

While Wang Xiaonian shrieked endlessly, Little Shitou and the chubby boy notified Sun Yaoyang before they swiftly let go of his feet and squatted in a corner. 

Monkey, who was next door, heard the commotion and went over impatiently to check on the situation. Seeing Wang Xiaonian being surrounded, he gloated and said, “Pay attention when fighting and don’t kill him. Otherwise, I won’t spare you guys!” He left after saying that. 

Wang Xiaonian thought that those people would help him since he gained merit for exposing the escape plan. He hadn’t expected that the other party didn’t even bother to look at him. He could only hold his head and howl in despair as he endured the beating of the group.   

The chubby boy and Little Shitou continued to support Sun Yaoyang’s weight. Seeing that Little Shitou and the chubby boy’s foreheads were covered with sweat, two taller boys quickly came to take over their place. Children still had relatively simple and lovely hearts, so they could still maintain a kind and righteous side in difficult times. 

From time to time, Little Shitou would turn his head to listen to the movement, and constantly glanced at the gap between the door. After the guys next door filled their stomachs and took a short break, most of them went out to look for prey again. Only two to three people stayed behind to guard them. 

Among the people who stayed behind was Monkey. He said to the other two people, “With the door locked, the brats won’t be able to come out anyways. It’s so hard to stand out here on such a cold day. Why don’t we, brothers, go gamble next door?” There was no way that the other two would disagree. 

An hour later, the three men were too busy gambling to notice that a little black wolf-dog coming in from a doghole in the thicket, and it was followed by a small white puppy. The two little fellows crept to the room where the ‘goods’ were locked, and carefully squeezed through the gap between the door… 

“Little Black, Little White!! You guys finally came!!” Seeing that Little Black had brought Little White with him, Little Shitou knew that they were going to be saved! He was very confident in his second sister. As long as his second sister knew about this, she would definitely be able to rescue them!” 

Sun Yaoyang, who was hung on the beam, was delighted to see the two puppies. He whispered, “Yu Fan, are they your dogs? Quickly tear off a piece of cloth and write a message for your dog to send out. Based on my observation earlier, there are at least fifteen to sixteen people in this group, and they are all vicious outlaws. Tell your family to report the crime to the yamen and bring more bailiffs over… No, the yamen should be on vacation now… Ask your family to go to the Tianjin Garrison and look for Commander Sun. Just tell him that his son got kidnapped and ask him to bring his soldiers to save people!!” 

Hearing this, Little Shitou looked at him in surprise and said, “Sun Yaoyang, so you’re the commander’s son ah! Why didn’t you bring more bodyguards when going out?” 

Sun Yaoyang smiled bitterly and said, “Who would have thought that shopping would bring such a disaster? It’s hard to buy foreknowledge even if one has money ah…” 

Little Shitou took out a handkerchief from his chest pocket, looked at his finger, and then bit on it mercilessly. Beside him, the chubby boy reminded him, “Are you dumb? You’re not using other people’s readily available blood, and using your own?” 

Looking in the direction that his mouth gestured at, he saw that Wang Xiaonian’s nose was bleeding for a long time after being beaten. When Little Shitou walked over, the coward hugged his head with fright and shouted, “Don’t hit me. I don’t dare, I don’t dare to do it again!!” 

Little Shitou suppressed his disgust and dipped his finger in the fellow’s blood. He thought over Sun Yaoyang’s words, and then wrote it down on the handkerchief. After that, he tied the handkerchief around Little White’s neck. In his heart, Little White was more reliable than Little Black. 

Little White was somewhat averse to the smell of blood, but it understood the importance of the matter. It bared its teeth and endured it. Little White communicated with Little Black and decided to have Little Black guard the thicket while it went back. It carried the life-saving handkerchief outside and returned to Xiaocao and Xiaolian, who were waiting close by. 

Xiaocao saw it and said to Xiaolian, “Take Little White and find Eldest Brother. After that, split up to go to the yamen and the garrison. Tell them to quickly send men over to save those poor children.” 

Xiaolian nodded and worriedly asked, “What about you?” 

Yu Xiaocao replied, “I’ll guard here in case those traffickers notice and take them to another place!” 

Xiaolian looked at her worriedly and said, “Why don’t I wait here, and you go find Eldest Brother…” 

“Stop wasting time! Just do as I say and quickly go find help!!” The firmness within Yu Xiaocao’s eyes was unshakable. Yu Xiaolian knew that it was useless to say anything else, so she followed Little White to find her eldest brother.

Under Little White’s guidance, Xiaolian soon reunited with Yu Hang and explained the situation to him. Yu Hang told Xiaolian to report the case to the yamen, while he went to send the message to Commander Sun’s residence in Tanggu Town. He knew that he was unfamiliar with the direction to the garrison, and he also didn’t have any transportation. It was better to inform the Sun Family and let them think of a solution. 

At this time, Commander Sun’s family was already in a disorder. Madam Sun nearly fainted when she found out that her only son had disappeared. However, she was indeed the commander’s wife. She stayed calm in this critical situation and immediately sent someone to the garrison to tell her husband about the situation. 

Tanggu Town was less than ten kilometers away from the garrison, and it would only take an hour for a fast steed to travel to and fro. By the time Yu Hang arrived at the Sun Estate, Commander Sun was getting ready to take a team of soldiers to search for his beloved son on the streets. 

Things also went relatively smoothly on Yu Xiaolian’s side. Due to Royal Prince Yang, County Magistrate Zhao paid special attention to the Yu Family. As soon as he heard that someone from Dongshan Village’s Yu Family reported a case, he summoned her in without delay. After Xiaolian told him about the case, County Magistrate Zhao immediately became serious. Children had been disappearing from Tanggu Town year after year, but there were especially more cases this year! There were over twenty children, and thus, this was a very serious matter. He immediately gathered all the bailiffs in the yamen and asked Xiaolian to lead the way. He had to personally lead the bailiffs to catch those atrocious human traffickers. 

At a location some distance away from the alley, Yu Xiaocao blocked the two groups who came to save people, “Magistrate Zhao, Commander Sun! In my younger brother’s message, he stated that there were currently three people guarding there and the rest had gone out! With the commotion that you guys made earlier, some of the criminals must have noticed. If you want to get rid of all the outlaws, we must plan thoroughly!” 

With the resourceful Commander Sun here, they quickly came up with a detailed plan to arrest the criminals. First, he told County Magistrate Zhao to aimlessly patrol the streets with the bailiffs, and he would search for his missing son with his men. In this way, the traffickers would think that the authorities hadn’t found their hideout. When the criminals let down their guard and all returned to the place that the children were kept, they would catch them all at once. 

However, there was a very important role in this plan. They needed a child to pretend to be abducted and secretly check whether all the traffickers had returned. While the children were being transferred, the child had to signal the officers and soldiers, who were lying in ambush outside. At that time, the criminal would be caught in the act and have no other choice but to be arrested! But, it wasn’t completely safe for the child, who acted as an undercover agent. If the outlaws were driven to act in desperation, they would very likely hurt the child! 

After speaking, Commander Sun turned his gaze to Xiaocao and her sister. Yu Hang hastily stepped forward and said, “I’ll go! I’m a boy, and I have the ability to protect myself in danger.” 

Commander Sun looked at him and shook his head, saying, “Your age and physique will cause the criminals to be on guard. To be able to complete this task more successfully, it must be someone who the criminals wouldn’t feel threatened by.” 

Yu Xiaocao took a deep breath and said, “Eldest Brother, I’ll go!” 

“Younger Sister, I’m a fast runner and I’m also stronger than you. I’ll go!!” Yu Xiaolian was eager to protect her younger sister and didn’t care about the danger. She very actively expressed her will to be the spy. 

Yu Xiaocao looked at her solemnly and said to Commander Sun, “It’s decided! I’ll go!!”