The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

At Leng Yuan’s prompting, a villager stood up, their face etched with anxiety. ”Our child still hasn’t come home. Could they have been taken by them?”

”Yes, our child too.”

Everyone had thought the children were just playing somewhere else; they hadn’t even considered the possibility of traffickers.

The village children were all raised free-range. The adults were busy with farm work, so even if they noticed a child hadn’t returned home, they would just assume they had gone off to play somewhere else.

Now that it was brought up, they realized that five or six children in the village were not at home.

Chen Beiguo pondered for a moment before speaking directly.

”We’ll do as you say.”

Leng Yuan chose Chen JianShe, Chen Jie, Xu Chongfeng, Xu Chongshan, Zhao Tiezhu, and a few other young men from the village.

He told the remaining people to watch the traffickers and wait for the police to arrive.

As for Gu Jiaojiao, she was to stay with the other villagers.

The village chief came forward from the back. Seeing Gu Jiaojiao, he immediately began to thank her.

The children who had returned all said that Gu Jiaojiao had used herself to threaten the traffickers, which was the only reason they were able to get away. He was so relieved she was unharmed; otherwise, how could their families ever repay such an immense debt of gratitude!

Gu Jiaojiao waved her hand dismissively. ”Village Chief, you’re being too kind.”

Her face was etched with exhaustion. After an ordeal like that, no one could be expected to look unfazed.

Chen Beiguo, being observant, noticed Gu Jiaojiao’s weary expression and immediately stepped forward. ”Uncle, Gu Zhiqing must be exhausted. Let her get some rest.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to send Gu Jiaojiao home, but the police would be arriving soon and would need to take a statement. As a key witness, Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t leave.

Meanwhile, Leng Yuan and his chosen men dragged the trafficker known as Second Brother to his feet and took him with them.

The police arrived quickly. Once they confirmed the men were traffickers, they took them all away. They also brought Gu Jiaojiao in to give a statement. By the time she returned, the sky had already grown dark.

But Leng Yuan and his group had not yet returned.

When Chen Xiaoli and Yu Fangfang heard Gu Jiaojiao was back, they immediately left their children in the care of their mothers-in-law and went together to Gu Jiaojiao’s home.

The two of them had brought food from their homes.

They knew Gu Jiaojiao had been through so much and probably hadn’t eaten a bite. After something like this, she certainly wouldn’t feel like cooking, so they brought a meal over.

They came partly to thank her and partly out of concern that she might be frightened.

Their children had only returned safely thanks to Gu Jiaojiao. They didn’t dare to imagine what fate would have befallen their kids without her. For that reason alone, the two of them felt an immeasurable gratitude toward Gu Jiaojiao.

”Jiaojiao, we owe you so much for what happened today. It’s such a huge debt of gratitude, I don’t even know how to thank you. In short, if you ever need help with anything in the future, I’ll be there.”

As she spoke, she set out the dishes.

”Here’s some food I made. I knew you must not have eaten since you just got back. Please, have a little something!”

Gu Jiaojiao, however, had no appetite. She fed Xiao Yang a little something, then coaxed him to sleep.

Sweet Girl was still at the Xu family’s home.

Speaking of Sweet Girl, Chen Xiaoli couldn’t help but add,

”That poor girl... when she heard you were in trouble, she just sat there with her eyes wide open, not saying a word, not moving a muscle. It was heartbreaking to watch. It wasn’t until someone came back from the village and said you, Leng Yuan, and Xiao Yang were all safe but had to give a statement that she finally burst into tears.”

”She cried until she was exhausted, so I had her go to sleep with Xiao Ni. I didn’t know how late you’d be, so I went ahead and put the kids to bed.”

Gu Jiaojiao thanked her. After feeding Xiao Yang, she put him to bed in the room she shared with Leng Yuan.

After what had happened during the day, the little boy was bound to be frightened.

Once Xiao Yang was asleep, the three women sat on the kang, chatting around the table.