80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

The alley was deep and the streetlights were a dim yellow. Heavily made-up women stood in the shadows, and the air reeked of alcohol. Every so often, a staggering man would pull a woman into a side alley.

Deeper inside were barbershops and stalls for shoe repair and locksmithing. Further still was a teahouse, packed with people drinking tea and watching television.

Past the teahouse, they saw a sign above a door: a black wooden board with the two words "Blind Massage" painted on it, the paint now peeling and mottled.

The four of them stepped onto the stoop and knocked on the door a few times. They could faintly hear movement inside, but no one answered.

Li Xiangyang called out, "Sister Hong! Sister Hong, are you in there?"

"Who is it?" a woman’s voice called from inside the house.

Li Xiangyang announced loudly, "It’s me, Little Li, Sister Hong! Open up, we need your help with something!"

A series of footsteps approached. Yang Dingbang moved to stand behind Li Xiangyang and Xu Dong. Soon, the door opened a crack, and a woman in her forties poked her head out to look at them. "Who are you looking for?"

Lin Changyou said, "We’re looking for Wen Hui. Could you please ask her to come out?"

The woman’s heart sank. "I don’t know any Wen Hui, or whatever her name is." As she tried to shut the door, Li Xiangyang shot out a hand and held it open. "Are you Ge Hongyu?"

The woman’s voice was cold. "No. You’ve got the wrong person."

"Ge Hongyu, you bitch! Where’s our Wen Hui?" Wu Jiafu, his brother Wu Chunsheng, and Lin Guoliang rushed forward. "Ge Hongyu, where are my Little Qing and Little Ying?"

Ge Hongyu’s expression soured. "Are you out of your goddamn mind? How the hell should I know where your Little Qing is?" ’I knew I shouldn’t have brought that jinx Wu Wenhui along,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, how could they have found me so fast?’

Li Xiangyang kept one hand on the door and pointed at her with the other. "A minute ago you denied you were Ge Hongyu. You’d better be smart and hand the girls over."

"You son of a bitch! You just wait!" Ge Hongyu snarled, throwing her weight against the door. She tried desperately to force it shut, but even with all her strength, it didn’t budge an inch.

Wu Chunsheng pointed at her and roared, "Ge Hongyu, get Zou Chunhong out here! She came to our house last night and was whispering with Little Qing for ages. Today, both Little Qing and her sister are gone!"

Xu Chunhong’s parents had let her leave with Ge Hongyu after hearing she could earn fifty yuan a month. Ge Hongyu had even paid them half a month’s wages in advance.

Ge Hongyu used her body to block the doorway. "Chunhong isn’t here! How the hell am I supposed to know what man your sister ran off with? Let go! If you don’t, I’m going to scream for help!"

"Who dares cause trouble on my turf? I’ll fucking kill them!" a man with a rough, hoarse voice swore as he walked out.

Yang Dingbang stepped forward and barked, "Who are you planning to kill? Ge Hongyu, these folks are accusing you of human trafficking. Hand over the girls right now, or you’ll learn what happens when you don’t."

The man saw Yang Dingbang’s police uniform and froze for a second before retreating behind Ge Hongyu without another word.

After a moment of shock, Ge Hongyu said, "Officer, we haven’t trafficked anyone. I’m a tailor. We hired the girls to help make clothes."

Just then, the people from the teahouse next door, hearing the commotion, came over to watch. They gathered below the stoop, looking up and murmuring amongst themselves.

"Look at her. The state she’s in, and she dares call herself a tailor. It’s about time someone came to put her in her place."

"I bet she’s the one who killed the blind man, too."

"You’re only just realizing that? It’s an open secret on Osmanthus Street. That piece of trash drove the blind man to his grave."

"Well, I say the blind man brought it on himself. He was blind, yet he still dared to marry a treacherous woman like her. It’s a wonder he didn’t end up dead."

"How was he supposed to know a woman from the backwoods would be so crooked!"

Ge Hongyu’s face turned ashen as she listened to the shameless gossip coming from the crowd below.

Yang Dingbang looked at the burly man and said calmly, "We’ll find out what’s really going on once we call the girls out and ask them."

Ge Hongyu’s expression wavered, but she didn’t move. The man behind her turned to go back inside. Seizing the opportunity, Yang Dingbang and Li Xiangyang slammed the door open, knocking Ge Hongyu to the ground.

Li Xiangyang and Yang Dingbang sprinted into the house. Yang Dingbang took the man down with a flying kick, and Li Xiangyang immediately moved in to pin him, starting to unbuckle the man’s belt.

The two brothers, Wu Jiafu and Wu Chunsheng, hauled Ge Hongyu up from the ground where she had fallen. "You venomous bitch, where are our girls? Where are Wen Hui and Little Qing?"

Ge Hongyu unleashed a stream of curses. "You bastard! How the hell should I know where your sister ran off to sleep around?"

Wu Chunyu stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. "Say one more goddamn word and I’ll kill you!"

Ge Hongyu shrieked, "Officer, help me! They’re hitting me!"

Yang Dingbang ignored her completely. He and Li Xiangyang finished removing the burly man’s belt and used it to tie his hands. "Dongzi, Big Brother, watch him."

"Got it." Lin Guoliang and Xu Dong stepped forward to guard the burly man.

Ge Hongyu’s place consisted of a single, long room. Near the entrance, a large square table and two armchairs stood against the wall. Further back was a wooden partition.

Li Xiangyang pushed open a door in the partition and went through. Inside were a few simple pieces of furniture and a bunk bed. The bedding was a complete mess, like a bird’s nest.

Li Xiangyang and Yang Dingbang continued deeper into the house and found a kitchen area. After a quick search, they still saw no sign of the girls and returned to the front room.

"Wen Hui! Little Qing! Little Ying!" Wu Jiafu and his brother Wu Chunsheng shouted, following them inside to search. "Did you find anyone?"

Li Xiangyang shook his head. "No."

Hearing this, the eyes of the three men from the Wu family grew red. Wu Jiafu shouted in despair, "Wen Hui! Little Qing! Little Ying! You foolish girls, where have you run off to? Your father is here for you!"

Just then, a THUMPING sound came from the floorboards overhead.

Wu Jiafu pointed excitedly at the ceiling as dust trickled down. "Officer, there’s someone up there!"

Li Xiangyang looked at Yang Dingbang. "Someone’s upstairs."

"Yeah." Yang Dingbang nodded. He scanned the room but saw no stairs or ladder. Bending down, he peered under the bed and, sure enough, spotted a wooden ladder.

He pulled the ladder out, flicked on his flashlight, and examined the ceiling. Near the entrance to the partitioned room, he spotted a faint seam in the ceiling. He propped the ladder against the wall, climbed up, and inserted a key into the crack, prying it open. A square hatch, a little over a foot wide, was revealed.

Yang Dingbang climbed a few rungs and peered inside. The first thing he saw was a teenage girl lying on her side on the floor, her hands and feet bound and a towel stuffed in her mouth. She stared back at him with terrified eyes. In the corner, four other girls lay, also tied up.

He spoke in a gentle, reassuring voice. "Don’t be afraid. I’m a police officer. Your father is downstairs."

The girl whimpered and nodded again and again as tears streamed down her face.

"There are five girls up here."

Yang Dingbang called down to the anxious faces looking up at him, then climbed the rest of the way into the loft.

"It’s over... It’s all over..." Ge Hongyu muttered, her face turning deathly pale before she collapsed to the floor.