Chapter 531: Saving People (6)
Just as Su Li and the others had guessed, Miao Zhi had indeed been captured after being mistaken for Su Li.
Before she was caught, she had been wandering aimlessly due to a foul mood, planning to head back to her grandmother’s house afterward. Unexpectedly, she ran into Little Tang Mo. Seeing him on the street with a little girl, and with neither Su Li nor the girl’s parents in sight, Miao Zhi forgot her own troubles and hurried over.
She wanted to take Little Tang Mo back, but he explained that he had just stepped out of the library to buy something to eat and would return shortly. Su Li would be coming to pick him up later. Miao Zhi glanced at the library right in front of them and, hearing his explanation, felt relieved.
But just as she waved goodbye, she saw Little Tang Mo and Little Tongtong being bundled into a car.
Without a second thought, Miao Zhi lunged forward. "Sto—"
Before she could even get the word out, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was dragged into the vehicle, quickly losing consciousness.
The one difference from Little Tang Mo’s abduction was that Miao Zhi didn’t leave the Imperial City by train; she was transported entirely by truck. Of course, at first, Miao Zhi had no idea it was a truck. Just as Little Tang Mo had surmised, the women, including Miao Zhi, were kept in a separate truck, but under identical conditions.
When Miao Zhi awoke, she was already in the truck with a dozen other people.
Being adults, their hands and feet were bound, and their mouths were gagged. They could manage muffled sobs but were completely unable to speak. Only by being docile could they earn a sliver of freedom.
Upon waking, Miao Zhi, like everyone else, was scared to death.
Half of the group consisted of young, unmarried women like herself, and the other half were young wives in their twenties.
Though they were adults and tried to find a way to save themselves, their pleas to heaven and earth went unanswered. They lacked Little Tang Mo’s sharp wit and his extensive knowledge of how to counter abductors. Thus, the adults fared worse than the children; their situation was far more dire.
Miao Zhi had never witnessed anything like this. At first, all she could do was cry and tremble. Once her gag was removed and she could speak, she began to threaten the human traffickers.
She told them she was Father Miao’s daughter, that her dad would definitely come to rescue her, and that they should release her immediately or they would suffer a terrible fate...
That was the gist of it. The traffickers handling transport were surprised to find a soldier’s daughter among their captives. But it made little difference. They had abducted all sorts before, including the children of dignitaries and powerful figures. It didn’t scare them; it merely annoyed them. In the end, they taught her a lesson.
After the terror and the beating, Miao Zhi developed a high fever.
She had no idea how she managed to pull through.
By the time she was fully conscious again, she was in an unfamiliar place and being dragged out of the truck.
Miao Zhi and the other remaining girls were appraised and priced like livestock, forced to listen as the men haggled over them.
In the end, Miao Zhi and another girl were purchased by the village chief and his men for fifty thousand and thirty thousand, respectively.
That’s right—it was the village chief who personally led the men to buy them.
Miao Zhi was more valuable because she was still a young, unmarried woman. She was delicate and pretty, a university student—good stock.
Miao Zhi would never forget being prodded and inspected by the village chief and his son.
They checked her teeth. They made her stand up so they could judge if her hips were wide enough for childbearing. Finally, they even groped her chest.
After fondling her to his satisfaction, the chief’s son declared that he wanted her. The chief inspected her one last time before the deal was struck.
In that moment, Miao Zhi suffered a humiliation unlike anything she had ever known. She felt completely inhuman, like a breeding sow being picked over at an auction.
The transaction took place at night, under the flickering light of torches. To Miao Zhi’s eyes, the men’s faces in the firelight were those of devils and demons.
Once the deal was done, no matter how much Miao Zhi and the other girl struggled, they were dragged away.
Miao Zhi and the other girl didn’t walk to Taoyuan Village; they were carried there by mules.
On the road, Miao Zhi and the other girl overheard the villagers’ horrifying conversation.
Every two years, they organized a trip to find women like them. Most of the buyers were unmarried men from Taoyuan Village who had managed to save up enough money.
This time, eight men had come, nine including the village chief. The two who had successfully bought wives were particularly excited.
When daylight broke, Miao Zhi finally got a clear look at the men, and their appearance was completely different from her impression the night before.
They looked spirited, rustic, and honest. Their clothes were patched, and they wore straw sandals on their feet.
If not for the hunting rifle slung over each of their backs, Miao Zhi might have suspected they were a different group of people.
But hearing their voices, Miao Zhi knew they were the same men who had bought them.
They walked from dusk till dawn, rested briefly, and continued walking until dusk fell again.
They crossed one mountain after another, and the mules carrying the two girls were swapped out once.
After a journey of one day and two nights, they finally reached their destination: Taoyuan Village.
The two of them, one in each basket on a mule’s back, were wrapped in straw and placed on the village threshing ground.
They couldn’t move. All they could do was listen to the village chief and his men eat, drink, and laugh heartily.
When morning came, after the men had eaten and rested, everyone in Taoyuan Village gathered to get a look at Miao Zhi and the other girl.
"We’ve only got these two this time," the village chief announced. "Everyone help keep an eye on them. If they happen to run off, you all need to help out, ah."
The chief had them memorize the new arrivals’ faces. The villagers examined them closely and promised in unison.
"We’ll remember, we’ll remember! Don’t you worry, Chief!"
The "Help me!" that Miao Zhi was about to scream died in her throat as she looked at the faces of the spectating villagers.
She felt a terror more profound than anything she had experienced that first night.
The entire village. At least two or three hundred people. Young and old, men and women—all of them had agreed with earnest expressions to watch her.
Stiff with fear, Miao Zhi was dragged by the village chief’s son to his home.
And then, Miao Zhi was locked in a dark, sunless cellar.
Miao Zhi struggled with all her might, but her strength was nothing in the hands of the chief’s son.
The cellar contained a narrow bed, some potatoes and cabbages. By the dim light of a kerosene lamp, the chief’s son locked Miao Zhi inside. He studied the clothes she wore with keen interest.
Then, sizing her up like an object once more, he began to inspect her body, groping her here and there, a look of satisfaction on his face.
His eyes shone with a ravenous light, as if he couldn’t wait to devour her, yet he held back.
However, every day when he brought her food, he couldn’t resist touching and groping her.
Trapped in the cold, damp cellar, her pleas to an empty heaven and an unhearing earth went unanswered. Her mind teetered on the brink of collapse.
It was only natural that she feared and hated the village chief’s son.