"Calm down? How do you expect to be calm? My sister was abducted by a human trafficker back then. The reason I got into this line of work was to find her. Now, these lowlifes are right in front of . How can I be calm? Right now, I wish I could take a knife and stab each of them three tis, making six holes, see if they dare do such things again."
The man tried to wrench his arm free from Xu Ke’s grasp, but Xu Ke held it tightly, preventing any movent.
"Let go of !" the man growled softly at Xu Ke, his eyes bloodshot.
"I won’t let go. You’re not calm right now. If I let go of you, you might alert them. Then not only will we fail to rescue the girls they’ve imprisoned, but we might also end up being captured," Xu Ke said sternly.
"There are only a few dozen families in that village, and we have more than a dozen soldiers outside, plus us four, making almost twenty people. Do we really need to fear those animals?" The man’s neck muscles bulged as he spoke, his reddened eyes glistening with tears as though blood might flow from them at any mont.
"Our most important task now is to rescue the imprisoned girls, not to go in and have a bloody fight just for satisfaction. Sure, we can fight, but they have more people. How do you know they won’t take advantage of the fight to hide the girls in the woods or kill them? Can you guarantee these things won’t happen? I understand your feelings about encountering these human traffickers, but I urge you to stay calm and not act rashly."
Xu Ke’s words gradually cald the man down, and when he felt the arm he was holding relax, he let go.
The man raised his hand and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I was impulsive just now, don’t worry, I won’t do anything unnecessary to alert them. I still haven’t found my sister, and I don’t know where she is now, but I hope what we’re doing today will also happen for her soday. I hope soone will rescue her like we’re rescuing these people."
"Don’t worry, it will happen. There are bad people in this world, but there are more good people. Your sister will be found and rescued one day," Xu Ke said, patting the man’s shoulder.
The man’s eyes were still a bit red, but his earlier agitation had mostly subsided, and he returned to his quiet deanor from when they first t.
anwhile, the man with glasses and the man who always touched his stomach were discussing how to mobilize police forces and how many to bring.
Xu Ke listened silently, keeping his ears open, and just as the two n were about to reach a final decision, Xu Ke spoke up, "I think the safest way is not to mobilize police forces locally. The problem of human trafficking in this village is rampant. It’s obviously not their first ti, and almost every family has abducted girls. The scale of trafficking is enormous, yet no news has leaked out. I feel this isn’t normal; we should be cautious."
"I agree with Mr. Xu. This matter involves not only us but also the villagers in the village and the innocent people who have been trafficked. We can’t be too careful about this," the man with glasses agreed with Xu Ke’s opinion. The man who always touched his stomach also touched his stomach again, showing no objections to Xu Ke’s suggestion.
The two n then began discussing where to mobilize police forces. The man who was always silent listened intently to their conversation, not missing a word.
While the four n in the room were quietly discussing this matter, the front door of the temporary dormitory suddenly swung open from the outside, and the man who had once led Xu Ke to his house walked in. Seeing the four n huddled together whispering about sothing, he asked, "What are you talking about?"
The sudden, unfamiliar voice startled the four n, and their eyes imdiately locked onto the new presence in the room. Three of the four n’s hearts started to race.
Only Xu Ke’s heartbeat remained steady; he had so experience handling such situations.
"We weren’t talking about anything in particular. We were just discussing the scale and design of the school. After all, we don’t know how many children in the village want to learn, nor do we know how many rooms the school should have, or the size of each building," Xu Ke responded casually, appearing relaxed, so the man didn’t dwell on it.
"By the way, why did you co out of the village to find us? Is sothing up?" Xu Ke naturally shifted the topic, and the man’s thoughts followed Xu Ke’s lead.
"Well, you ntioned that cabinet last ti, right? I made a new one over the past few days, even added a design on it. Do you want to buy it?" the man asked.
Xu Ke hadn’t expected the man to approach him about this matter, and for a mont he looked confused. Seeing Xu Ke just staring, not speaking, the man beca a bit apprehensive and slightly annoyed, "You don’t want it?" the man demanded, raising his voice, his eyes wide in anger. "I stopped my work in the fields and took ti to make it because you said the cabinet was valuable, and I even carved a pattern on it. If you don’t want it, I’ll just—"
As he spoke, the man’s eyes started scanning the room as if looking for sothing to hit Xu Ke with. His gaze finally settled on a hamr used for breaking stones, which he grabbed and raised threateningly towards Xu Ke, "If you don’t take the cabinet, I’ll use this hamr to smash your head open."
"Put it down, let’s talk this over. If you swing that hamr, there’s no way soone could survive it," the man who always touched his stomach said, imdiately raising his chubby hands in a Rheese Witherspoon-like manner, speaking firmly to the man.
Xu Ke gestured to the people behind him, indicating they shouldn’t be so tense, "No need to get so worked up, I didn’t say I wouldn’t take your cabinet, but if I’m going to buy sothing, at least show what it looks like, right? If you don’t show , how will I know how much to pay you? Isn’t that reasonable?"
Hearing this, the man felt Xu Ke made so sense, and put the hamr down. "You make a point, but why didn’t you speak when I asked you to buy the cabinet just now? That silence ant you didn’t want what I made, didn’t it?" he questioned.
"You completely misunderstood . I was silent because you were talking about your cabinet. I was just trying to imagine what it looked like and how much I could offer for it. But before I could co up with anything, you raised your hamr, scaring half to death."
Xu Ke patted his chest, feigning a startled expression.
Upon hearing Xu Ke’s explanation, a flush of red erged on the man’s dark skin, and he felt sowhat embarrassed.
"I’m not well-educated, and my nature is pretty straightforward, so don’t hold it against ," he said.
"Of course not. It’s just that I can’t give you any price for your cabinet without seeing it first," Xu Ke said, sowhat helplessly.
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