Chapter 15: 第15章 人贩子，不能和红衣女人说话

If something was going to happen on the train to the volunteer teaching site, then he absolutely could not let his child go.

Sun Zheng hurriedly called his daughter. He had originally been unwilling to let her go suffer in the mountains for volunteer teaching, and now that he knew something would happen to her, he could not let her go at all.

The call was quickly connected, and a weak, listless voice came through the receiver.

"Hello, Dad."

Hearing his daughter's voice, Sun Zheng nearly burst into tears. He steadied his nerves and said into the phone, "Lanlan, you can't go teaching! You can't take the train!"

"What?"

Sun Zheng hurriedly recounted everything Yang Fan had told him to his daughter, word for word. There was a long silence on the other end before her exasperated voice came through.

"Dad, you've definitely been scammed. What era do you think this is? How can you still believe things like that?"

"It's not a scam, this really is a Grandmaster. I'm telling you, just now I—"

"Fine, Dad, I'm sleeping. I'm hanging up now."

Without waiting for a response, she hung up and promptly switched her phone to silent mode.

Sun Zhilan muttered, "The old man is getting older and more muddled by the day."

She had already boarded the train—she had boarded yesterday. She had lied and said she was leaving tomorrow just to prevent her father from calling to stop her.

A friend sitting nearby asked her what had happened.

Sun Zhilan recounted the contents of the phone call to her friend, complaining about it.

After hearing her, her friends also felt that her father had been scammed.

Where was there anyone wearing red clothes around them? Besides, they were about to get off the train; where was the danger? There were so many people on the carriage.

Sun Zhilan didn't take the matter to heart. She tilted her head and continued to sleep. Having sat in hard seats on a train for over ten hours, they had been excited at first, but as time passed, they were finding it hard to endure.

They all regretted it. If they had known, they should have taken a plane. They shouldn't have chosen hard seats just to see the scenery; at the very least, a sleeper berth would have been better than a hard seat.

Sun Zheng stared at the disconnected call, his face full of bewilderment. He hurriedly dialed back, but the other party didn't answer. He tried again, and still, there was no answer.

"What do I do? Grandmaster, my daughter won't pick up my calls."

Sun Zheng was so anxious he was on the verge of tears. "They don't board the train until tomorrow. If I rush to Shanghai now, I might still make it."

"Yes, yes, yes. I'll go straight to Shanghai right now to bring her back and stop her from going."

Yang Fan's next words shattered his hope once again. "Too late. Your daughter is already on the train."

Sun Zheng froze in place as if struck by lightning, and he truly began to cry.

He and his wife had only this one precious daughter, whom they had raised in the palm of their hands since childhood.

If something really happened to his daughter, he wouldn't want to live anymore.

He wailed, "Please, Grandmaster, save my daughter! I am willing to pay any amount of money!"

His crying was as ugly and piercing as a pig being slaughtered. Yang Fan instinctively leaned his body back. "Calm down."

How could a grown man just burst into tears like that?

How could he stay calm when his daughter was in danger?

Sun Zheng couldn't stop crying; he wished he had wings so he could fly to his daughter's side right now.

Yang Fan let out an impatient *tsk* and threatened, "If you keep crying, I won't save your daughter!"

"Waaa... *hic*..."

The threat worked. Sun Zheng stopped instantly.

Yang Fan picked up a calligraphy brush and talisman paper from the side. "Tell me your daughter's birth details (Eight Characters)."

He hurriedly recited his daughter's birth details.

...

On the other side, on the train, Sun Zhilan heard voices through her daze.

"Excuse me, young lady, could you help me look at this? Why is there no sound on my phone?"

Immediately after, a phone was held out in front of her. Her seat was right by the aisle. She opened her bleary eyes and took the person's phone. "Auntie, let me take a look for you."

The woman was using an iPhone, but the side silent switch had been turned off.

After Sun Zhilan turned it back on, she handed the phone back. "Auntie, it's fixed."

Seeing the red clothes the middle-aged woman was wearing, she froze for a moment. She hadn't noticed earlier, but now she saw the woman was wearing a red jacket.

*It couldn't be such a coincidence...*

The middle-aged woman was dressed neatly, her hair was tied up, and she had a kind face. She took the phone back. "Thank you, young lady. My daughter gave me this phone, but I don't know how to use it."

"You university students are so capable, fixing it in just a couple of moves."

Hearing this, Sun Zhilan inexplicably thought of internet memes and felt like laughing.

But seeing the red clothes, she felt uneasy in her heart.

She remembered that this auntie wasn't sitting here just a moment ago.

It was already afternoon. This was a long-distance train, and the passengers had been sitting for over ten hours.

Many people were sleeping, and the carriage was very quiet.

Sun Zhilan felt a sense of vigilance toward this suddenly appearing woman in red. She replied, "Your ringer was just turned off."

The woman in red: "I don't understand it either. I told my daughter not to buy me this kind of phone. I'm old; I don't know how to play with these things."

"A basic feature phone would have been more suitable for me."

As she spoke, she leaned closer with the phone. "Young lady, how do I make a call with this?"

"I want to call my daughter so she can come pick me up."

Sun Zhilan saw that the woman had nothing else in her hands. She thought to herself that there were so many people in the carriage, and it was just a phone call; if the woman wasn't doing anything else, what could happen?

Seeing the woman's expression of innocent ignorance, she took the phone back, dialed the number for her, and then returned the phone.

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know what to do."

The middle-aged woman looked delighted. "Thank you, young lady. You are truly a good person."

Sun Zhilan's vigilance gradually lowered. She thought to herself that she was overthinking it; her father had clearly been scammed, and she was traveling with friends. How could anything happen?

As she thought this, she suddenly felt her body grow weak. Her vision became blurred, and the surrounding sounds became indistinct.

At that moment, the train stopped at a station.

People getting off began to move. A voice rang in her ear: "The station is here. Get off."

*Has it reached the station so soon?*

Her brain was a chaotic mess. Someone was supporting her as she followed the flow of people off the train.

Through her blurred vision, she saw that the person supporting her was that middle-aged woman in red. Sun Zhilan finally realized.

*No, I haven't reached my station yet! My friends haven't gotten off the train!*

She couldn't follow this woman; she didn't know her!

But her brain was in a state of chaos. She couldn't muster any strength, couldn't speak to call for help, and couldn't break free from the woman's grip. She could only watch helplessly as she was led away by the woman.

At this moment, she felt immense regret. She should have listened to her father—she shouldn't have spoken to the woman in red.

But now, it was all too late!

(End of Chapter)