Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Ma Die slowly recalled with lingering fear, "My boyfriend had prepared a satellite phone for emergencies, and I praised him for being so thoughtful. At that time, I was naive and thought he was very considerate and always thought of me. I felt very safe and had no suspicions at all."

Resting in a tent in the mountains that night, Ma Die slept soundly. When she woke up, she found her side empty; her boyfriend, Liu Qihang, was nowhere to be seen. Wild animals often roamed the deep mountains and forests at night, and she felt a pang of panic. She got up to go out and look for him, intending to sneak up behind him and give him a fright. She walked very quietly, but inadvertently overheard the entire conversation he was having.

All Liu Qihang heard was his boyfriend speaking familiarly to the person on the other end of the phone, clearly saying, "This batch of goods consists of female college students who are good-looking. The minimum price is 100,000." A rough male voice on the other end of the line agreed, and they arranged to inspect and deliver the goods in person the next day. Liu Qihang readily agreed.

The word "goods" hit Ma Die like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, leaving her instantly chilled and momentarily doubting her own hearing. Her gentle boyfriend of six months wasn't taking her on a relaxing trip at all; he was treating her like a commodity to be sold. Her first thought was to run away immediately, but the mountains were dark and steep at night, the paths rugged and slippery. Running blindly could easily lead to a fall off a cliff, and with wild animals lurking around, the risks were too great.

She suppressed her overwhelming emotions, quietly retreated to the tent, lay back down in her original spot and pretended to be asleep. She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, silently plotting her escape in the darkness.

As dawn broke, she devised two excuses to escape: first, she lied and claimed to have suddenly developed severe abdominal pain, and then she deliberately sprained her ankle, begging Liu Qihang to immediately return down the mountain for medical treatment. However, he was already determined to complete the transaction, and each time he brushed it off lightly, refusing to return on the grounds that "since we've come all this way, we can't give up halfway." His attitude seemed gentle, but in reality, he was pressing her harder and harder.

After several failed attempts, Ma Die could only continue to feign compliance and wait for an opportunity.

While the two were resting at noon, three unfamiliar men carrying professional hiking backpacks and dressed like hiking enthusiasts came along the mountain path. At first, Liu Qihang deliberately pretended not to know them, and after passing by for a moment, he took the initiative to go up and chat, and even warmly invited the three men to travel together.

In a flash, Ma Die realized the truth—these three people were the human traffickers' accomplices who had agreed to come and inspect the goods and take her away, as arranged on the phone last night.

Alarm bells rang in Ma Die's mind instantly. The situation could no longer be delayed. Seeing the group's determined expressions, they were certain they would complete the transaction and send her away tonight. She had to seize this only chance to escape.

She immediately came up with a plan. Under the pretext of going to the toilet alone in the dense forest, she secretly put her only cell phone into her pocket, which was her only means of calling for help after escaping.

Liu Qihang remained vigilant, feigning concern about wild animals in the deep mountains, and followed closely behind her. Ma Die did not immediately turn hostile and alert the animals; instead, she took his arm and softly begged him to accompany her into the deeper woods.

She made the excuse that there were three strange men present, which made it inconvenient for a young woman to use the restroom, and that she felt embarrassed. Liu Qihang was initially reluctant to make things difficult, but then he thought that the young woman was sensitive and easily embarrassed, so he didn't stop her too much and accompanied her step by step into the forest.

Upon arriving at a densely vegetated area, Ma Die told him to stay where he was and wait, as she was going to venture deeper into the thicket alone. Liu Qihang wanted to follow, but Ma Die immediately clutched her stomach, looking anxious, and said she needed to relieve herself and was worried the smell would bother him.

Liu Qihang looked somewhat disgusted, but nodded and stopped. He leaned against the tree, took out a cigarette and a lighter, lit it, and slowly puffed out smoke, completely unaware that the danger had slipped out of his control.

Taking advantage of his distraction while smoking and his gaze shifting away, Ma Die held her breath, moved with utmost care, and backed away step by step until the bushes completely blocked Liu Qihang's view. Only then did she straighten up and run down the mountain with all her might.

As his cigarette burned out and no one returned, Liu Qihang gradually lost patience. He called out Ma Die's name repeatedly into the depths of the dense forest, but all he heard was the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, without any response.

His heart sank, and he knew something was wrong. He stomped out his cigarette and hurriedly pushed through the thick grass to rush to the spot where Ma Die had been standing. There was no one there.

"Damn it, they got away!"

He cursed under his breath, realizing that going into the mountains alone to pursue the girl was too inefficient. He immediately returned to the temporary camp where everyone was resting and hurriedly informed the other three girls that they had escaped.

Upon hearing this, the three men instantly flew into a rage, shouting angrily, "You couldn't even keep an eye on the goods we carefully selected!"

Liu Qihang was also feeling aggrieved and retorted, "How could I have known she was already suspicious? She acted obediently and trustingly the whole way. It must have been your sudden appearance that made her realize something was wrong."

"Arguing about this is pointless. If she gets far away, it'll be a real problem!" The leader sternly interrupted the infighting. "Separately search the mountains immediately! She's a city girl, completely unfamiliar with the terrain, and far less physically capable than any of us. She has no chance of escaping this forest. Hurry up and catch her! If she dares to try and run away again, break her legs!"

The four dared not delay and quickly divided the work, heading into the dense forest in different directions to carry out a carpet search. It was during this desperate escape that Ma Die, who had nowhere to run, unexpectedly connected to Shen Jingshu's live broadcast room, which brought her a glimmer of hope.

A thrilling chase through the deep mountains was about to begin.

Ma Die was completely unfamiliar with the terrain of the deep mountains and couldn't tell which way was which. She had only one thought in her mind: to run down the mountain.

She ran as fast as she could, repeatedly turning on her phone screen to search for a signal, but the entire mountain range completely blocked the network, and the screen always showed no service.

She had been running for nearly an hour when the approaching chaotic footsteps and shouts became clear; the human traffickers were closing in. An overwhelming panic gripped her, and in near despair, she turned on her phone again.

Just then, Shen Jingshu's live stream window suddenly popped up on the dark screen, like a ray of light breaking through the darkness. Ma Die's eyes instantly lit up with hope, and she clicked into the live stream without hesitation. Just then, the lucky bag draw took place, and she was lucky enough to win. She connected with the live stream with one click, which led to the frightened plea for help at the beginning.

The live stream chat was flooded with questions about the reason: "Miss, aren't you from the same school? How could a fellow college student do something so illegal?"

Ma Die, panting heavily, was filled with confusion and bewilderment, her voice choked with sobs: "He was from the neighboring university; we were both college students. I always thought that feelings between students were pure and sincere. During our relationship, he was gentle and considerate, always understanding. I trusted him completely and never put my guard up. I really can't understand why he, who is educated and knowledgeable about law, and who knows that human trafficking is a serious crime, would push me into this abyss with his own hands?"

Seeing her confused and troubled expression, Shen Jingshu calmly revealed the cruel truth, dispelling all her doubts.

"Your boyfriend Liu Qihang wasn't inherently malicious; he got involved with online gambling during his sophomore year of college."