A Young Woman's Heart

Being trafficked is considered good; what's truly tragic is having your hands and feet cut off and being forced to beg, or being killed outright by a serial killer.

"That's terrible. Seriously, this family is really something. Letting an elementary school student go to tutoring classes on his own is one thing, but why don't they pick him up in the middle of the night? Isn't it too careless of them to let him go home by himself?" Mo Xueyao pouted. Getting distracted while doing summer homework is a common occurrence.

Besides, I've already been doing my homework at Nora's house for over two hours. It's good to take a break and balance work and rest.

Li Wanyan drank the remaining melted shaved ice as a beverage, and coldly said while watching the news on TV, "Some parents haven't even grown up themselves, how can they take good care of their children?"

"Ah uh..."

The television began showing accounts from the parents of the missing children.

The parents said they usually pick him up and drop him off, but today they had something to do and told him to go home by himself. They never expected him to disappear. The simply dressed woman was probably the child's mother. She was sobbing while being interviewed.

The poorer people are, the less they want to lose at the starting line. Judging from her appearance, her income probably isn't high. Maybe she's a nanny like Mo Xueyao's mother used to be.

Even with such a family background, they still have to send their child to tutoring classes...

The entire interview yielded virtually no substantial leads—after all, as the host himself stated, there were no leads.

There were no security cameras nearby, and it was too late and too dark that day, so no one knows what exactly happened.

That stretch of road is about ten minutes long, enough for a lot of things to happen.

Missing is an interesting word. It seems better than death, but it also leaves people uncertain, unsure whether the person is alive or dead.

The only ones who feel heartbroken are the families, but to outsiders, it is far less shocking than the story of "so-and-so being murdered and dismembered in the middle of the night".

So this little news story quickly faded away, and then the main event began.

That's right, it's about drug enforcement.

"In the early morning of July 9th..." Judging from the date, it was obviously something that happened some time ago. It was only released now, probably because the aftermath has been mostly dealt with.

As the female anchor's voice rang out, images with pixelation began to appear on the television screen.

This is a video recording of a special anti-drug squad in Hangzhou working with a special police unit to successfully apprehend the ringleader and key members of a drug smuggling ring.

The footage was a bit shaky, but that's normal, since it's a drug bust.

In peacetime, this is the most dangerous arrest operation.

Some of the drug dealers in the footage even pulled out guns, but the types of guns were varied, including not only pistols, but also rather crude hunting rifles and rifles that fired one bullet at a time.

However, when these people were filmed, they were already staggering. Before that, the police had thrown tear gas and stun grenades inside. Although some people were lucky or well-prepared and managed to dodge, they were still unable to resist in the face of sophisticated weapons.

Some people tried to fire their guns, and a policeman was hit in the arm by a stray bullet. Fortunately, there weren't many extremists who actually dared to fire. One of them was shot dead on the spot. According to news reports, it seems that the shooting was not intentional, but rather that he was bumped by another drug dealer, causing his pistol to go off accidentally and kill the unfortunate guy.

This was actually very dangerous. Luckily, the bullet hit the enemy. If it had hit a teammate, it would have been a tragedy.

"The largest drug trafficking gang hiding in Hangzhou has been busted. If you encounter anyone manufacturing, selling, or using drugs, please report it to the local police station immediately. Cherish life and stay away from drugs..."

"We don't believe there's such a terrifying drug trafficking gang around here... and they even have guns." Mo Xueyao swallowed hard. "Aren't guns banned?"

"But there are still some left in the countryside. It may take a few more years before they are almost extinct." Li Wanyan took out a napkin and carefully wiped the water stains from the corner of her mouth.

"When will the public security be as good as in the United States..." Mo Xueyao muttered.

Nora, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle: "Tsk, the security situation in America is probably not as good as here."

"Huh?"

"Americans love to brainwash and deceive people. I often visit foreign websites, so I know best that shootings happen frequently there. If the security there is good, then China is the safest place in the world."

"Pfft, it can't be that exaggerated, can it?" Mo Xueyao chuckled awkwardly. She thought that Nora was always at odds with the United States because she was Russian, and she didn't realize that this was actually the truth.

……

Chapter 75 Pretending to be My Brother's Girlfriend (Part 1)

Friday, July 21, 2000.

Although it's summer, unlike in the city, the suburbs still feel a bit cool when it rains.

When Huang Zhengyang woke up, he even thought that autumn had already arrived.

"Achoo!" Just as he lifted the blanket, his younger brother Huang Yuxi sneezed and then pitifully clutched the blanket, like a little kitten that hadn't woken up yet.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the rain was pouring down outside the window. Perhaps because of the height of the building, the wind blowing in from outside was a cold wind full of autumn.

Huang Zhengyang couldn't help but rub his nose.

"Xiaoxi, are you getting up?"

"Hmm..." Huang Yuxi didn't open her eyes, but just shrank further into the quilt.

"I'll call you later, but if you can get up on your own, do so now, we'll be going out later."

"Hmm..." Huang Yuxi managed to squeeze out a very soft sound from her throat.

Huang Zhengyang took a deep breath and jumped out of bed, shivering from the cold.

"I have this feeling that summer is already over," he muttered to himself. Instead of getting dressed, he let the cold wind outside the window make his leg hair sway gently as he walked straight into the bathroom.

For truck drivers, days off are unpredictable, ranging from Monday to Sunday.

Of course, as long as you're not too busy, you can ask your boss for a day off, or swap days with someone else.

Today is the day his junior high school classmates had arranged to get together.

Since I have many old classmates in Hangzhou, we chose this place as the meeting place.

Normally, he would never go to another city anyway.

Since it's located in the city, it would be unreasonable not to go.

Since others still remembered him, he felt embarrassed to offend them.

It was supposed to be just an ordinary classmate reunion, but Huang Zhengyang changed his mind because of certain conversations over the phone.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, and couldn't help but recall the situation—

"Hello? Is this Huang Zhengyang?"

"Ah, it's me. Who are you?"

"Oh dear, it wasn't easy to find your number. This is A-Chao."

"Ah Chao... Ah! The one from junior high?"

"Yeah, yeah, we used to be best friends. I can't believe we haven't been in touch for so long."

"Ha, haha...life's pretty busy, huh?" Huang Zhengyang chuckled dryly, scratching his head.

How have you been lately?

"That's fine, I'll just be a driver and drive around," Huang Zhengyang replied honestly.

"Being a driver? That's not bad. Maybe they'll appreciate you and give you their car."

"Haha, how could that be?"

"Hey, when are you free this week?"

I'm off on Fridays.

"Oh, most people also say that Friday night is the best time to hold it, so you can sleep in the next day."

What for?

Are you going to the class reunion?

"Ah...anything is fine."

"Hey buddy, have you found a girlfriend yet?"

"Why are you asking this?" Huang Zhengyang replied cautiously.

"It seems that half of the people who came this time brought their girlfriends, and some of them are already married."

Do you have one?

"I don't have any, haha, I know you definitely don't either, looks like we're in the same boat."

"Damn, who said that? I have a girlfriend!" Huang Zhengyang blurted out to his old best friend on the phone, but since he had already said it, how could he take it back?

That would be too awkward, wouldn't it?

"real or fake?"

"Of course! Let me tell you, my girlfriend is a real beauty!"

"Holy crap! You can't be serious, can you? You actually found a beautiful girlfriend?"

"Damn, you think so little of me? Just wait, at the class reunion, I'll show you!"

"Okay, you're not just bragging, are you?"

"How could that be! Everything I said is true!" Huang Zhengyang said with absolute certainty.

However, after hanging up the phone, he felt a deep emptiness and fear, just like Nobita who had boasted outside.

In fact, he didn't have a girlfriend at all. Where could he find one in such a short time?

Back then, he so wished that Hangzhou had a girlfriend rental service.

Unfortunately, that kind of service can only remain a pipe dream in his mind for now.

In reality, he's not Nobita; he doesn't have his own Doraemon who can solve all sorts of problems.

Huang Zhengyang's brain was working at high speed all day.

When he got home, he saw Huang Yuxi sitting cross-legged in front of the French windows, wearing his oversized shirt and reading a book with her legs bare, and a sudden inspiration struck him.

My younger brother is very handsome, only 1.52 meters tall, and quite petite. Even though he usually just has short hair that reaches his ears, he is easily mistaken for a girl. So, with a little dressing up, wouldn't he be able to...?

"Xiao Xi! Please!" Huang Zhengyang hugged Huang Yuxi and shook her vigorously.

Still unaware of what had happened, Huang Yuxi held up the whiteboard with a puzzled look: "What's wrong?"

"Be my girlfriend!"

"Eh, eh?!" Huang Yuxi's face immediately turned bright red, and his body temperature instantly became hot.