Surrounding passengers looked at each other, unsure what was happening.
Gu Qin squatted down, looking directly into the woman’s eyes. "Where did the child come from? Are you a kidnapper?"
"No, no, I’m not a kidnapper," the woman shouted, panicking. "This is my relative’s child..."
Gu Qin laughed. "You said this child was yours, that your husband died, and you didn’t have money to buy food for the child. Now you say the child is your relative’s? If it’s a relative’s child, why is it with you? Tell me, are you a kidnapper?"
Passengers calmed down. Most had children themselves and were enraged by kidnappers. They were now suspicious of the woman’s story. Some mothers couldn’t bear it and offered money, but no one wanted to intervene further.
Gu Qin demanded, "Tell me, are you a kidnapper?"
"No, no, I’m not," the woman panicked. She was indeed a kidnapper. She had taken the child yesterday and planned to sell it after the New Year. She often used sedatives to keep children quiet during transportation. This time, however, she got caught stealing money.
Previously, she managed to escape by pretending to be desperate and receiving sympathy donations. But this time, she was caught.
Surrounding passengers questioned her. "Why do you keep changing your story? What relative would bring a child and travel during the New Year?"
More suspicious passengers emerged. A mother couldn’t stand it. "Kidnappers are too much. We’d rather err on the side of caution. Driver, stop at the nearest police station and take her there. If she’s innocent, the police won’t mistreat her. But if she’s a kidnapper, we’ll save a family."
The woman panicked, kneeling and crying. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I confess. This child isn’t mine; it’s my husband’s with another woman. I lost my own child and can’t bear another. My husband hid it from me. I wanted to take the child back. I know I’m wrong. I’ll return the child. I’ll divorce them. Please let me go."
Gu Qin admired the woman’s quick thinking. People hated kidnappers and mistresses, and the woman knew how to manipulate emotions. But now, no one believed her.
Gu Qin squatted down, placing her hand on the child’s wrist. Slowly, her energy flowed into the child, and the child finally woke up, looking around confused. Seeing strangers, he started crying. "I want my mommy, I want my mommy..."
People’s hearts softened hearing the child cry. The woman panicked, trying to give the child water. The child pushed her away and continued crying. Gu Qin gently asked, "Child, is she your mommy?"
The child, around three years old, shook his head. "No, she’s not my mom. I want my mom, I want my mom..."
Gu Qin continued softly, "Do you recognize this person?"
The child shook his head, crying. "No, I don’t know her. She gave me candy, but I didn’t eat it. Then she carried me away..."
Passengers’ expressions changed. Gu Qin knew a child couldn’t identify the truth about their parents. She asked directly, "Do you remember your parents’ names or their phone numbers?"
The child nodded, wiping his tears. "Yes, I remember. Mommy said bad people are everywhere, so I must remember the number..."
The woman panicked, trying to force water on the child. Two passengers restrained her. "Hold her down first, then let the child call his mother. That will clarify if she’s a kidnapper."
The child stuttered the number. A passenger dialed it. On the first ring, someone picked up. "Hello, hello, who are you? Is this my baby? Baby? Baby..."
The woman on the phone burst into tears. "Baby, where are you? Baby, come back..."
The passenger put the call on speaker. "Hello, we’re on a bus to Liangping City in Southern Province. There’s a woman with a child. This child should be your baby. But she says you’re her husband’s mistress and that she can’t have children, so he had a child with someone else..."
The kidnapper shrank into a ball, the child still crying in Gu Qin’s arms. Cheng Yinxiang, seeing the child’s plight, took out a bread from her bag. The child sobbed, staring at the bread but shaking his head. "No, I don’t eat strangers’ food."
The child’s mother taught him well, but the kidnapper was cunning. Gu Qin took the bread, offering it gently. "Listen, your mother is talking on the phone. She can hear you. You’re hungry, eat the bread."
The mother heard the child’s voice and cried. "Baby, baby, it’s me, mommy..."
The father’s excited voice came through. "That’s our baby’s voice. Baby is ours. I don’t have a mistress. We’ve been married for six or seven years. Yesterday was the twenty-ninth, and we were busy. We left the baby with my sister. She took him shopping, and he disappeared. We’ve reported it to the police. We live in Anqing County. You can contact the local police station. Baby is ours. That woman is a kidnapper. Please help us..."
Anqing County is near the national highway, close to Daisan City. The kidnapper took the child from Anqing County to the bus.
Passengers felt heartbroken. The caller told the parents to feed the child. The parents cried, making the child cry too. Finally, they agreed to let the child eat something.
The child ate, and his parents stayed on the phone. Passengers didn’t mind the cost. They all hated kidnappers, and some kicked the woman. Soon, many passengers beat her.
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The driver knew this was urgent and stopped at a nearby city police station. An old policeman was surprised but listened to the passengers' story. He arrested the woman and kept the child safe, promising to contact the parents.
Passengers apologized to Gu Qin, who suggested the police look into the matter further. "Uncle, this kidnapper seems experienced. She was calm when caught. This might involve a gang. Please investigate thoroughly."
Passengers agreed. The old policeman called his superiors, who decided to interrogate the woman immediately. They would recall everyone, cancel the New Year celebration, and solve the case.
Parents called the passenger who made the initial call, learned about the police station, and contacted them. The old policeman handcuffed the woman, searched her belongings, and waited for the captain.
Gu Qin used her heavenly eye to see the woman’s past. She saw the woman calling someone named "Brother Lei," saying she caught a small fish, and planned to return on New Year’s Eve. She mentioned contacting a big fish and feeding the child water. Gu Qin saw the woman taking a two-year-old child to Liangping City, entering an old apartment building, and meeting a man named Brother Lei. They discussed finding more children.
Gu Qin continued watching, seeing seven children in the apartment, all sleeping. The man asked someone to guard the door, warning about waking children. Gu Qin saw the kidnappers preparing for another operation.
Passengers felt anxious but waited for the police. Gu Qin watched the kidnapper’s interactions, learning more about the gang’s plans.
Gu Qin still heard that there was another kidnapper who had not found Xiaoyuer and therefore did not wait for him. They planned to sell Xiaoyuer the next morning in another place. From their conversation, she also learned that a child could be sold for between 20,000 to 100,000 yuan, with boys being more popular. Therefore, they were currently only looking for boys.
Gu Qin used her Heavenly Eye to check the calendar date, which was from last July. It had been several months since then, so it was highly likely that they were still in Liangping City at this hideout.
After retracting her Heavenly Eye, Gu Qin rubbed her temples, feeling slightly tired after prolonged use. She didn't have time to attend to other matters and told the old policeman, "Uncle, can I borrow some paper and a pen?"
Most passengers were about to leave, but Gu Qin said, "Please wait a moment, I'll finish writing soon."
They didn't know what she was writing but were gentle towards her because of her role in catching the kidnapper. The old policeman brought paper and a pen, and just then, the police captain arrived. He was a man in his forties, tall and imposing in his uniform, looking very upright. After questioning the old policeman and the passengers, he took the kidnapper into the interrogation room for questioning.
Gu Qin no longer paid attention to this matter. She wrote down the information she saw through her Heavenly Eye on a nearby table. Although she knew the details, she couldn't write them all down clearly. She only wrote the approximate number of people—twenty or less—and the exact location of the hideout in Liangping City. Then, she folded the paper and handed it to the old policeman, saying, "Uncle, please give this paper to your captain when he comes out. Remember, give it to him immediately."
The old policeman nodded. Suddenly remembering that the passengers mentioned the kidnapper was caught by the girl, he thought if the family wanted to thank her later, he should leave her contact information. "Hey, little girl, can you leave your phone number?"
Gu Qin thought for a moment and left her phone number. Everyone then got back on the bus and headed to Liangping City.
This delay took half an hour, and they had to take a detour, adding another half hour to their journey. By the time they reached Liangping City, it might be around two o'clock in the afternoon. However, the journey wasn't as dull as before, as many people started chatting with Gu Qin and Cheng Yinxiang. Gu Jia spoke less, still shocked by his sister's bravery. He looked at Gu Qin with admiration and awe several times.
Many passengers asked how Gu Qin figured it out, and she said she did it by reading faces. She claimed she saw from the kidnapper's face that she had no children, which made her suspicious.
In this era, people had different opinions about fortune-telling and face-reading. Some believed it, others didn't. Hearing Gu Qin's explanation, they couldn't help but ask her to read their faces. Gu Qin examined several people and accurately described their situations, leaving them stunned and convinced of her abilities.
***
Previously, where they stopped to hand over the kidnapper was a small county called Bai An Bei. The police captain there was Wang Kelin, around forty years old, honest and warm-hearted. Upon hearing the news, he rushed to the station, interrogated the situation, and sent the kidnapper to the interrogation room. Such kidnappers would have their belongings confiscated to prevent them from sending messages, and their phones were taken away early.
Wang Kelin pressed the kidnapper into the interrogation room and began questioning: "Name, age, gender."
The kidnapper remained silent. Wang Kelin shouted, "Speak up! Don't think you can get away with silence. Are you acting alone or as part of a gang?"
The kidnapper remained silent. Wang Kelin grew impatient. He had learned from outside sources that this bus was heading to Liangping City. If it was a gang operation, missing the deadline would make the group suspicious, and calling would reveal something was wrong. If there was a hideout, they might quickly relocate.
This case was difficult. The kidnapper refused to speak. Wang Kelin tried to persuade her: "If you cooperate, your sentence might be reduced. Do you know how much time you're facing?"
The kidnapper looked at Wang Kelin, "Don't scare me. I won't say anything. I'm just doing this for the first time. Whatever happens is fine."
Wang Kelin grew anxious, seeing the woman's stubbornness. He realized she must be part of a larger group, likely with an eighty percent chance. Frustrated and powerless, he locked her in the interrogation room and went to search her phone for clues. His colleagues asked, "Captain, did she say anything?"
Wang Kelin shook his head, "She's not talking. Claims it's her first time."
The old policeman cursed, "This monster, it can't be her first offense. Passengers said she was calm during the theft, didn't panic, and even used sympathy to beg for mercy..."
Suddenly remembering something, the old policeman took out a folded piece of white paper from his pocket, "Captain, this is from a passenger on the bus. She wants you to give it to you when you come out."
Wang Kelin already knew about the brave girl from the passengers. She claimed to be a feng shui master who could read faces and predict things. He opened the paper and saw a neat handwriting:
"Captain, I am a feng shui master who knows divination and other techniques. What I will say may sound unbelievable, but please take it seriously. They are likely working in a gang, with ten to twenty members. Their hideout is in Liangping City, specifically at No. 607, Xilan Bay, Third Floor, Furian Street. If you believe me, act quickly. This person is heading to the hideout, which will arrive around one o'clock. If they don't see anyone by then, they will transfer immediately. These are likely their last batch of children. Please act quickly."
Wang Kelin, despite the cold weather, broke out in a cold sweat after reading the note. The old policeman noticed his change in expression, "Captain, what does it say? Your face is pale."
Wang Kelin didn't respond. He didn't know whether to believe such claims. How could someone be so accurate? He believed in feng shui but not to this extent. The information was too specific, almost impossible without informants. Yet, he couldn't ignore it. If the girl was right, the gang would suspect something and move immediately, putting more children at risk...
Wang Kelin was conflicted. Finally, he re-entered the interrogation room and sat down in front of the kidnapper. He stared at her closely and said, "We have crucial information. You are part of a gang..."
The kidnapper showed no emotion, thinking the police were trying to deceive her. When Wang Kelin continued, "Your gang has ten to twenty members. The hideout is in Liangping City, specifically at No. 607, Xilan Bay, Third Floor..."
Wang Kelin watched her go from indifferent to panicked and tense. He knew the information was correct; the girl was right.
He no longer hesitated. Checking the clock, it was 10:30 AM. With two and a half hours until 1 PM, he called his superior, explaining the situation briefly, without mentioning it came from the girl. His superior contacted the Liangping City police, who immediately took action.
By noon, the police surrounded the hideout. They knocked on the door, but the kidnappers were cautious. Eventually, they blasted the door open and entered, finding several sleeping children...
***
Gu Qin, Gu Jia, and Cheng Yinxiang arrived in Liangping City around two PM. The streets weren't crowded as most people were home for the New Year. Shops were closed, but hotels were open due to the busy holiday season. Cheng Yinxiang’s family had dinner at night, so they went straight to her neighborhood.
Cheng Yinxiang lived in the city center, in a decent condition. She had two older brothers, and her second brother was adopted from a friend of her father. Her father was a veteran who adopted the child when his family died in a car accident. The child, named Lu Qingrong, knew he wasn't a biological member of the family but was treated well. As he grew, he learned the truth and received the inheritance from his birth family.
Lu Qingrong was now in his forties, tall, and handsome. He greeted Cheng Yinxiang warmly, inviting her and the children inside. Gu Qin and Gu Jia, meeting their uncle for the first time, greeted him politely.
Everyone gathered in the living room, including Cheng Yinxiang's parents and siblings. Cheng Yinxiang's mother was surprised and excited to see her daughter. Cheng Yinxiang explained she was back for the holidays. Her parents noticed her improved appearance and wondered why.
It was late afternoon, and they started preparing for dinner. Cheng Yinxiang helped in the kitchen, while the children joined in making dumplings. Gu Qin enjoyed the warmth and company, eating beef balls her grandmother had prepared.
Cheng Yinxiang's second brother, Lu Qingrong, was divorced and childless. The kitchen soon filled with delicious smells. Gu Qin and Gu Jia ate the beef balls eagerly. Cheng Yinxiang's siblings, Cheng Chu Chu and Cheng Yue Guang, were curious about their cousins and chatted with them.
The entire family was curious about Cheng Yinxiang's return. She avoided explaining her divorce, saying she brought the children home for the holidays. Her parents noticed her improved health and wondered what had changed.