The woman was speechless. ’This little girl looks as harmless as a bunny, but she’s so greedy.’
She forced a smile. "That’s all I have. This is good stuff, from overseas. You can’t buy it here."
Yun Jiao lowered her head and went back to digging for venus clams and mud snails. She tossed them aside and called out, "TSK TSK TSK," and the little chicks and ducklings that were busy pecking for food in the sand nearby ran over.
She was very firm. "Then I don’t want it. You can take it back."
The woman cursed inwardly, but her face still wore a kind and friendly smile.
"Why not? Jiaojiao, don’t you like it?"
Yun Jiao nodded. "I do like it. But I have nine older brothers, a daddy and mommy, uncles and aunts, and a grandpa and grandma. You only have one piece of candy. I don’t eat things all by myself. I’m a good girl who likes to share."
’What a self-righteous brat,’ the woman thought, her lips twitching. ’I didn’t think she’d be so thick-skinned.’
But when she thought about the profit this child could bring her, she endured it.
"Well then... why don’t you come with Auntie? I’ll go buy you some tasty treats, and I’ll buy some for your brothers, too."
Yun Jiao shook her head, speaking with righteous conviction. "No. My daddy and mommy told me not to run off with strangers."
"You only have this one piece of candy. You must be really poor and can’t afford to buy any more."
The woman nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. ’How can a child be so infuriating!’
She pulled out some money. "Who says I’m poor? Look, I have lots of money. I can definitely buy things for all of you."
Yun Jiao said, "I want the candy you have. My brothers want some too. Do you have any more?"
The woman gritted her teeth. "Yes. But I only have this one on me right now. If you want more, come with me to my house, and I’ll get them for you."
The words were squeezed through her clenched teeth.
Yun Jiao shook her head. "No. I’ll only believe you after you show me that you have that many."
The woman: ...
’I feel like I’m being played by this little bitch.’
’But she’s only a three-year-old kid. That should be impossible.’
"Fine. I’ll go get the candy. But tomorrow, you have to come meet me by yourself, right over there by the reef. Remember, you have to come alone. If you bring anyone else, I won’t give you any candy."
Yun Jiao nodded happily and held out her hand.
"Okay. Then give me this one. I want to see if it’s tasty. If it’s not, I won’t want the others."
’You want to take this one now, too?!’
The woman was already roaring in her mind.
But she still handed over the chocolate with a trembling hand.
Her hand trembled with anger.
After giving it to her, the woman couldn’t stay a moment longer and turned to leave.
If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she’d lose her temper.
’For two hundred yuan, I’ll endure it!’
Yun Jiao, having acquired a piece of candy she’d never had before, stuffed it into a small pocket in her clothes and went back to playing.
After feeding the little fuzzballs, Yun Jiao waited by the shore for the big sea turtle.
Yun Xiaowu and the others came over with Wang Yi.
"Little Yun Jiao, where’s the killer whale you mentioned? Why haven’t I seen it yet?"
Yun Jiao replied, "They went to eat. They’re not here."
Wang Yi let out a disappointed "Oh."
Soon, the sea turtle emerged from the ocean, and Wang Yi immediately started chasing it to take pictures.
When the tide came in, everyone started heading home one after another.
Yun Jiao told her family about her encounter with the female trafficker and took out the piece of chocolate.
Shen Yunlian and the others were both angry and terrified in hindsight.
"Yun Xiaowu, how were you watching your little sister?!"
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei roared like dragons.
Yun Xiaowu and the other boys felt their hearts drop. ’It’s over.’ They had all been completely distracted by Wang Yi’s camera.
The boys, including Yun Xiaowu, yelped as they were chased and hit.
"She didn’t run off! She didn’t! I saw Jiaojiao talking to an auntie, but she didn’t call for help, so we just thought it was one of the aunties from the village!"
"You can’t tell if someone’s from the village or not?"
"I didn’t look closely."
’Of course not. I was looking at the camera.’
After getting whipped a few times, Yun Xiaowu and the boys stared mournfully at Yun Jiao.
"Little sis, why didn’t you call for us?"
Yun Jiao said, full of confidence, "I was asking for candy."
"She was trying to trick me with candy, but she only had one piece. That’s not enough to share with all my brothers, so I told her to give me more."
All the adults present: ...
’Haggling with a human trafficker... you’ve got some serious nerve!’
Two plainclothes police officers were also at their house. They had been pretending to be fish buyers, joining the fishermen to experience beachcombing.
Earlier, on the tidal flats, they had also noticed the woman talking to Yun Jiao.
They were suspicious, but seeing Yun Jiao chatting and laughing with the woman, they assumed she was a local villager.
Since they weren’t familiar with the villagers, they didn’t want to alert the target unnecessarily.
"Little one, what else did she say besides giving you the candy?"
Yun Jiao recounted everything the female trafficker had said, word for word.
"Sixth Grand-uncle? Is she really a relative of Sixth Uncle’s family?"
Wang Mei clapped her hands. "I remember now! Sixth Uncle’s family did have a relative visit these past two days. She was dressed quite fashionably. She’s a relative from the family of Sixth Uncle’s youngest daughter-in-law."
The two plainclothes officers immediately relaxed. It seemed that was the woman.
Wang Mei said excitedly, "Now that we know who it is, are you going to arrest her?"
The two officers looked troubled. "I’m afraid we can’t do that right now. If we arrest the trafficker now, we’ll alert her contact, who will probably run."
"We don’t know how much information the trafficker has. It’s best if we can catch her contact as well."
The Yun family was instantly disappointed. "Then how are you going to catch them?"
Yun Jiao asked, "So, can I still get the candy tomorrow?"
She had already unwrapped the chocolate and, after sniffing it curiously, was about to pop it into her mouth.
"Hey, hey, hey..."
One of the plainclothes officers, with lightning-fast reflexes, snatched it away.
Yun Jiao: ...
’My food was stolen. I’m not happy!’
"Ahem... Little one, we don’t know if anything was added to this chocolate. We have to take it back to the police station to get it checked."
Yun Jiao’s voice was glum. "After you check it, can I have it back to eat?"
She was already adorable to begin with, but now, looking so wronged and unhappy, she was enough to make anyone’s heart melt.
"You can’t eat this one, but we can bring you some safe chocolate."
Yun Jiao perked up a little.
"That person is bringing me more of this candy tomorrow. If I can trick her into giving me a lot, can you trade me for the same amount?"
Stared at by those big, watery, clear eyes, the two officers couldn’t resist and nodded repeatedly.
"Wait... you said she’s going to find you again tomorrow?"
Yun Jiao nodded.
"Then perhaps she’ll contact her connection tomorrow."
Yun Linhe quickly interjected, "Wait, you can’t use our Jiaojiao as bait! Who knows what those heartless traffickers might do? What if they scare my Jiaojiao?"
"That’s right, that’s right! Officer, you can’t let our Jiaojiao take such a risk."
The Yun family was extremely protective. Even when facing the police, they spoke firmly, absolutely refusing to let Yun Jiao be put in danger.
The two officers were in a difficult position as well.
They didn’t want Yun Jiao to take the risk either. She was such a beautiful and clever child; no one would want to see anything happen to her.