The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 110. Dreamland, the Past 1 (Third Watch)

Chapter 110: 110. Dreamland, the Past 1 (Third Watch)

Jin Enxi was startled, she actually heard a faint trace of fear and reluctance in Shen Qinglan’s words, her heart ached slightly, and she wanted to go up and comfort Shen Qinglan, but she found words to be powerless and pale.

They were all a group of people living in hell.

"An, no matter what, in the end, you still have us," Jin Enxi spoke.

Shen Qinglan didn’t say anything, she just smiled.

After separating from Jin Enxi, Shen Qinglan returned to her dormitory.

"Qinglan, you’re back, did you know? The person who slandered you is a guy from the computer department, named Zhao Dong. He’s already been severely warned and disciplined, there’s even a notice posted about it," Yu Xiaoxuan hurriedly said as soon as Shen Qinglan got back to the dorm.

It was only then that Shen Qinglan remembered she had sent an email to the principal before she left. She already knew the outcome and was not at all surprised.

"You knew already?" Fang Tong asked.

Shen Qinglan nodded, "I’ve confronted him."

This time it was Wu Qian who spoke up, "Qinglan, congratulations."

The three of them looked at her, puzzled—what was there to congratulate?

"Isn’t it something to celebrate that things have been clarified?" Wu Qian explained.

Yu Xiaoxuan spoke up, "It was deliberate framing of Qinglan in the first place, what’s there to congratulate. Such a person deserves a beating."

Wu Qian’s expression stiffened, "Those photos must have been doctored by him, right?"

Yu Xiaoxuan replied, "Not at all. We know those people, they’re just Qinglan’s friends. They were giving Qinglan a lift. I don’t know where he got those photos from to spread such nonsense."

Fang Tong had wanted to stop her, but this tactless girl went on, subtly tugging at Yu Xiaoxuan’s sleeve to hint at her to stop talking.

Yu Xiaoxuan realized, but when Wu Qian asked again about the identity of those people, both Yu Xiaoxuan and Fang Tong stayed silent. Wu Qian’s eyes darkened, realizing they were unwilling to tell, she smiled and said no more.

Shen Qinglan took a bath, lay straight in bed, and closed her eyes to sleep, but even after an hour, Shen Qinglan still couldn’t fall asleep.

Seeing Jin Enxi today was truly unexpected.

Memories came flooding back, and Shen Qinglan’s eyes were cold, her thoughts inscrutable.

It was unclear how much time passed before she finally fell asleep.

She seemed to have had a dream, a long dream, both distantly and closely related to her.

She dreamed of being five years old, a few days before her birthday; she went out with her mom and stopped in her tracks, captivated by the cotton candy being sold on the street. In just a blink, her mom had disappeared.

She wanted to find her mom, but there were too many people. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t, and she was terrified. She started to cry, and at that moment, a man with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks came over, claiming he’d help her find her mom.

She instinctively disliked this man and refused to go with him, wanting to run away, but the man pulled out a handkerchief, covered her mouth with it, and then she fell asleep.

When she awoke, she was in a dimly lit room surrounded by several other children, both boys and girls, close to her age.

Seeing peers somewhat lessened her fear. She cautiously surveyed the surroundings. The room was small, with not even a bed in sight, just some straw on the ground where they sat.

There were seven other children with her, three girls and four boys. They seemed to have arrived much earlier than she had, and although their faces showed fear, they weren’t crying.

After a short while, the door to the room opened, and a woman walked in, carrying several steamed buns in her hand, "Eat up."

He tossed the steamed bun aside, walked out, and didn’t forget to lock the door.

The children rushed over to snatch the steamed buns as soon as the woman left, but Shen Qinglan didn’t move.

A boy came over and handed her a steamed bun, "Eat it, you’ll starve to death if you don’t."

Shen Qinglan didn’t take it, just quietly watched the boy without speaking.

The boy didn’t try to persuade her, he just stuffed the steamed bun into his chest and sat down next to her, gnawing on his own bun.

Each of the other children had grabbed a steamed bun and sat in silence, eating.

"Where is this place?" Shen Qinglan asked softly, a small child suddenly taken to a strange environment, her voice unavoidably filled with fear.

The boy glanced at her, "We don’t know either. You were kidnapped too, right?"

Shen Qinglan thought for a moment and nodded.

"We were too. They are human traffickers, they specialize in abducting children. Do you know what a human trafficker is?"

Shen Qinglan nodded her head, although she was young, she had heard her grandfather mention this term and knew that human traffickers were bad people.

The boy continued, "They kidnap children and then sell them to people who don’t have any. There were several other kids here before, but two days ago some people came and took them away. I overheard their conversation, they said they were going to sell them to people in the mountains."

"Have you been here for a long time?" Shen Qinglan asked gently.

The boy took a bite of his steamed bun, "Not very long, about a month. Her," the boy pointed to a girl sitting in the corner, "she’s been here a long time, I heard it’s been half a year. Because she’s a girl, no one wanted her, so she’s been here all this time."

Shen Qinglan looked over, the girl was about eight or nine years old, very thin, probably from chronic malnutrition, with a pale face and a listless expression. She didn’t react to their conversation and just kept her head down gnawing on her steamed bun.

"Where will they sell us to?"

The boy shook his head, "I don’t know, just heard it’s going to be very far, so far that we’ll never be able to find our way home. Where do you live?"

"I live in a big courtyard, where there are lots and lots of soldier uncles, and my Daddy is a soldier." Shen Qinglan chatted with the boy, her heart not as tense as when she first woke up. Speaking of her Daddy, her eyes shone brightly.

"Your Daddy is a soldier?" The boy exclaimed in awe, children hold a natural admiration for soldiers.

Shen Qinglan nodded proudly, "My Daddy is very powerful, very tall. He would take me riding on big horses, buy me all sorts of delicious food, and play games with me. He’s really, really good. But..." her voice faltered, "I might never see my Daddy again."

She began to cry, and the boy panicked, clumsily wiping her tears, "Don’t cry, I’ll protect you. I will definitely help you escape and then you can go to the police uncle. The police will take you home."

Shen Qinglan stopped her tears and looked at the boy with tearful eyes, "Really?"

The boy nodded affirmatively, "Really, I will help you."

Shen Qinglan broke into a smile through her tears and touched her little belly, saying pitifully, "I’m hungry."

The boy handed her the steamed bun, "Eat it."

Shen Qinglan took a bite of the steamed bun. It was hard and didn’t taste good at all. She tried to spit it out after one bite, but the boy quickly covered her mouth.

"You have to eat it even if it doesn’t taste good, otherwise they won’t give you any food and you’ll starve to death, and then you won’t be able to see your Daddy."

Shen Qinglan nodded, ultimately didn’t spit out the steamed bun, and nibbled away at the hard bun until it was gone.