The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 221. Tracing (Second Update)

Chapter 221: 221. Tracing (Second Update)

In the kidnapper’s car, a lean man sat in the backseat with a child lying on his lap—it was Doudou, who had gone missing from the amusement park earlier that day.

"Qiangzi, there’s a roadblock ahead; they seem to be checking for drunk driving. Let’s take another route," the lean man spoke up. They had scouted this route beforehand, and it was usually free from drunk driving checks, but the sudden inspection today made the lean man uneasy.

Qiangzi glanced at the long line of cars ahead and behind them, annoyed, "How are we supposed to get out now?"

"What are we supposed to do then? If we get caught, we’re going to jail," the lean man panicked.

Qiangzi glanced at the traffic police inspecting each vehicle one by one, his eyes hardening, "We have a bargaining chip on our hands, just don’t rush things. If we can’t get through, we’ll figure it out then." He said, casting a meaningful look at the child on the lean man’s lap.

The child, sedated with sleeping pills, was sleeping soundly. The lean man adjusted the child to prevent him from rolling off, "He won’t wake up anytime soon; the dosage is enough to keep him asleep till tomorrow."

Though the line was long, the inspection moved quickly, and soon it was their turn. Qiangzi lowered the window, "Officer, we haven’t been drinking."

The sign indicated they were checking for drunk driving.

The police officer, with a stern face, responded, "We’ll know after we test. Hand over your driver’s license."

Qiangzi handed over his license, which the officer examined, then glanced at Qiangzi and returned it, "Step out of the car."

Qiangzi’s expression darkened, but he complied without any fuss, stepped out, and the officer handed him a device, "Blow into this."

Qiangzi blew into the device, and all indicators came back normal. Smiling, he said, "See, officer, I told you I haven’t been drinking. I’m a law-abiding citizen."

The traffic police glanced back at the seat, "Who are these people?"

Qiangzi smiled, "This is my brother. I brought the kids to Beijing for some fun today. They played until they fell asleep, and now we are just heading home."

"Where do you live?" the officer asked casually, though he already knew this was the car and the missing boy was inside. They had received orders to let them pass while trying to delay them as much as possible.

Qiangzi provided an address.

"That’s quite far. Why come all the way to Beijing for fun?"

Qiangzi smiled helplessly, "The kids have been nagging about coming here for days. Since it’s the weekend, we brought them to have some fun. By the time we get home, it’ll be dark."

The officer nodded understandingly, "Being a parent is truly challenging. I have kids at home who also always insist on going places."

Seeing the officer in a chatty pose, the lean man’s eyes were filled with anxiety, but he kept his head lowered so the officer didn’t notice.

Complying, Qiangzi interjected, "Isn’t it? Officer, can we go now?"

The officer waved his hand, "Go ahead, but drive slowly on the road, don’t jostle the kids."

"Ah, thank you, officer." Qiangzi got back into the car and drove off. After traveling some distance and seeing no signs of pursuit, Qiangzi and the lean man finally relaxed. It seemed this was just a random DUI checkpoint. With the strict enforcement nowadays, such incidents were common.

Shen Qinglan followed discreetly behind, maintaining a distance that neither aroused suspicion nor risked losing them.

"Qinglan, where are you?" Fu Hengyi’s voice came through the earpiece. Shen Qinglan checked the road signs and reported her location; she was already in the neighboring provinces.

"Take care of yourself," Fu Hengyi instructed.

"Don’t worry."

After hanging up, Fu Hengyi called the chief of the public security bureau in the neighboring provinces, roughly estimated the destination based on the direction the human traffickers were heading, and later, it turned out that Fu Hengyi’s estimation was very close to accurate.

Halfway through the route, Shen Qinglan met up with Fu Hengyi who was coming from another direction. To avoid arousing suspicion from the people in the vehicle, Shen Qinglan got directly into Fu Hengyi’s car.

"They went that way," Shen Qinglan pointed in a direction, and Fu Hengyi followed. He kept a further distance than Shen Qinglan did, only managing to determine a general location. This area was quite remote and any foreign vehicle showing up was very noticeable, so Fu Hengyi didn’t dare to follow too closely.

From a distance, Shen Qinglan saw the car stop, and the man in the driver’s seat got out and stared at them for a long time. Fu Hengyi pretended to be passing by, directly overtaking them, and drove ahead.

"Qiangzi, I told you, you’re just being too sensitive. I think they’re just tourists," the thin man said as he watched Fu Hengyi’s car drive away. There was a small attraction nearby; although it was not very well-known, there were some visitors, mostly quiet couples who liked the secluded spot.

Qiangzi shifted his gaze from the distant car. "Better safe than sorry. It’s best if we’re not being followed."

The thin man nodded, "Let’s go, we should head back too. This job was really risky, we shouldn’t take such risks in the future, especially in crowded places."

Qiangzi gave him a look, "Why have you become so timid? This is the business we’re in. If you weren’t brave, you would’ve starved to death."

The two talked and got back into their car, driving in the opposite direction of Fu Hengyi.

"Are you sure this device will work?" Fu Hengyi glanced at the mobile phone in Shen Qinglan’s hand, where a red dot was moving on the screen.

"I’m not sure; this is just a prototype, not a finished product. It’s my first time trying it," Shen Qinglan replied. A couple of days earlier, Jin Enxi had been tinkering with this device. Shen Qinglan found it interesting and took it to examine, but ended up forgetting about it in her bag until now. As her car passed by the traffickers’ vehicle, Shen Qinglan threw the tracking device out.

The tracker was very small, about the size of a fingernail, thin, and it had a strong magnetic pull, firmly attaching to the body of the car. Shen Qinglan wasn’t worried about it being discovered, and indeed, it wasn’t.

"Where did you get this thing?" Fu Hengyi asked casually while driving.

"A friend of mine developed it," Shen Qinglan responded after a brief pause.

Fu Hengyi didn’t press further and smiled, "The practicality is decent. If the tests prove successful, it might be worth producing."

Seeing that Fu Hengyi had clearly changed the subject, Shen Qinglan blinked her beautiful eyes and remained silent, and the car fell into silence for a moment.

"They’ve arrived." The red dot had stopped, indicating they had reached their destination. Shen Qinglan and Fu Hengyi parked the car a bit farther away and circled around to the other side.

The traffickers were at a large courtyard surrounded by only their building, with vast expanses of farmland stretching out in the distance, lush and green.

"The view here is open, making it hard to hide," Fu Hengyi said gravely after observing the area.

Shen Qinglan nodded silently. "And they seem to have quite a few people. We don’t know how many more are inside or if they have weapons."

"Qinglan, wait here for me; I’ll go in and check it out after dark," Fu Hengyi decided after a pause.

"No, it’s too dangerous," Shen Qinglan disagreed.

"Qinglan, you need to trust me," Fu Hengyi said softly, holding Shen Qinglan’s hand. They were currently in a large tree not far from the courtyard. The dense branches and leaves provided good cover, so they didn’t fear being discovered.

Shen Qinglan was silent, which was taken as agreeing to Fu Hengyi’s suggestion. Fu Hengyi called the police and explained their exact location and the plan.

As night gradually fell, lights were lit in the courtyard.

"I’ll go over and check first, you stay here and don’t move," Fu Hengyi instructed, only jumping down from the branch after seeing Shen Qinglan nod in agreement.

Shen Qinglan watched as Fu Hengyi moved through the fields, thankful that he was wearing dark clothes today, which made him less conspicuous in the dark.

When Fu Hengyi was about fifty meters from the courtyard, he bent down, perfectly concealing himself in the crops as he approached slowly.

Inside the courtyard, in a south-facing room, Qiangzi and a thin man who had come today were eating.

"Qiangzi, this one today isn’t bad at all, looks strong and stout, and it’s a boy. I guess he could fetch a good price," a burly man entered from outside and spoke while Qiangzi was eating.

"That’s right; if he didn’t look good, would I take such a huge risk?" Qiangzi thought to himself. He had snatched the boy from an amusement park in Beijing.

"We can’t settle for the same price as last time," Qiangzi said with a mouthful of noodles.

The burly man laughed, "Don’t worry about that. We’ve been working together for so many years, when have I ever shortchanged you?"

Qiangzi smiled and took the man’s words as an agreement. The thin man hadn’t spoken the whole time; in external matters, Qiangzi was the main decision-maker, and he was just there to assist.

"This is already the fifth one this month; when will you transfer the money?" Qiangzi drank the last of his noodle soup and asked.

"I’ll transfer it all to you tomorrow. Do you want it split or all in one account?"

"Split it; together it’s too conspicuous. Next month I’ll take a break first, and go away with the skinny guy to lay low for a bit," Qiangzi said. Having pulled off five jobs this month, he could easily be caught if he wasn’t careful. It was safer to leave Beijing. Most importantly, he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling about that car he had encountered on the road today.

"Alright, then you go have some fun first."

"If there’s nothing else, Skinny and I are leaving tonight," Qiangzi stood up and gestured to the thin man. "We’re heading out overnight; transfer the money to us tomorrow."

"Hold on," the burly man suddenly stopped Qiangzi, suspicious, "Why are you in such a rush this time? You didn’t get into some trouble, did you?"

"There’s an urgent matter; Skinny’s mother is sick and in the hospital. He needs to visit her, so I might as well go with him," Qiangzi did not mention the abnormal encounter he had today.

The burly man was relieved, "Alright, then off you go. These kids will be moved in a couple of days, and I’ll also leave this place."

Qiangzi nodded and left with the thin man. Shen Qinglan, sitting in the tree, saw the red dot on the mobile screen start moving again and immediately knew someone was about to leave. She didn’t call Fu Hengyi but instead sent a message to Jin Enxi, who she had already contacted; Jin Enxi would keep track of the car at all times.

Waiting was excruciating. Sitting in the tree, Shen Qinglan couldn’t see what was happening inside the courtyard or know how Fu Hengyi was doing, anxiety apparent in her eyes.

Ten minutes later, she slid down the tree trunk and moved towards the courtyard. Her petite figure made it easier for her to remain hidden. Reaching the walls surrounding the courtyard, Shen Qinglan surveyed the area, found no cameras, stepped back a few meters, then took a running start and effortlessly jumped over the wall, landing softly inside.

The yard was quite spacious, and the spot Shen Qinglan had chosen was a deserted corner. After entering, there was no one around. She gently pressed a small button on her wristwatch, which vibrated momentarily, and the face instantaneously transformed into something resembling a map. Shen Qinglan let go of her hand, and the layout of the yard she had observed earlier automatically surfaced in her mind.

Fu Hengyi was crouched at the window of a room when a slight vibration suddenly transmitted through his wrist. He looked down and his gaze fixed on the wristwatch, a flicker of inexplicable emotion flashing in his eyes.

The wristwatch on Shen Qinglan’s hand, normally just a women’s digital watch, would automatically switch to a small electronic screen once she activated the tracking device. On the screen was a small red dot indicating Fu Hengyi’s location.

She headed in the opposite direction of Fu Hengyi, stopping as she passed a room. From inside, soft cries could be heard. Approaching the window, she peered inside and saw seven or eight children huddled in a corner of the room.

The room was fairly large, containing a brick bed where several children were nestled.

"Don’t cry, crying will get you beaten."

"Here, have this bun, you’ll need the energy to escape."

"Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you."

Whose voice whispered softly in her ears, Shen Qinglan shook her head, casting the voices out of her mind.

Seeing that these children weren’t discussing anything urgent, Shen Qinglan moved closer to Fu Hengyi’s direction. The trembling frequency of Fu Hengyi’s wristwatch was increasing. He glanced at it and headed in another direction, soon meeting up with Shen Qinglan.

"Weren’t you supposed to wait for me outside?" Fu Hengyi saw Shen Qinglan, his face stern for the first time.

Shen Qinglan paused slightly, speaking softly, "I can protect myself, and now isn’t the time to discuss this. What’s the situation inside?"

Fu Hengyi also knew this wasn’t the time to discuss such matters. He glanced at her helplessly and briefly explained, "Not many people, six men, all gathered in that room right now, and no lethal weapons have been found so far." He pointed towards the room that was lit.

"But I didn’t see any children."

"I’ve already found the children, there are eight of them in total," Shen Qinglan spoke up.

With a good grasp of the situation, Fu Hengyi sent a message outside and then exchanged a glance with Shen Qinglan before heading towards the room where the human traffickers were located.

The police had already set up an extensive ambush outside, and Qiangzi and the skinny man were restrained by the police just as they stepped out of the visible area of the large courtyard. At the moment of his capture, Qiangzi suddenly remembered the car they had seen on the road that afternoon, while the skinny man had only one thought in his mind—that they were doomed.

When Shen Qinglan and Fu Hengyi approached the occupied room, Fu Hengyi shielded Shen Qinglan behind him and then kicked open the door. The few men who were playing cards inside noticed the appearance of a man and a woman at the door and immediately realized something was amiss, picking up their weapons and charging at Shen Qinglan and Fu Hengyi.

Though these men had some skills, they hardly posed a challenge in front of Fu Hengyi and Shen Qinglan. Shen Qinglan didn’t even get a chance to make a move before Fu Hengyi had knocked all of them to the floor.

Looking at the few men who had lost their ability to fight, Fu Hengyi took out his mobile phone and called the police waiting outside. Soon, the police completely surrounded the large courtyard.

Shen Qinglan didn’t bother with them and walked straight into the room where the children were kept. Perhaps due to the noise outside, the children were all awake by now and were watching them with frightened faces.

Shen Qinglan softened her expression, her lips gently curving into a reassuring smile. "Don’t be afraid, we’re here to rescue you." She pointed to Fu Hengyi beside her, "This uncle here is a soldier, he will protect you."

The seven children looked at each other, and finally, a boy bravely spoke up, "You really came to rescue us?"

Shen Qinglan nodded, "Yes, there are many police officers outside, they’ll take you home."