Chapter 499: Hot-blooded Little Mo (Part 1)
The first opportunity to escape came on the evening of the second day of his abduction—their first day on the road.
They were in a small town then. If Little Tang Mo had wanted to, he likely could have escaped on his own.
But he didn’t make a move, because Little Tongtong was still with him.
Getting away by himself wouldn’t have been a problem, but taking Little Tongtong with him would have been impossible.
Little Tang Mo couldn’t abandon Little Tongtong.
He could have saved himself and then tried to rescue her later. But the driver’s route was erratic and unpredictable. Sometimes they’d head one way, then double back, and he had no idea where the driver would go next.
So in the end, Little Tang Mo didn’t risk it.
His chances of escaping were better than sixty percent, but he knew that if he did, the driver would take his anger out on the other children in the truck. There was no telling how that short-tempered man would beat and torture them...
And so, Little Tang Mo missed his first chance to escape.
After that, it became even harder for Little Tang Mo to bear the thought of leaving them. They were constantly locked in the back of the truck, forced to relieve themselves in a single bucket. Even with a lid, the smell was awful.
In such a confined, foul environment, it was easy to imagine how terrified they were. Two of the children had even developed fevers and fallen ill.
And the only person they trusted and relied on was Little Tang Mo.
If it weren’t for Little Tang Mo, some of these children would have likely been scared witless, severely abused, gravely ill, or possibly even dead by now.
Looking into the eyes of the children who depended on him so much, Little Tang Mo hesitated. His resolve softened.
Su Li had once told him about the kind of treatment abducted children faced, about their miserable fates. She hadn’t gone into great detail, but Little Tang Mo remembered every word.
He had seen them himself—the young beggars on the streets, missing arms or legs, permanently disabled...
The thought that they might end up like that made his stomach turn. ’I can’t just save myself,’ he thought. ’I have to save all these kids, too.’
Watching the driver’s practiced movements and observing the routes they took, Little Tang Mo thought calmly, ’We aren’t the first group, and we won’t be the last. I have to find a way to get all of these bad guys caught!’
’Not just one or two of them, but the whole group. I have to catch the entire group!’
Little Tang Mo continued to think with a calmness far beyond his years. There, in the back of the truck, he was forced to grow up fast.
He messed up Little Tongtong’s hair, dirtied her clothes, and even had her wet her pants to make her look as disheveled as possible.
He did the same for himself, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible, and time and again, they were passed over during the "selections."
Along the way, the number of children dwindled as they were taken off the truck. Little Tang Mo kept a mental record, observing and listening carefully. Through his watchfulness, he realized that their truck wasn’t the only one.
It seemed there was another one. The two trucks took different routes, their paths only intersecting occasionally.
One night, while they were stopped, Little Tang Mo and the others in the back heard the faint sound of a woman crying, punctuated by muffled thuds.
The next day, Little Tang Mo searched for any trace or clue but found nothing.
The truck drove on, sometimes for days and nights without stopping, until it had crossed one province and entered another.
By now, it was the fifth day since Little Tang Mo’s abduction. They had been on the road for four days, and only three children remained in the truck: Little Tang Mo, Little Tongtong, and one other girl.
That day, at dusk, the truck slowly rolled into Jiangxing City.
From the driver’s relaxed whistling and his own observations, Little Tang Mo knew this was likely the final stop, or the one right before it.
’So... I have to make my move now.’
Just as Little Tang Mo had predicted, this was probably their final destination. After the truck stopped, the driver didn’t go off to eat and drink as usual. Instead, he uncharacteristically opened the back of the truck right away.
The woman from the passenger seat, who had been with them the whole trip but rarely showed her face to the children, also made a rare appearance.
Her hair seemed to be falling out badly. There were only a few sparse strands left, and the top of her head was bald.
The other girl left with them, Little Yang Mei, flinched the moment she saw the bald woman.
Little Yang Mei was wearing decent clothes and a pair of red leather shoes. She had a round, pretty face.
Earlier in the trip, she had stared curiously at the bald woman’s hair and had been slapped hard for it. Ever since then, she’d been kept with them.
The bald woman looked at Little Yang Mei, smiled, and beckoned with her finger. "Come here."
"You really hold a grudge. She just glanced at you once, and you insisted on keeping her all the way here..." The male driver clicked his tongue.
"That pair of eyes is too annoying. Perfect for blinding," the bald woman said. Her voice was surprisingly gentle, which made the words all the more horrifying.
Little Yang Mei and Little Tongtong were too young to understand, but Little Tang Mo was horrified by what he heard.
’They can’t be planning... planning to maim us and force us to beg, can they?’
’This... This is one of the most tragic fates for abducted children.’
Little Tang Mo’s hands clenched into tight fists as he held onto Little Tongtong for dear life.
The male driver didn’t notice Little Tang Mo’s reaction. He also beckoned. "Come on, I’ll take you to get something good to eat."
He was trying to coax them. This was one of his usual tricks.
Little Tang Mo obediently pulled Little Tongtong and stepped forward.
The driver was very pleased. "You two have been so obedient these last couple of days, so I’ve decided to treat you to a nice meal. Then we’ll send you home, okay?"
Little Yang Mei was overjoyed, forgetting her fear of the bald woman. "Really?"
"Of course it’s true, as long as you’re good," the driver said with a smile. "So where’s your home, Little Yang Mei?"
Little Yang Mei was about to blurt it out, but then she remembered Little Tang Mo’s earlier instructions. Hesitantly, she only said, "The Imperial City."
She didn’t specify where in the Imperial City.
A look of satisfaction flashed in the driver’s eyes. "The Imperial City, huh? Very good."
He then turned to Little Tang Mo. "What about you? You’re old enough, you should remember, right?"
His eyes were dangerously sharp. Little Tang Mo seemed terrified, trembling uncontrollably. "The Imperial City... the Imperial City... I’m from the Imperial City, too..."
As he cried out, Little Tongtong saw how scared he was and wrapped her tiny body around him as if to protect him, glaring fiercely at the driver.
The driver glanced at Little Tang Mo, who had been as timid as a quail the entire trip, and sneered before turning his attention to Little Tongtong.
"And you? Where’s your home? Do you remember your mommy’s name?"
"The Imperial City! Mommy is Mommy, and her name is Mommy!" Little Tongtong replied smartly as soon as she heard the question.
They’d had this same conversation twice before on the road.
One child had given his parents’ names and the name of his village, and the driver had beaten him for it. Little Tongtong remembered that very clearly.
The driver and the bald woman exchanged a glance and nodded in satisfaction.
"Let’s go. Be good now. If you’re good, I’ll take you to get something tasty, and then we’ll send you home."
As he spoke, the driver grabbed Little Tang Mo by the collar and hauled him out of the truck.
For the first time since his capture, Little Tang Mo was out of the truck and standing on solid ground.
The driver gripped Little Tang Mo with one hand and Little Tongtong with the other. The bald woman grabbed Little Yang Mei, shut the truck door, and they started walking.
After a few turns, a bustling marketplace came into view.