Chapter 204

Teacher Song stood up and looked me over from head to toe. Then she said, "Xiao Laoshi, I heard you've been working here for almost two years and never once taken a child home. Why the sudden change of heart today?"

"That's exactly to show my attitude," I said with a bitter smile. "I'll turn over a new leaf."

Those two fools finally agreed.

They just weren't as clever as I was!

Tonight, it was just me and Shan Shan.

As the teachers and children gradually left the kindergarten, I found Shan Shan.

This little girl whom I'd hit dozens of times and pinched countless times.

"Shan Shan, I'll take you home," I said to her with a smile.

She froze when she saw me, as if she'd spotted a demon.

"Xiao... Xiao Laoshi..." Shan Shan lowered her head deeply. "I want Teacher Song or Teacher Chen to take me home..."

I smiled and leaned in close to her, saying, "You little brat, I advise you not to push your luck. If you don't agree, your teacher will have to pinch your thigh again, you know."

Shan Shan was trembling all over, tears welling up in her eyes, wanting to cry but unable to.

"Good girl, your teacher will take you home." I grabbed her hand.

I practically dragged her the whole way; the girl wasn't cooperating at all.

That's why I hate kids the most.

After leaving the kindergarten, I turned through a few alleys, heading to the spot I'd arranged with Qu Ge.

"Xiao... Xiao Laoshi, this isn't the way to my home..." Shan Shan said, sounding scared.

"Don't worry, I'm your teacher—I won't harm you." I gripped her hand tightly and pulled her into the alley.

Qu Ge was waiting there in a van, with a few menacing men beside him.

As soon as they saw me approach, they all got out of the car.

"Qu Ge, is this the one you mentioned?" a man with a scar on his face asked.

"Yeah," Qu Ge nodded.

"Damn, it's just a little girl."

Hearing that, Qu Ge's face didn't look too good either.

"Xiao Ran, are you an idiot?" Qu Ge said fiercely. "What did you bring a little girl for?"

"Me, an idiot?" I was stunned for a moment. "You never told me if it had to be a boy or a girl. How is that my fault?"

"Enough arguing. A little girl can still fetch a price. This is our first job out here, so let's play it safe," Qu Ge said, pulling Shan Shan into the van. Then he took out his wallet and counted out three thousand yuan for me.

"Three thousand?" I was taken aback. "Qu Ge, are you kidding? Wasn't it supposed to be thirty thousand?"

"Thirty thousand is for a boy. A girl is only worth three thousand."

Without another word, he turned to get into the car, but I was furious.

"No way!" I grabbed Qu Ge's arm. "You didn't say that upfront! You only mentioned thirty thousand! Give me the rest!"

"Let go!" Qu Ge kept shaking off my arm.

"I'm not letting go!" I shouted. "If you don't pay up, I'll call for help and let the neighbors hear everything!"

"Go to hell!"

Qu Ge slapped me across the face, sending me to the ground.

They sped off in that rundown van.

I lay there on the ground for a long time until the neighbors started gathering around.

"Girl, what happened to you?" an old lady asked.

"Who was shouting just now? What's going on?"

The crowd buzzed with chatter, and suddenly an idea struck me.

"Call the police! Someone's kidnapping a child!"

As soon as I said it, everyone was shocked.

I was taken to the police station, where they took my statement.

Teacher Chen Ting and Teacher Song, who had been on their way home, also showed up. They had heard that Shan Shan was kidnapped, and worry was written all over their faces.

Such pretense.

What do you two have to be worried about? You're not even related to Shan Shan.

"Xiao Ran, what did you do to Shan Shan?!" Chen Ting grabbed my collar as soon as she appeared. "She's already suffered enough—can't you just leave her alone?"

Several officers quickly stepped in to hold her back: "Ma'am, please calm down."

"I don't need to calm down!" Chen Ting pointed at me and said to the officers present, "Officers, no matter what happened to Shan Shan, this woman is definitely involved! I swear to heaven!"

"Chen Ting, that's enough." I stood up, my expression angry as well. "I already said the child was kidnapped, and plenty of neighbors saw it. They not only took the child but also hit me."

"You're lying!"

Chen Ting looked furious, while Teacher Song stood there, deep in thought.

Not long after, Teacher Song turned to one of the officers and asked, "Where was Shan Shan taken from?"

"It was at the east end of Lao Nan Jie," an officer replied.

"Lao Nan Jie?" Teacher Song frowned and looked at me. "Shan Shan's home is on Yang Jiang Zhong Lu—you could get there directly. Why did you go to Lao Nan Jie?"

"I took Yang Jiang Zhong Lu? This was my first time taking Shan Shan home, so I got lost," I answered.

An officer rapped on the table and said, "Ms. Xiao Ran, we hope you'll be completely honest. Everyone wants to find the child as soon as possible. If you're lying, it will make the search much harder."

"I'm really not lying." I shook my head. "Those men kidnapped the child and beat me. There were so many of them—I couldn't fight back."

I felt secretly triumphant inside. They wouldn't find any evidence against me.

I'd already deleted the call records with Qu Ge, so I was in the clear.

Teacher Song turned back to the officers and said, "Officers, doesn't this seem suspicious? Xiao Ran got lost and ended up there, right where the traffickers were."

"We've considered all that," an officer said, pulling out a file. "But we have witnesses who heard Xiao Ran shouting something like 'If you don't give it to me, I'll call for help' at the traffickers, which suggests she was trying to resist them. And others saw her get hit."

Teacher Song fell silent after hearing that, and after a moment, she said slowly, "What if Xiao Ran was in on it with the traffickers, and she said that just to demand money?"

I had to admit, I'd underestimated this woman.

"You might as well arrest her now. I feel like we'll eventually get the child's whereabouts out of her," Teacher Song said.

The officers listened and slowly looked up, saying, "We need evidence to make an arrest, just like for any case. Based on what's happened, there's no surveillance in the alley, and we still need to investigate if she's an accomplice. For now, you all should go home and wait for updates. Our priority is to set up roadblocks and search for the child as quickly as possible."

They asked a few more irrelevant questions and finally let me go.

Chen Ting, Teacher Song, and I left together, and just then, we saw an elderly woman shuffling toward the police station.

She had a strong odor of old age about her.

Disgusting.

"Teachers, are you Shan Shan's teachers?" the old woman asked through her tears.

"Ah..." Chen Ting suddenly looked guilty. "Are you Shan Shan's grandmother?"

"I'm so sorry..." The old woman held back her grief, grabbed Chen Ting's hand, and bowed deeply. "My granddaughter has caused you teachers so much trouble... I'm truly sorry... My poor granddaughter..."

"No trouble at all!" Chen Ting quickly helped her up. "Ma'am, it's our responsibility that Shan Shan went missing... We'll definitely find her."

"Who is Teacher Xiao?" the old woman asked.

Both women turned to look at me.

"Teacher Xiao..." The old woman stepped forward and took my hand. "I heard from Shan Shan that she always makes you angry... Please don't blame her... And now she's caused you all this trouble—I'm so sorry..."