Xia Xiaolan retreated to her seat without getting the hot water.

The train was crowded anyway, so she didn’t disturb the other person.

Xia Xiaolan had an excellent memory. In the business world, one’s memory could be weak in other areas, but remembering people was essential. Initially, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t remember people well either – how could she keep track of who was who after just one meeting?

After suffering setbacks because of this, Xia Xiaolan worked hard to practice, specifically memorizing people’s distinctive features.

Some customers she’d meet once every few years, yet she could still recognize them accurately. This earned her many points – regardless of the size of the business, customers felt valued by Xia Xiaolan’s side.

That’s why she immediately recognized that middle-aged woman.

She was the human trafficker who tried to lure her with promises of making big money on a train to Yang City over a year ago!

At that time, Tang Hongen had helped her out of the situation.

In the blink of an eye, the trafficker had slipped off the train.

Unexpectedly, that woman had changed her route and wasn’t operating on the Shang City to Yang City line anymore. White face, thin eyebrows – Xia Xiaolan hadn’t remembered wrong.

Indeed, she had taken several more trips between Shang City and Yang City afterward but never encountered that woman again. It seemed the trafficker was very cautious, changing locations once exposed.

“Why did you come back without getting water?”

“It’s too crowded. I’ll go later.”

Xia Xiaolan’s response made the gossipy Sister exasperated – young people were always so impetuous, without any patience.

What’s the use of marrying such a daughter-in-law, except for her pretty face?

“I’m going to get water anyway, want me to get some for you?”

Xia Xiaolan handed over her cup with a bright smile, “Thank you so much!”

Oh, so she wasn’t just pretty but sweet-tongued too. It wasn’t a big favor, and Sister quickly returned with hot water. Xia Xiaolan took out the salted duck she bought in Jin City and invited the couple to share.

Now it was Sister’s turn to feel embarrassed.

Though meat wasn’t as precious as it was a few years ago, it still didn’t feel right to eat a stranger’s duck meat.

“Please eat. In this hot weather, the meat will spoil and have to be thrown away anyway. Wouldn’t that be more wasteful? It’s only not wasted if it’s eaten!”

That made sense.

They could also tell from Xia Xiaolan’s decent clothes that she was well-off and wouldn’t mind sharing some food.

While making small talk, Xia Xiaolan was still thinking about what happened earlier.

That trafficker must have targeted that young girl from before.

The girl was crying while getting hot water, probably troubled by something.

Traffickers were good at exploiting vulnerabilities – those who were alone, seemed soft-natured, or troubled were all their targets. Most problems could be solved with money, and if they couldn’t be solved, maybe it was because there wasn’t enough money. Traffickers would exploit this, seizing on people’s urgent need for money, lying about helping them find work and make big money. Young, inexperienced girls could easily fall into their traps.

These traffickers either dressed very simply to avoid suspicion,

Or they dressed elegantly, appearing to have status and position, making it hard for people to suspect them of being traffickers.

In both encounters, that middle-aged woman specifically targeted young, attractive girls – seems her business had a consistent pattern.

Xia Xiaolan’s eyes grew cold. No matter who the trafficker’s buyers were, it couldn’t be anywhere good. Last time they let her escape, but this time wouldn’t be so easy.

Of course, human traffickers couldn’t be eliminated, but since Xia Xiaolan had encountered her, she had to do something about it!

Among all possible businesses in the world, Xia Xiaolan hated two kinds the most: drug trafficking and human trafficking. The former indirectly destroyed countless families, while the latter directly ruined lives. Her disgust for these two businesses even exceeded her hatred for arms dealing.

But should she report directly to the train police?

If she made a formal report, she had no evidence.

Sister noticed Xia Xiaolan’s distraction. After the couple had eaten half of Xia Xiaolan’s salted duck, Sister felt quite embarrassed:

“Sister, are you troubled by something?”

Xia Xiaolan glanced at the soundly sleeping Zhou Cheng. Could she trust strangers she met on the train?

“Sister, I think I’ve encountered a human trafficker.”

Xia Xiaolan lowered her voice, startling the couple. Sister nearly jumped from her seat.

“Where are they?!”

“Please don’t alert them yet. They’re in another car. I’ve encountered her before, but someone helped me avoid being tricked. They got away that time, and now I’ve found her trying to trick people in a different place.”

The couple was both alarmed and angry.

The husband clenched his fists, “Human traffickers deserve to be cut into pieces. My colleague’s son was kidnapped by traffickers while playing with sand near an alley when he was five or six. The family searched for years without finding him. The couple used to be very loving, but after losing their son, they blamed each other. A once-harmonious family now argues every day. Traffickers are truly despicable.”

He spoke with intense anger, wanting to grab the trafficker Xia Xiaolan mentioned and beat them up.

Sister held back her husband, “Listen to what she has to say first, don’t act rashly and ruin things. We should report this to the train police!”

Xia Xiaolan hesitated, “Would telling the train police help? We haven’t caught them trafficking people red-handed.”

Xia Xiaolan’s fixed mindset was that thieves needed to be caught in the act – without catching them at the scene, they could always make excuses.

Sister gave her a strange look:

“Once they’re taken to the police station, the police will interrogate them thoroughly. If they’re traffickers, they won’t escape!”

This stunned Xia Xiaolan.

She was still thinking with her future mindset. In the 80s, public security officers were highly trusted by the people. If police couldn’t solve cases, it was because forensic technology wasn’t as advanced as in the future – no omnipresent cameras, no DNA testing. But once suspects fell into their hands, few could withstand round after round of interrogation.

Black was black, white was white – current police officers didn’t talk about human rights with criminals.

What human rights did bad people deserve?

Once in the police station, they’d better confess their crimes!

Earlier, Nie Weiguo had wanted to take Xia Xiaolan to the police station, but with so many people watching and Xia Xiaolan’s student status as protection, his plan hadn’t worked.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t believe traffickers had such protection.

“Sister, I was thinking wrong. I’ll go find the train police right away.”

Sister stood up, “I’ll go with you. With your small frame, you might get hurt if you face the traffickers alone.”

They first found a train attendant and explained the situation. The attendant’s expression became serious:

“Are you two telling the truth?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “She tried to trick me before, how could I remember wrong? Now she’s using the same tactics to trick people again. It’s been almost two years since she escaped last time. Who knows how many people she’s tricked? We can’t let her continue to run free.”

Even if they were wrong, the worst that could happen would be apologizing.

Train attendants were famously fierce, but their strong personalities had advantages – they were very action-oriented.

“You two go back and wait. I’ll bring the train police soon!”

Swinging her sleek black braid, the female attendant showed her fierce side.

Besides shouting “Peanuts and sunflower seeds for sale,” train attendants were quite useful!