The woman had a thick accent from another region, while the child had just spoken in Mandarin. Thinking of a possibility, Chen Lishu subtly shifted her position to block the woman's path. "Sister, I have nothing else to do. It must be difficult for you to take care of the child alone. How about I help you take the child to the hospital?"
As Chen Lishu spoke, she reached out to help carry the child, but the woman dodged her.
"The child is dirty, I don't want to stain your clothes, sister."
Chen Lishu smiled. "It's alright. The child is so ill, I can't rest easy. Let's do a good deed and see it through."
Seeing her persistence, a hint of panic flashed in the woman's eyes. She hadn't intended to take the child to the hospital. Once in the hospital, it would cost a lot of money. Besides, if the child recovered, how could she extort money from others?
"We didn't come out on our own. The child's father went to beg ahead. He'll be here soon."
As soon as the woman finished speaking, a man approached from not far away. He was also wearing ragged, dirty clothes, his unshaven face making it hard to discern his features.
The man quickened his steps to the woman's side, his expression anxious. "How's the child? Did you get any money?"
The woman glanced at Chen Lishu. "This kind sister gave us five yuan."
Surprise lit up the man's eyes. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and get the child treated."
"Sister, the child's father is here. You don't need to trouble yourself. We'll be going now."
Chen Lishu observed their expressions. They seemed genuinely worried about the child, making her momentarily uncertain. Perhaps she had misheard earlier.
"Mommy, I want Mommy."
The child, who had been lying quietly in the woman's arms, suddenly spoke again. This time, the enunciation was particularly clear. Chen Lishu heard it distinctly, and her expression suddenly changed.
The woman and the man noticed the shift in her expression, turned, and ran off with the child. Chen Lishu, with her quick reflexes, grabbed the child in the woman's arms.
The woman struggled but couldn't break free. The man quickly came to help.
"Xingdong!!" In her urgency, Chen Lishu immediately called out to Gu Xingdong, who was not far away.
Gu Xingdong, who was paying the strawberry vendor, turned his head upon hearing Chen Lishu's voice. When he saw her struggling with someone, his expression changed.
Seeing the man running over from across the street, the woman and the man panicked even more. They hadn't expected Chen Lishu to have help. They tugged at the child, desperately trying to break free.
During the struggle, the child cried out in pain, "Waa!"
"Help! Someone, help! These two are human traffickers!" Chen Lishu held the child tightly, ignoring the pain from their pulling, and shouted loudly.
Hearing her cries, pedestrians on the road turned to look. The woman and the man were terrified. Seeing Gu Xingdong approaching, the man pulled at the woman. "Let's go!"
"But the child..." They had finally managed to abduct the child, and relying on him, the couple had already earned a lot of money.
"We don't need the child. Let's save ourselves first." The man spoke, then turned and pushed Chen Lishu forcefully, before pulling the woman and running away.
Chen Lishu, holding the child, lost her balance and fell backward heavily to the ground. After falling, she didn't bother with the pain and immediately checked on the child in her arms. Seeing that he was alright, she felt a slight sense of relief.
"How are you? Did you get hurt anywhere?" Gu Xingdong, who was about to chase after them, rushed to help her up upon seeing her fall.
"I'm fine," Chen Lishu shook her head, pointing at the couple running away. "Xingdong, hurry and chase them! They are human traffickers!"
"Okay," Gu Xingdong nodded. Just as he was about to pursue them, the child in Chen Lishu's arms suddenly began to breathe rapidly and then started to convulse violently.
Their expressions changed. Forgetting to chase the traffickers, Gu Xingdong scooped up the child.
"Don't worry, I'll take the child to the hospital first," he said to Chen Lishu, then dashed off towards the hospital with the child.
His years of weighted training proved useful at this moment. Gu Xingdong ran all the way to the hospital. Only after seeing the doctor rescue the child and hook him up to an IV drip did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"How is he?" When Chen Lishu arrived, Gu Xingdong was standing by the bed, watching the child receive the IV drip.
"The doctor said it's pneumonia. It was delayed for too long. Even if he recovers, it won't be completely cured in the future."
Chen Lishu felt a pang of unease. Her gaze fell on the child lying quietly on the bed, his small, dirty face buried in the pillow, looking helpless and pitiable.
Someone who witnessed the situation reported it, and two police officers soon arrived to understand the situation. Chen Lishu stayed to care for the child, while Gu Xingdong went out to cooperate with the investigation.
"What did they say?"
After a while, Chen Lishu saw him push the door open and asked softly.
"They've taken a statement. They'll arrange for someone to look after the child shortly."
Chen Lishu nodded. "You watch him for a bit. I'm afraid the child will be hungry when he wakes up. I'll go buy him something to eat."
After leaving the hospital, Chen Lishu went to a nearby restaurant. The child was still sick and probably wouldn't have much appetite. Chen Lishu bought him a bowl of millet porridge and two vegetable-filled buns.
When she returned to the ward, the child had finished one bag of IV fluid. As the nurse came in to remove the needle, the female police officer assigned to look after the child also entered. She smiled and thanked Chen Lishu and Gu Xingdong upon seeing them.
"Thanks to you, the child was saved."
"It's our duty," Chen Lishu replied with a smile.
Since the police officer was already there, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingdong informed her of their departure.
"Oh, two comrades, please wait a moment." The female police officer stopped them, thinking of something. "Could you leave your contact address? If we have any follow-up questions regarding this matter, we can contact you promptly."
Gu Xingdong obviously couldn't provide his contact information. Chen Lishu thought for a moment and gave the name of her school.
"So you're university students," the female police officer smiled at Chen Lishu, signaling that they could leave.
The child's incident had taken up too much of their energy. Moreover, it was already past three in the afternoon when they left the hospital. The two had to go to the market to buy some vegetables to cook at home. Seeing that fish was being sold, Chen Lishu spent another two yuan to buy some small fish, preparing to make dried fish for 'King.'
The next day, as she had arranged to meet Wang Aixiang at the textile factory to pick up the fabric, Chen Lishu took the bus back to the city on her own, without Gu Xingdong's escort.
When she arrived at the apartment, Wang Aixiang was already waiting. To Chen Lishu's surprise, Wang Aixiang had sold nearly half of the fabric in just one week.
"I knew some friends from when I used to deal in old clothes. They knew I had fabric and rushed to buy it," Wang Aixiang explained with a smile, seeing Chen Lishu's gaze fall on the fabric.
"This is the money from selling the fabric these past few days. A total of three hundred and nineteen yuan and two mao." As Wang Aixiang spoke, she lifted her collar and carefully took out a stack of money from inside. The largest denomination was ten yuan, and the smallest was one mao. She handed it to Chen Lishu, neat and tidy.
Wang Aixiang had never seen so much money in her life. For these past few days, she had eaten poorly and slept restlessly, fearing that the money would disappear due to any mishap.