She initially thought the pretty young woman disdained the man, and was misled by the crowd's opinion, believing the young woman was not a good person.
She had just spoken to advise her. If it weren't for this young woman's vigilance, they wouldn't have encountered her. These onlookers might have even helped the traffickers, harming the young woman.
"Isn't that right! We were just scolding this young woman with you! You are truly... black-hearted!"
"You are all too detestable, you must be handed over to the Public Security Bureau!"
Several old aunts who had just pointed fingers and cursed Fu Wenwen had unpleasant expressions. They had believed the words of the traffickers, and their gazes towards Fu Wenwen were filled with disdain. They had already labeled her as not a good person, thinking she must have been fickle or eloped with another man, a woman who had committed adultery.
As it turned out, they had misunderstood her. Now they couldn't even lift their heads and dared not look at Fu Wenwen.
It was utterly embarrassing.
Fu Wenwen hugged Lin An and ignored these gossiping onlookers. They knew nothing, yet they were making arbitrary judgments, foolish and laughable.
If it were another woman today, and she had been dragged away, they might have applauded. For people like them, Fu Wenwen didn't even want to spare a glance.
With the help of the crowd, the man and the old aunts were captured and pinned to the ground. Fu Wenwen held Lin An. Soon, someone who had called the police arrived with three or four officers.
"Who reported encountering human traffickers?" a police officer asked, looking at the two people on the ground.
Fu Wenwen stepped forward. "I did."
"Comrade Fu?" One of the four police officers' eyes lit up upon seeing Fu Wenwen.
Fu Wenwen looked at the officer, a face flashed in her mind, and she immediately remembered. "You are Comrade Xu Lin."
"You still remember me!" Xu Lin said happily and introduced her to his colleagues. "This is the heroine of our town. She dismantled a human trafficking den. Even our bureau chief praised her."
"So it was you!" The other three officers, hearing Xu Lin, immediately recalled the commendation letter that their bureau had specifically sent someone to deliver.
"You encountered human traffickers?" Xu Lin asked Fu Wenwen.
"This is my husband, Lin Feng. He just took our son to buy tickets. I was waiting for him here. Then this man suddenly lunged at me, trying to grab my hand. After I dodged him, he knelt on the ground, claiming I was his wife and asking me to go home with him..." Fu Wenwen recounted the events to Xu Lin.
"You said you found acupuncture needles on him?" Xu Lin, after hearing Fu Wenwen's account, looked at Lin Feng seriously.
Lin Feng nodded and handed over the items in his hand to Xu Lin. After Xu Lin showed his colleagues, both confirmed that this was one of the most frequently used methods by human traffickers.
"Take them away," Xu Lin and the others said with grim faces. They would show no mercy to human traffickers.
"Could you trouble yourselves to give us a statement?" Xu Lin looked at Fu Wenwen. Fu Wenwen glanced at Lin Feng, appearing hesitant.
"Comrade Xu, my husband needs to catch the first bus back to work. This statement..." Fu Wenwen's words made Xu Lin scratch his head.
"You can take the statement here with Comrade Fu! We'll take these two back first!" The other three officers, holding the two men with ashen faces, said to Xu Lin.
"Then we'll trouble you," Xu Lin nodded and began taking the statement from Fu Wenwen.
The bus to Fengcheng slowly pulled into the station, but everyone unanimously remained on board, waiting for Fu Wenwen to finish giving her statement.
"Alright, Comrade Fu, thank you for your hard work!" Xu Lin saluted Fu Wenwen after completing the statement.
"You are the ones who worked hard!" Fu Wenwen and Lin Feng saluted Xu Lin. Lin Feng then picked up Lin An, and led Fu Wenwen to the ticket gate to board the bus.
As they walked to the front of the bus, they discovered that everyone was still not on board. Seeing Fu Wenwen and Lin Feng arrive, everyone made way for them.
Fu Wenwen was stunned, but the crowd started applauding.
Amidst the applause, Fu Wenwen, blushing, led Lin Feng onto the bus and they sat in the second to last row, which was just enough for their family of three.
Lin An sat in Fu Wenwen's lap, excitedly kicking his legs. "Mom, you and Dad are so amazing. I want to be as amazing as Dad when I grow up."
"Okay!" Fu Wenwen chuckled. Lin An grinned brightly, his eyes full of starlight as he looked at Lin Feng. "Dad, hug me."
"Oh, my son is favoring me today," Lin Feng said with a smile, picking Lin An up and placing him on his lap.
"Young lady, we are truly sorry about just now..." Several aunts, sitting in front of Fu Wenwen, awkwardly turned back and said to her.
"We all misunderstood you and even helped that human trafficker scold you..."
"We apologize to you. We are truly sorry."
"We almost harmed you."
Fu Wenwen was silent for a while after hearing their words. "Perhaps the aunts were trying to offer good advice, but sometimes the truth is not as it seems. Today, I was vigilant and didn't fall for his tricks. If it were another girl who unfortunately fell for it, aunts, think about how terrifying that would be."
"The girls who are caught don't know where they'll be sold. She might face eternal darkness, and you, without realizing it, became accomplices, thinking you were doing a good deed..." Fu Wenwen's words made their faces pale.
Someone couldn't help but say, "...Isn't everything fine now?"
"If something had happened, could you take responsibility?" Fu Wenwen's tone instantly turned cold. The people in the car also felt that what the woman said was problematic.
The aunt was choked, lowered her head, and dared not speak again.
Fu Wenwen didn't want to bother with them. They simply didn't understand where they had gone wrong. She turned to look out the window. The people in the car exchanged glances, and the journey was silent.
The road to Fengcheng was bumpy and full of potholes. Fu Wenwen felt as if she were on a boat. She saw that everyone else seemed accustomed to it, only Lin An had the same expression as her, slumped against Lin Feng, having lost the energy he had when he first boarded the bus.
Fu Wenwen sighed heavily. Lin Feng glanced at her and took out a bottle of cooling balm from his pocket. "Use this. Put a little on your nose, and you'll feel better."
"Really?" Fu Wenwen felt the noodles she had eaten that morning churning in her stomach, making her extremely uncomfortable. She took the cooling balm and applied a little to her nose. Instantly, the scent hit her head, but the dizziness did improve significantly.
Fu Wenwen also applied some to Lin An. Lin An was startled. "Mom, it's so spicy."
"Smell it. Do you feel much better after smelling it?" Fu Wenwen encouraged him.
Lin An sniffed. After the pungent smell passed, Lin An couldn't help but sniff again, and said happily, "Mom, I'm all better!"