Human Trafficker

Lu Heng unconsciously curled his lips into a smile, then bent down and stroked Big Speckle's feathers.

After breakfast, all the villagers came to see Lu Heng off. A huge crowd filled the Lu family's modest yard, their chattering voices carrying all the way to the village entrance. They talked until six or seven in the morning before the production crew finally entered Lu Heng's home with cameras on their shoulders.

Since they had already filmed Lu Heng helping his parents with farm work at home and studying at school, the crew was quite familiar with the villagers. They entered the yard chatting and laughing, teasing Lu Miao with questions like, "Are you happy your brother is going to the city?" When they nearly made the little girl cry again, her eldest brother, Lu Chi, hurriedly gathered her into his arms to soothe her. Shen Yunjuan softly urged Lu Heng to go inside for his luggage and leave with the crew.

Even the classmates whose faces he could barely remember had come to see him off.

After so many years, Lu Heng no longer had much impression of these classmates. Still, the feeling of being cared about and remembered was simply too wonderful. Lu Heng sincerely thanked everyone, waved goodbye, and got into the van the production crew had prepared.

The van rattled along the dirt road. It had just rained, and the road was muddy, making the vehicle sway violently. Yet beneath the clearing post-rain sky, a huge rainbow hung overhead.

Bright morning light streamed through the window, bathing the boy in a dazzling halo. Through the high-definition camera, they could clearly see the pair of distinct black-and-white eyes beneath Lu Heng's long lashes. Those eyes were gazing at the sky after the rain, at the distant mountains, at the rainbow hanging high above. Whenever his gaze shifted, two pools of laughter seemed to ripple within them, like spring water reflecting sunlight, making anyone who saw them smile without realizing it.

The cameraman and producers in the van exchanged looks. Their industry instincts made them vaguely sense a certain hidden talent in Lu Heng.

That feeling became even clearer when they arrived at the train station and the cameraman followed behind Lu Heng with his camera, slowly entering the crowd.

More than ten years ago, J City had still been a poor, underdeveloped little place. It had no means to build an airport, and even the trains passing through its station were green-skinned. They clattered as they ran, making the passengers inside sway from side to side. Outside the windows, all kinds of landmarks rushed backward. You looked out from the carriage and thought you were taking in the scenery, but in truth, you could not see anything clearly.

If you stared for too long, you would grow dizzy, then close your eyes, as if your whole body were spinning.

It was nine in the morning. People bustled through the train station as the announcements broadcast notices of trains arriving or preparing to depart. Lu Heng sat in the waiting room with his backpack in his arms. Without a phone, he could only watch the passersby around him to kill time.

In the bustling train station, there were men and women, old and young. Some were smartly dressed, while others were poor and ragged. Lu Heng should have been one of the most ordinary figures among this cross-section of humanity, yet the instant the camera swept over him, the entire shot took on an extraordinary texture.

The striking visual impact appeared before them once more, making them unable to help clicking their tongues in admiration.

Lu Heng had no idea the cameraman was marveling at him. Bored, he observed the travelers passing by and wrote character sketches for every person who entered his sight.

An old man in his fifties, dressed in a worn military uniform and carrying a woven sack over his shoulder. He was probably a father taking the train to some big city to visit his son, who would soon graduate from university and remain there to work for a company. The battered sack on his shoulder held local specialties he had saved up for a long time, gifts for his son... A group of seventeen- or eighteen-year-old students with backpacks, sitting on suitcases and chatting away... A man and woman in their mid-twenties wearing matching couple's outfits... A hurried woman in an embroidered cotton jacket, carrying a child...

Perhaps because the child in the woman's arms was crying too fiercely, Lu Heng's casually passing gaze returned to her without conscious thought.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, with dark, rough skin and an honest, simple appearance. She should have been the child's mother. A single woman rushed out of the waiting hall holding a child, carrying no luggage at all. Maybe she had argued with her husband. Her hand was pressed tightly against the back of the child's neck, forcing the child's face firmly into her chest. Yet the child's cries could still be heard. Perhaps she was holding the child too tightly. The child struggled desperately, nearly slipping from her arms, and she slapped the child hard on the back in frustration...

Lu Heng actually liked children quite a bit. Seeing what the woman did, he frowned instinctively.

His clear gaze could not help falling on the woman's face. The woman seemed to notice Lu Heng watching her and glanced over. Their eyes met in midair. When she saw the people carrying cameras behind Lu Heng, nervousness immediately appeared on her face. She clutched the child and ran away as fast as she could.

No one else noticed anything unusual between them.

The announcer broadcast the trains that would soon begin boarding and depart, then played a pop song. A beautiful, slow prelude drifted through the station. It was one of King Zhang's classic old songs. As an enduring superstar with immense popularity in the entertainment industry, King Zhang remained active on the big screen even more than ten years later. Lu Heng remembered that just before his death, King Zhang had made a film about fighting human trafficking, supposedly adapted from a real case. It had been both a critical and box-office success, and King Zhang had won Best Actor in one stroke for his role as the male lead—

In a flash, Lu Heng suddenly remembered something. He whipped his head around and stared fiercely in the direction the woman had fled, finally recalling why her face had seemed familiar.

The production crew members, resting and chatting in the waiting room, only felt a gust of wind sweep past them. Lu Heng, who had been sitting quietly beside them, had already darted off, leaving only his retreating figure behind.

The cameraman, who had just sat down to rest, stared in shock before immediately raising his camera and chasing after him.

Lu Heng ran through the dense crowd with difficulty. Travelers coming and going with bags large and small blocked his view. Standing on tiptoe, Lu Heng quickly scanned the packed mass before him. Waiting Hall Two... Waiting Hall One... Like a madman, Lu Heng ran from the innermost waiting hall of the station all the way outside, finally spotting the woman near the entrance.