Meeting

"We received a report that people were fighting over here—"

"It wasn't a war, it was a little hero standing up for justice!" Before the police officer could finish, the crowd cut him off.

"The little hero said these people were traffickers, and we didn't believe him at first. Who knew these guys had homemade guns and switchblades? They didn't look like good people at all. We almost let the bad guys get away."

"This kid is incredible! He knows martial arts too! He took down a whole group of men in just a few moves!" The speaker gestured animatedly as he talked, his lively expression even making the officers laugh.

"All right, little hero, don't keep holding that homemade gun. It'd be a serious matter if it went off by accident." Smiling, the police officer carefully took the gun from Lu Heng's hands. He patted Lu Heng's shoulder as well, and feeling the tense muscles beneath his palm and the cold sweat he had broken out in, he could not help saying with a smile, "You were scared, weren't you? It's okay. The police are here. The bad guys have all been caught. There's no danger anymore."

Lu Heng stared blankly at the officer. His mouth was dry, his legs were trembling, and he could barely move.

Only now did the fear hit him.

The program director, cameramen, and other crew members swarmed over. While introducing themselves to the officers maintaining order and arresting people at the scene, they also held up microphones and conducted interviews everywhere. The young female assistant director pulled Lu Heng into her arms, stroking his back to comfort him while asking him to share his feelings after his righteous deed for the cameras.

Lu Heng felt as though all the strength had left his body. He only wanted to find somewhere quiet and sit for a while. Instead, the police took him to a nearby station to give a statement.

"How did you know that group were traffickers?"

Lu Heng blinked dumbly. It took him a long moment to come back to himself before he let out an "Ah" and casually said, "I just thought something was wrong."

"What was wrong?"

"What kind of mother holds a child with the child's face pressed into her chest? The child was crying so hard, but she didn't soothe her at all. She said she was rushing to catch a train home, yet she had no luggage. She kept carrying the child outside, and whenever she saw a camera, she hid..."

Oh, he had been quite observant.

The officer taking his statement secretly laughed. During the interrogation of those suspects, they had indeed confirmed that this was a criminal gang primarily engaged in human trafficking. Not only was the group organized and premeditated, its members even spanned several provinces. Over the years, they had trafficked and harmed more than a hundred women and children. This was unquestionably a major trafficking case—

"The bystanders said you knew that abducted little girl. Do you remember which village she was from?"

"I don't know her." Lu Heng shook his head. "I was afraid those people wouldn't listen to me and would let the traffickers escape, so I made it up."

"..."

"You're so young, yet you can already catch bad guys. You're observant, meticulous in your thinking, bold but careful, and your martial arts are so good. Do you want to become a police officer when you grow up?" After finishing the statement, the officer refilled Lu Heng's hot tea and asked with a smile.

"No!" Lu Heng's thoughts still had not caught up, and he answered instinctively, "I want to be an actor!"

Although he had experienced all sorts of unhappy things, if Lu Heng had to choose again, he would still be willing to stand before the cameras, enjoy the spotlight, enjoy fans screaming that they liked him, and become a martial arts actor who stunned the world with cool, dazzling fight moves on screen.

The officer who had taken Lu Heng's statement paused, then smiled. "All right. When you become an actor, remember to tell us what roles you've played. I'll have all the uncles and aunts at the station support you. Okay?"

Meeting

As the officers worked overtime through the night interrogating them, most of the criminals chose to confess honestly in the face of the irrefutable evidence of being caught red-handed. A criminal syndicate that made enormous profits through trafficking women and children, forcing decent women into prostitution, maiming children and disabled people, and coercing them to beg on the streets gradually came to light. The syndicate spanned multiple provinces and had numerous members. The trafficking cases confessed by these traffickers from just the past five years numbered as many as 150, while the women and children trafficked and harmed exceeded 300. Its scale and number of victims were simply horrifying.

Because the case involved too many people and covered too wide an area, the J City Public Security Sub-Bureau reported it to higher authorities overnight. It was escalated layer by layer until it finally alerted the Huaxia Ministry of Public Security. The ministry made a swift decision and immediately launched secret arrest operations across multiple locations based on the suspects' confessions. Within three days, a staggering 126 people connected to the case had been arrested. Afterwards, following the criminals' statements, the police successfully rescued 26 trafficked women and 44 children. They also repatriated 7 foreign women and 3 children.

Ten days later, the anti-trafficking operation had basically concluded. When the Huaxia Ministry of Public Security held a press conference for all sectors of society regarding the case, the entire nation was shaken.

Even Wei Linxuan, who had conceived the reality show Exchanging Lives, probably never expected that before his program had even aired, one of its young guests would make the front-page social news headlines for bravely fighting traffickers and helping the police crack a major trafficking case.

To commend the little hero's brave actions, the J City Public Security Bureau presented Lu Heng with a banner honoring his righteous deed on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security, along with a ten-thousand-yuan reward.

Seeing the enormous public response, the cameraman who had cleverly turned on his camera during Lu Heng's confrontation with the trafficking gang and captured firsthand footage grinned from ear to ear. Chen Zhenggang, the chief director of Exchanging Lives, immediately called the company's senior management, and they secretly discussed how to use the incident to promote their program.

In any era, news of a fourteen-year-old boy bravely battling a criminal gang was bound to be the focus of public attention. What was more, Lu Heng's righteous act was tied to this major trafficking case that had just been solved. One could even say that if Lu Heng had not intercepted those people at the train station, whether the gang's crimes would ever have been uncovered was uncertain. If they could not seize such a timely promotional opportunity, what right did they have to claim they worked in the entertainment industry?

When Chen Zhenggang's call came in, everyone at Huaxia Imperial Entertainment was energized. Ever since Star Entertainment had poached the company's top star and several highly promising second-tier artists with generous offers, Huaxia Imperial Entertainment had been in steady decline. The office was filled with unease. Many employees had no interest in working and only wanted to change jobs, while several shareholders clamored every day to pull out their investments. The company's internal and external troubles had left everyone overwhelmed. In the eyes of the staff, if there had been any other way, the boss would never have listened to that prodigal Wei Linxuan's suggestion and created Exchanging Lives.