Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The place where Huo Yanran had been trafficked to was called Sheep Village, another fifty kilometers east of Peach Blossom Mountain. And those fifty kilometers were no smooth mountain highway, but a bumpy yellow dirt road full of ruts and ditches. Given the poor road conditions, it would take at least an hour by car.

After dinner, Feng Yang and the documentary crew boarded a van, preparing to head to Sheep Village overnight. Also traveling with them was a team of police officers from A City, dispatched to Sheep Village to rescue trafficked people. When Feng Yang had fought the traffickers that morning, he had already used the Vengeful Ghost Talisman to leave marks on the three traffickers. This ensured that they would mention the village where Huo Yanran had been trafficked during their statements. That gave him an excuse to bring the crew along to film the rescue.

Naturally, the police had initially disagreed with the arrangement. Fortunately, Chairman Yin mediated, and Feng Yang finally got his way.

The documentary crew hired for the project was a highly renowned professional team in the country. The director, Li Baihua, was thirty-five this year. That was quite young for a director, yet his credentials were extensive. He had won Best Documentary at the Hua Country University Student Film Festival and had also been nominated for Best Documentary at internationally renowned film festivals.

The fact that Chairman Yin had introduced such an experienced director to Feng Yang for the documentary showed just how much thought he had put into it.

Director Li himself was also very interested in the subject matter. After they met, he and Feng Yang talked for a long time. Feng Yang's exposure of the traffickers' scheme at the train station and his successful rescue of the trafficked girl had drawn enormous attention online, thanks to livestream coverage that had followed the story from beginning to end.

On top of that, human trafficking had always been a focal concern for legal professionals, human rights advocates, and feminists. Li Baihua concluded that if this documentary was done well, it would certainly spark a phenomenon-level public discussion and might even help push forward relevant legislation. His attitude was therefore extremely proactive, and he discussed numerous filming concepts and ideas with Chairman Yin.

As an outsider, Feng Yang knew nothing about these professional matters. But he insisted on one thing: Li Baihua was not allowed to blur the faces of the evildoers during post-production. The traffickers' crimes—human trafficking, unlawful detention, rape of women, violent assault, abuse of young children, the buying and selling of women and children, deliberately maiming children before abandoning them on the streets to beg for money—as well as the villagers' crimes of buying and selling people, kicking others when they were down, and standing by without offering help, all had to be exposed to the world.

"You're right. We should lay out every link in the chain clearly and explain them one by one. We should explain how many years each charge can carry at the maximum, rather than vaguely saying how many years human trafficking can receive under the law. During post-production, we can also invite legal experts to discuss the relevant laws and regulations. We'll ask them to explain in detail how sentencing works under our country's laws. It would be best to interview the perpetrators' families and the victims' families as well. Including what kind of lives those perpetrators' families lead. Only through such a comprehensive comparison can more people realize just how much harm human trafficking inflicts on a family, and how greatly it endangers social stability. Only then can we draw more netizens' attention to the issue of human trafficking..."

Director Li truly deserved his reputation as a professional. Feng Yang had only brought up the beginning, yet Li Baihua had already expanded on it of his own accord. He had even considered social conflict, legal sentencing, and online public opinion. For example, filming from the perspectives of the living environments of the perpetrators' families and the victims' families was clearly intended to provoke deeper reflection on human nature, such as whether the perpetrators' relatives were innocent.

It was clear that Director Li Baihua was once again sharpening his blade, preparing to make a run at international documentary awards.

Feng Yang neither approved nor disapproved of Li Baihua's utilitarian approach of sacrificing suspects' families' privacy for attention. He had always believed that when an avalanche came, not a single snowflake was innocent.

Besides, Feng Yang wanted to make the documentary and expose the various issues surrounding human trafficking mainly to fulfill his contract with Huo Yanran. He had promised her that every trafficker, as well as those villagers who kicked others when they were down and tolerated criminal acts, would spend the rest of their lives in fear and remorse. Li Baihua's approach happened to align with Feng Yang's interests and original intentions. He had no reason to oppose it.

"Director Li, you're the professional. I'll definitely follow your lead when it comes to filming. But I have a few people here who want to do livestreams. I'll have to trouble you to give them some guidance during the shoot." Feng Yang then introduced Tao Xiaotao and the other two editors-in-chief to Li Baihua.

Over the past two days, the news of Feng Yang rescuing a trafficked girl at the train station had remained extremely popular. Before coming, Li Baihua had searched up relevant reports because he wanted to take over the documentary shoot. He had also heard of Tao Xiaotao and the other two streamers, who had been livestreaming follow-up coverage ever since the incident occurred.

To be honest, a professional like Director Li might not have thought much of amateur online streamers like Tao Xiaotao. However, Li Baihua greatly appreciated the three of them for their sharp instinct for newsworthy topics. He had originally planned to contact them about publicity after the documentary was released. He had not expected Feng Yang to recruit all three into his own team in just a few days.

"Feng Yang, you're young, but you have a very clear plan for your future career. By the way, I heard you were admitted to the journalism department at X University. It seems we'll be colleagues in the future." Li Baihua smiled and extended an olive branch to Feng Yang. "If you're interested, you can intern with my team during university."

Although Feng Yang was studying journalism, Li Baihua prided himself on being a good judge of people. Given Feng Yang's family background, abilities, and ambition, he believed Feng Yang would never be content with being a mere reporter in the future. Perhaps he would move in the direction of becoming a producer. It would not hurt to build a good relationship now—perhaps one day he would need Feng Yang to invest in one of his films.

Moreover, Li Baihua was not content to remain only a documentary director. He also wanted to make films, perhaps an art film that could win awards. Feng Yang's looks were outstanding, but rarer still was the cool, gorgeous aura around him, like the setting sun—warmly radiant without being scorching. Even though Li Baihua had seen countless people in the industry, he had never encountered Feng Yang's type before.

He was especially suited to the tastes of art film directors. And lately, Feng Yang had become quite popular...