"Found her! Is that Sun Chan? Over there!"
Everyone shouted, and Zhao Xiuxia's heart soared when she heard someone say they spotted her in the front.
She told her family that Sun Chan knocked out her sister and stole the family's money before running away, which made it a serious criminal act. Plus, Zhao Xiuxia promised to give a twenty-dollar reward if they caught her!
So everyone was full of energy in their pursuit.
Sun Chan dashed rapidly along the winding mountain path. She absolutely couldn't follow the same path as her past life; if she was caught tonight, she would either be beaten to death or violated by Zhou Jinzhu. She would rather die!
Sun Chan turned a corner and saw a car parked halfway up the road. In the shadows of the roadside grass stood a person, seemingly relieving himself.
The person tidied up his clothes, returned to the car, and started the engine. Sun Chan glanced back at the increasingly closer flashlight beams and quickly climbed onto the car.
The car was too tall, and in her haste, her right ankle hit a protrusion on the car, nearly causing her to fall off. The car was already starting, and she knew it was a matter of life and death; if she fell, she'd be done for. Ignoring the pain, she clung onto the truck bed, strenuously climbed inside, and collapsed into the vehicle. She heard a cracking noise from her right foot, and tears welled up due to the intense pain.
Poor Sun Chan, on her first day back, was this unlucky. Truly tragic.
The driver had no idea someone had already hidden on top, and drove off just like that.
When the villagers caught up, the wide road was deserted, with no one in sight.
The grass on either side wasn't very tall and couldn't hide anyone. After searching around to no avail, everyone looked at each other in disbelief. Where was she? Zhao Xiuxia ran over and, seeing no one captured, angrily slapped her own thigh.
"Damn girl, after beating someone and stealing money, she just ran like that, utterly lawless!"
Someone said, "I think I saw a car parked here just now. Did she get on it?"
"Yeah! I saw it too, it was a military vehicle. Did the girl jump on it to escape?"
Zhao Xiuxia slapped her thigh, nearly crying, "Oh no! What are we going to do!"
Tomorrow was the day Sun Chan and Zhou Jinzhu were betrothed. If the Sun Family failed to produce her by then, what would Zhou Jinzhu do? Not to mention that this incident happened at night; if it somehow affected her own daughter, Sun Lijuan, ending up as Zhou Jinzhu's wife, it'd be over!
Zhao Xiuxia cursed in distress, while Sun Chan, now drowsy, had already fallen asleep inside the car.
She was terrified and in severe pain from her ankle, barely catching any sleep. She was surrounded by large crates, unsure of what they contained, but they were quite clean, so she leaned against one. Though it was summer, the latter half of the night was quite cold. She huddled up, enduring until the early dawn when she finally drifted off to sleep.
At some point, the car suddenly tilted and stopped, jolting Sun Chan awake as she hit a crate.
Sun Chan looked outside and realized they seemed to have reached a town. On either side of the street were factories and buildings, with many shops lined along the road, although it couldn't compare to the towns she'd seen on TV.
Yet to Sun Chan, this was already quite a bustling scene.
At this moment, someone exclaimed, "Captain Gu, look at what's inside the truck!"
Sun Chan hadn't fully understood what was happening, then saw a hand reach in, grabbing her swollen ankle. Overwhelmed with fear and the pain, she screamed.
Both she and Xiao Wu were startled, with Xiao Wu thinking it was a rat, only to realize it was a person!
Xiao Wu quickly picked up a stone from the ground and pointed it inside, "How dare you steal! Come down immediately!"
Terrified, Sun Chan shielded her face with her hands and hastily said, "Please don't kill me! I didn't mean it!"
"Don't scare her!" Gu Junming, calm and composed, restrained Xiao Wu and spoke inside, "Who are you? Come out now." His voice was very pleasant.
Sun Chan supported herself against the car and stood up.
Xiao Wu didn't comment, surprised to find it was a female thief.
Gu Junming approached and held her arm, "How did you get on the car? Come down first."
Sun Chan timidly glanced at Gu Junming. Both paused in surprise, as Gu Junming remembered he'd seen her once in Wang Dan's courtyard. She was small and slender, with eyes like a startled doe.
"You're from Xiangyang Village?"
Sun Chan nodded.
"Stealing military supplies will get you jailed. You should turn yourself in," Xiao Wu said.
Sun Chan anxiously said, "Please don't capture me! I didn't intend to steal; I had no other choice. I didn't want to be taken back to become a drunkard's wife. My foster mother sold me, so I had to hop on this car. A lot of people were chasing me, sorry!"
Her anxious words were a bit scrambled, becoming more incoherent as she tried to explain.
But Gu Junming understood and nodded at Sun Chan.
"Stop crying, come down first." Gu Junming extended a hand to her.
With his help, Sun Chan struggled to get off the car, her right foot already swollen like a bun. As soon as she touched the ground, she leaned forward, caught by Gu Junming.
Sun Chan felt like she'd hit a wall and quickly bowed her head in thanks.
"It's okay," Gu Junming said without looking at her, instead surveying the surroundings, "I'll take you to the nearby hospital for a bandage."
Xiao Wu glanced at him, "Captain, do you believe her?"
Gu Junming's expression was calm, "I've seen her in the village. If she was really stealing, she wouldn't have fallen asleep on the car. She could've thrown things down when we weren't paying attention. We stopped quite a few times along the way. Nothing's missing, and she's right here."
Xiao Wu said nothing.
Gu Junming looked at Sun Chan again, "Don't be nervous. Human trafficking is illegal. Nobody can force you to marry someone you don't like, even if it's your family."
Sun Chan lowered her head without speaking, thinking to herself, I know you're right, but in the village, I have no say. Zhao Xiuxia always suppresses me, saying she raised me for nothing. What can I do?
Seeing her silent demeanor, Gu Junming assumed she didn't understand the law and said again, "When you go back, I can talk to the people in the village so they won't make things difficult for you."
"I can't go back. They'll sell me again!" Sun Chan hurriedly said.
Having gone through such hardship to escape, she couldn't return again.
Seeing her resolve, Gu Junming decided not to press further. He nodded, "Let's get you to a hospital first. If you delay with that foot, you won't be able to walk."