It seems that the villain is targeting me.

Seeing the child obediently picking up his chopsticks, Xiao Niao retracted his gaze and began to think attentively.

"...This is incredibly troublesome," she muttered to herself. "In a place like this with so many people flowing around, finding a trafficked child is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

What's worse is that there is an 80% probability that Zheng Qiong was transported to such a place to look for a buyer.

This means that if they cannot find someone in time, Arjun will most likely be sold to a farther place.

They are either sold to remote rural areas where there is no signal, or they are disassembled and sold all over the world.

——The most frightening thing is the situation that follows, where there is no way to even investigate.

Xiao Niao's brows were tightly locked. "Tongzi, are you really unable to locate Zheng Qiong?"

If she can still call, I can immediately locate her based on the cell phone signal.

The system's tone was helpless. "But the phone Zheng Qiong called from might have been hacked, or simply ran out of battery... Anyway, it's completely turned off now."

In the original main storyline, there was no mention of the 'Doctor' having a childhood best friend.

After growing up, Chen Xiaoya seemed to have no relatives or friends, and the seat next to her was always empty. The plot did describe her being alone.

Aqiong was never mentioned at all in the subsequent main storyline, which means there are two possibilities - either her relationship with Xiaoya later faded, or she died.

As it stands, the latter is more likely to be the case.

[Zheng Qiong is not an essential plot character and has no inherent luck attached to her, so it's difficult to directly locate her.]

"I've already hacked into the surveillance cameras in this area to check," the system said rapidly, "but we'd better not get our hopes up."

At that time, Skynet was nowhere to be found, but people involved in human trafficking often had their own channels and knew how to avoid police interrogation and surveillance cameras.

Without accurate intelligence, it would be almost impossible to find a specific person among so many lost and abducted children.

This is even when there is a system to collect key information on your behalf.

In reality, those poor people who are looking for their children and relatives often don’t have any clues at hand and can only use the most stupid methods, such as printing flyers, posting advertisements, and trying every possible way to inquire around.

He held on to hope countless times and fell into despair countless times, until his wealth was exhausted and he became hunchbacked and wasted his time.

Another serving of mixed noodles was also served. Xiao Niao chewed it without knowing the taste. She was so worried that she didn't even taste what was in her mouth.

"There's too little information available, and even if we investigate, it's easy to miss something..."

Xiao Niao murmured to himself: "We have to think of other ways."

When she was still a butcher bird, she hated the human trafficking.

At that time, Xiao Niao used the most cruel and stringent laws to crack down on human trafficking, and the punishment for the main offenders, accomplices and buyers was pushed to the maximum, almost to the point of skinning and stuffing.

Even with such a cruel punishment, it took her almost twenty years to

It took time for this kind of thing to basically disappear.

This kind of trafficking is not even limited to women and children - sellers are all over the world and have different needs. Basically, as long as you can kidnap someone, you will have no worries about not being able to sell them.

It can be said that as long as there is a way to make a profit, there will always be people who choose to take risks no matter how severe the punishment is.

Xiao Niao has been a professional fighter against human trafficking for 20 years. He has killed many human traffickers and has accumulated some experience.

Although the times are very different, the flies and insects living in the dark and strange corners of society always emit the same fishy smell.

She said with certainty, "This kind of shady business always involves complex intertwined interests. It's impossible for only one company to be involved, and it's impossible for them to just be trafficking."

"It is necessary to accurately locate who abducted Zheng Qiong,"

Xiao Niao used chopsticks to pick at the chili flakes in the bowl. "Just pull out one end of the thread, and the rest will come out in one go."

She exhaled and pushed the mixing bowl, which she had barely touched, away from her.

"Investigation is too slow. We won't be able to catch up in time," Xiaoniao muttered. "They have to come find us themselves."

The system understood immediately: [——You mean, pretending to be a buyer? ]

Xiao Niao nodded: "This is the fastest way."

The system's computing module started to spin rapidly.

There is a certain risk in pretending to be a buyer - but with Number Four and himself supporting him from behind, even if we really encounter danger, we can evacuate in time.

The specific disguise is not a problem at all - birds are always good at bluffing, and with sufficient cause and effect points as a backup, it is definitely feasible to fool people for a while.

But there is a more realistic problem at hand.

[We can find ways to solve other problems, but we need to contact people in that circle first.] The system was a little worried. [Do we have such connections?]

Xiao Niao thought about it.

I found out there actually is one.

-----

-

Xiao Niao was standing in a public telephone booth.

Every time this happened, she couldn't help but miss the smartphones that were quite convenient and popular in her previous life.

Xiao Niao was born after the millennium. When she was old enough to understand, electronic payment and mobile banking had already become popular.

She was quite accustomed to the landline phone. After all, she had seen it in some movies and TV shows, and she found it quite novel when she started dialing.

But this person found it difficult to accept the earliest old-fashioned mobile phones.

Mobile phones were too bulky and incredibly expensive, and the popularity of PHS was still very low at that time - some people were still using pagers.

In addition, Tongzi would always remind her of any trivial matters, so Xiaoniao never thought about getting herself a mobile phone.

"... Mainly because it's completely useless in He County," Xiao Niao muttered as he dialed the number. "We'll talk about it later... I can get one for the kid after he starts school."

The call was dialed, and after a few beeps, a young girl's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello? Who are you looking for?" The person on the other end asked politely, sounding a little tired.

Xiao Niao couldn't help but smile. She recognized who was answering the phone.

"Hello, Miss Lu," Xiao Niao leaned closer to the microphone, "We've met before, when I was teaching at your home."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

"...It's you." Lu Zhiqing on the other end of the phone lowered his voice unconsciously.

The voice sounded a little distorted, as if it had been frightened by something unexpected.

"Thank you for remembering me, Miss Lu Zhiqing," Xiao Niao said straight to the point, "I hope everything has been going well for you recently - I need your help with something."

Lu Zhiqing sighed: "...You are really straightforward."

There seemed to be a hint of complaint in the girl's tone, but overall her attitude was very gentle, more like a complaint to a friend.

Xiao Niao was very knowledgeable in negotiation skills. He could tell that the eldest daughter of the Lu family had an unusual and soft attitude, and didn't seem to have any intention of rejecting him.

I think, as long as it is a reasonable request, Lu Zhiqing should not refuse me at this time.

Well, it seems that giving the recording equipment to her earlier was indeed a good move, Xiao Niao thought with satisfaction.

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I need help urgently," Xiao Niao said. "I've been thinking about it and I think you might have some ideas."

As she spoke, she played with the spiral telephone cord with her fingers, glancing outside the phone booth from time to time.

It was completely dark outside. It was already past half past nine when she ran out of the hotel, and it was probably almost ten o'clock now.

"The little boy should have gone to bed already, right?" Xiao Niao thought silently.

Lu Zhiqing on the other end of the phone was also a little distracted at this time.

She was actually almost asleep, as what had happened in the past few days had greatly consumed her energy.

After learning about his little daughter's situation, Mr. Lu immediately returned home, and then the father and daughter had a long tug-of-war and confrontation.

But since the physical evidence was basically conclusive and there were a lot of witnesses in the room, Lu Yao had no way to throw dirty water on her.

So now basically, Father Lu hopes that she will not pursue the matter, for the sake of the family.

Compromise your reputation and keep this secret.

Lu Zhiqing still took the initiative.

But after he nearly got into trouble, the first thing her biological father said when he saw her was, "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Such a reaction made Lu Zhiqing feel a chill to the bone.

After all, she is still a minor and her mind is not yet independent, so she still has some instinctive admiration for her biological father.

The breakdown of Lu Zhiqing's image as a loving father made her somewhat stressed. She was particularly strong in demanding that Lu Yao be held accountable and that she must be given justice.

This is undoubtedly completely contrary to what Lu's father thought.

Therefore, during these few days, Lu Zhiqing was particularly sad at home, and no one treated her well.

She was extremely tired, and when she looked around she couldn't see anyone standing on her side - even though she had clearly done nothing wrong.

When Xiao Niao's voice came from the phone, Lu Zhiqing's hands trembled a little.

Lu Zhiqing couldn't help but feel a sense of dependence: the girl almost instinctively realized that the bird was on her side.

She endured for a few seconds on the other end of the phone so that her voice would not reveal anything unusual.

"...What do you need my help with?" Lu Zhiqing asked softly.

It was not convenient to tell Lu Zhiqing the real reason, but fortunately Xiaoniao had already thought of a reason and had made a draft in her mind before dialing the phone.

This person made up a story that sounded true or false: a friend's child was abducted and sold. After asking around, he learned that the child was abducted to Taoyuan.

This friend's family has some assets and is not short of money, but he was worried that something might happen to the child, so he asked me to think of a way to see if I could buy the child back.

"My friend is from Jinghai and doesn't know anyone in Taoyuan," Xiao Niao made up the story smoothly. "I remember your father is a businessman and might know some people in Taoyuan... I hope you can help."

"Money is not a problem," added the bird.

Lu Zhiqing on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment.

At first, she actually doubted the authenticity of these words, but Xiao Niao deliberately made his words ambiguous and mixed in some details, which made them seem particularly real.

After pondering for a long time, Lu Zhiqing finally spoke: "Well, my father does have a business partner in Taoyuan... I will ask him for you."

"Thank you," Xiao Niao said, "I'm very grateful."

Lu Zhiqing hummed absentmindedly.

The phone was still hanging up, and Xiao Niao could clearly hear the breathing coming from the other end of the phone. She sensed something and whispered, "Lu Zhiqing?"

"Yes," Lu Zhiqing replied, "I am..."

Xiao Niao thought about what happened at the Lu family before, and asked tentatively, "Is it about your sister? Or your father..."

"No." Lu Zhiqing said quickly.

Xiao Niao's eyebrows unconsciously drooped, with a helpless look on his face, "I know, I have no intention of interfering in your private affairs... I just want to make sure that everything is okay with you."

Lu Zhiqing gripped the brass microphone handle tightly, her gaze wandering across the beautifully decorated living room, the warm orange light shining on her.

"I……"

She bit her lip, as if making some kind of decision.

"...I was thinking, what if..."

Lu Zhiqing's voice was a little hoarse. "If you found out that your loved ones weren't as good to you as you thought...how would you feel?"

Lu Zhiqing's words were convoluted and entangled, but Xiaoniao immediately understood that Lu Zhiqing was talking about her and her father.

It was clear that the girl looked like she had been wronged at home, and was seeking comfort from the strange bird in frustration and pain.

Xiao Niao withdrew her hand from playing with the telephone cord, lowered her head and licked her cracked lips.

"...This is unavoidable," Xiao Niao said patiently, "You can't force yourself to like something like this."

Love from parents is not necessarily selfless. After all, not everyone is a qualified parent.

"But I can see you're a very good person," she said. "Your best days are still ahead of you."

"At least I can assure you of this."

------

-

By the time Xiao Niao finished the call and returned to the hotel, it was already late at night.