Of course, Ning Ran’s gratefulness was not from the bottom of her heart.
But Ning Ran knew that this woman would be the one looking after her children. As such, she could not afford to bear any grudges with her as she might make her children suffer in return.
In fact, Ning Ran’s conjecture was right. After she thanked the dark-skinned woman, she looked more amiable.
“Mommy, who are they? Why are they doing this?” Erbao questioned Ning Ran.
Ning Ran shook her head. Even until now, she had no idea who these people were.
“Where are they bringing us to?” Erbao asked once again.
Ning Ran shook her head again and said, “Stop questioning.”
The woman got some bread and milk from the car and passed it to Ning Ran, signaling for her to let the children have it.
Erbao shook his head as soon as he saw the food. She must have been so sick of eating this for the last few meals that she could not eat them anymore.
“Come, you have to eat something to have sufficient energy.” Ning Ran said softly.
Dabao was extremely obedient. He took over the bread, and starting munching away despite it tasting awful.
He had to drink some milk along while eating the bread as it was too hard to swallow.
Although it did not taste nice, it was the most efficient food source of energy.
Very soon, the three of them were instructed to get onto the car and they set off in the dark.
……
Y province, Nan Gu city.
“Mr. Nan Chen, the local police have already checked through all the hotels and motels but there were no traces of them.” Qiao Zhan reported.
Nan Chen nodded his head as this result was within his prediction.
Those people would definitely not turn to hotels as that would allow the police to get hold of them easily.
“So what should we do now?” Qiao Zhan questioned.
Nan Chen, who was deep in thought, did not say anything.
“What about the situation over at the border?” Nan Chen asked again.
“I have checked with them, there were no suspicious immigration records.” Qiao Zhan said.
Nan Chen nodded again as this was also within his prediction.
“There are a lot of villages near the border. A lot of locals know of the ways to get pass the border and many a times; they can do so by just crossing a river. Although there are barbed wires installed along the border, many parts have been destroyed as the border is too long. As long as they are able to avoid getting caught by the police patrolling along the border, it is very easy for them to get out of the state, especially for the locals who are familiar with this route.” Qiao Zhan said.
“Go get a local here and offer him a high price to bring us out of the city.” Nan Chen said.
“Mr. Nan Chen, it is too risky to get through the checkpoints illegally. Besides, there are armed conflicts going on in that area…”
Nan Chen waved his hand to signal to Qiao Zhan to stop, “Do as you are told.”
“Yes, Mr. Nan Chen.”
An hour later, a dark-skinned and masculine looking local was brought in front of Nan Chen.
Nan Chen fished out a photo of Ning Ran and said, “Have you seen her?”
The man shook his head, “No.”
If he said that he had not seen her before, that was for sure as anyone who has ever come across Ning Ran would never forget her gorgeous face.
“We would like to cross the border. Please show us the way. State your price.” Qiao Zhan questioned.
The local looked at Nan Chen and thought that he ought to state a high price as he seemed like a wealthy man.
He sticked out his thumb and little finger out, and shook his hand.
“How much does this mean?” Qiao Zhan questioned.
“Six hundred.” The man said.
Nan Chen thought that the man would ask for at least a few thousand, he did not expect him to ask for merely six hundred!
“We want a safe route that can allow a large group of people to cross the border but remain unnoticed.” Nan Chen stated his condition.
“We will have to choose a route that is more isolated. I will need two thousand.”
This was really cheap.
It was so cheap to the extent that Qiao Zhan was suspicious, “Reliable?”
“Of course, a lot of people who smuggle goods take that route.” The local replied.
“Let’s go with this.” Nan Chen gave the order.
“When do you want to leave? We can only do so at night, you will have to pay me half of the price first after 1am in the morning, and the remaining half when we have crossed the border.” The local said.
“Sure.” Qiao Zhan said as he handed a thousand to the man.
Nan Chen looked at his watch. It only 10pm at night and was way too early.
Qiao Zhan fished out a cigarette and offered a stick to the man, “Help me to ask around if anyone has seen a few people leaving the border at the same time. Your friends working in this field should be able to provide us with some information.”
“I will ask around, but if there are any results, you have to pay me some fees.” The local said.
“Sure.”
The man walked over to a corner and started talking on the phone. He made around five to six phone calls and was conversing in their local dialect.
“No news.” The result was disappointing.
“Keep asking around. If you have any news, please contact us immediately. We will pay you accordingly.” Qiao Zhan said.
“Rest assured, those in this industry have connections, sometimes we will share information with each other when there are stringent checks along the border to not get caught. So as long as there are any news of them, I will be able to get hold as well.” The man said confidently.
“Sure, keep a look out for me.”
“So when are we going to leave?” Qiao Zhan looked at Nan Chen, waiting for him to make the decision.
“No need to rush.” Nan Chen said.
“We will contact you when we are ready to leave.” Qiao Zhan said.
“Alright, I will make my move first.” The local took the money and left happily.
“Mr. Nan Chen, would you like to get some rest?” Qiao Zhan said.
Nan Chen nodded.
Qiao Zhan left the hotel room and gently closed the door. He then signaled for his subordinates to guard by the door.
Meanwhile, Nan Chen was leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed.
He could not fall asleep.
As soon as he closed his eyes, he could see the faces of the two children as well as the face of that sly and disgusting woman appearing in his mind.
Although he predicted that those people would leave the city, all these were just assumptions. There was no certainty as to whether they would leave or not.
If they plan to leave the city, there would be another problem posed. Which part of the border would they choose to leave from?
They could not afford to cross the border at the wrong place. If they chose the wrong route, they would end up in dense forest covers, making the search for them even harder.
If they crossed the border first but the people chose to turn back, it would also be problematic.
There was no good solution to find Ning Ran and the people at the moment. All they could do now was to wait.
Waiting was the hardest thing to do in this world.
His phone rang; it was a call from Nan Xing.
Nan Chen picked up the call and heard Nan Xing’s coarse voice, “Brother, are there any news?”
“Not at the moment.”
“So what do we do now? I am so anxious that I’m about to go mad.” Nan Xing said.
“No point getting all anxious. Just wait.”
“Brother, it was not easy for me to reunite with my children; I cannot let anything happen to them.”
“Okay, just wait.” Nan Chen hung up impatiently as he did not want to hear Nan Xing’s sniveling.
As soon as he hung up Nan Xing’s call, there came another phone call from his grandfather.
“Grandfather, you are not in bed yet?”
“Are there any updates regarding the children?”
“There are some clues but we still have not gotten hold of them. Rest assured grandfather, I will handle this well.” Nan Chen said.
“Nan Chen, just let someone else settle this for you, why are you taking matters personally? You are the chairman of the entire firm; it is very risky for you to travel all the way to the other side. What if anything were to happen to you……”
“I will be fine; I know what I am doing. Don’t worry about me; we will come back in one piece.” Nan Chen said.
“You must take care of your own safety and promise me that you will bring my two grandchildren back.”
