With a loud "bang," Chen Wu's small truck had an intimate encounter with the bridge pier of the overpass, leaving the front of the vehicle completely deformed. Sitting in the driver's seat, Chen Wu was knocked unconscious by the airbag that deployed upon impact.
He had underestimated the difficulty of driving such a large vehicle and overestimated his own driving skills. A slight miscalculation led to the collision with the bridge pier, nearly resulting in a fatal accident. Fortunately, the airbag deployed in time, saving his life.
The arrest operation this time went surprisingly smoothly. The police barely broke a sweat apprehending the Chen Brothers and rescuing the child they had abducted.
Just as the officers handcuffed the Chen Brothers and prepared to leave with the rescued boy to return to the police station, the buyer who had arranged to meet them for the transaction arrived.
To avoid tipping off the suspects, the police had parked their vehicles near the exit ramp of the highway instead of directly next to the self-built house. This meant the arriving buyer had no idea the police were inside.
After parking his car, the buyer walked up to the door of the self-built house. Finding it unlocked and hearing movement inside, he pushed the door open and walked in, muttering to himself.
"What's going on with you two lately? Only one kid in a whole week? And you made me come all this way? If it weren't for our long-standing relationship, I wouldn't have bothered. What a hassle. Next time, I won't..."
Before he could finish, the buyer froze in shock. Standing before him were dozens of uniformed police officers. As for the Chen Brothers, with whom he had done business multiple times, they were sitting there handcuffed, looking equally stunned.
"Holy sh*t!" he blurted out before realizing the situation. Without another word, he turned and bolted.
The officers were momentarily taken aback. Just as they had caught two traffickers, here came a buyer walking right into their trap. Was this a "buy two, get one free" deal?
However, before the buyer could take more than a couple of steps, Wang Dachuan lunged forward and delivered a powerful kick to his backside, sending him flying.
After landing the kick, Wang Dachuan turned around with a flourish, mimicking Xu Mo's cool demeanor, and casually dusted off his hands. "Cuff him," he said nonchalantly.
But the scene Wang Dachuan had imagined—where his colleagues would praise his impressive skills for taking down the criminal with a single kick—didn't happen.
Instead, his kick hadn't knocked the criminal to the ground or incapacitated him. On the contrary, it had propelled the buyer even farther away.
The officers looked at Wang Dachuan with a mix of exasperation and disappointment.
"Is this how you catch someone? Are you trying to make our job harder?"
Chen Ke even gave him a thumbs-up.
"Nice one, Dr. Rescue Foot, huh?"
Wang Dachuan: "???"
Rescue Foot? What was that supposed to mean?
Turning his head, he was dumbfounded. The buyer hadn't been knocked down by his kick. On the contrary, the force of the kick had sent the man sprinting even farther away.
"Stop! Or I'll shoot!" Xu Mo shouted at that moment.
The buyer, who had already reached his car and was about to make his escape, froze at the sound of Xu Mo's voice. He didn't want to die, and he knew he couldn't outrun a bullet.
After stopping in his tracks, Xu Mo continued, "Hands up! Don't move! This bullet doesn't have eyes."
"Don't shoot! I won't move, I promise!"
True to his word, the buyer raised his hands and stood completely still, not even daring to turn around.
Seeing this, Xu Mo gave Wang Dachuan a look.
"Go on, cuff him."
Wang Dachuan pulled out his handcuffs and jogged over to secure the buyer. After cuffing him, he leaned in and whispered smugly,
"We didn't even bring any guns on this mission. Gotcha, huh? Haha, sucker."
The buyer: "???"
He turned to look at the officers behind him, his face twisted in disgust. He couldn't believe that these seemingly upright and honest officers would lie to him!
But by now, it was too late. He was already handcuffed, and there was no way he could escape.
"Chen Ke, take a few officers and drive his car to where we parked. Bring all the police vehicles over," Han Fei instructed, pointing at the buyer's car.
"Got it," Chen Ke replied, taking a few officers with him.
A short while later, the officers returned, driving several police cars. They picked up Han Fei, Xu Mo, and the others who had been waiting and left the scene.
On the way back to the police station, Xu Mo called the boy's father to share the good news.
...
At the police station, the Chen Brothers and the buyer were taken to separate interrogation rooms to await questioning.
The fate of the Chen Brothers was already sealed. The police had caught them red-handed, and even without their confessions, there was enough evidence to convict them.
The reason for the interrogation was the buyer's earlier remark, which revealed that this wasn't his first transaction with the Chen Brothers.
In other words, the Chen Brothers had trafficked more than just this one child. The nature of the crime and the severity of the punishment differed significantly between a single case of child trafficking and multiple cases.
The police needed to determine how many children the Chen Brothers had trafficked to ensure they received the appropriate punishment.
Additionally, if possible, the police hoped to rescue all the children who had been trafficked by the Chen Brothers and reunite them with their families.
"Who do you want to interrogate first?" Han Fei asked Xu Mo.
Xu Mo didn't hesitate. "The bald guy. He doesn't look too bright... probably the weak link."
"Let's start with him, then," Han Fei agreed. That was his thought as well.
The two entered the interrogation room where Chen Wen was being held.
"Chen Wen, right? You..."
Before Xu Mo could finish, Chen Wen interrupted him.
"Don't bother asking. I'm not saying anything."
Hearing this, Han Fei and Xu Mo exchanged a glance. It seemed this guy wasn't as dumb as he looked—he had at least some brains.
Xu Mo suddenly remembered something.
When he and Chen Ke had gone upstairs to arrest Chen Wen, Chen Wen seemed to be deleting something on his computer. After finishing, he had exhaled in relief, as if he had completed an important task.
Could it be that Chen Wen had deleted the transaction records with the buyers?
"When I came to arrest you, I saw you deleting something on your computer. What were you deleting?"
"Nothing! I didn't delete anything! I swear!" Chen Wen's emotions flared up instantly.
Whatever he had deleted was highly incriminating, and he couldn't admit to it, no matter what.
Xu Mo could tell immediately that Chen Wen was lying.
"I saw it with my own eyes. You're saying you didn't delete anything?"
"No, really, I didn't delete anything. You must have seen wrong. I didn't..."
Before Xu Mo could respond, Han Fei chimed in, "Why waste time arguing? Didn't we bring that computer back when we cleared the scene? Just recover the deleted files. Shouldn't be too hard for you, right?"
Hearing Xu Mo's earlier comment, Han Fei had guessed that Chen Wen had likely deleted the transaction records with the buyers.
Xu Mo was a computer expert, and recovering deleted files would be a piece of cake for him. It would probably take just a few minutes—much faster than trying to extract a confession.
Chen Wen: "???"
Recover deleted files? No way!
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't touch my computer! I'll tell you everything!"