After a while, she got up, hugged me, and said, "I'll go!"
She said it with conviction, without any hesitation or fear, carrying a sense of resolute determination.
I said, "If you don't want to go, it's okay, I can handle it."
She said, "Handle it with what, your body or your life? Even after dealing with you, they won't let me off. Unless I flee far away from Ruili. But, could I let you sacrifice your life for me and then run away myself? Tell me, can I?"
After she finished speaking, she started crying, a heart-wrenching cry. I held her, letting her weep in my arms for a long time until she stopped. I didn't try to comfort her, letting her cry to her heart's content.
She went to the sink to wash her face and then came back to me, saying, "I'm fine now, I feel much better after crying. Actually, I haven't shed a tear in years. In the past, no matter how much humiliation I endured, I gritted my teeth and bore it, never shedding a single tear, because no one would pity you. Crying only made people look down on you more. You're different. You are my mountain, my support. In front of you, I am like a little bird protected by you, so I only cry in front of you."
I embraced her and kissed her lips. She responded, and we stayed like that for a very long time.
When we parted, she whispered to me, "Hua Zi, I've never let any man truly touch my body, not even kissed them. I want to give myself to you today. Only by giving myself to you will I have the courage to face that demon. Can you fulfill my wish?"
Honestly, I never thought of her doing this. I could be her support, her reliance, but I didn't want to get her body as a condition. However, she spoke so sincerely. If I refused her, I feared she wouldn't be able to overcome this hurdle.
Now, it was I who felt shy. Although I was considered an adult, I had already passed my seventeenth birthday and was about to turn eighteen. I understood these matters between men and women, but to actually do it, to be honest, I wasn't ready.
Instead, I felt like a young girl, my face burning intensely. Xiao Hong perhaps sensed it and went to turn off all the lights. The room was instantly plunged into darkness. In the dark, we both shed all our clothes, embracing each other naked. I thought, this time, I couldn't escape. I was about to become a real man.
We slept until noon. Every movement left us sore. I looked at Xiao Hong, who was still groggy, and kissed her cheek. She came over to embrace me, kissing me. I knew the storm was about to begin again.
We spent the entire day mostly in bed, only getting up to eat something.
In between, I received a pager message from Lan Ya, a string of numbers. I understood; it meant everything was ready.
I felt much more at ease. I hoped this matter could be concluded smoothly. I still had many things to do, many things that needed to be resolved quickly, and I couldn't afford to delay this any longer.
That evening, I didn't go to the nightclub. Around six o'clock, the female demon picked up Xiao Hong. After waiting a while longer, Wen Siqiang arrived with a car to pick me up.
The car picking me up wasn't the usual minivan we took, but a sedan with a rental company name on it.
This car was more comfortable than the minivan, less bumpy, and faster.
The driver was an unfamiliar man, in his thirties or forties, taciturn. He didn't say a word the entire way. Wen Siqiang was the one giving directions, telling him where to go.
As we neared our destination, Wen Siqiang asked the driver to pull over to the side of the road. It wasn't time yet; we had to wait a bit longer before proceeding.
Wen Siqiang rolled down his window halfway and leaned back in his seat, smoking.
It was just past nine o'clock; our agreed pickup time was ten.
After Wen Siqiang finished his cigarette, he turned on his mobile phone, then got out of the car with the phone. I figured he was letting Chief Chen and the others know that we were close to our destination and everything was proceeding normally.
At that moment, my pager lit up, displaying two zeros. I knew both sides were in position, waiting for them to enter the ambush.
Then Wen Siqiang returned and told the driver to continue driving forward.
The car reached the entrance of the woods, and we both got out. Wen Siqiang had the driver turn the car around, park it by the side, turn off the engine and lights. He also instructed him not to smoke, and to wait for us to return.
Smoking would create a light, making us easily discoverable.
I must say, Wen Siqiang was quite meticulous; he thought of every detail.
We groped our way toward the destination in the darkness. It had rained a little over the past few days, making the path a bit muddy and difficult to navigate. During the day, we could avoid it, but now, unable to see our footing, we could only trudge forward, one step after another.
It took us nearly half an hour to cover the five to six hundred meters of uphill path.
The soil here was very sticky, clinging uncomfortably to our shoes. We had to rub our shoes on the ground every few steps before continuing.
We finally reached the designated spot. Checking the time, it was a few minutes before ten. Wen Siqiang made a bird call, and shortly after, a reply came from the other side. I knew the other party's people had also arrived.
We stood up, waiting for the others to approach.
As agreed, they would bring the items to us, and then we would each return the way we came.
After about two or three minutes, two dark figures approached us, wearing raincoats with their hoods pulled up, obscuring their faces.
Wen Siqiang uttered a code phrase, and they responded. Then, they handed us plastic bags, each weighing about ten pounds, feeling substantial in our hands.
Suddenly, the area around us lit up, with several flashlights shining on us. Wen Siqiang and I stood there, stunned. Wen Siqiang, in particular, looked around in panic. The two men in raincoats turned and ran, attempting to retreat the way they came, towards the border marker. However, they were knocked to the ground by a punch, and two people rushed forward to handcuff them.
We were also apprehended, our bags confiscated, and our hands cuffed. A mobile phone was also found on Wen Siqiang.
My pager was also taken away. I saw someone using a flashlight to examine our communication records. Then, someone came over, turned on the phone, and looked up the number he had just dialed. He said, "Call back, tell him the goods have been received, and ask where to deliver them."
Wen Siqiang now understood what had happened. He took a deep breath. The person helped him redial the number, waiting for the other party to answer.
The phone rang three times, and Chief Chen's voice came through the receiver. Wen Siqiang said, "Got it. Where should I deliver it?"
Chief Chen gave an address, a residential building in a housing complex. Wen Siqiang said he understood, and the line went dead.
Everything seemed normal. We were escorted out of the woods. The driver of our car by the roadside had been apprehended, and a police officer was now driving it. Wen Siqiang, the driver, and I all got into the police car.
The police warned us not to talk to each other or make any physical contact. They said we would be informed of everything once we reached our destination.
I glanced at Wen Siqiang. His face was ashen. He knew what being caught meant. This time, it was definitely not a petty theft. Ten kilograms of drugs – he knew the consequences very well.