It turned out that during that graduation trip, Lu Wencai's girlfriend wasn't just going for a vacation. She had agreed to carry some items for someone, promising a generous reward if she delivered them to a designated person.
The person who asked his girlfriend to carry the goods was quite affluent, having paid her half of the reward before they even departed.
His girlfriend hadn't told him about this initially. It wasn't until they arrived at their pre-booked hotel in Southeast Asia and were unpacking that he discovered two cans of infant formula in her suitcase.
Curious, he asked, "Why are you bringing infant formula on a trip?"
His girlfriend casually replied, "Oh, a friend asked me to bring it for them. I can get three thousand yuan for it."
"What friend?" Lu Wencai immediately thought of the news he'd seen online about drug traffickers using young people who liked to travel to carry goods.
"Just a regular friend, met her at a bar with Xiao Dan. I heard she's in big business and very generous. Xiao Dan helped her carry some formula last time she went abroad, and her travel expenses were all covered…"
"She's definitely not a good person. How can you be so naive? What if that person is deceiving you and making you traffic drugs?" Lu Wencai said as he opened one of the formula cans, hastily tearing off the seal. At first glance, it seemed like normal formula, and it smelled pleasantly milky.
His girlfriend tried to snatch the can from him, saying, "Are you crazy? You opened someone else's things! How can I give it to their friend here? We might even have to pay for it."
Lu Wencai pushed her away, still uneasy. "You're the one who's crazy! What if it's really drugs and we get caught? We could face the death penalty here!"
As he spoke, he reached into the formula to see if there was anything hidden. Indeed, the top layer was formula, but something else was concealed inside.
His fingers touched a block-like solid, and he immediately retrieved the hidden item from the can. It was a white powdery substance, tightly sealed in a vacuum bag.
He asked, "What is this? What normal person would put something like this in infant formula?"
His girlfriend was speechless, looking at him with a terrified expression. She no longer stopped him from opening the other can of formula, which also contained a vacuum-sealed block of white powder.
"What should we do? I don't want to be arrested and sentenced to death. I, I thought it was just formula, I just wanted to avoid paying for this trip ourselves."
Lu Wencai didn't scold her further. He opened one of the vacuum-sealed bags, dipped his finger into the white powder, and brought it to his nose. He felt a chill of fear.
As a postgraduate student in chemistry, he could immediately detect the chemical components. It was definitely drugs.
He knew that possessing even a few grams of such high-purity drugs could lead to the death penalty if discovered by the local police. And these two vacuum-sealed bags, he estimated, contained about two pounds of drugs combined.
Fortunately, his girlfriend hadn't been caught by customs. If she had been apprehended on the spot, they would have been unable to clear their names even if they jumped into the Yellow River.
He forced himself to calm down and told his girlfriend, "Let's pour all of this into the toilet and flush it. We should be fine."
"Yes, okay." His girlfriend immediately agreed and picked up a packet of powder, preparing to go to the bathroom to dispose of it.
However, halfway there, she felt that this wasn't right and returned to him, saying, "But if I can't deliver the goods to that person as instructed, won't he cause trouble for me?"
Lu Wencai thought for a moment and said, "Later, we'll go to the supermarket, buy two bags of formula, fill the cans, reseal them, and just hand the items over to that person's friend as if we know nothing. We won't travel anymore, we'll return to China immediately, and we won't contact that person again. You should return the money he paid you in advance. If he dares to harass you again, we'll report him to the police."
"Report him? Will the police arrest me too?" his girlfriend asked worriedly.
"We just have to insist that we thought it was just two cans of formula and we didn't know anything else. We should be alright."
"Okay."
In their hotel room, they poured both packets into the toilet and flushed them.
But things were far from as simple as Lu Wencai had imagined. His girlfriend delivered the goods to another person at the appointed time and place, and they immediately checked out and headed straight for the airport.
However, the recipient in Southeast Asia quickly discovered that the goods were not in the formula. They were intercepted by a group of people driving a car on their way to the airport.
They dragged his girlfriend out of the taxi and shoved her into another car.
He was stunned at the time. Although he was a calm engineering student, he had never witnessed such a scene. The people who took his girlfriend were all armed.
The taxi driver was also terrified and ducked down behind the seat, covering his head.
After the group sped away with his girlfriend, he sat back in the taxi, dazed.
The driver returned to the driver's seat and asked him in English, "Still going to the airport?"
He was scared and bewildered, his mind in chaos. He answered with a single word, "Yes."
Then he returned to China alone. He had intended to harden his heart, forget his girlfriend, and pretend nothing had happened, continuing with his life.
During that period, he researched many related matters online. The consensus was that drug trafficking, whether intentional or unintentional, was punishable by death.
At the same time, his girlfriend's family constantly came to him, asking about what had happened to their daughter. He insisted he didn't know how his girlfriend had disappeared.
Her family didn't believe him at all and often caused trouble at his home. During that time, he felt he was on the verge of collapse.
He suspected that his girlfriend had met with foul play, but he dared not tell the police the truth, fearing he would be treated as an accomplice and sentenced to death.
Until he received an international call. The caller informed him that his girlfriend was in their custody, safe and sound, and living well.
His girlfriend had also told them everything. They knew he was a talented chemistry student and hoped he would work for them. If he did, both he and his girlfriend would be safe.
Otherwise, not only would his girlfriend suffer a tragic fate, but he and his family would also have no peace.
On one hand, he was threatened by them. On the other hand, he wanted to avoid his girlfriend's family and the constant crying, nagging, and entanglement. So, he went back to Southeast Asia.
He then worked for them in a secret location, researching new types of drugs, with his girlfriend staying with him in that secret place.
He only returned to Lancheng quietly about a year ago. Mr. Lu arranged for him to work in that factory. After entering the factory in the cave, he never came out and had not contacted any acquaintances in Lancheng.
Now, he couldn't say how much affection he still had for his girlfriend. More than that, he feared they would harm his parents and family. Nowadays, he simply lived day by day in darkness, having long given up any hope for the future.