Xiao Xiao gripped the sturdy steel bars of the cage, trying to get as close to him as possible. "You were looking for me? But weren't you in Lancheng? How could you come all this way to find me?"
Little Xing Xing wiped his tears and said, "Mom and Dad brought me here for treatment."
As he spoke, he opened his jacket to show Xiao Xiao the patient's clothes he was wearing underneath.
Xiao Xiao asked worriedly, "Brother Xing Xing, are you sick? Is it serious?"
Little Xing Xing put on a brave face in front of Xiao Xiao, patting his chest and saying, "I'm all better now..."
But before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Unable to pretend any longer, he clutched his chest, sweat beading on his forehead.
Xiao Xiao exclaimed in alarm, "Brother Xing Xing, what's wrong? What happened?"
"I... my chest just hurts a little. It's nothing, I have water and medicine in my backpack."
He then took off his backpack and took out two bottles of mineral water. He handed one to Xiao Xiao and took out his medicine bottle.
He knew he had to take this medicine every day, so he put a bottle in his schoolbag.
Xiao Xiao refused his mineral water, her lips chapped. "I'm not thirsty, you keep this bottle."
Little Xing Xing insisted she take it, saying, "Your lips are bleeding, drink some quickly. I have more water in my bag."
Xiao Xiao had no choice but to accept the mineral water through the gaps in the iron cage.
Little Xing Xing then unscrewed his own bottle of water and took a pill.
At this moment, a boy of similar age, locked in the same cage with him, suddenly snatched the mineral water from his hand and immediately drank a few gulps.
Little Xing Xing didn't react in time, but Xiao Xiao had already shouted, "You can't snatch Brother Xing Xing's water! Give it back to him!"
However, the children in the same cage as Little Xing Xing paid no attention to Xiao Xiao. Some went to snatch the water from the other boy's hand, while two directly went for Little Xing Xing's backpack.
Little Xing Xing was bewildered by their actions and only knew to tightly protect his medicine, letting them snatch his backpack.
Those children gathered around and emptied everything from his backpack. There was no more mineral water, only a few bags of bread.
After snatching the bread, the children devoured it ravenously, as if they hadn't eaten in a long time.
Little Xing Xing was stunned by the sight of them eating the bread.
When he looked at Xiao Xiao again, he saw her swallowing saliva as she watched the children in his cage eating bread.
"You want to eat too, don't you?" Saying this, he put the medicine bottle in his pocket and went to snatch back the little bread left in a child's hand.
Just for snatching back this small amount of bread, his forehead was scratched by that child.
He didn't care and handed the small amount of bread he had snatched back to Xiao Xiao, saying, "Are you very hungry? Eat quickly."
Xiao Xiao suppressed the urge to eat and said to him, "You eat it."
"I'm not hungry, I ate very well at the hospital today." Little Xing Xing offered the small piece of bread to her again.
She took it and immediately put it in her mouth, swallowing it slowly, as if she were eating a delicacy.
Little Xing Xing watched her finish and was about to ask her something.
She spoke first, "You were so well off in the hospital, why were you captured and brought here?"
Little Xing Xing told her the whole story of how he was captured and brought here.
Xiao Xiao was deeply moved, gazing at him with her bright blue eyes, "Brother Xing Xing, you're so foolish. Don't you think you might have been mistaken?"
Little Xing Xing said with certainty, "No."
"But you should have continued your treatment in the hospital," Xiao Xiao said, her heart aching for him. "These people who specialize in capturing children are very wicked. They lock us up here and only give us a little food and drink each day. We don't know what they want to do to us..."
"Don't be afraid, I will protect you." Little Xing Xing suddenly became very brave.
As soon as he finished speaking, a little girl in another cage began to cry loudly, calling for her parents.
The little girl's cries resonated with many children, and the crying of children filled the entire ship's cabin, never ceasing.
Xiao Xiao leaned against the iron cage, her expression indifferent, not crying, thinking in her heart how to protect Brother Xing Xing with all her might.
She had experienced many similar things and had seen too many wicked adults. At such a young age, she was no longer so fragile.
Seeing that she wasn't crying, Little Xing Xing, despite empathizing with the other crying children, suppressed the urge to cry.
"When the bad guys pushed me off the deck, I heard someone say they were going to start the ship. Are they going to transport us somewhere?"
Xiao Xiao hummed in agreement and said, "Let's rest well by the cage and regain our strength. I'll take you to escape as soon as there's an opportunity."
"It should be me taking you to escape." Little Xing Xing felt it was impossible to let a girl younger than him protect him.
"Okay, no matter who takes whom, we'll escape together."
Little Xing Xing also leaned against the iron cage to rest, and softly asked her, "Where have you been all this time? Uncle Xiao has never stopped looking for you everywhere, but there's been no news of you. We've all been very worried about you."
"They treated me very well, and I wanted to return to them. But I encountered bad people on the way home. After being resold by those bad people, I finally escaped, only to be captured and brought onto this ship." Xiao Xiao's eyes reddened as she recalled the terrifying experiences of these past days.
That day, she had hidden among the parade floats and finally managed to evade the old man who bought her.
Just before the parade ended, she was running towards the police officers who were maintaining order at the scene, wanting to ask for their help.
But just a few steps away from the police officers, someone covered her mouth and nose from behind. By the time she woke up, she was in this dark, lightless ship's cabin.
When she was brought in, the iron cages were not yet full.
Based on the number of times these bad people brought them food and water, she felt that two or three days had passed, and the iron cages in the ship's cabin were almost full of children.
These bad people were transporting them away by ship like cargo, but she didn't know where they would be transported to.
In any case, none of these people were good, and her and Brother Xing Xing's future would likely be very perilous.
Suddenly seeing Brother Xing Xing again, with him by her side, she was overjoyed and no longer so afraid.
But she didn't want Brother Xing Xing to get into trouble. Hearing him say he still had an unhealed illness, she felt an unspeakable heartache for him.
She had more experience dealing with these bad people than he did, so she decided she would protect him well.
"Xiao Xiao, why aren't you talking? What are you thinking about?" Little Xing Xing saw her eyes were red and wanted to comfort her.
Xiao Xiao looked at him, appearing very sleepy, and said, "It's very difficult to escape now. I want to sleep for a while. When the ship reaches its destination, we'll think of a way to escape."
"Okay, sleep if you want to. I'll watch over you."
Xiao Xiao smiled sweetly at him, leaned against the cage, and closed her eyes, as if falling asleep instantly.
Although Little Xing Xing also felt very sleepy, he forced himself to keep his eyes open, wanting to protect her well.
...
Su Su searched back and forth on the street of the parade many times, but couldn't even see a trace of Little Xing Xing, let alone Xiao Xiao.
Many police officers dispatched by the police station also conducted a carpet-like search on this street, but by nightfall, they had found nothing.