On the second basement level of the Golden Rose KTV, a special forces member and several police officers were cleaning up the scene.
Seeing Ouyang Meihua dragging in a frail girl who was begging for mercy, a police officer asked what had happened.
Ouyang Meihua ignored the officer and pointed at the special forces member. "Go tell Captain Tian that Lin Duo'er has no intention of going back."
Basement A4 was a mezzanine, which was also the dormitory for the administrative department of the Golden Rose KTV, the place where Tian Jing had emerged from the air vent. Tian Jing was currently in the manager's office, searching for photos.
These photos were both printed and stored on the computer.
Flipping through countless indecent images made her dizzy. When she heard what the team member said, she directly threw the photos in her hand and stopped looking.
After all, once they became evidence, they would be destroyed collectively.
Li Weiyan, who was carrying out evidence, saw Captain Tian's angry expression and signaled his teammates to continue. He walked over and asked Captain Tian what was wrong.
Tian Jing took a deep breath. "Go to B2 and bring Lin Duo'er out as well. There's no need to delete any record of her presence in the statements."
"Yes!"
Li Weiyan didn't ask for reasons and went directly to B2.
Since there was no need to look for photos anymore, Tian Jing didn't waste any more time there and followed him to B2.
Seeing Li Weiyan, Lin Duo'er's face turned deathly pale. She hid behind Ouyang Meihua.
Ouyang Meihua pulled Lin Duo'er out and threw her to her eldest son. "Take this fool away."
Caught by Li Weiyan, Lin Duo'er frantically cried out to the police officers for help, "Help me! He's a john."
Several police officers looked at the struggling Lin Duo'er with mixed feelings.
Seeing Tian Jing walk in, Lin Duo'er cried out to Tian Jing for help again, "Captain Tian, I'll go back, I'll go back with you."
"Shut up!" Tian Jing snapped. She had been considering whether to persuade Zeng Jingrong to give up his plan of holding Lin Duo'er accountable for life.
Lin Duo'er sobbed and pleaded, "I won't run anymore, I'll go home."
"It's too late," Tian Jing said, unmoved. "You've been given chances again and again. I'm not your parents, and I have no obligation to clean up your mess."
Lin Duo'er was dragged into the elevator. She clung to the elevator door and shouted to Tian Jing:
"You took me to the talent market, you allowed me to find a new job."
Tian Jing looked at Lin Duo'er coldly. Seeing Lin Duo'er lower her head, she then asked:
"There were so many job openings at the talent market, why did you specifically come to Golden Rose for an interview?"
"Why did you refuse when I said I wanted to interview with you? Didn't you feel any danger in the high salary?"
"Touch your conscience and ask yourself, didn't that sense of danger make you excited? An excitement that stemmed from wanting to take revenge on me and make me feel guilty, perhaps an excitement from the possibility of climbing higher and stepping on me."
"Two years ago, I asked you, and since you denied it, why do you still harbor hatred towards me?"
"Did my compensation make you feel wronged about that verbal agreement? Fine, the compensation is revoked because neither of us owes you anything."
Captain Tian knew everything? She even knew about that little bit of darkness in her heart?
Lin Duo'er felt her entire body go limp. Her hands, which were clinging to the elevator door, loosened. The elevator door slowly closed.
Lin Duo'er saw Captain Tian's indifferent back as she turned away, visible through the gap in the elevator doors.
Her heart collapsed along with the sound of the elevator doors closing. Captain Tian, who had protected her for two years, was no longer her support. She had pushed away this strong pillar herself.
"Wuwuwu..." She collapsed on the elevator floor and cried uncontrollably.
Li Weiyan stood impassively. The elevator door opened, and he bent down to grab the woman who was crying on the floor.
A large bus stopped outside the office building. Under the streetlights, the bus was filled with people, both men and women. Their faces showed panic, fear, and joy, complex emotions, yet they were all silent.
Suddenly, a woman's heart-wrenching cry could be heard in the night breeze. The crying grew closer, and then the bus door opened, and the lights came on. A woman was thrown in.
The woman didn't seem to care, lying on the floor of the carriage and continuing to cry.
This crying triggered the women inside the bus to start crying, then more and more people followed suit, even the men joined in.
Li Weiyan looked at these people coldly. Half of them, like Lin Duo'er, had come for the high salary at Golden Rose.
How could a truly high-paying job recruit people without education?
But these half were blinded by their desire for money, ignoring the unease they felt in their hearts, and stepping into the demon's lair without hesitation.
The other half were tricked in by their fellow villagers or relatives, like Lin Man.
Lin Man looked tearfully at her second sister crying on the floor by the bus door. She never expected her second sister to be tricked into Golden Rose, even though she came to Kyoto with Captain Tian for sightseeing.
Moreover, why was her second sister, who had been rescued by Li Weiyan in advance, sent back?
A short while later, after another woman was thrown in, the bus started.
That woman nudged the crying Lin Duo'er. "Why are you back again?"
Lin Duo'er looked up, surprised. "Sister-in-law Niu Er?"
"Hehe." The woman gave a tragic smile. "That title doesn't suit me anymore."
"No, you, how do you know I, I..."
"How do I know you were rescued in advance?"
Seeing Lin Duo'er nod, the woman said, "I was the old woman that the blue-haired youth disliked and cast aside. He secretly told me to stay put and follow him, and I knew I would be able to escape this hell."
"After you were dragged out, I was taken out of the private room by the blue-haired youth under a pretext. I was rescued after you."
"You came with Captain Tian, right? I saw Captain Tian and Aunt Ouyang. Captain Tian will definitely take you back safely, don't worry."
Hearing this, Lin Duo'er cried even harder. Everyone felt at ease seeing Captain Tian, but she had pushed Captain Tian away.
Tian Jing told Ouyang Meihua to return to the hotel first. If they were both gone all night, the hotel would start to worry.
Ouyang Meihua asked, "What about you?"
Tian Jing sighed. "I'll go see what's going on with Lin Man. After all, Lin Er Lai is Lin Man's guardian."
Ouyang Meihua secretly thought that the great hero Tian was too easily soft-hearted towards women.
The bus drove into a factory yard. The yard had low buildings on three sides, and the rooms were brightly lit.
After Li Weiyan got off the bus, he shouted into the vehicle, "Men go east, women go west."
In the rooms on the west side, two female team members and several female police officers were present. The female officers had the women who came in line up against the wall, and then go to the tables one by one to give their statements.
When Tian Jing entered, it had already begun. She waved her hands at the two female team members, signaling them to continue, and then called out to Lin Man among the group of women, some leaning against the wall, some sitting on the floor.
Lin Man suddenly stood up. "Captain Tian."
Looking at the young girl with heavy makeup, Tian Jing sighed inwardly, but her expression remained indifferent. "Come with me."
Lin Man nervously followed Captain Tian into another room.
Tian Jing took out paper and a pen. "Lin Man, where are Lin Wan and your mother?"
Upon hearing Captain Tian mention her sister and mother, Lin Man's face was filled with hatred.
Tian Jing looked up, unfazed by the hatred on Lin Man's face. When Lin Man's mother insisted on taking both daughters with her, she knew that Lin Man's mother intended to treat her daughters as cash cows.
She had thought they would wait until they grew up to exploit them, but she hadn't expected one to be thrown out so soon.
"Speak, so I can catch them as soon as possible."
Hearing Tian Jing's words, Lin Man hesitated again.