She is startled but she can’t shout. She knocks the hand away immediately with her shoulder.

But the hand draws back soon. She sighs with relief. Unexpectedly, her foot is kicked by someone.

Unclear about the surrounding, she knows a wise man doesn’t fight when the odds are against him. She doesn’t dare to move. She huddles and moves aside.

“Hum, hum.” It’s a low and deep hum from a woman.

Zhu Ting?

Fu Zhengzheng turns her face towards that direction. But because she can see nothing, she has to respond with the same hum.

Soon, a body moves close to her and some long hair caresses her face and makes her itch.

Zhu Ting has long hair and always has a ponytail. Fu Zhengzheng doesn’t dare to confirm the person is Zhu Ting until then. She turns around slightly and tries to grab Zhu Ting’s clothes with her tied hands. Soon, her hands are held by another pair of hands and pinched with force.

“Um, um, um.” Zhu Ting, whose mouth is also covered, can barely make such sound.

But Fu Zhengzheng understands Zhu Ting is telling her “Do not move”. She stops immediately and waits for her next action.

Feeling Zhu Ting biting the cloth covering her eyes, she closes her eyes. Soon, she feels light ahead and opens her eyes right away. By the light filtering through the door crack, she sees Zhu Ting’s face.

“Um, um!” Fu Zhengzheng murmurs Zhu Ting’s name excitedly. Of course, her voice is very low.

But Zhu Ting shakes the head at her cautiously to signal her not to make any sound.

Fu Zhengzheng looks around and finds her guess is right. It’s a spacious but simple countryside house. The wall is covered with rough cement and has the same color as the ground. On the wall about two meters away from her, she vaguely sees a closed window.

While she is looking around, Zhu Ting takes out a blade hidden in her shoe and cuts the packaging strings around Fu Zhengzheng’s wrists back to back.

“Let me see if the two girls have fallen asleep.” The reedy voice comes near.

Zhu Ting hides the blade immediately and moves away fast. Fu Zhengzheng moves backward. When the door is opened, she leans against the wall and buries her head between knees, pretending to be asleep.

“How are they?” The rough voice asks.

“Both asleep.”

“OK. Be careful. Especially Tang Feng’s woman. She may be a police officer and skilled in Kung Fu.”

“Her hands and feet are all tied. What can she do even if she is skilled in Kung Fu? Even if we want to rape her…”

With a slap sound, the rough voice is raised, “! You even dare to bear such an intention against this woman? Listen, you’d better not. If you mess up our boss’s plan, you’ll have to bear all consequences. If I’m implicated, I’ll rape your mom as well.”

“I’m just joking.”

“That’ll do. Stop.” When the door is closed, Fu Zhengzheng sees the room become dark again.

“Can I touch the woman throwing herself into the net?”

“Shut up…”

They go farther and farther, so Fu Zhengzheng can’t hear clearly what else they say. But she knows the woman throwing herself into the net that mentioned by them refers to herself. It seems that they don’t recognize her.

After a while, Zhu Ting moves close to her again and continues to cut the packaging strings for her.

One, two, three strings…

After a long time, Fu Zhengzheng feels her wrists relaxed and both hands separate. She touches her hands that almost have blood stains and tears off the tape sealing her mouth. Then she tears off that sealing Zhu Ting’s mouth, takes the blade from her hand, and cuts the packaging string around her wrists.

“Are they Brotherhood members?” Fu Zhengzheng asks in a low voice while cutting the string.

Zhu Ting nods.

“Why do they catch you? Is it because Xiao Jinchong still bears an evil intention against you?”

“No. It must have something to do with Tang Feng. Before you came around, they asked me to talk with Tang Feng on the phone.”

“What did he say?”

“He only said he would go on a long journey and told me to look after myself. He said his boss would take care of me. I’m sure he wasn’t sincere in his words. He can’t allow me to stay alone with Xiao Jinchong. Perhaps Xiao Jinchong wants to threaten Tang Feng to do evil, so he kidnaps me.”

“Didn’t Tang Feng always help them do evil?”

Zhu Ting pauses, lowers her eyes, and then raises them soon, looking determined, “I used to regard Tang Feng as a hooligan, but after staying with him for such a long time, I don’t think he is such a person.”

“Then what kind of person he is?”

“I think he…” Zhu Ting meditates and pauses, because her guess has no evidence. She changes the topic, “Why are you caught?”

“I visited friends in Home Inn and just saw you attached on the balcony. I wanted to save you. Unexpectedly, I was stunned by them too.”

Hearing that, Zhu Ting asks anxiously, “Is your baby fine?”

“Fine.”

“How stupid you are! Why didn’t you ask for help before saving me? You are pregnant and not as agile as before. How can you take such a big risk?” Zhu Ting scolds her, but she feels Zhu Ting’s concern and worry.

“You’re skilled in Kung Fu. Why were you taken there by them so easily?”

Zhu Ting sighs, “They pushed a gun against me on the busy part of Central Street. I was afraid that innocent people would be hurt, so I went with them to the alley. But I didn’t expect, besides them, there would be another one that hit me at my back. Both of us were careless today.”

Fu Zhengzheng is embarrassed, “I was careless while you were not. If Siqi knows, he is sure to tease that I have a baby brain and don’t like a police officer.”

“Mr. Han is so anxious now that he can’t have the mood to tease you.”

Fu Zhengzheng wants to be optimistic. But what Zhu Ting says makes her down immediately. Seeing her silent, Zhu Ting glances at the window and says, “We just went here by boat. It seems to be isolated. It may be difficult for us to escape.”

“By boat? No wonder I heard the sound of rowing. Let’s look for a chance to look at the surrounding.”

Soon, Fu Zhengzheng severs the packaging string around Zhu Ting’s wrists. Zhu Ting holds the severed string and walks to the window along the wall.

Fu Zhengzheng creeps to the window too, but soon she gets disappointed – the window is barred with planks. It’s impossible for them to escape through the window.

“The door is locked and the window is barred. What can we do?” Fu Zhengzheng looks at Zhu Ting.

“We have to figure it out tomorrow.”

Zhu Ting pulls Fu Zhengzheng to the place where the packaging strings were severed just now, presses her down, gropes for and picks up the strings from the ground. Then she ties Fu Zhengzheng’s wrists again with the one whose ends can barely meet, puts the loosened knot inward, and tells her, “You can break free from it easily with only a little strength, but don’t make them see it.”

Fu Zhengzheng nods.

“There may be three or four guys, but they must have guns. Tomorrow morning, let’s do it in this way…” Zhu Ting whispers to her.

Fu Zhengzheng nods again.

Then Zhu Ting covers Fu Zhengzheng’s eyes and seals her mouth as before. She also picks other severed strings from the ground, hides them into a corner secretly, seals her own mouth, asks Fu Zhengzheng ties her with a string, and then moves to another corner for a nap.

When Fu Zhengzheng wakes up, it has been light. Rays of irregular sunlight filter through the window crack. She feels the light, raises her head and barely sees some light below the cloth covering her eyes. According to the angle of the sunlight on the ground, she guesses it’s about 7:00 a.m. But it’s still quiet outside and even no footsteps can be heard. She can’t help humming lightly.

Soon, Zhu Ting responds to her lightly from another corner of the room. But the room falls silent immediately as if Fu Zhengzheng were in the room alone.

Fu Zhengzheng knows Zhu Ting is reminding her of being prepared anytime, so she doesn’t make more sound. Nor does she dare to take a nap anymore.

After about one hour, Fu Zhengzheng hears some sound outside finally. It makes her more nervous.

“Take some bread and water to the girls.” The rough voice says outside.

Soon, the door is opened and then they hear heavy footsteps.

Fu Zhengzheng feels someone squat down before her and then the tape is torn off her mouth.

“Baby, open your mouth. I’ll feed you bread.” It’s the reedy voice last night.

Fu Zhengzheng opens her mouth cooperatively and bites the bread given to her.

“Um, um, um.” Zhu Ting “shouts” in another corner.

“Pretty girl, take it easy. I will feed her first and then you.” The reedy voice laughs evilly.

“Um, um, um.” Zhu Ting keeps “shouting”.

Fu Zhengzheng chews the bread while saying, “Perhaps she wants to go to the bathroom.”

Zhu Ting nods heavily at once.

The reedy voice glances at Zhu Ting and asks, “You need to pee?”

Zhu Ting nods.

An unperceived smile appears on the face of the man with a reedy voice. He rises and shouts outward, “Scrag, come to feed this woman.”

The man called Scrag runs in while laughing, “Wow, Monkey, are you willing to leave such good work to me now?”

“I’ll take her to the bathroom.”

“Fuck. No wonder you’re willing. It turns out you have better work. Will you take off the trousers for the girl? Take some paper to wipe for her.” Scrag lets out lecherous laughter.

“Do you need to teach me?” Monkey looks proud and seems to be sure that Zhu Ting will ask him to take off trousers for her.

“But listen, refrain yourself. You can just look at the woman at most. Don’t touch her. If you can’t vent your desire then, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

“If so, I can vent it on you.”

“Shut up! Does it take such a long time to go to the bathroom? Remove the cloth covering her eyes. Take her there and back quickly.” The rough voice interrupts and snaps. Then other men fall into silence.

Fu Zhengzheng feels footsteps go out and hears Zhu Ting cough. She asks Scrag, “Is the bathroom far? I want to go there too after eating the bread.”

“At the door. Women are so troublesome. Eat quickly. Wait for Monkey to take you there.” Scrag says impatiently.

Fu Zhengzheng doesn’t say more. She eats the bread silently.

After about one or two minutes, Zhu Ting screams outside, “What do you want to do?!”