Chapter 17: Capturing the Primary Human Traffickers (Part 1)

Shortly after Liang Songgang finished the call with Brother Li—less than an hour had passed—a call came in from a Shanxi Taiyuan number. The unfamiliar number immediately caught the attention of Liang Song and Zhang Heng.

Liang Song quickly checked the number and confirmed it was unknown. The phone kept ringing; he decided that if he hung up, he would answer the next call. After half a minute of ringing, he hung up proactively. Almost immediately, the call came through again. After a few rings, Liang Song answered and switched to speaker.

"Hello, is this Officer Liang Song from the Beijing Public Security Bureau?" came the voice on the other end.

The question startled Liang Song, but since he had answered, he replied, "Yes, may I ask who this is?"

"Hello, Officer Liang. I’m Wu Cong from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Shanxi Provincial Public Security Department. I heard from our colleagues at the Capital Public Security Bureau that you and a colleague are conducting an investigation in our province and might need our assistance."

Hearing this, Liang Song breathed a sigh of relief. He proceeded to report the case details and his conversation with the caller, Wu Cong.

After the report, Wu Cong inquired about the kind of assistance needed. Liang Song requested, "Could you send a few agile plainclothes officers to lie in wait near that remote hospital tomorrow, to act on my instructions?"

Wu Cong agreed readily, but on the condition that Liang Song come to Taiyuan, the provincial capital, as soon as possible for a meeting at their bureau to discuss the operation in detail.

After hanging up, Liang Song checked the train schedules and found a high-speed train departing at 8 p.m. He began booking tickets.

"Brother Liang, should I come along?" Zhang Heng asked.

"Of course. This is a critical moment for the arrest and the best opportunity for you to learn. Why wouldn’t you go?" Liang Song replied.

"Alright," Zhang Heng agreed and started booking his ticket as well.

Once Zhang Heng had secured his ticket, he suddenly remembered something important: Liang Lahua was still in the apartment. He immediately told Liang Song.

Liang Song headed toward Liang Lahua’s room, with Zhang Heng following closely. They knocked on her door; she opened it and invited them inside, but both declined politely.

Liang Song said to her, "We’re going out for a while. Please don’t leave the house. Don’t go out until we get back."

Liang Lahua nodded and then gestured toward the kitchen, leading them there.

In the kitchen, she used hand gestures to express her concern: the supplies were running low, and she hoped they could prepare some groceries before leaving.

After Zhang Heng explained this to Liang Song, he couldn’t help but smile wryly. Liang Song took out his phone, opened a grocery delivery app, and ordered various ingredients to be delivered.

Once the order was placed, Liang Song showed the confirmation to Liang Lahua, who was satisfied and returned to her room.

Liang Song said, "Let’s get ready and head out."

"Okay," Zhang Heng nodded in response.

They packed their belongings swiftly. Shortly after, the groceries Liang Song ordered arrived at the door. He personally handed the large bag of vegetables, rice, flour, and oil to Liang Lahua and gathered the trash from her room before turning to leave.

After exiting the apartment, they hurried downstairs, left the complex, hailed a taxi, and headed to the high-speed rail station.

Upon arrival, they went straight to the waiting area to await their train. When the time came, they passed through security, checked their tickets, and boarded the high-speed train bound for Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

Once there, a covert operation to make an arrest was about to unfold.