Chapter 52 Li Yao's Thoughts.

7:00 PM.

The sun slowly sank in the west, and the originally azure sky was dyed orange-red, signaling the imminent arrival of night.

On the second-floor balcony, Li Yao placed a potted cactus from the floor onto a shelf and then watered it with a nearby watering can.

“What are you doing?”

Chen Mo's voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

She was jolted by the sudden sound.

Hurriedly turning around, she explained, “Nothing, just watering the cactus. Is something wrong?”

Li Yao forced herself to stay calm as she answered Chen Mo's question.

“I think it was fine on the floor; there's no need to put it on the shelf.”

“What do you think?”

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze from the cactus to lock eyes with the nervous Li Yao.

*Gulp.*

The sound of swallowing came from her throat.

“I think it’s better on the shelf so it can get some air.”

After saying that, she squeezed out a forced smile.

She had rejected Chen Mo's suggestion.

“I said! It was fine down there.”

This time, Chen Mo's tone grew heavier.

Seemingly frightened by his serious expression, Li Yao nodded helplessly, took the potted cactus back down, and then turned to walk straight back into the house.

Chen Mo was left alone on the scene.

He folded his arms, feeling a bit amused by Li Yao's clumsy acting.

Captain Long and Xiao Zhang were in charge of controlling the perimeter, while he stayed here alone to keep an eye on Li Yao.

The reason he was watching her so closely was that earlier downstairs, he had clearly sensed that Li Yao was lying.

She probably really didn't know that Liu Baoguo's profession was human trafficking.

Her surprise at that time was genuine.

But her subsequent claims—that she would definitely help the police catch Liu Baoguo and that she was unwilling to use the money he made from trafficking children to save her mother—were fake!

It wasn't just her Micro-expressions warning him that she was lying.

It was also the inconsistent logic of her words.

From Li Yao's perspective, her mother was critically ill and desperately needed money to stay alive.

As a university student with a bright future, she had been forced to choose to enter the sex trade as a prostitute to save her mother.

In this era, a university degree was highly valuable; one could find a good job upon graduation. Dropping out midway to enter that trade was no different from falling from heaven into hell!

More importantly, there was the psychological pressure; once in that industry, it was basically impossible to ever truly wash oneself clean for the rest of one's life.

Yet she did it anyway, willing to ruin her own life to save her mother, which showed she was extremely filial.

Under these circumstances, when Liu Baoguo suddenly appeared, willing to marry her and let her work a normal job, it was like a ray of dawn appearing in the darkness!

And once Liu Baoguo was caught, the money for her mother's life-saving treatment would be gone!

She would have to continue working as a prostitute to earn money for her mother's treatment.

Therefore, her repeated claims at this moment that she would definitely cooperate with the police to catch him made it hard for Chen Mo not to be suspicious!

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The sound of slippers hitting the floor rang out.

Li Yao walked out of the room holding a quilt and headed straight for the balcony.

“Take it back.”

Chen Mo stood by the balcony door and said coldly.

“I'm just airing out the quilt, do you have to control that too?”

“Do you think I can't see through your intentions?”

Chen Mo didn't bother playing these little mind games with her anymore and called her out directly.

This caused the words Li Yao was about to say to be swallowed back down.

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

After a few breaths, she spoke again.

“You're a policeman. You're catching Liu Baoguo to save those two little children, right?”

Chen Mo didn't speak; it was an obvious question.

But Li Yao seemed very persistent about this question.

Since he didn't answer, Li Yao stared at him intently.

“Otherwise?”

As soon as he spoke,

Li Yao clenched her fists, and her emotions suddenly erupted.

“You want to save those two children!”

“Then who is going to save my mother!!!”

She clenched her fists and shouted at Chen Mo.

With this shout, she seemed to be venting all the grievances she had accumulated for so long.

From a female university student full of hope for the future to a prostitute despised by everyone! A 'student girl' that people mentioned with lewd smiles.

Her life was completely ruined!

Liu Baoguo might be ugly, he might be a bit old, and he might be a damn human trafficker!

But he could save her mother's life!

To her, that made him a good person!

Just as a glimmer of light appeared in her life, it was about to be destroyed by the police!

“You won't let me notify Liu Baoguo. If he's caught, what will happen to my mother!”

“Tell me!”

“Am I supposed to do this for the rest of my life?”

Sobs escaped her mouth, and bean-sized tears slid from her eyes.

Looking at her, it would be a lie for Chen Mo to say he felt nothing at all.

He had compassion, and he naturally felt mourning for her plight.

But he couldn't let other innocent people be harmed just because he sympathized with Li Yao.

What was the difference between the money Liu Baoguo made from trafficking children and 'steamed buns dipped in human blood'?

Damn it.

The way he was thinking right now felt a bit like 'standing while talking without a backache'—easy for him to say.

If it were him, would he have made the same choice as Li Yao?

A long silence followed.

He actually didn't know the answer.

—Zzzzt.

“Liu Baoguo has appeared. Chen Mo, I'm going to make the arrest directly on my end.”

Long Hao's voice came through the walkie-talkie, alerting him.

He was checking in to inform him of the latest situation.

Also, it was to prevent Chen Mo from having any new ideas that might disrupt the plan.

“Yeah, I got it,”

he replied into the walkie-talkie.

“Waaah.”

Li Yao crouched on the ground, her crying growing louder.

At this moment, for her, it was no different from her dreams being shattered.

Although Liu Baoguo had many faults, he could save her mother and allow her to live a normal life, so he was the best option.

And now, unless the day her mother died came, she would have to continue working endlessly.

Enduring mental and physical torment every day until she became accustomed to it all.

At this point, the most professional thing to do would be to immediately call an officer up to calm her down, while he threw himself into the next stage of the case.

But having personally shattered someone's dream, to just walk away like nothing happened—wouldn't that be too inhumane?

He had greater abilities after transmigrating, but if he really just left now, he'd be even worse than his pre-transmigration self.

“Your mother's illness requires long-term, expensive medication. I know a place where the medicine is very cheap.”

In his past life, he had seen a movie called 'Dying to Survive'.

If he had to help her, this was all he could offer.

Li Yao continued to cry, ignoring him completely.

He lifted his wrist and glanced at his watch.

He couldn't waste any more time.

“Give me your phone number. Once this case is over, I'll figure something out for you.”

Coming from the future, for him, making money was only a matter of whether he wanted to or not.

It wasn't a matter of capability!

He hadn't thought about making money before, not just because he was a policeman and there were regulations against doing business,

but because he didn't have much desire for money.

Buying luxury cars? Living in a mansion?

He had already passed the stage of taking pride in such things.

It wasn't as satisfying as rising in police rank and holding real power.

After speaking, seeing that she was still crying,

he shook his head and hurried downstairs.

He thought to himself,

I have to save Li Yao, and I have to save two kids.

I'm busy to death!