The human trafficking industry travels extensively, so even if the police crack down hard, there are always those who slip through the net, popping up from time to time.
Then there are the spontaneous cases—losing money in gambling and selling your own child, or finding out the newborn isn't a boy. This kind of transaction is highly clandestine and difficult to trace.
The little mute swallowed a bun in two or three bites and jogged back to the broken temple where he lived, raising his leg to give another beggar curled up in the corner a hard kick.
"Liu Er! Are you back to your old business?"
"What business?"
The kicked beggar lifted his head shakily, showing a face that's half a mess of flesh and blood, neither human nor ghost, utterly bewildered.
"Little mute, have you gone mad? Don't talk nonsense! If I were still doing my old business, would I be in this state?"
Liu Er showed a face full of grievance.
