Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang was nearly driven mad. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said, "Miss, you're doing this not just to help me save my sister, are you? Please give me a sufficient reason! Otherwise, I'd rather abandon this rescue plan than let you participate." Gao Huilan also calmly said, "According to the latest information Fifteenth Brother has gathered, there's more than just your sister locked up there. There are two other women who were also forcibly trafficked. I want to rescue them all." Yang Jiefang said, "No matter how many women there are, I will rescue them all." Obviously, this reason was not sufficient. Gao Huilan continued, "I can't stand the existence of brothels in this world, I can't stand the trafficking of women, and I especially can't stand women being forcibly trafficked to brothels to be abused. I wish I could burn down every brothel in the world. Is that reason sufficient?" Yang Jiefang was slightly taken aback, stared at Gao Huilan for a long time, and nodded in agreement, "Okay, I agree to your plan."

Next, they finalized some details. Gao Huilan, disguised as a runaway rich heiress, unfortunately fell into the hands of human traffickers. Bao Ziqiang, skilled in disguise, and Chu Yi, posing as traffickers, used a carriage to sell Gao Huilan to the brothel, Yihong Courtyard. Yang Jiefang, along with Pang Ya and Chou Gu, went to find Chu Shiwu, who would then contact the others to carry out the rescue operation as planned. Once the details were finalized, they split up to begin their operations.

After leaving the teahouse, Ugly Girl suddenly spoke up, "Yang Jiefang, you seem to be doing quite well in Qinglong Village, but your position isn't actually secure. Do you know what your biggest weakness is?" Yang Jiefang smiled bitterly and said, "I'd say I'm polite but lack authority. Someone like Miss is truly powerful!" Ugly Girl said, "Since you know you lack authority, why do you think those people would risk their lives to rescue your sister? This is Yantai City, not some desolate mountain village. If they're just playing it safe and not putting in any effort, what can you do?" Yang Jiefang suddenly understood and said, "I understand, thank you!" The ugly woman stared into Yang Jiefang's eyes and said, "Then you know what to do, right?" Yang Jiefang replied, "I will establish my authority through victory after victory!" The ugly woman said, "That's not what I meant." Yang Jiefang was taken aback and asked, "Then what do you want to say?" The ugly woman frowned and said, "You really don't understand?" His past life experience told Yang Jiefang that it was best not to guess a girl's thoughts. If he guessed correctly, he would be offended; if he guessed incorrectly, he would be scolded. So he smiled and said, "Sister, I really don't understand. Why don't you teach me?" The ugly woman stomped her feet in anger and said irritably, "Remember the young lady's kindness in the future!" Then she turned and left.

Fatty looked at Yang Jiefang blankly and said, "She seems angry?" Yang Jiefang laughed, "It can't be that bad, can it? I didn't provoke her. Oh, by the way, I still don't know your name." Fatty replied, "My name is Fatty, don't you already know that?" Yang Jiefang said, "I'm asking for your real name, not your nickname." Fatty said, "That's my real name!" Yang Jiefang pressed, "Then what's your surname? You wouldn't happen to be surnamed Fat, would you?" Fatty nodded very seriously and said, "Yes, my surname is Fat, and my name is Fatty." Yang Jiefang almost fainted. There really are people with the surname Fat? He'd learned something new today. Then he pointed to the ugly girl in front of him and said uncertainly, "Then she wouldn't happen to be surnamed Ugly, would she?" Fatty nodded vigorously and said, "Yes!" Yang Jiefang forced himself to stand up straight so he wouldn't faint and said, "So, Fatty isn't Fatty Girl, and Ugly Girl isn't Ugly Girl!" Fatty looked at herself and asked doubtfully, "Am I not fat? Why does Miss keep saying I'm too fat?"

Yang Jiefang was about to reply when Chou Gu turned around and said, "The scholar reads half of it..." Then she turned and continued walking. Yang Jiefang was speechless for a moment, then quickly walked a few steps ahead of Chou Gu and asked, "What do you mean by that? It's so nonsensical!" Chou Gu stopped, took Yang Jiefang's right hand with her left, and began to write on his palm with her right index finger, saying as she wrote, "Although I am an ugly girl, my surname is 'Chou,' not 'Ugly.' My name is Chou Gu." Yang Jiefang looked at his palm and quickly realized he had misheard 'Chou' as 'Ugly.' He had indeed read it only halfway! Good heavens, he had been looked down upon by a little girl! This was too humiliating!

Chu Gu thought Yang Jiefang hadn't understood, so she wrote it again. Her hands were soft and a little cool, perhaps because of the cold weather. Yang Jiefang felt a slight, electric shock-like flutter in his heart. He couldn't understand it; he was quite experienced before his transmigration, so how could he still feel like he was experiencing first love? Yang Jiefang looked up into Chu Gu's eyes and said softly, "You're not an ugly girl! Actually, you're a kind-hearted and understanding girl. Moreover, I sensed an extraordinary quality in you. As the saying goes, true beauty lies in the bone structure, not just the skin; inner beauty shines through. Isn't that exactly what describes you? So, don't call yourself an ugly girl anymore."

Chu Gu had never been gazed at so affectionately by a young man before. Coupled with Yang Jiefang's soft, gentle voice, her heart pounded. A feeling she had never experienced before slowly rose within her, intoxicating her. She held onto Yang Jiefang's hand, forgetting to let go, her eyes gazing at him dreamily, murmuring, "But don't you think I'm ugly?" Yang Jiefang quickly explained, "Understanding a person is a process that progresses from the outside in, from the shallow to the deep. Can you really see through a person completely at a glance?" Chu Gu shook her head in agreement. Yang Jiefang continued, "Let's not talk about those unpleasant things from before! From today onwards, you will be the most beautiful girl in my heart..." He wasn't some naive young man inexperienced; when it came to sweet talk, he had a whole repertoire of words. What young girl in the throes of first love could resist that?

Seeing the two holding hands, gazing at each other and whispering, Fatty leaned between them, looked around, and asked, "What are you doing?" The two snapped out of their reverie and each took a step back. Yang Jiefang, who was about to speak, was abruptly interrupted and said instead, "Didn't you see she wrote something on my hand? Hehe, so that's how you write the character '侴' in '侴'..." The two quickly composed themselves and continued walking. Aunt 侴 strode on, no longer speaking to Yang Jiefang.

When the three arrived at Chu Shiwu's pancake stall, Chu Shiwu was already packing up, and there were hardly any people around. The three went up to greet him directly. Chu Shiwu glanced at Yang Jiefang and said, "You're Yang Jiefang?" His hands continued packing without stopping. Yang Jiefang nodded and replied, "Yes, I am. Hello! Brother Shiwu." Chu Shiwu said, "The young lady has already given instructions. I'll follow your arrangements." Yang Jiefang asked, "Have the others all gone into the city?" Chu Shiwu replied, "They've all gone into the city and are settled in different places. Are you going to see them individually or bring them all here?" Yang Jiefang said, "I've rented a courtyard in the city. You can take them all there." Chu Shiwu said, "Tell me the address, and I'll come find you later." Yang Jiefang gave the address, and Chu Shiwu said, "That's a good place, relatively quiet, perfect for hiding. I'll bring everyone there before noon." Then he shouted loudly, "Sorry! All the pancakes are sold out today. Please look elsewhere!"

Yang Jiefang had no choice but to leave with Chu Gu and Pang Ya. When the three of them arrived at the rented house, Zhao Changgui was still cleaning it. Since no one had lived there for a long time, there was a thick layer of dust everywhere, making cleaning quite laborious. Without Yang Jiefang's instruction, Chu Gu and Pang Ya willingly joined in the cleaning. The four of them worked together and quickly cleaned the place from top to bottom. Just as the three were about to sit down and rest, Chu Shiwu arrived with Sun Zhiyong and the others.

Yang Jiefang said, "Everyone's here, so let's cut to the chase. You all know that Miss is going to infiltrate the Yihong Courtyard, right?" Everyone nodded, their expressions grave. Sun Zhiyong explained, "Miss insisted on this, and we couldn't dissuade her. We thought you could persuade her not to go..." Yang Jiefang waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that now. I think everyone understands that our next operation cannot afford any mistakes. The plan remains largely unchanged. Brother Yan and Brother Gui will stay at the Yihong Courtyard as originally planned; Brother Sun, Brother Lu, and Brother Tie, you'll still be in pairs outside, ready to provide support at any time; Brother Fifteen will be responsible for opening the back door from the outside, and I and the rest of the group will go in to rescue her; Brother Chu will prepare a carriage to meet us outside. Everyone understands their mission, right?" Everyone nodded solemnly, no longer with the relaxed demeanor they had at the Chu family's residence.

Yang Jiefang continued, "Everyone, please pay attention. Around midnight, the church bells not far away will ring twelve times in a row. Remember! Twelve times in a row, no more and no less. This is our signal to begin our operation. Everyone must begin at this time; no earlier and no later. Does everyone understand?" Yan Donglai said, "I was worried about how we would coordinate, but with this timing, things will be much easier."

Yang Jiefang specifically reminded everyone, "If you have any personal matters to attend to, be sure to take care of them beforehand! You absolutely cannot make mistakes at this crucial moment. If anyone slips up, regardless of whether there are any losses in the end, the consequences will be severe!" Everyone unconsciously turned their gaze to Yan Donglai and Gui Liqiu. Yan Donglai said, "Don't worry! We know what's more important." Yang Jiefang said, "Very good! Everyone, go and prepare!" Soon, everyone left the rented room in batches, leaving only Chu Gu and Pang Ya to wait for them to meet up with Bao Ziqiang and Chu Yi before proceeding.

Yang Jiefang, Zhao Changgui, and Chu Shiwu arrived at the hotel behind the Yihong Courtyard in a group. The back door of the hotel was diagonally opposite the back door of the Yihong Courtyard. Yang Jiefang deliberately chose a room directly opposite the back door of the Yihong Courtyard, so that he could see the back door from the back window. Soon after, Sun Zhiyong and Lu Ziqi arrived in a group, and the Tie brothers arrived in a group, taking rooms on the left and right sides respectively.

As the twelve chimes of the church bells echoed in the distance, Chu Shiwu, who was observing from the outside, suddenly said, "They're here." Yang Jiefang and Zhao Changgui quickly went to the window and saw a carriage pulling up at the back gate of Yihong Courtyard. The driver was none other than Chu Yi, who was disguised. Chu Shiwu whispered, "Doesn't the driver look like the trafficker who sold you?" Yang Jiefang looked closely and said, "He does look a bit like him. Are you familiar with him?" Chu Shiwu replied, "Of course. If we weren't familiar, how could he disguise himself so convincingly? Yihong Courtyard has exchanged many pleasantries with this trafficker. If someone notices something amiss, it'll be troublesome." Yang Jiefang asked, "Can you still find them?" Chu Shiwu replied, "Of course we can, but..." Yang Jiefang immediately pulled out ten silver dollars and said, "I came to Yantai before you even returned to the Chu family yesterday. I forgot to give you the operating funds. Everyone else has been given them." He stuffed the silver dollars into Chu Shiwu's hand. Chu Shiwu weighed them for a moment and smiled, "Since everyone has some, I won't be polite. After this operation is over, I'll take you to find him."

As they spoke, the carriage stopped. Chu Yi alighted and knocked on the back gate of the Yi Hong Courtyard. After exchanging a few words with the gatekeeper, he instructed Bao Ziqiang inside the carriage to take Gao Huilan down. Gao Huilan's hands were tied behind her back, and her mouth was gagged with a rag. The three of them quickly disappeared from sight after entering the backyard. Yang Jiefang and the other two waited patiently. Soon, Chu Yi and Bao Ziqiang came out, and Gao Huilan was naturally left behind at the Yi Hong Courtyard.

The operation was scheduled for midnight, leaving plenty of time. Yang Jiefang instructed Chu Shiwu and Zhao Changgui to take turns observing, while he himself planned to take a nap. He was sound asleep when he was suddenly woken. Zhao Changgui said, "Something's up..." Yang Jiefang didn't have time to ask further questions and quickly got up to go to the window. He saw another carriage parked at the back gate of the Yihong Courtyard, with two policemen standing beside it, each holding a long gun horizontally. Chu Shiwu said, "It's Chief Li from the police station. It's strange, why didn't he come through the front gate?" The answer came quickly. A middle-aged man in a police uniform, a pistol tucked into his waistband, strolled out, accompanied by a young and beautiful woman—Gao Huilan. Gao Huilan wasn't bound; she seemed to have come out voluntarily. Yang Jiefang was stunned. What was going on? Could they still carry out the operation smoothly? Sure enough, plans couldn't keep up with changes; if nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was bound to happen. Yang Jiefang's mind raced, and he quickly made a decision, saying, "You two stay here to continue observing and proceed according to the original plan. Also, notify Sun Zhiyong and the Tie brothers separately, and tell them not to act rashly. I'll handle the young lady's matter! Remember, regardless of whether I return in time or not, if there are no other changes, proceed according to the original plan!" Then he quickly packed up and went downstairs.