Chapter 77: Chapter 72: Accidentally Discovered by Zhan Qipei, the Research Institute’s Files
 

After Qiao Jing finished speaking, she always felt something was amiss.

It wasn’t just Qiao Jing, Zhan Qipei too felt as if he had been taken under her wing.

In the end, Qiao Jing still didn’t accept Zhan Qipei’s money.

After Zhan Qipei left, Qiao Jing continued fiddling with her flower pots, taking out her notebook to record the growth of the vegetables as backup data.

After printing it out, she bound it together, planning to bring it to the research institute tomorrow.

Coincidentally, Grandpa Xu said that a new person was coming to the institute tomorrow, and all his credentials were very good, so he wanted her to meet him.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz—” Her phone vibrated with a call from Captain Zhao.

“Hello?”

“Professor Qiao, are you available right now?” Captain Zhao’s voice was somewhat anxious.

“What’s wrong?” Qiao Jing asked, puzzled.

“It’s about the child trafficking case I mentioned to you before, the criminal gang has appeared again. Just this morning at 6 AM, when a parent was sending their child to school, the kid was almost snatched.”

So brazen?

“Give me the details.”

…

Half an hour later, Qiao Jing arrived at the school entrance, the location of the incident this morning.

After scanning the area, she found no suspicious individuals.

Wait a little longer.

This group was very bold, and among them was someone particularly smart and good at planning.

Having failed in their attempt this morning, it would be reasonable to assume they wouldn’t show up again after being exposed. However, according to Qiao Jing’s analysis and understanding of the crime group over the past few days, it was very likely that they’d do the opposite and appear again when school let out in the afternoon.

Her reason for not informing Captain Zhao and his team was one, these were just her guesses, and if she was wrong, it would be a waste of manpower and resources.

Secondly, she felt that one reason why Captain Zhao and his team hadn’t cracked the case yet might be that someone was monitoring the area near the bureau, reporting movements.

Therefore, after weighing everything up, Qiao Jing decided it was better not to inform Captain Zhao and the others, to avoid alarming the suspects.

As Qiao Jing pondered this, she caught a glimpse of a young man stealthily hiding behind a car from the corner of her eye.

A suspect?

He was quite handsome and looked like a college student.

True, appearances can be deceiving; who would have thought that someone who looked so upright would commit such an act.

Qiao Jing didn’t rush to act; these people worked in groups, and the young man was likely just a lookout.

The school bell rang.

Qiao Jing immediately looked towards the school gate while also keeping an eye on every move of the young man.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the young man leaning on the car, sticking out his head like a turtle, staring at the school gate.

Was he preparing to make a move? She needed to be on guard.

The school was a kindergarten, and the youngest children came out first, followed by the middle group.

According to the information from Captain Zhao, today’s target for the gang was a middle group girl named Gan Qiqi.

Qiao Jing had seen a picture of Gan Qiqi and would recognize the girl as soon as she appeared.

There she was!

Qiao Jing recognized the little girl standing in the second row of the group at a glance.

That was Gan Qiqi!

At the same time, she saw from the corner of her eye that the young man had also moved, his gaze fixed on Gan Qiqi.

Was he about to act?

Before Qiao Jing could finish her thought, she saw a van suddenly break through the barricade in front of the school gate.

The van came to a stop, and several thugs wielding weapons got out.

The nearby parents panicked, protecting their own children as they began to run, causing chaos at the entrance of the school.

This was way beyond Qiao Jing’s expectations; she knew from Captain Zhao that these people were brazen, but she hadn’t expected them to be this audacious.

To burst into the school gate with a van in broad daylight, weapons in hand, wreaking havoc.

Could this really be just a simple child trafficking case?

No time to think further, Qiao Jing quickly charged forward.

Unexpectedly, the young man who had been hiding behind the car moved even faster than her.

“Don’t touch my sister!” the young man shouted, recklessly running towards the thugs.

Sister?

Was this young man the girl’s brother?

Qiao Jing compared the two; she hadn’t noticed before, but now with a closer look, the pair indeed looked very similar.

After the young man reached Gan Qiqi, he scooped her up and started to run.

The thug lifted his weapon and, without even blinking, swung it straight down.

Just as the thug was about to strike the young man, Qiao Jing arrived, chopping down with her hand, knocking the weapon from the thug’s grip. She followed up with an elbow strike to his ribs and then flipped him over her shoulder, sending him flying into his accomplice.