Chapter 1908 - 1910: Slave Trader Inquires for News (Part 2)

Chapter 1908: Chapter 1910: Slave Trader Inquires for News (Part 2)

There are always passing travelers in this slave trader’s place, being so blatant is really not good.

Yang Ming glanced around and then stepped forward, lowering his voice, "Uncle, we mean no harm, we just want to ask you about something. Do you think we could talk in private?"

The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered. Eventually, he nodded and led Yang Ming and Wang Kui to the inner room.

Once inside, he spoke with a stony expression, "What do you want to consult me about?"

The man was quite displeased with Wang Kui and Yang Ming’s approach, but seeing Wang Kui’s stature, he knew not to make a scene, so he spoke reluctantly.

At this moment, Wang Kui remained silent, standing at the door like a giant Buddha.

Instead, Yang Ming stepped forward, politely bowing, "Uncle, I’m really sorry for just now, I apologize for any offense."

The man saw that Yang Ming was reasonably polite, and his expression softened a bit, but he still huffed, "Quickly, what’s the matter? I have business to attend to."

At this moment, Yang Ming took out a piece of silver from his person, offering it as he spoke to the man, "Just a small token of appreciation, nothing much."

Yang Ming knew that this was someone from a slave trader, unlike ordinary vendors—offering just a few coins wouldn’t do, so he gave a piece of silver.

Sure enough, the man took the silver, weighing it before putting it in his pocket, raising an eyebrow at Yang Ming, indicating to speak quickly.

Only then did Yang Ming speak, "Uncle, you just mentioned you’ve been here for about twenty years. I want to ask, over these two decades, do you remember the people who have passed through your hands?"

Hearing this, the man’s brows furrowed—was someone looking for someone?

The slave trader had this rule: once a person dealt with by them couldn’t be sought out anymore. If everyone came looking, wouldn’t this business have long collapsed?

"Uncle, I know the rules of your slave trader. Rest assured, I won’t go around speaking carelessly. I just want to find family who went missing over a decade ago, and even if we find them, I wouldn’t do anything to the buyer. We’d just want to keep in touch as acquaintances, and I definitely won’t do anything to your slave trader."

Seeing Yang Ming’s sincerity, the man finally spoke, "There are too many people; I can’t remember them all. You should say what you can."

He responded this way because, one, there really were too many people for him to remember each one, and two, after so many years, there’s not much they could do to him.

"Roughly events from over twenty years ago to about a decade ago..." Yang Ming recounted, "There was someone named Yang Dashan from Yang Family Village, who over ten years gradually sold some baby girls. I’m not sure if you remember this, one of the baby girls ended up in Wang Family Village, she had a birthmark on her hand, and another baby girl went to Lin County, she had a necklace engraved with the character ’Xia’..."

Yang Ming detailed the situations of Yang Xia and Yang Qiu, hoping that since they had distinctive features, the slave trader might remember them. The other baby girls couldn’t be described with features; only approximate birth dates and when they were sent away could be mentioned.

Upon hearing, the man’s expression grew serious, as if he was straining to recall something. After a moment, he spoke, "It’s not that I’m unwilling to help, I just thought and thought, but I have no impression of such people. That person you mentioned, Yang Dashan, I’ve never heard of; could he have sent someone or changed his name? But those two children with features you mentioned, we definitely don’t have them here. For cases like that, I would more or less remember."