At the border of Argentina, a large cargo truck stopped in the middle of a desolate field. The truck was filled with goods. However, these 'goods' were living, breathing humans, both men and women, each unique in their appearances.
At both ends of the truck door, two muscular men guarded unemotionally, each with a submachine gun hanging on his front.
Xue Ning could hardly recall how many times they had halted for brief recovery periods on this bumpy journey, stopping and resuming intermittently, occasionally providing these so-called "goods" with some fresh air and relieving basic necessities. Moreover, no foods had been given for the past three days, only timely injections of nutrients and occasional water. Even if she wanted to escape, her energy was sapped.
But Xue Ning didn’t know that they were injecting her with nutrients and mistakenly assumed it was a drug. However, she later learned what it truly was.
"God, I am your devout believer... why don't you help me?” Xue Ning lamented, dumbfounded by her reality. She was just 20, a sophomore in college, and now she thought she was hooked on drugs. Words couldn't express her discomfort.
She'd experienced fear, tears, and cries, yet her pleas were met with silence—only silence.
Looking around the truck, among about thirty people, she was the only Chinese woman. Initially, she was the only one in the truck, but she was moved to another one after it stopped at this location, where similarly unfortunate "goods" from all over the world were gathered.
As she sunk into despair, four foreign men approached the truck rear. One of them, clad in an earthy gray shirt, pointed at Xue Ning and articulated incomprehensibly in Spanish, “We only have this one Chinese woman here, as usual, one million pesos.”
The other three men scrutinized her closely. One of them, wearing a short-sleeved black shirt, disdainfully remarked, “Is China running out of women? Could you seriously sell this type of goods?”
The seller sighed, “It's harder to get women from China than anywhere else. The Chinese military has been eyeballing us lately, so even getting this single Chinese woman is pretty good. If you don’t want her, I’ll just put her up for auction. There are plenty of buyers who enjoy Chinese women."
Finally, the seller was on the verge of leaving when another man chimed in, “Do you think maybe Lord Yue has a different taste in beauty? We’ve sent him four beauties from China, but he sent all of them back without a glimpse. Maybe he prefers men; let's give this one a try.”
After this suggestion, the other two men also seemed to agree with this point. If this kind of 'merchandise' was sent back again, they could tell their boss that Lord Yue might prefer men and they should send handsome men instead of pretty women next time.
Having deciphered their discussion on her through their glances and gestures, Xue Ning reflected helplessly. They certainly didn't look like liberators.
A man boarded the truck and, much like handling a chicken, carelessly plucked her up and tossed her outside the truck.
The three potential buyers scrutinized Xue Ning again, one of them commenting, “She is quite tall, a bit plump, but at least her facial features are fair."
