Footsteps, the sharp crack of whips on flesh, and stifled sobs erupting into wails echoed shrilly.
A masked figure shouted.
"Shut your mouths, all of you! Or I'll cut out every single one of your tongues!"
The crying gradually subsided, then fell silent. The space plunged into a cold, dark night, a chill as profound as the people gathered there, or as those who had handed their own children over to them.
This was the den of human traffickers. They kidnapped children, or bought them from those who merely wore the guise of parents.
For these children, no one could be sure of their future.
Would they be herded into begging?
Coerced into a life of wrongdoing?
Or sold into slavery, as servants…
Or, more painfully, to die before ever finding their way back to their parents.
Among the children huddled in the corner of the room was a little girl of about four. She hadn't been kidnapped; she had been sold by her own birth mother just a few days after she was born.
The girl's mother was a university student. Having fallen into a life of partying and indulgence, she had engaged in unprotected sex and become pregnant without realizing it.
When her pregnancy was just over four months along, during a prenatal check-up at a private clinic, Ngoc Linh met a middle-aged woman.
Perhaps sensing Ngoc Linh's mood, the woman spoke softly.
"Girl, you don't want to have this child, do you?"
Ngoc Linh started, furtively looking at the woman. Her face was heavily made up, her thin lips painted a vivid red.
Ngoc Linh confided her troubles. The woman secretly handed her a piece of paper and whispered something, then quickly left.
A week later, Ngoc Linh went to the address on the paper. Before her was a house in a bustling urban area.
The woman from that day came out to greet her, then led her inside.
In the middle of the living room was a large sofa set, flanked by expensive display items.
Ngoc Linh was overwhelmed by the luxury. While she was still admiring it, a couple came down from upstairs.
They said they were a married couple who had problems conceiving. Hearing Ngoc Linh's story, they sympathized and wanted to adopt the child she was carrying.
After she gave birth to the child, they would give her a sum of money, as if to help her start a new life.
Ngoc Linh felt as if she had found a lifeline. Her eyes lit up even more when she heard about the money she would receive.
The student didn't hesitate to put pen to paper and sign the adoption agreement.
She didn't even pay attention to what was written in the agreement.
Why bother when her child would live in this house, and she would have money to restart her own life?
Before leaving, the wife placed a stack of money in Ngoc Linh's hand, saying that they would send the rest after she gave birth.
As soon as the door closed, Ngoc Linh joyfully called her friends to arrange a night out, unaware that she had just signed away her child.
Five months later.
Ngoc Linh painfully gave birth at an illegal clinic. After giving birth, she didn't even look at her child's face.
The couple came to visit. They handed over the remaining money as agreed, then set a date to take the child.
Ngoc Linh didn't even want to give her child the milk it should have received from her, afraid of ruining her figure. The young mother had never felt maternal love, nor did she shed a single tear when the couple took the child away, even as the baby screamed.
Back to the present, the four-year-old girl still couldn't speak a word. That's why no one wanted to buy her.
Perhaps Ngoc Linh had used harmful stimulants during her pregnancy, or it was due to a high fever when the girl was very young.
The traffickers called her "the Mute Girl." Yet, she could still hear.