"No, I just came here for something. Since it's my first time here, I didn't know there are no taxis available," Gu Sisi said a bit sheepishly.
The two old people burst into laughter.
"You're still inexperienced," they concluded.
Given their age, Gu Sisi really had no reason to refute. She scratched her head and could only accept it.
After they got to know each other a bit, the car gradually fell silent.
Gu Sisi closed her eyes and planned to take a little nap.
However, not long after she closed her eyes, she heard a strange sound faintly. It wasn't very loud, but it seemed to be right beside her, so she could hear it clearly.
She gently opened her eyes and saw a strange scene in front of her.
The old granny was pouring an unknown substance from a packet into a bottle of water. Instinctively, Gu Sisi slightly closed her eyes and pretended not to see.
"All done," the old granny suddenly whispered.
Through the gap of her eyelids, Gu Sisi saw the old grandpa nod, and then he banged on the steering wheel hard. In the quiet environment, the sound was extremely ear - piercing.
Gu Sisi felt someone was sizing her up. Helplessly, she had to slowly open her eyes.
Pretending to have just woken up, she asked, "How long have we been driving?"
"Only an hour," the old granny answered quickly. Then she handed the bottle of water she had been holding to Gu Sisi. "There are still a few hours to go. You must be tired from the journey. Have something to drink first."
Facing the old people's smiling faces, Gu Sisi felt a bit embarrassed to refuse. But thinking of what she had just seen, she stiffly declined, "No, thanks. I'm not thirsty."
"Do you think we're old and don't clean things properly?" The old granny suddenly pulled a long face, and the atmosphere became rather delicate.
Something was off. Everything seemed wrong. Gu Sisi's skin prickled with unease.
She forced a smile and slowly took the bottle. "No, I'm just a bit embarrassed. You've helped me, and I feel bad taking advantage of you."
Gu Sisi felt as if the bottle in her hand was a hot iron. She didn't know what to do with it.
The atmosphere suddenly relaxed. The old granny smiled. "What are you talking about? Meeting is fate."
Gu Sisi lowered her head. If she hadn't seen that scene, she would surely have thought these two were extremely kind people and wouldn't have suspected them at all.
Who would have thought that beneath their kind - looking faces was a heart with unknown motives?
"Why don't you drink it?" the old granny asked again.
Gu Sisi forced a smile. "I'll drink it later when I'm thirsty."
It seemed they really cared whether she drank it or not.
The old people stopped talking. Gu Sisi looked out of the window. After thinking for a while, she suddenly took a sip, then capped the bottle and put it aside.
Gu Sisi felt the eyes that had been on her finally moved away.
She quietly let out a sigh of relief. Now, time seemed to pass extremely slowly. She didn't know what was waiting for her next.
Two minutes later, Gu Sisi suddenly said shyly, "Excuse me, can I get off here?"
"Why?" The old grandpa didn't stop the car.
"I need to go to the toilet," Gu Sisi said uneasily, her tone a bit bashful.
The two old people exchanged a look. After all, this was a reason hard to refuse.
Gradually, the car stopped by a deserted road. Nearby was an empty field full of weeds.
"Don't go too far. There might be something dangerous here," the old granny kindly reminded.
Gu Sisi lowered her head and nodded quickly. "Okay."
There was a slight blush on her face. She walked further away and squatted down in a secluded place.
When she looked up, her eyes were full of fear. She carefully took a few steps to the side, then stood up. After making sure the old people couldn't see her, she started running as fast as she could.
This was an undeveloped wasteland. There were many disordered sticks on the ground and weeds that reached her waist. Occasionally, when she stepped on an uneven place, Gu Sisi would fall down and then quickly get up, running desperately as if there were wild beasts chasing her.
But the weeds were getting deeper and deeper.
Gu Sisi was getting more and more lost. She tried to find her way out but stopped in her tracks. She had actually returned to the same place.
This time, she couldn't escape.
It was getting a bit dark, but not completely. The two old people were holding flashlights and obviously had found her.
They walked towards her. Gu Sisi felt as if she was nailed to the ground and couldn't move.
"What happened? We thought you had an accident. You've been gone for so long," the old granny grabbed her hand and asked kindly.
Gu Sisi felt as if her hand was handcuffed and she could no longer escape.
She decided to tell the truth. "I got lost just now."
The two old people looked behind them. They exchanged a look, but Gu Sisi had only been off the car for about ten minutes, so they seemed to accept this reason.
However, the old grandpa didn't seem happy and stopped talking.
The old granny, on the other hand, kindly nagged, "In the wilderness, you have to be careful. It would be bad if something happened to you."
"Okay," Gu Sisi said with difficulty.
These words were like a slap in the face, implying that she was stupid.
The two old people seemed dissatisfied that she had only taken a sip. The old granny still tried various ways to persuade her to drink it.
She even gave her a new bottle of drink.
Gu Sisi took a look and knew there must be something "added" to it. She refused.
But little by little, without making a sound, she was forced to drink it all.
She gradually closed her eyes, and it seemed the two old people's disguise was over.
"Finished drinking?"
"Yes," Gu Sisi felt someone glance at her.
"The effect of the drug with just one sip is really not good. We should change to a different drug next time," the old grandpa said casually, as if he was deciding to change to a new restaurant.
"Should we put this girl in the back - passenger seat or throw her in the trunk?" The old granny's tone was no longer kind but cold.
Gu Sisi pricked up her ears and listened intently, trying to figure out their real purpose.
But she heard an unexpected sentence.
"Forget it. There's already someone in the trunk. Just leave her here. She won't wake up for a while."
There was actually someone else! Gu Sisi was shocked.
Was the sound she heard just now made by the person in the trunk?
That meant the person was awake but probably tied up, so they still couldn't move.
After their conversation ended, there was no more sound. Gu Sisi squinted at the window, but it was too dark for her to tell where they were.
The car was shaking. Gu Sisi, who had been pretending to be unconscious, actually fell asleep gradually.
When she woke up, she found herself tied up with ropes.
She sat up and found she was still in the back seat.
"Who are you?" Gu Sisi asked again.
"You woke up at just the right time. This is interesting," they didn't answer her question but said this instead. Gu Sisi's heart skipped a beat.
The old grandpa suddenly spoke.
"Although you're smart enough not to drink the water we prepared, you didn't expect that we had another plan, did you?"
Gu Sisi looked at them in horror. So they had noticed her little actions.
But how did they make her really pass out?