Then, three more vendors were caught and brought back. They all started begging and pleading, trying to talk their way out of it.
Lin Lan also clasped her hands and pleaded, "Comrade, things are just too difficult at home. I only came out to earn a bit of pocket money. Please let it slide just this once. I'll never dare to do it again."
The tall, skinny man glanced at her but said nothing.
A short man with a large black mole on his eyelid bowed repeatedly. "Comrade, I have elderly to care for and children to feed, plus my mother is sick. I had no choice but to come out and do a little business to earn some money for her medicine..."
"Li Wu," the tall, skinny man glared at him. "Last time, you said your wife left you because she couldn't stand your eighty-year-old, bedridden mother. How has your story changed this time?"
Li Wu put on a miserable expression. "Comrade! My wife may have run off, but I still have my kids!"
