T/N: I'm a.s.suming from this point that Chuxia asked to meet up with Xiaonan in their old high school, but something happened between the time Xiaonan gets to the school and Chuxia's arrival.

Translated by newbienoona

Edited by anks

Xiang Mankuai stares down the mighty Han Liuhai with eyes welling with tears.

“Why?” Han Liuhai squints his eyes at her. “You think you're worthy to ask why?”

“Mr.Chairman!” Xiang Mankuai straightens her spine. “I don't think An Chuxia is suitable. She's an orphan, while my lineage is more than worthy of the Han family.”

With her family's musical lineage, and a business worth over one billion she doesn't understand why a savvy businessman like Han Liuhai would choose An Chuxia over her.

Han Liuhai's eyes flash. He is a businessman who would put his interests first; he's a man who goes against customs.

“You seem to forget she is An Yishan's daughter.” Han Liuhai's delivery speaks volumes.

She doesn't seem to understand the connotation, casting him a look of doubt. However, she won't truly understand the Han's dynamic with the An Group.

“I'm a father who would rather show love to my son by allowing him to pick a woman who would love him for who he is, and not choose a bride because of her background.”

Darkness covers her face as he makes the statement.

“I betrayed him once before, but that doesn't mean that I didn't truly love him!”

While she starts speaking pa.s.sionately, Liuhai's demeanor remains calm. “Your love for him has nothing to do with this. Are you willing to sign the contract?”

She is stunned to silence.

Han Liuhai's about to speak when the phone rings. His steely eyes warm up when he sees who's calling. “h.e.l.lo?”

“Where are you right now? Come home quickly. An Chuxia's missing!” He pulls his phone away from his ear when he hears Jiang Yuan's anxious tone.

Shocked from hearing the news, his glance skims over Mankuai before quietly saying, “I'll be home soon.”

He hangs up before sternly saying, “I will leave the contract for you to read. I'm giving you three days before sending someone to get it from you.”

After he finishes, she steps out of the car. Then, a man sitting nearby grabs Mankuai's bag from the car and throws it on the ground for her to retrieve. Han Liuhai has the audacity to smile!

***

The black car streams through the dark night, only stopping when it reaches the store's entrance. The store has closed for the evening, and the employees are finis.h.i.+ng up with cleaning.

“Master Han, why are you back?” The manager runs toward him in surprise.

“I'm asking you a question!” Han Qilu locks eyes with the manager. His gaze is frosty, and everyone feels it, to the point of trembling.

The manager says, “Ask. Ask away!”

“Did An Chuxia tell you anything before she left? Was there any suspicious looking person following her?” Han Qilu asks excitedly as he yanks the manager's collar.

Ah, this young master's questioning is quite suffocating!

The manager takes a deep breath before replying. “You're asking about Miss An Chuxia. She asked if I had the smiley token, and I said no. Then, she asked if she can borrow some money because she didn't have any on her. I gave her a few hundred, then she took a cab away from here.”

A cab… .

“There should be a surveillance camera in front of the store, right? Get it!” Han Qilu commands.

***

On the other side of the town, An Chuxia stops in front of her old high school. The large iron gates stand ajar. There should be a guard on duty, but the guard shack is lit despite being empty.

“Guard uncle?” An Chuxia calls out, but there is no response. She starts walking in on her own.

This isn't Stein where everything is lit. Tonight, the moon isn't s.h.i.+ning brightly with the clouds being in the way. The grounds are difficult to see in the dark.

She and Meng Xiaonan used to break in and hang out by the playground's edge, chatting, and at times, eating barbecue. Those days seemed to be so long ago.

She should ask Xiaonan to reminisce by breaking into the school grounds like the old days.

She thinks people don't hang out here anymore since everything is dimly lit.

“Meng Xiaonan!” An Chuxia shouts but only the night wind answers her. She circles the playground alone until she stomps her feet in annoyance.

This is definitely where they decided to meet! They used to live in this place!

She sprints through the playground until she reaches the school gate, just in time to b.u.mp the guard from behind. The moment he sees her, he freezes. “Why are you here?”

She and Xiaonan have been caught a few times by guard uncle to be remembered. He's aware of their clandestine meetings.

“She… .” An Chuxia hesitates before adding, “She ran away from home, and I'm looking for her.”

“You're already too old to run away from home. Go find your friend and don't let your parents worry!”

Guard uncle admonishes her but leaves her without feeling embarra.s.sed. The area she was at is quite remote. In the evening, not many people pa.s.s by, but the roads are lit with the lights from the adjacent houses.

An Chuxia looks down at the bottom of a closed shack door.

“Meng Xiaonan, are you in here?” An Chuxia calls out as she tries to peer through a tightly shut window. She can't see inside.

She circles around the building until her heels ache. It is only then she stops to rest.

“Where else would she go?”

Then, she hears footsteps. She looks up subconsciously and looks into the eyes of a street hustler.

“Come see, it's An Chuxia!” he says immediately as he pokes the boy with the dragon tattoo on his arm. They are school dropouts who have police reports on them.

The only thing she's concerned about is that they actually recognize her.

Her heart starts beating rapidly as she turns to leave. However, she is stopped in her tracks.

“Don't go. Everyone has just arrived.”

Everyone has just arrived? Her back stiffens as she deliberately asks, “What do you mean?”

“Don't be a big mouth,” the slightly taller guy says before slapping the back of the head of the person talking to her. “The less people know, the better, right?”

The person pushes back and says, “Are you stupid? An Chuxia is worth more alive than dead. If we have her and the other girl, wouldn't the ransom be bigger?”

An Chuxia surmises that they have caught Meng Xiaonan.

How stupid it is for them to go from petty theft and having bad grades, to collecting protection fees. Now they've graduated to kidnapping!

There's six of them, each carrying a beer in their hand. They just returned from the supermarket not expecting to run into her. At this point, whether it's good or bad luck is up to each person's perspective.

“We'll take your advice and follow you,” two of the men agree as they sidle up next to An Chuxia.

An Chuxia calculates that her possibility of escaping is about twenty percent. If she goes with them, she can find Meng Xiaonan. And if Xiao Mingluo pings the phone he gave her, he can find them successfully if he activates the location finder.

“Let's go!” An Chuxia takes a step towards them. “Isn't it only money you're after? Let's trade. Let Meng Xiaonan go, and you can have me as a hostage.”

Although she knows these people, she can't predict what they would do.

“It's good you're obedient. Once you get there, we'll release your friend… but you have to wear this!” One of the men steps forward, dropping a blindfold on An Chuxia.

Tied around her eyes, her world is plunged into darkness. They push her toward a direction to walk. Twenty minutes later, they finally reach their destination. The iron door groans as it opens. Then, the ambient light turns bright.

Shortly after that, she hears a familiar voice. “An Chuxia!”

The blindfold is taken off her eyes, and finally, she can see again.

“Where did you catch her?” The man whom she a.s.sumes is the leader, asks. He is tall, but not burly. He has a long face, like a horse's.

An Chuxia is shocked when she recognizes him as Marco.

She takes a glance around her before looking at Xiaonan. Both she and Xiaonan have their hands tied. However, Xiaonan's ankles are also bound. The skin around the rope has since turned red.