Chapter 20

Lin Miao quickly lost interest in the dry grass outside. She placed the remaining sweet potatoes on the neatly laid straw and then took off her jacket.
It had been chilly when they left the house that morning, so both kids were wearing coats. Lin Miao’s little jacket had been bought by Aunt Yu , a soft pink knit sweater sprinkled with tiny floral patterns. It was adorably ladylike.
Lin Miao spread her favorite jacket over the straw and said to her worried brother, “Gege, you sleep here. We’ll go home tomorrow.”
Of course, Yu Jingxuan was still deeply anxious about their safety.
But when he turned his head, he saw Lin Miao calmly speaking as she carefully laid out her jacket, smoothing it down.
Unlike the young master, Lin Miao’s understanding of kidnapping was limited to what the kidnappers had said , that they wanted money, and once they got it, they would send them back. She didn’t think too deeply about the situation like her brother did.
So, all she thought about was making sure her brother wouldn’t catch a cold.
Yu Jingxuan felt she was both silly and incredibly endearing. He quickly took her jacket back and helped her put it on. “We’ll just sleep like this. It’s okay.”
It wasn’t dark yet, so the two didn’t plan to sleep just yet. Lin Miao noticed the dog had stopped barking, so she crept toward the door, keeping close to the wall.
She moved along the wall because the door was full of gaps , walking straight up to it might anger the dog.
Of course, the young master mimicked her, sticking to the wall as they slowly approached.
But as soon as they got close, the dog started barking again. The young master immediately pulled Lin Miao back.
But this time, Lin Miao noticed something , the dog wasn’t charging at them. It stood some distance away, barking loudly.
The door was a makeshift one, pieced together with wooden planks. Lin Miao peered through the gaps, trying to spot where the lock was.
“Woof woof woof!!!” The big dog barked fiercely.
But Lin Miao wasn’t afraid. It hadn’t lunged at them. As she squinted through the cracks, she mumbled, “Your name is probably Da Huang, huh? I know a dog named Wei Feng, he’s yellow too, just like you…”
“WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!”
“You’re so skinny. Are you sick? But your belly is really big…”
“WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!”
The young master couldn’t help but laugh at how seriously she was trying to chat with the dog.
Neither of them had a clue what the other was saying, but they were happily talking past each other all the same.
At that moment, Lin Miao spotted the lock. It was the same kind they had at home , her heart leapt with excitement.
She turned around. “Gege! I can open this lock!”
Once, her little brother had lost the key. When they got home and couldn’t get in, their mom just grabbed a stick and popped the lock open.
Though, of course, the lock was ruined afterward.
The next day, their mom went out and bought a new lock , only for her brother to break it again trying to copy what she did.
Lin Miao remembered how badly he got scolded that day.
The young master thought it might indeed be necessary to break the lock. Those people might not kill them outright, but they might just lock them up, wait for the ransom, and let them die of starvation afterward.
Still, it wasn’t the right time. It was getting dark. Even if they escaped, without the dog chasing them, nighttime would make it hard to get anywhere.
Lin Miao went quiet, and the big dog let out a few low whines before going quiet too.
As night fell, the two curled back up into the straw.
Huddled together, they soon fell asleep , despite the chill of an October night, exhaustion overtook them.
But in the middle of the night, Yu Jingxuan stirred. He felt...hot?
Opening his eyes, all he could see was straw.
He was completely covered in it. On top of it all was Lin Miao’s pink little jacket.
He struggled out from under the straw, and then noticed , Lin Miao was gone.
Yu Jingxuan was startled. “Shui Shui!”
Then he heard her voice, “Gege! I’m here!”
He looked toward the sound and saw a face suddenly pop up from a hole in the corner. Her face was smudged with dirt, grayish all over, but her eyes sparkled.
Yu Jingxuan rushed over, and by then Lin Miao had already crawled back inside.
She was only wearing her underclothes , originally white, now brown with dirt. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she dragged a bundle of straw in with her, beaming with pride. “Gege, look! I used a board to dig a hole!”
She couldn’t sleep, lying on such thin straw, thinking about her brother. At his house, even a little draft was too much for his body. Now he was sleeping on the cold ground , if he got sick, it’d be terrible.
At home, she didn’t understand all the grown-up talk, but she knew one thing: her brother couldn’t get sick. If he did, he wouldn’t make it, and if he didn’t make it...he’d be buried, and she’d never see him again.
The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became. She had to get more straw.
That’s when she saw a small hole in the wall.
So she quietly got up, took a wooden plank she’d pried off the door earlier, and began digging. She worked hard and with purpose , before long, she’d made the hole big enough to crawl through.
She even took care to remove her jacket and cover her brother with it before she left , not just to keep him warm, but also so it wouldn’t get dirty. She still wanted to wear it again. She loved that jacket , had even picked it specially for today.
The hole wasn’t very big, and crawling through it got her covered in dirt.
Yu Jingxuan looked at her , a tiny mess of a girl, like a little soot-covered kitten , but her face was glowing with pride. “Gege, are you still cold?”
All the anxiety about kidnappings and ransom notes vanished. All he could see was this girl, sweaty and smiling, who had come into the world the exact same day he had.
He reached out and wiped her face. “Not cold anymore.”
Honestly, ever since she came, he hadn’t felt cold.
Then he checked her hands to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Only when he was sure she was okay did he finally relax.
Lin Miao said, “Gege, it’s really comfy now!”
She tugged him down onto the thick layer of straw with her , so much of it, it was soft and springy.
This kind of grass, when it’s green, has a sweet fragrance. The stalks are thin, and when they dry, they’re easy to tear out in huge handfuls. Best of all, they’re not prickly.
Yu Jingxuan gently brushed the dirt from her hair, then pulled her into his arms. “Yeah, really comfy. Shui Shui worked so hard. Time to sleep.”
He was the older brother. He couldn’t panic. He had to bring Shui Shui home.
Leaning on his shoulder, Lin Miao could smell the comforting scent on him. Breathing it in...she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, the barking of the dog woke them up.
Lin Miao opened her eyes and saw her brother pushing straw through the hole.
“Eat a sweet potato first,” he said. “They’ll probably be here soon.”
Lin Miao sat up and immediately ran over to him, placing a hand on his forehead.
Whew...not hot. No fever.
A huge weight lifted from her heart.
Yu Jingxuan was charmed by her sweet little gesture and couldn’t help but laugh. Then he grabbed her jacket and helped her put it on. Lin Miao obediently slid her arms through the sleeves , though her hair was still a wild mess.
Her hair, originally cut to ear-length, had grown out a bit. With a few quick swipes, Yu Jingxuan smoothed it into place again , and just like that, the pink-jacketed little lady was back.
“Shui Shui, you’re so pretty!” he praised.
Lin Miao grinned from ear to ear. She was thrilled.
She has always been carefree. After the initial panic, she now feels relieved as long as her brother isn't getting sick or running a fever. She believes that once that’s resolved, they can go back home.
This little trouble couldn't defeat her.
Lin Miao quickly ran over, grabbed some of the dry grass, and helped her brother push it out.
Then, Yu Jingxuan pushed the dirt back in and disguised it.
If you didn’t look closely, you couldn’t tell at all.
Soon enough, the dog outside started barking again.
Lin Miao thought it was hungry, so she grabbed a sweet potato and walked over.
Yu Jingxuan had never interacted with the dog. To him, the dog seemed like a vicious animal. So, as Lin Miao went to feed it, he remained cautious, holding onto her tightly. If something seemed off, he would pull her back, worried that the dog might attack her.
Lin Miao threw the sweet potato out. Watching the big dog gulp it down in one bite, she felt a little heartbroken and said, “Does your owner not feed you?”
At that moment, she saw two people hurriedly approaching.
Yu Jingxuan leaned in close to the crack in the door and observed them carefully. Their faces were still covered in something, so the situation hadn’t worsened.
Sure enough, it was the two young people. After they entered, they brought food for the two kids.
This time, they brought rice and some cured meat.
Perhaps they were about to get rich, the young woman had a good temper.
“You two eat,” the young woman said, taking out her phone and speaking to Yu Jingxuan.
Both Yu Jingxuan and Lin Miao started eating slowly. After taking a few pictures, he said to the other person, “Brother, we’re rich! Third Uncle said they’ve already got the money, we should be able to get it this afternoon!”
The young woman became more excited as she thought about it. That was 60 million, and she’d get over 10 million of it!
That kind of number was something she never dared to dream about before.
Just then, her phone received a notification.
“The appearance of fanatics leads to the kidnapping of A-list actress Jing Ning’s son. According to reports, on the morning of the 16th…”
The young woman’s hand trembled as she opened the notification, and she was startled to see the location of the exchange.
There was no doubt about it, the area was already full of reporters.
She quickly called Third Uncle, who was getting the money.
“Third Uncle, something’s wrong! Look at your phone! The news is all over!”
Yu Jingxuan paused in his eating.
Lin Miao stopped as well.
Yu Jingxuan turned around calmly and placed a piece of meat on Lin Miao's plate.
There was no point in panicking now. He thought to himself that Shui Shui’s attitude toward life was quite good, don’t worry about the future, just take things one step at a time.
Meanwhile, the people in the villa were anxiously waiting. They had already prepared the bag with the money as requested by the kidnappers, marked it, and left it at the garbage dump.
They just needed to wait for the money to be collected, and then they could release them. They hoped the kidnappers would keep their word. They had delivered the money on time, and all they wanted was for the kidnappers to honor their promise.
At that moment, Mother Yu’s phone rang.
“Jing Jie, those black-hearted people have gone too far. They paid for a push notification. Now the whole internet knows that Young Master Yu has been kidnapped. The ransom is 60 million, and the exchange site is at the southern district garbage dump.”
“It came from the black fan group.” Mother Yu had many fans, but she also had a lot of haters.
Her eyes darkened, and her phone dropped to the floor.
Father Yu quickly supported her. “What’s wrong?”
“The whole internet knows that Xiao Yu has been kidnapped... and about the exchange location...” Mother Yu felt a sharp pain in her heart.
On Father Yu’s side, he immediately received a call from the kidnappers.
“Don’t you want your son anymore?”
Father Yu replied, “I’ve already placed the money at the location you specified.”
Mother Yu opened her phone and saw that the Weibo hot search was now dominated by the news.
The origin was from her biggest hater’s Weibo: “Such good news, when you don’t accumulate virtue, you get your retribution. Now it’s happened, her son has been kidnapped. How about that? Why didn’t she keep the hype going? 60 million to get her son back, she could use that to market her motherly love. Oh, and by the way, a friendly reminder, the kidnapper’s location is the southern district garbage dump. [Isn’t this a huge benefit?]”
Immediately, it was revealed that the hater was talking about the elegant queen Jing Ning. So, this Weibo post revealed everything.
People quickly dug up that just a few days ago, someone had encountered Jing Ning outside an amusement park. At that time, she was knocked down by a fan and injured. They were looking for her child, but quickly said they had found him.
In fact, they had not found him then, and it was just after receiving the call from the kidnappers.
It was an explosive news story.
Soon, various small media and marketing accounts began reporting.
Especially the 60 million...
Despite the condemnation of the blogger for being heartless, and the accusations against the marketing accounts for exploiting the situation, many people still rushed to the garbage dump, following what the blogger had said.
Father Yu walked over and said, “The money’s gone.”
Now, they could only wait for the kidnappers to call again.
Who was it that knew so much?
They didn’t know.
Mother Yu logged into Weibo, “Please, everyone, stop focusing on this. Once Xiao Yu comes back, I’ll retire. If I’ve offended you, I’m sorry. Xiao Yu is only eight years old. He’s innocent. Please stop sharing this.”
However, the buzz didn’t die down; in fact, it intensified.
There were people comforting their idol, cursing the ones who leaked the information, and even blaming them for not calling the police.
Attempts to remove the hot search didn’t work.
The police were now on their way to investigate.