After the initial shock passed, Lin Chaojiang thought about Lin Nuonuo’s question.
“Did you want to know how to confirm whether you and your parents are biologically related?” He asked.
Lin Nuonuo nodded and repeated her earlier question, “I want my dad to know he is my dad.”
She had been struggling with that question for several days.
If she rushed up to Lin Chen to acknowledge him and ask him to raise her, he would definitely think she was a little con artist, or a little idiot, or perhaps a little lunatic.
So she wanted to know if there was a way to make Lin Chen believe that they were truly father and daughter by blood.
Lin Chaojiang did not know what she was really thinking, nor did he dwell on how strange her question was. He only assumed that after being brought back to the Lin family and seeing Lin Zixin being doted on by her parents, she naturally developed the desire to find her own biological parents.
“That isn’t difficult. As long as you collect samples from both sides and send them for DNA testing, you’ll know if there’s a parent-child relationship.” Lin Chaojiang said. After a brief pause, he added, “And nowadays, many people have their genetic profiles recorded at the police station. As long as the system detects a DNA match, the police can help find missing relatives.”
However, in Lin Nuonuo’s case, she had apparently been abandoned in the hospital right after birth. In such situations, the parents were unlikely to ever come looking for her. Even if they were found, they were unlikely to acknowledge her.
That last part was far too cruel to say to a child, so he kept it to himself.
Lin Nuonuo’s attention locked onto the words DNA test.
“What are testing samples?”
“Things that can extract DNA, like blood and hair follicles.”
“Do you need money to do a DNA test? How much money? Um…… is it expensive?” She asked anxiously.
It shouldn’t be expensive…… right?
But Lin Chaojiang had never done one himself, nor had he looked into it, so he had no idea what it actually cost.
In the end, he could only give her a vague answer, “Not expensive.”
Lin Nuonuo had no concept at all of what ‘not expensive’ meant.
And besides the question of cost, there was an even more serious problem— she had no money. Not a single cent!
Thinking of that made her feel discouraged. But soon hope rekindled in her heart. She needed to make money. She needed money to ask Lin Chen to do a DNA test.
With that thought in mind, Lin Nuonuo completely changed from her usual gloominess and became lively and energetic.
She began helping Lin Chaojiang fetch and put away books, watering the flowers in the villa, and even during meals, she helped the servants place dishes on the table and carefully arranged the bowls and chopsticks the way she had observed them do it.
Lin Chaojiang noticed her unusual behavior but did not stop her.
The Lin family had not always been wealthy. The Lin Group was only established in his generation.
He had lived through hardship. Now that he possessed power and wealth, he still felt that letting a child do some simple chores was not a bad thing.
Watching Lin Nuonuo, who had been sick not long ago, suddenly become lively and spirited, filled him with relief.
“Very good, very good. Little Nuonuo can even help out now.” He praised with a smile.
Hearing his compliment, Lin Nuonuo felt a little embarrassed.
Then he asked, “What reward do you want?”
“I……”
She opened her mouth and hesitated for a long time, but could not bring herself to say, ‘I want a salary’.
Thus, her first money-making plan collapsed.
────ρя
The next day, when Lin Nuonuo woke up, Lin Chaojiang had already left.
He had gone to M City to visit a hospitalized friend.
Lin Zeyu, Gu Mingming, and Lin Zixin were still in B City and had not returned.
Lin Chen was nowhere to be seen either, and he had not come back.
At this moment, the entire Lin household— aside from the servants— held only Lin Nuonuo.
She did not feel uncomfortable at all. She simply took a few workbooks to the living room to draw and practice writing.
These were the rewards she had received from Lin Chaojiang yesterday— one handwriting practice book, one arithmetic workbook for numbers up to ten, and several tracing-and-coloring books.
She practiced very seriously and did not notice when Nanny Zhou approached from behind.
“Nuonuo is practicing writing?” Nanny Zhou asked softly.
The sudden voice startled her slightly. She turned to look, then nodded.
“Looks very good.” Nanny Zhou praised insincerely.
Why insincerely? Because she had not even looked at the writing on the page.
Then she placed a plate of fruit in front of Lin Nuonuo. “If you’re tired, have some fruit. I just cut them.”
The unexpected concern puzzled Lin Nuonuo.
Nanny Zhou was Lin Zixin’s nanny. Her only job was to take care of Lin Zixin’s daily needs.
She naturally did not need to care about Lin Nuonuo.
In fact, because Lin Zixin disliked her, Nanny Zhou had always been cold toward her as well.
Lin Nuonuo could not understand why someone who was not friendly toward her was suddenly offering her the same treatment Lin Zixin usually received.
Meeting Lin Nuonuo’s suspicious gaze, Nanny Zhou grew tense. A faint guilt rose in her heart without reason.
But remembering that the child in front of her was supposedly naive, slow-minded, and easy to fool, Nanny Zhou relaxed again. She pushed down her inexplicable nervousness and pretended to be affectionate as she leaned closer.
“You’ve written so much. Take a break. I’ll take you to play in the backyard.”
The backyard was the Lin family’s private garden. Only family members were allowed in.
Despite living there for so long, Lin Nuonuo had never been to the backyard.
Seeing her doubt, Nanny Zhou forced a smile and explained, “The master instructed it before he left. He said I should take good care of you.”
“Oh.” Lin Nuonuo responded with a nod.
“Stop writing. Let’s go.”
With that, Nanny Zhou grabbed Lin Nuonuo’s hand and walked her toward the backyard.
She still remembered the task the little miss had assigned for her before leaving. With the master, young master, and young madam all gone these two days, this was a rare opportunity— one she could not miss.
The two avoided the other servants carefully and arrived in the backyard.
It was huge, and aside from elegant pavilions and corridors, it was filled with expensive plants, as well as a small playground built especially for Lin Zixin.
Nanny Zhou said she must not touch these things, so Lin Nuonuo avoided them carefully.
Finally, Nanny Zhou led her to a secluded corner in the backyard.
“Alright, you can play here. I’ll bring Qiqi to play with you.”
Qiqi was Lin Zixin’s pet dog.
At first, Lin Zixin adored the little dog and took it everywhere. Later, once the novelty wore off, she let the servants tend to it in the backyard.
Still, with Lin Zixin’s personality, she probably would not want others touching what belonged to her.
So Lin Nuonuo thought quietly.
But Nanny Zhou gave her no chance to refuse. She simply brought the little dog over.
Thus, a forced child and a forced dog began a boring game of fetch in the backyard.
The dog threw, and Lin Nuonuo retrieved.
……
She did not know when Nanny Zhou disappeared.
After searching briefly and not finding her, feeling bored, Lin Nuonuo decided to take the dog back.
Just then, the dog— who had been lying on the ground listlessly— suddenly bolted toward a certain direction as if startled.
It ran incredibly fast.
Lin Nuonuo did not want to chase after it, but remembering that if Lin Zixin’s dog went missing, that girl would definitely cause trouble, she reluctantly followed.
At a turn, she managed to grab the running dog.
She was so fast that Nanny Zhou, hiding in the shadows, had not expected it— nor had the dog itself.
Before it could struggle, she held it firmly in her arms.
She was about to turn back when she saw a half-open gate not far away.
This was the side courtyard of the Lin family, where miscellaneous goods were stored, and behind that door lay the road outside.
Because the road sat right beside the villa, and across from it was a private residence not open to the public, very few vehicles ever passed except for delivery and waste collection trucks.
Of course, Lin Chen often used this road when returning home to avoid being seen.
Staring at the half-open gate and realizing that a single step could lead her out of the Lin family’s control, she felt a sudden thrill. Her feet moved on their own.
But halfway there, she hesitated.
If she escaped, what about Lin Chen?
No. If she escaped and he didn’t know she left on her own, if he didn’t see her and thought she was missing…… what then?
Although most likely, he would not care whether she went missing or not.
Yet at the thought of him, her feet refused to move. The determination on her face slowly melted into conflict and reluctance.
Just then, the sound of a car came from afar.
She did not see the car, but the image of her father flashed automatically in her mind.
She looked again at the half-open gate and then toward the front yard of the villa. After a deep breath, she gave up this chance to escape.
She wanted to see her father.
With that thought, she ran back toward the villa with the dog in her arms.
What she did not know was that on the other side of that gate— just beyond where she had stopped— someone was hiding.
Zhou Qiang stood in the camera’s blind spot outside, holding a bag of bones to lure the dog in one hand and a large sack in the other, anxiously waiting for his ‘prey’.
He had come to A City at Nanny Zhou’s request.
She told him to abduct a child, keep her at his rented apartment for a few days, then release her back nearby. He would earn two thousand yuan easily.
Naturally, he accepted.
This ‘kidnapping’ incident had also occurred in the novel Lin Nuonuo dreamed of.
The novel rarely describes Lin Nuonuo. And even when her name appeared, it was always because of Lin Zixin.
It happened on Lin Zixin’s twelfth birthday. She invited many classmates and friends to the party at the Lin family’s villa.
During the party, a classmate accidentally spotted a thin, strange-looking girl in the house. Thinking the girl was also invited, the classmate tried to pull her back to the party, but the girl reacted like a frightened animal and fled into the darkness.
Asked about it later, Lin Zixin could no longer hide the matter. She explained that the girl was the offspring of a servant, had gone missing years ago, and returned mentally unstable.
None of it was true.
The girl was not a servant’s child but Lin Nuonuo, whom Lin Zeyu and Gu Mingming had adopted years before. And the real story was that Lin Nuonuo had not gone missing, but she had been kidnapped.
The novel never described how the kidnapping happened. It only mentioned that although she was found three days later near the Lin residence, she was burning with fever, covered in injuries, unconscious, and thrown away like discarded trash.
From her wounds, it was clear she had suffered inhuman abuse during those three days. The Lin family’s private doctor even found signs of molestation on her body.
Because Lin Zeyu and Gu Mingming never pursued the matter, and the Lin family never reported it, everything was brushed aside lightly. No one cared about the truth.
No one…… except Lin Nuonuo.
Already sensitive and timid, after that event, her mind became even more unstable.