The only son of the Jing family had been kidnapped!
What kind of family was the Jing family? They had firmly held the top spot among the capital’s five great families for N years!
And what sort of person was their only son? From the moment he was no more than a tiny sprout in his mother’s womb, he’d been destined to coast through life!
Jing Heming, head of the Jing family, had doted on his wife for decades. It wasn’t until he was forty that he finally welcomed the child he’d longed for. Just how precious that son was went without saying.
Yet Jing Heming, who guarded his son as fiercely as his own eyes, was now calmly sipping a nourishing soup, without the slightest hint of anxiety.
“Heming, are you sure nothing will happen to him?”
Madam Jing, Shu Yunzi, was so restless she could barely sit still.
“Relax. The person who took Heng’er promised to return him in seven days. When the time comes, Heng’er will be returned to us completely unharmed.”
Jing Heming sounded utterly certain.
“But… who is that person?”
Shu Yunzi had never seen her husband this blindly confident before.
“That person…”
Jing Heming let out a meaningful sigh. The light in his eyes was the fervent admiration that should have belonged exclusively to a sixteen-year-old boy!
Kidnapping? Not a chance!
That look and that tone made Shu Yunzi feel as though their son had gone off to enjoy a life fit for an immortal.
*
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains, inside a secluded gorge, several distinguished-looking older men had the same unrestrained excitement shining in their eyes. Like searchlights of several thousand watts, they gazed fervently at the little girl before them.
Beside them sat a huge gift box that was a visual spectacle!
In style, it was worlds apart from the rest of the valley!
“Xiao Ranran, come take a look! Your masters got you a birthday present!”
“Hey, Old Six! You even went and got such a flashy box!”
“Of course! A proper sense of occasion is a must!”
“Old Six! You really are something else!”
…
Several deep, booming voices rose one after another.
If Jing Heming had been there, his jaw would have dropped!
One, two, three…
Those people he considered godlike—there were a full seven of them, all gathered here together!
…
The little girl was around five or six, as lovely as a young immortal.
With everyone eagerly watching, she took a few little steps—tap, tap, tap—toward her birthday present.
Time to open it!
“Good heavens!!! A handsome young gentleman to sleep with?!”
When Feng Mingran saw what was inside the box, she blurted out the words in her childish voice.
All seven masters’ faces fell at once.
What kind of scandalous talk was that…
“Ahem, a handsome young gentleman to sleep with? Well, she’s not wrong… Sixth Master looked all over, and this boy was the best-looking one. He won’t drag down our average looks…”
“We know how hard you work at learning your skills, so we found you a little playmate to keep you company…”
“Xiao Ming’er, your present takes effect this very moment! You get to play with him for seven days!”
“Exactly. After all, getting carried away with play can sap your ambition and slow you when you draw your blade. We’ll have to send the boy away after a week at most…”
…
Half an hour later, Feng Mingran had nearly played her “birthday present” to pieces.
The little boy’s hair stuck up like a bird’s nest, and his face was smeared with soot. He looked as if he’d just come back from spending years mining coal in Africa…
At that moment, he was doing his very best to serve as the fire-tender.
“What’s your name? How old are you?”
Standing on a little stool, Feng Mingran tossed a few leaves of greens into the pot.
“One Vertical Stroke. Nine.”
A few more streaks of soot appeared on the boy’s face.
He was, after all, something of a hostage. Surely he could keep resisting a little longer.
Only a fool would give his real name.
Jing Yiheng had an astonishing capacity for taking things in stride.
Seven days? Fine. He’d endure it.
Those people outside were clearly extraordinary. Even his father seemed to have been bewitched somehow. The look in his eyes had practically said, “Please kidnap him.” It was hard to know what to make of it.
As for why these powerful people were living in the middle of nowhere, Jing Yiheng figured that great masters always had their eccentricities…
“One Vertical Stroke?”
Feng Mingran shot the “sooty-faced kid” a sidelong glance.
Hmph. He was already at their mercy, and he still had the nerve to sneak in a fake name?
“What about you?” Jing Yiheng asked obligingly.
“One Horizontal Stroke. Six,” Feng Mingran replied crossly.
Jing Yiheng choked for a moment.
Fine. Whether horizontal or vertical, she was always in the right.
But he did have ears, and he thought the little girl’s masters had called her “Xiao Ranran” and “Xiao Ming’er”…
“Why are you making soup?” Jing Yiheng gave her a sympathetic look.
“Aren’t my masters busy? They’ve got things to do, like preparing birthday presents for me.”
Feng Mingran pouted.
Making soup was serious business!
Her seven masters had a deep-seated obsession with salt—a very particular “fondness.”
If a dish was a little salty, she could rinse it in water and put up with it. But if the soup was too salty, that was the last straw…
Sigh. In the end, she, the child laborer, had to bear it all…
Feng Mingran glanced at the greens “dancing” in the pot and sniffed.
Jing Yiheng’s eyelid twitched.
A nine-year-old child laborer who’d been kidnapped, tending the fire.
A six-year-old child laborer with her hair in a bun, making soup.
No matter how you looked at it, the scene was bizarre…
*
Seven days later, Jing Yiheng returned to the Jing family safe and sound.
Jing Heming looked at his son, his eyes gleaming with a hundred or more hopes.
After such an extraordinary week, surely his son had gained some remarkable opportunity!
Jing Yiheng looked at the fiery enthusiasm in his father’s eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Could he tell him he’d spent the entire week tending the fire?
Didn’t he have any dignity to preserve?
But that little girl was really beautiful, like a little fairy who’d fallen into the mortal world.
Especially the tiny red mole on her left earlobe, like a brilliant ruby…
…
After Jing Yiheng left the mountain, Feng Mingran’s progress in training shot forward.
Her medical skills, poisoncraft, martial arts, and everything else began to show signs of surpassing her masters.
The seven masters were immensely pleased.
As expected, that birthday present had worked.
*
Four more years passed.
When Feng Mingran hit another few snags in her studies, several of her masters put their heads together and, without another word, presented their beloved apprentice with a grand tenth-birthday gift!
Jing Yiheng, kidnapped yet again: “…”
…
Feng Mingran looked at the even larger, over-the-top gift box before her, and memories of her sixth birthday came rushing back.
Her masters…
Fine. She’d… humor them.
“Xiao Ranran! Come over here! Your lavish tenth-birthday present! What a surprise! Bet you didn’t see that coming!”
“Come on, open it!”
Their gazes were so eager!
Feng Mingran smiled as she opened the gift box.
“Well, well!!! A handsome young gentleman to sleep with?!”
She obligingly blurted out the same line again!
The seven masters beamed.
Scandalous talk? No harm done! The important thing was, they could practically see their beloved apprentice reaching the very pinnacle of medicine and poisoncraft in the coming years, her abilities unmatched anywhere in the world!
And they’d better give the weapons arsenal they’d prepared for her a serious upgrade, too!
“Xiao Ming’er, same rules as always! Your present takes effect right this moment! You get to play with him for seven days!”
“Hahaha! Not bad, right?”
“Take a good look. Isn’t he even more handsome than the boy last time?”
Inside the gift box, Jing Yiheng silently rolled his eyes.
Masters, is it possible that the person you kidnapped last time was also me…?
Feng Mingran glanced at the boy, her beautiful eyes glinting.
Jing Yiheng pressed his lips together.
The girl before him was like a flower just beginning to bloom, light and graceful. When she smiled, she was as pure as freshly fallen snow.
She really was beautiful.
Even the little red mole on her left earlobe seemed to glow.
A handsome young gentleman? Had she recognized him? She’d used exactly the same line as four years ago!
…
Another full seven days!
The pampered young master of the Jing family once again got a firsthand taste of life as a fire-tender.
The first time had been unfamiliar; the second time, he knew the ropes. Jing Yiheng handled it with ease, and even found a strange, simple pleasure in it.
The only thing that spoiled the fun was that Feng Mingran’s seven incredible masters were extremely strict about their principles.
Playmate meant playmate. He shouldn’t dream they’d take pity on him and teach him even the tiniest bit of their skills!
That really stung!
After going down the mountain seven days later, Jing Yiheng transformed into the king of overachievers!
By every means and from every angle, he pushed himself mercilessly!
He even threw himself into one of the world’s top, terrifyingly formidable mercenary organizations, where he spent several years!