The system only felt that the sky was about to collapse, and it was about to shatter too.
Why did it cause such a huge blunder? How did it send its perfectly fine host to ancient times? And, and she even became a poor little cabbage who was beaten and scolded, and could not eat her fill or dress warmly.
Two years ago, Zhaozhao was clearly still a little girl whom the whole family doted on as dearly as their own eyes.
Now that she had become like this, it was actually all caused by its own slip-up.
The system guiltily glanced at its miserable host, and scenes from two years ago rapidly flashed through its system-mind.
Little Zhaozhao was the beloved daughter of He Nanzhou, the third son of the He family in Jiangcheng, Hua Country[1]华国 (Huáguó) – a fictionalized name for China. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3335594_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3335594_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. The He family had deep foundations and was an affluent, prestigious family in Jiangcheng. Two years ago, He Nanzhou competed with someone else for the same project, and his chances of winning were extremely high.
Knowing that he could not compete with him, the rival got crooked ideas and set his sights on Little Zhaozhao.
Taking advantage of Zhaozhao’s third birthday, when the He family was receiving a steady stream of guests, he bribed a criminal who had just gotten out of prison and had him take the opportunity to sneak inside and leave with Zhaozhao after holding her hostage.
Who would have thought that he was discovered before he even left the He family’s gate? This kidnapper was already an extremely vicious person who had taken lives before. He knew very well that even if he returned Little Zhaozhao, the He family would not let him off. Not only would he himself be locked up again, he would not get the employer’s money either.
With nowhere left to go, he rode his motorcycle straight toward the deep forest in the outskirts. He knew that forest well. As long as he escaped inside, he had a chance of shaking these people off. Once he got the money afterward, he could still live freely outside the law.
He had a hostage in his hands, so the He family had their scruples and did not dare act recklessly, much less dare crash into the motorcycle.
The motorcycle entered the deep forest, and the kidnapper skillfully shook the He family members off by a long distance. It was not until the motorcycle could no longer go any farther that he abandoned the vehicle and continued on foot.
However, he underestimated the He family’s capabilities. He originally thought he had shaken off the pursuers, but who would have known that special police officers were already waiting ahead, completely blocking his retreat. In his panic, the kidnapper began charging about randomly through the forest and entered the inner area of the mountain, stepping straight into the territory of a herd of wild boars.
More than a dozen wild boars shoved and squealed wildly. Not only did they injure the kidnapper by ramming into him, they also threw the pursuers behind him into confusion for a moment because of this unexpected incident.
The system came at precisely this moment. At that time, a wild boar was charging toward the kidnapper. Without saying another word, he threw Zhaozhao from his arms, trying to use her to block the wild boar’s attack.
At the critical moment, the system immediately bound itself to Zhaozhao and spent a huge amount of energy to send her to a safe place.
The kidnapper personally witnessed Zhaozhao instantly disappear into thin air just like that. He stood there in shock without moving a muscle, and just happened to be pierced through the abdomen by the wild boar that charged over. Blood immediately flowed without stopping, and he was barely clinging to life. However, the special police officers behind him did not see this scene. Although they quickly brought the situation under control, by the time they caught up, Zhaozhao was already gone.
Everyone was puzzled and confused. Even more incomprehensible was that, despite it happening right under their eyes, how exactly had this kidnapper hidden Zhaozhao, and where had he hidden her?
The kidnapper died before he could even be taken to the hospital, while Zhaozhao’s whereabouts could never be found again.
From then on, the He family lost all trace of the little girl.
The system was terribly troubled. At that time, it saw Zhaozhao land on flat ground and, after confirming that there was no danger, it shut down because it did not have enough energy.
It thought that place was the foot of the mountain, and that someone from the He family must be nearby and would discover her before long.
Now that it thought back on it, that place was indeed the foot of a mountain, but it was the foot of the mountain in Shangliu Village of the Great Qi Dynasty. No wonder its energy was exhausted. It originally thought that it had consumed too much energy in the temporal-spatial turbulence to stabilize the energy, but it never expected that it was because it had sent Zhaozhao to ancient times.
Zhaozhao also fainted after entering the space-time tunnel, and then was picked up by the couple Hu Laifu and Madam Zheng from Shangliu Village, who happened to take advantage of the situation.
When the Hu couple saw Little Zhaozhao, their eyes immediately lit up. Without another word, they took the little girl home.
When Zhaozhao was abducted, she was at her birthday banquet. Setting everything else aside, as the little main character of the occasion, her clothing and appearance were all the most exquisite. On top of that, the little girl loved beauty. She wore a silver anklet around her ankle, and had five or six colorful rings strung on her fingers. Even her hair ties were worth over ten thousand, and the quality of her clothes went without saying. The He family wished they could give her the very best.
More importantly, Zhaozhao’s aunt could not attend because she was busy with work, so she specially had someone bring over a fine piece of peace jade[2]平安玉 (píng’ān yù) – a jade ornament worn as a blessing for peace and safety. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3335594_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3335594_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. The little girl opened the gift right then and put it around her neck, making it especially conspicuous.
Although being held hostage by the kidnapper and running wildly through the forest left her looking disheveled, with branches scratching up her face and body, her clothes torn, and two of her rings lost, none of this affected her appearance as a young lady from a wealthy family.
Seeing Zhaozhao like this, Hu Laifu and Madam Zheng were overwhelmed with excitement. At first, they planned to strip everything off her and secretly take it away, but just as they were about to do it, they suddenly changed their minds.
Although Hu Laifu did not know why Zhaozhao had appeared here, judging by the look of things, she should have run out of the forest. She must have encountered some trouble.
If at this time they took her home and took good care of her, then when her family came looking for her later, seeing that they were the little girl’s lifesavers, they would surely receive a generous reward.
The benefits right before their eyes were merely petty gains. They planned to cast a long line to catch a big fish.[3]放长线钓大鱼 (fàng cháng xiàn diào dà yú) – literally, “cast a long line to catch a big fish.” It means giving up a small immediate gain in order to obtain a much greater reward … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3335594_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3335594_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Madam Zheng thought this made sense. The little girl’s pink and tender appearance made it obvious at a glance that she was a precious young lady doted on by her family. Otherwise, what ordinary household would be willing to let a little girl wear so many rings and pieces of jewelry on her body? Would they not be afraid of losing them? Especially those few rings. They did not look like gold, nor silver, nor jade, but their material was clear and translucent, sparkling brightly. Just by looking at them, they seemed to be quite expensive.
The system felt that Madam Zheng’s eyesight was questionable. She had treated the worthless toy rings as treasures.
Of course, these things were not important. What was important was that the Hu couple took Little Zhaozhao back home.
As they passed through the village, the two even portrayed themselves as living Bodhisattvas reborn[4]再世菩萨 (zài shì pú sà) – literally, “a Bodhisattva reborn into the world.” Used to describe someone portrayed as extraordinarily compassionate or benevolent. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3335594_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3335594_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Whenever they encountered villagers who were curious and came asking questions, they would sigh and say, “Poor little girl ah. We don’t even know what happened to her in the forest. When we saved her, there was a snake coiled right in front of her. If our man had not acted quickly, the little girl would have been bitten. Ah, we can’t just leave her unattended either. Isn’t it just one more mouth to feed in the family? We’ll raise her. We’ll just treat it as having one more daughter in the family. As it happens, we only have Baodun as a son. Now this is just right. Baodun has a companion too.”
The husband and wife had discussed it. Not only would they establish themselves firmly as the little girl’s lifesavers, they would make the relationship even more intimate.
Now they were Little Zhaozhao’s godfather and godmother. Later on, perhaps the little girl would even provide for them in their old age. Even if she did not, with this relationship in name, she should at least give them some benefits from time to time.
They imagined things very beautifully. And after bringing Zhaozhao home, they really did feed her well and give her good things to drink. They even found a physician to examine her injuries and prescribe medicine, taking very good care of her.
However, this careful treatment finally came to an abrupt stop half a month later.
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