Lunch was not as extravagant as before, but it was still pretty good.
They were all dishes she liked.
“Sis, eat this. It’s your favorite.” That was her older younger brother.
“Big Sis, this one’s delicious. Eat more.” That was the younger brother.
“Honestly, all you do every day is eat. If you get fat, let’s see whether Zhuo Yi will still want you.” Yet at the same time, chopsticks placed food she could not reach into her bowl. That was her mother.
“Xiaoxiao, eat more. Don’t listen to your mother. Being able to eat is a blessing.” That was her father.
Under everyone’s constant feeding—
“I’m so full!” Huang Xiaoxiao held her stomach and lay miserably on the sofa.
She swore she would never eat this much again.
…
“Mom, take this.” Before leaving, she pulled Lu Xiao aside and handed her the spirit fish.
If she gave it to Huang Nan or her two younger brothers, they definitely would not accept it.
“What is this?” Lu Xiao opened the bag, and after seeing what was inside, she sucked in a sharp breath.
“How did you steal this out? Hurry and take it back. Bringing more of other things is fine, but this absolutely won’t do.”
Huang Xiaoxiao was surprised. Lu Xiao had always loved money and never let good things slip away, yet this time she actually refused.
“You… really don’t want it?” Huang Xiaoxiao looked at Lu Xiao suspiciously.
“Of course I want it. Why wouldn’t I?” Lu Xiao glared at her. “I was teaching you something just now, understand?”
“Mhm, I understand.” Huang Xiaoxiao nodded, feeling a little disappointed. She had actually thought her mother did not want it.
…
“Hm? Isn’t that Zhuo Wenxuan?” On the way home, Huang Xiaoxiao suddenly spotted Zhuo Wenxuan’s figure and thought she must have seen wrong.
She rubbed her eyes. “No mistake, it really is her!”
She checked the time. Two in the afternoon.
Well, well. Instead of going to school at this hour, she was actually skipping class.
Huang Xiaoxiao felt like she had finally caught Zhuo Wenxuan by the tail and instantly became excited.
Without another word, she secretly followed after her.
While tailing her, she noticed several other people following behind as well.
She casually glanced at them without thinking too much and continued following.
The three young girls first went shopping at the mall and bought several outfits, then visited a materials shop and bought quite a few refining materials.
The girls laughed and chatted happily the entire time.
Huang Xiaoxiao secretly recorded everything on video so she could show Zhuo Yi later.
At such a young age, and already learning how to skip school.
Just as she finished saving the video, a car sped past from ahead.
“Ah!”
Along with a scream, the girls were forcefully shoved into the vehicle.
?????
!!!!!
Huang Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened.
Wait?
What just happened?
What was going on?
Did she just witness a kidnapping?
Holy crap!
Were they really this blatant about it?
This was the middle of the street.
Her sister-in-law really had terrible luck.
No, wait. She was the one with terrible luck.
How did she run into something like this?
Staring at the departing car, Huang Xiaoxiao hesitated between following them and calling the police.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to do both.
After all, this was her sister-in-law. If it were someone else, she would only have called the police.
Sigh, what a troublesome child.
Huang Xiaoxiao sighed while getting into the car, muttering nonstop.
Hopefully everything would go smoothly. Hopefully they were not real kidnappers.
“Driving that fast? Are you trying to die?!” Angry curses constantly rang out from the street, but Huang Xiaoxiao ignored all of them.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the car ahead as it got closer, then farther away.
She had no choice. The kidnappers kept driving deeper into remote areas, and she no longer dared to follow too closely. What if they discovered her and killed the hostages?
She could not bear that responsibility.
Luckily, her luck was decent. The vehicle eventually stopped on a nearby hillside.
One man got out of the car and carefully checked the surroundings. Apparently not seeing anyone following them, he said a few words toward the vehicle.
1, 2, 3, 4…
Huang Xiaoxiao counted.
There were actually ten people kidnapped.
What were they planning to do with so many girls?
The girls were terrified, staring fearfully at the large men in front of them while sobbing nonstop.
Zhuo Wenxuan was frightened too. She had never experienced anything like this before.
Call the police. That was her first thought.
But as soon as they got into the vehicle, all their communication devices had been confiscated.
“I’m warning you! My brother is a major general! If he catches you, you’re finished! You’d better let me go right now!” Zhuo Wenxuan shouted loudly.
Huang Xiaoxiao held her forehead.
How could she possibly have such a stupid sister-in-law?
Telling the kidnappers your family was powerful and influential this loudly—
If they were bold enough, they might demand even more money. If they were timid, they might just kill her and dump the body somewhere.
“Shut up. If you keep talking, we’ll kill all of you directly.”
The men completely ignored Zhuo Wenxuan’s shouting. One cold glance from them was enough to make her stop talking immediately.
Standing beneath a snow pine tree, Huang Xiaoxiao quietly watched everything ahead. She saw them forcing the girls farther up the mountain.
Their hideout was probably somewhere ahead.
Fortunately, this was an icy mountain, not a snow mountain. If it were a real snow mountain, she would not even dare use her explosive beads.
She checked her communicator.
Zhuo Yi still had not replied to her message.
Why was he not responding yet? Had he not seen it?
Forget it. Neither one of them could be relied on anyway.
With no other choice, Huang Xiaoxiao decided to handle it herself.
What she did not know was that Zhuo Yi was also busy at the moment.
He had just received news from Karma City.
The granddaughter of the Empire’s three-star marshal, Liu Zhengping, had been missing for five days.
Rumor said she had been kidnapped by an unknown organization.
The reason for the kidnapping was still unclear.
Even after so many days, no ransom demand had been made.
Nobody knew what these people wanted.
Moreover, the kidnappers had not only targeted the marshal’s granddaughter. Several daughters from major noble families and large corporations had also disappeared.
Orders had already been issued from above demanding a full investigation into the matter.
All local military forces and police departments were required to cooperate in a large-scale search.
Zhuo Yi simply had no time to check his communicator.
Zhuo Wenxuan was on the verge of going crazy.
She simply could not understand it. The one time she finally skipped class, something like this happened.
She felt increasingly uneasy. If she had known earlier, she never would have skipped school.
Did her family know she was missing yet?
Did these people want money, or something else?
The two classmates beside her were also terrified.
Their entire bodies trembled nonstop.
Their eyes were swollen and red, obviously from crying.
Zhuo Wenxuan was scared too, but more than anything, she wanted them to stop crying.
Cry, cry, cry. What was the point of crying nonstop?
…
“Huff… huff… I’m exhausted!”
“These people seriously picked such a terrible place to hide.”
“I’m dying here!”
Huang Xiaoxiao finally climbed up the hillside.
She looked ahead.
The men from earlier were sitting outside a cave, making a fire and cooking.
Cooking.
Great.
Her lunch had already been fully digested by now. She desperately needed more energy.
“H-Hey… give me something to eat.” Huang Xiaoxiao stretched out her hand.
“Who’s there?!”
Hearing the voice, the men were startled.
“Relax. It’s just a little girl.” One of them spotted Huang Xiaoxiao and waved reassuringly at the others.
The group looked over. Seeing her appearance, they all relaxed their guard.
“Little girl, how did you end up here?”
“I… I’m looking for my family. I’m so hungry. Can you give me something to eat?” Huang Xiaoxiao stared directly at the steaming pot.
That appearance made the men lower their guard even further.
“Hahaha, of course. If you want some, come over and get it.” One man spoke in a tempting tone.
“Okay!” Huang Xiaoxiao smiled.
The men smiled as well.