Xiao Shitou groggily climbed out of bed, noticing that the bed next to him was already cold, and the opposite bed was messy with no one in it. He instantly became alert, hearing the sound of water from the bathroom and the low voices of two men talking.
“We’re about to go on a mission, what about Xiao Shitou? Just leave him in the hotel?” Yuan Maoqiu asked.
“Lao Lü is already on his way.”
“Did you get the message?”
“Yeah, he took the earliest high-speed train.”
Yuan Maoqiu sighed, “It’s a hassle for him to come all this way, but will Xiao Shitou be willing to go back? Will he try to come back on his own?”
Lin Heyu was silent for a moment before saying, “He has to go back, whether he wants to or not.”
Xiao Shitou sat on the bed, hugging his knees, his eyes dark and his brows furrowed.
He didn’t want to go back, and he couldn’t go back. There was something very important that he hadn’t finished yet; how could he go back to Haijing alone?
Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu took turns finishing their washing up and came out of the bathroom together. When Lin Heyu saw that Xiao Shitou was already awake but sitting on the bed in a daze without dressing properly, he walked over and patted him on the head, “Since you’re awake, get dressed. Uncle Yuan and I have things to do, and we need to hurry up and have breakfast.”
Xiao Shitou nodded slowly, picking up his clothes and quietly putting them on. Yuan Maoqiu had changed into a brown leather jacket today, with a flashy pink-purple shirt underneath, humming a tune as he took out a small round box from his bag. Lin Heyu first looked disdainfully at his outfit, then became curious about the round box, “What’s that?”
“Hair wax.”
Lin Heyu’s face was full of exasperation. “Chief Yuan’s criticisms were spot on.”
Yuan Maoqiu was completely innocent. He didn’t even plan to use it now, so why couldn’t he have some personal time after work?
“Seven days left, six to go,” Lin Heyu reminded him with a blank expression.
“I know, I know. Isn’t that why I have you? You promised, so I know you’ll make it. I’ll just follow along and take it easy,” Yuan Maoqiu said, picking up a soft-covered notebook from the table and rolling it into a tube, “Not seven or eight days, not four or five days, just three days! Just three days!”
Lin Heyu wanted to hit him but restrained himself since the kid was there. He shot a sharp look, snatched the hair wax, and threw it into the bag, clearly not planning to let Yuan Maoqiu have any “personal time.” Yuan Maoqiu sighed helplessly, then glanced at Xiao Shitou, “You’re fussing over me, but why not pay attention to your little friend? Look at how sad he is.”
Xiao Shitou said nothing, dressing himself and even neatly making the bed before going to wash his face and brush his teeth. Lin Heyu glanced at Yuan Maoqiu’s messy bed and looked at him with disdain: even the kid is more sensible than you.
Yuan Maoqiu quickly tidied up his bed, grabbed his phone, and went downstairs to reserve a spot at the breakfast stand. Xiao Shitou came out of the bathroom and saw Lin Heyu holding his phone, staring intently at the screen with a slight smile, his eyes unusually gentle.
He was momentarily stunned, then quietly stood beside Lin Heyu, “You’re smiling.”
Lin Heyu responded by raising his head and touching his cheek, “Is that strange?”
“I’ve never seen you smile so gently,” Xiao Shitou replied honestly, his eyes instinctively glancing at the phone screen. It was a WeChat conversation, but before he could see it clearly, Lin Heyu pressed the lock screen button, making the screen go black.
Lin Heyu cleared his throat, trying to hide his embarrassment. At the same time, he was slightly shocked: Was he really so happy just because Yi Shi texted him to meet? Was his mood that obvious, even in front of a kid?
Xiao Shitou thought he was deliberately avoiding him, furrowing his brows even deeper, his face looking as bitter as an old man’s. Lin Heyu ran his thumb over his frown, as if trying to smooth out the crease, “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t mean to peek.”
“You’ve misunderstood.” Lin Heyu couldn’t help but laugh, lightly tapping the kid on the back of his head. He knew it was his own shyness, not something he could blame Xiao Shitou for.
Xiao Shitou looked up and met Lin Heyu’s eyes, suddenly tugging at his shirt, “I don’t want to go back.”
So that’s it. Lin Heyu had already guessed that the boy’s unusual behavior had something to do with this issue. He squatted down and held Xiao Shitou’s hand, “Xiao Shitou, about the adoption, I’ll talk to Uncle Lü again, but you have to go back first. There are fugitives here, it’s dangerous, and it’s not safe for you to stay.”
“It’s exactly because they’re here that I can’t leave,” Xiao Shitou tightened his grip on Lin Heyu’s shirt, “Among the hostages… there’s someone I know.”
Lin Heyu was stunned. This was the first time Xiao Shitou had voluntarily mentioned anything related to the kidnapping case since he was rescued.
He had always been silent, not saying a word even at the police station, making it impossible to take his statement. All the officers were at a loss, and when they took him to the hospital for an examination, the doctor said it was due to shock and advised the police not to make him recall the kidnapping incident too much, fearing it would be detrimental to the child’s development. As a result, Xiao Shitou became the only rescued child who didn’t leave any statement about the case.
Luckily, they could gather some information from the other children, and because of Xiao Shitou’s orphan status, everyone felt especially sorry for him, so they didn’t mind if he provided no information about the kidnapping. Even Lin Heyu, who communicated with him the most, never brought up anything related to the case in front of him. Everyone was very protective, hoping Xiao Shitou could forget the traumatic memory.
They never expected that today, Xiao Shitou would voluntarily speak up, and with such a surprising revelation.
Sitting face to face with him, Lin Heyu asked, “There’s someone you know among the hostages? Who is it?”
“My… my sister,” Xiao Shitou cautiously looked at him. “Not my biological sister; we were in the same orphanage and later ran away together. Both of us… we aren’t kindergarten kids. That day, we snuck onto the school bus to look for food.”
Lin Heyu understood. Previously, they had suspected that Xiao Shitou’s background was unusual. How could a private elite kindergarten, with tuition fees of thousands of yuan per semester, have a child from an orphanage enrolled? The team had speculated that Xiao Shitou must have sneaked in, and now, hearing the truth from him, their hypothesis was confirmed.
However, they hadn’t expected that another child was in the same situation, also an orphan who sneaked in. The number of hostages had been counted based on the kindergarten’s roster, so it turned out the criminals had one extra child.
“What’s her name?”
“She doesn’t have a name. She loves gardenias, so I call her Gardenia,” Xiao Shitou paused, “That day… she was wearing a school uniform, which another boy had swapped with her.”
“Swapping clothes with a boy?” Lin Heyu immediately understood: Xiao Shitou was worried his sister might be bullied, so he dressed her up as a boy. At that age, kids’ facial features aren’t fully developed, making it hard to tell their gender. Many delicate-looking boys are often mistaken for girls, and the criminals probably wouldn’t bother to check closely.
Lin Heyu took out his phone and found a few photos taken by a surveillance camera in the parking lot, showing the kidnappers taking children onto the bus. He handed the phone to Xiao Shitou and asked, “Is your sister in these?”
Before even looking at the photos, Xiao Shitou said, “No. We… we were in the car from the start; we never got out.”
“Do you have any photos of Gardenia?”
Xiao Shitou shook his head again. How could he? The two of them were always hungry, poorly dressed, and constantly wandering. There was no opportunity or means to take photos.
So, he could only try to describe her appearance to Lin Heyu: her eyes were big and round, with a dimple on the left cheek when she smiled. Her hair wasn’t long, just enough to be tied into a small braid, but that day, he had deliberately not tied it.
Lin Heyu opened the kindergarten’s roster and individual photos stored on his phone. “Take a look, who did Gardenia swap clothes with?”
Xiao Shitou flipped through the photos one by one. When he came to a photo of Jiang Dongliang, his expression turned odd for a few seconds. Pointing at the photo, he asked an unrelated question, “Is he still alive?”
“Why do you ask?”
“…He’s a good person,” Xiao Shitou said, biting his lip. At that time, they were trapped in the car. Gardenia was curled up in her tattered clothes, her big eyes full of fear. Xiao Shitou was holding her, his eyes scanning over the pale, pampered young masters and misses. He needed to find Gardenia a set of clothes to blend in with these wealthy kids, or the crazed kidnappers would not spare them. The children from rich families might still have some value in the eyes of those kidnappers, but a useless orphan could be killed on the spot.
He set his sights on a girl in the front wearing glasses, planning to use a shiny piece of glass he had polished to threaten her into giving up her clothes for his sister. Suddenly, a boy in the front row handed him a bag, whispering, “This is my new school uniform. Let her wear it.”
Xiao Shitou took the bag and opened it. Inside were a brand-new shirt and a little tie, obviously never worn. The boy scratched his head, blushing, “It was handed out days ago. I only brought it home today.”
Xiao Shitou had originally wanted to find a girl’s outfit for his sister, but then he thought it might be better if she wore boys’ clothes. So, he thanked the boy and helped Gardenia change into the new shirt.
During the days they were held captive, the three of them became friends, but were later forced apart and never saw each other again.
This boy, who lent a helping hand in dire straits, was Jiang Dongliang.
“Jiang Dongliang is fine. Do you know why we came to Nanyi?” Lin Heyu smiled warmly, “It’s because after we rescued him, we tracked the kidnappers here.”
Xiao Shitou breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to Jiang Dongliang’s photo, “It was him. The clothes Gardenia wore were his.”
The collars of the shirts at this elite kindergarten were embroidered with the students’ ID numbers. Even if Lin Heyu didn’t know what Gardenia looked like, knowing the ID number on the shirt would make it easier to find her. Although the information he got from Xiao Shitou was limited, and Lin Heyu couldn’t be 100% sure, he still needed to appear confident to persuade Xiao Shitou to go back.
“Alright, I understand.” Lin Heyu nodded, his tone full of confidence. “Don’t worry. I promise you, I will definitely rescue your sister.”
Xiao Shitou quickly nodded along, “I believe you. Others might not save her, but you definitely will.”
It was precisely because Xiao Shitou trusted Lin Heyu that he shared such an important matter. After all, Gardenia, like him, was an orphan without parents’ love, and compared to wealthy children, everyone knew who would be considered more important. He had been afraid to speak up before, fearing that if the uncles knew Gardenia’s true identity, they might not be in a hurry to rescue her.
Lin Heyu patted his little head. How could he think that way? The People’s Police serve the people, regardless of their status or wealth. As long as someone’s safety is at risk, it’s their duty to rescue them.
It’s understandable, though. This child never had a good home environment and lacked proper exposure to the norms and values of society. Otherwise, how would the saying “If you’re in trouble, find a police officer” be so well-known that even a three-year-old could recite it?
After revealing the matter about his sister, Xiao Shitou felt a great burden lift from his heart. He exhaled deeply, relieved. Lin Heyu took his hand and asked, “Now that everything is in my hands, will you go back to Haijing like a good boy?”
Xiao Shitou hesitated, “Why do I still have to go back?”
“I’ll take care of rescuing Gardenia. You’re still young; just stay home and wait for news.”
Xiao Shitou shook his head vigorously, “I want to go with you! I want to help rescue Gardenia!”
Even Lin Heyu’s expression changed at this. “You want to come along? That’s impossible.”
Xiao Shitou nodded desperately, “It’s possible! Please take me! I can be helpful!”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I really don’t want to go back!”
“Listen to me.”
At that moment, the door opened, and Yuan Maoqiu poked his head in. Seeing that both of them looked off, he asked, “What’s going on with you two? Hurry up and come down; the vendor downstairs is about to pack up!”
Lin Heyu rarely felt so troubled. He couldn’t just lose his patience with a child, so he repeated patiently, “Xiao Shitou, you can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous, and there’s no one to look after you. Be good and go back, okay?”
“I can take care of myself. I won’t get in your way.”
“That’s not possible,” Lin Heyu rubbed his temples. “I’ll be very busy and can’t watch over you. Unless you can find someone in Nanyi who can take care of you.”
That was practically a dead end. Xiao Shitou, now desperate, looked to Yuan Maoqiu for help, “Uncle Yuan, you have so many girlfriends. Could I stay with one of them for a while?”
Yuan Maoqiu was speechless. Kid, you really know how to hit where it hurts! “So many girlfriends”—ouch!
“Why make it so complicated? If you can’t take care of him, just leave him with Zhizhi for a while,” Yuan Maoqiu suggested casually.
Lin Heyu fell silent, while Xiao Shitou’s eyes lit up as if he had found a savior, “I can stay with Auntie Lin! Trust me, I really can!”
Yuan Maoqiu was shocked. Did he actually take that seriously? He was just throwing out a casual suggestion.
Lin Heyu, on the other hand, wished he could rip Yuan Maoqiu’s mouth off. Was it enchanted or something? The worst-case scenarios always seem to come true.
“Please, can you ask Auntie Lin if she can take me in?” Xiao Shitou tugged at Lin Heyu’s arm, looking pitiful as he pretended to wipe away imaginary “tears.”
Lin Heyu was entirely unwilling to ask.
Meanwhile, Yuan Maoqiu stood at the door, holding a bag of buns in one hand and answering his phone with the other.
“Yeah, we’re here at the 7 Days Inn next to the Nanyi Police Station. You just got off the high-speed train? That’s not fast enough.” He glanced at the ongoing struggle between Lin Heyu and Xiao Shitou inside the room, “Don’t take the bus; just grab a taxi. If you don’t hurry, your future son might end up being Lao Lin’s.”
Xiao Shitou..what if you’re yi shi haha jk.
UNLESS