“It is cold out tonight. Wear a jacket and wait for me outside in ten minutes.”

The only response from the other end was the sound of her frantic, suppressed breathing.

“Ruan Mian, stay calm. Can you do that?”

“…I can.” Ruan Mian rose from the freezing floor, her voice growing firmer as she repeated, “I can.”

A low “mm” came from the other side before the call ended. She dropped her phone and hurried into the bathroom to change out of her pajamas. She threw on a thin jacket and rushed downstairs.

In the living room, Wang Jiaxin was still slumped on the sofa, sobbing. Ying Haodong was nowhere to be seen; he was likely out searching again. Ruan Mian thought she heard the faint sound of a car engine earlier. She did not stop, heading straight out the door.

The chill of the night hit her. She pulled her jacket tight and stood outside for a few minutes. Soon, a pair of headlights cut through the dark. A car, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, pulled up steadily at the curb. She hurried over and climbed into the back seat.

Qi Yan skillfully turned the steering wheel and drove the car back into the night.

He caught a glimpse of her in the rearview mirror. The girl’s nose was red, and her long black eyelashes were trembling. They fluttered repeatedly, as if they were fluttering against his very heart. She suddenly looked up, and the helplessness in her clear eyes was revealed to him without any shield.

“Where are we going? Are we going straight to the train station to look?”

She wanted to tell him that her father and his friends had already searched almost every possible place near the station, and besides, it was the middle of the night.

Qi Yan looked straight ahead, his face as calm as still water. His voice was steady. “We are going to see a friend of mine first. He will have a way.”

He will have a way. Not “he should” or “he might.”

This man gave her a definite answer. Just as in any moment of helplessness, he was the first person she thought of. There was no doubt.

Ruan Mian felt an inexplicable certainty. He was omnipotent: any troublesome matter seemed as light as the smoke between his fingers to him.

She just needed to believe in him. Believe in him, and that was enough. She steadied her heart.

About an hour later, the car drove into a “village within the city.” After crossing a stone bridge, they stopped in front of a small courtyard.

The commotion triggered a chorus of barking from nearby dogs, one wave louder than the next.

A while later, a man emerged from the house. Ruan Mian leaned toward the window to look. The man was very tall with a buzz cut. As he drew closer, she saw him wearing a tank top and shorts. Even the deep night could not hide his roguish aura.

Is he some kind of local gangster? Ruan Mian wondered.

Gao Yuan pulled open the passenger door and sat inside. He found a bottle of mineral water, twisted it open, and tilted his head back to gulp down half of it. He had gone out for barbecue with his brothers earlier. The owner’s young wife clearly had a crush on him. She had chatted with him with a red face while grilling the food. He found it amusing and teased her a bit, but he hadn’t noticed that she kept sprinkling chili powder on his skewers over and over.

“Brother Qi, if I didn’t know we were looking for a kid, I would have suspected that the treasure of your heart was the one who went missing.”

After all, coming here personally in the middle of the night… Gao Yuan was familiar with this man’s personality. If it wasn’t someone he truly cared about, he wouldn’t lift a single finger.

“Oh!” He finally noticed the girl in the back seat. “You’ve got a little beauty hidden back here. Is she your little girlfriend? Your taste is certainly excellent…”

Ruan Mian smoothed the hair falling over her forehead uncomfortably. She forced a faint smile onto her pale face.

Gao Yuan stroked his chin and clicked his tongue twice. This delicate look was truly “pity-inducing.” In his memory, there were rarely any women around Qi Yan. So, what was the relationship between this girl and him? It was truly hard to decipher.

“What is the situation?”

“Don’t worry. As long as the person is still in Z City, whether they are alive or…”

Qi Yan sent a cool glance his way. Gao Yuan immediately slapped his chest. “I guarantee we will find him!”

“It is just that it might take some time. So many kids go missing every day, and we don’t know what the kid looks like. Filtering through will take time…”

“I have his photo!”

Ruan Mian pulled a photo frame from her bag and handed it over. She had grabbed it from the living room before leaving, feeling that it would be useful.

“Smart girl!” Gao Yuan snapped his fingers at her roguishly. “This makes things easy.” He pulled a phone with a screen cracked like a spiderweb from his pocket, took a photo of the frame, and sent it to a WeChat group. Then he sent a voice message. “Brothers, keep your eyes wide open! The kid we are looking for looks like this. Taller, shorter, or fatter won’t do. It has to be the original ‘made-in-China’ version! Find him early so we can go home and keep sleeping with our warm wives. Get moving: go, go, go!”

His battered phone vibrated as if it were having a seizure. Dozens of replies flooded in.

“Little sister, who is this kid to you?”

“He is my… brother,” Ruan Mian answered softly. “Also, my name is Ruan Mian.”

“Oh?” Gao Yuan dragged out the sound with a mischievous tone. He intentionally slurred his words. “Soft Cotton? What a name!”

Qi Yan ignored him.

Ruan Mian was in no mood to correct him either. She asked the question she cared about most. “Is it really certain we can find him? I heard those human traffickers…”

She could not go on. She turned to look out the window, slowly letting the moisture in her eyes evaporate.

She had heard Pan Tingting mention it. Those traffickers were wicked. They would take a child to another city immediately. The further away, the safer they felt. Most of these taken children were sold to families in remote areas, never to return again: they had to be sons for their buyers for the rest of their lives. Another portion would have their limbs broken to be forced into street begging, or worse, have their organs harvested.

The Little Mute could not speak. He had never officially attended school and did not even recognize all his characters, let alone know how to write them.

Would he be so scared that he was crying nonstop right now?

That gaze that was always full of expectation kept flickering before Ruan Mian’s eyes. Images she had intentionally tried to forget surfaced clearly: how he always cautiously tried to please her, his posture so low; how he would stand up to protect her when Ying Haodong wanted to hit her; how he would save a piece of cake for her; how he “called” her Jiejie on a note…

If, if she could do it over again, she would be nicer to him. Much nicer. Even if he was that woman’s son.

The car entered the city center. The man in the passenger seat had already tilted his head and fallen asleep, snoring nonstop.

A slightly husky voice pierced through the snoring.

“Ruan Mian, do you remember a painting you once gave me?”

“I remember.”

“What was its name?”

It was a long time before Ruan Mian softly squeezed two words from her lips. “Hope.”

That rainbow was hope.

The vibration of the phone broke the silence again. Gao Yuan scratched his bird’s nest of short hair and answered the call. A voice full of energy jumped out from the other end. “Brother Yuan, we have news!”

Ruan Mian was so shocked that she stood up from her seat, her head hitting the roof of the car. But she did not care. She gripped the seat and leaned forward to listen. Her heart had been soaked in icy water over and over earlier: even her blood had almost stopped flowing.

Her breathing was light. The skin on her face was so white it was almost translucent. Only her eyes, washed clean by tears, were dark and bright. Qi Yan glanced at them and then looked away.

“Damn! Call the brothers. We are going together to raid his nest!”

He finished speaking and then felt it was somewhat inappropriate. He covered the phone. “Do you plan to solve this through official channels or personal means?”

Qi Yan’s brow was full of coldness, yet a faint smile played on his lips. “What do you think?”

“Got it!” Gao Yuan said to the other end. “Then, just for show, break an arm first. What! This bastard still wants to run? Take a leg as well…”

Ruan Mian heard him speak as if he were discussing an ordinary meal. His background was certainly not simple. She could not help but feel a wave of fear. Her upbringing had been relatively simple: this was her first time interacting with someone like this.

But the moment she thought he was here to help her, she wasn’t so afraid.

There are people in this world who wear the skin of a villain but have a good person living in their hearts. There are also many who wrap themselves in a beautiful shell but are filthy and dark inside.

He was a good man; his friends must be good people, too.

“Soft Cotton, cover your ears first. Better yet, cover your eyes. Your big brother is still scaring people. It is embarrassing to be stared at by a little beauty; it wouldn’t be good to lose my authority in front of my brothers.”

Her heart had relaxed a lot after hearing the news. Being teased like this, she could not help but curve the corners of her mouth.

Gao Yuan was delighted. He raised an eyebrow triumphantly at the man beside him. The meaning was clear: Buddy, you should learn a bit. This is the correct way to coax a woman. Of course, a young girl is even easier to coax.

Qi Yan smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

When they arrived at a certain rental room on the west side of the city, Ruan Mian saw the man lying on the ground, groaning in pain. She realized that Gao Yuan’s “scaring” was definitely not just talk. But she did not care about that now. Her eyes searched everywhere anxiously.

The room was very small. The furniture was scarce and broken. It was almost visible at a glance, but that small figure was nowhere to be seen.

A young man with dyed yellow hair walked over and respectfully handed out a cigarette. “Brother Yuan.”

“What kind of time is this for smoking? Where is the person?!”

The “Yellow Hair” said, “As soon as the kid saw us kick the door in, he was so scared he hid under the bed.”

Gao Yuan hit him right on the forehead. “We aren’t the underworld. Can’t you do things more gently?”

The “Yellow Hair” felt a bit wronged. He pouted. Just now, someone had been ordering arms and legs to be taken like they were pieces of wood.

Ruan Mian had already bent over to lie on the floor. Her gaze searched inside. Sure enough, she saw a shivering dark shadow in the corner under the bed. Her heart ached dully again. “Little…”

She had never called his name.

“It is me.”

“I am Ruan Mian.” The dark shadow moved. It hit the bed slats, making them tremble.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Ruan Mian could already vaguely see those clear eyes. She reached out her hand toward him.

“I am Jiejie,” her voice was somewhat choked. “I have come to… take you home.”

A soft little hand reached out into her palm, cautious. She held it. She held it tightly. Her palm was full of sweat: she could not tell if it was hers or his.

In the next instant, a heavyweight suddenly crashed into her embrace. Ruan Mian was nearly knocked to the floor. Qi Yan, standing behind her, was quick to react and bent down to support her.

Ying Minghui hugged her tightly. He looked up in disbelief once, then again. It was Jiejie. It was really Jiejie! Large tears fell nonstop. The black ash on his face was smeared into a mess. He looked incredibly pitiful and aggrieved.

Ruan Mian’s clothes were soon soaked by his crying. She stroked his head. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. It is okay now. Everything is okay…”

Her voice was shaking. In truth, she was also afraid. A belated fear.

Gao Yuan finished scolding the “Yellow Hair” and walked over. “I just got a general understanding of the situation. Luckily, we arrived in time. This guy usually begs near the station, but he is actually scoping people out in secret. Sometimes he even brings buyers to scout directly. His targets are mostly women traveling alone with children. No less than ten children have fallen into his hands. Prices are agreed upon in advance, and they are sent away immediately. This kid…” His voice lowered. “Because he cannot speak, the price negotiations fell through. That is why it took some time. But I heard the next buyer had already been found. They were planning to send him away at dawn.”

“How do you want to handle this?”

Qi Yan looked at the two siblings huddled together. He said calmly, “Call the police.”

Gao Yuan thought the same.

Neither of them was suited to handle this matter publicly.

A few minutes later, the group left the rental room. Gao Yuan left in the “Yellow Hair’s” car. The sky wasn’t light yet, but the east was faintly turning a pale white. Qi Yan prepared to take the siblings home first.

Ruan Mian had hardly slept all night. As soon as she got into the car, she began to feel drowsy.

Ying Minghui was truly exhausted. Having gone through such a harrowing experience, he also fell into a deep sleep.

From the moment he hugged Ruan Mian, he never let go. He would not let anyone but her touch him. Ruan Mian had no choice but to hold him in her arms while he slept.

Gradually, two steady sounds of breathing intertwined.

Qi Yan smiled silently.

The car stopped at a red light. His phone began to vibrate slightly. He put on his Bluetooth headset, but no one spoke for a long time on the other side.

He frowned. “Chang Ning?”

“Oh, nothing important,” Chang Ning’s voice sounded like the cool moon in the sky: it held no emotional color. “I just wanted to notify you that your examination results from last time are out.”

This stinging remark received no response. Chang Ning’s heart could no longer contain itself. He was someone who could never hide things. He tried his best to make his tone sound even colder. “I only recently heard that your purpose in returning to the country this time is to acquire Saint Ke Hospital?”

Qi Yan’s face still showed no ripples.

“What?” Chang Ning let out a cold laugh. “For the sake of our nearly twenty years of friendship, will you make me the director when the time comes?”

He said word for word, with no lack of irony, “We are brothers, aren’t we? We should work together to destroy Saint Ke Hospital and your father’s life’s work in one fell swoop. Just thinking about it is quite exciting.”

The light turned green. The other side hung up.

Qi Yan was rarely stunned for a few seconds. Just as he was about to start the car, a tricycle selling breakfast suddenly darted across the pedestrian crossing. The truck driver in front slammed on his brakes. “Damn it!”

Ruan Mian was also woken by the sudden, sharp honking. Almost simultaneously, a voice reached her. “It is okay.”

That cool voice carried a quality that put her at ease. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

In her deepening drowsiness, she vaguely recalled what that man had said. Earlier, her heart was occupied, and she hadn’t paid attention; the words had just passed her by. Now that the matter was properly resolved, she chewed on them repeatedly, finding a hint of sweetness.

Little girlfriend… oh, little girlfriend.

NOTES

[TN1] Village within the city (城中村 chéngzhōngcūn): A common urban phenomenon in China where rural villages are swallowed by urban expansion but retain their original structures, often becoming low-rent hubs with complex social dynamics.

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