The air was bad in here, but Yu Jingxuan couldn’t care less.
He was more worried about the fact that the kidnappers didn’t cover their eyes and the fact that they were heading out of town.
Perhaps they didn’t cover their eyes because they wore masks, but they were driving at the moment, so it was improbable.
Also, they were already out of town, preparing to distance themselves from the city. It was partially to hide from the police but also to make it harder for them to bring him and Lin Miao back.
Altogether, they might have not planned to keep them alive.
Yu Jingxuan looked at Shuishui. There were many droplets of sweat over her small face, and her bangs stuck to her forehead, just like when he initially met her.
Back then, he thought that she was healthy and probably had a bright life in front of her.
It was him who failed her. If it wasn’t for him, Shuishui would’ve been in her home, with her parents.
The car seemed to have driven onto uneven roads; the ride became bumpy. It felt terrible to be tied up.
Lin Miao tried her best to support her brother with her body, worried that he might bump his head.
Luckily, the car stopped soon after.
The Young Master signaled Lin Miao to close her eyes.
He closed his eyes himself, and then touched Lin Miao with his forehead.
Lin Miao quickly closed her eyes like him.
Then, the trunk was opened.
Fresh air and sunlight spilled inside the compartment. Yu Jingxuan prayed for Lin Miao to not open her eyes midway.
“They’re not awake.” A young man said.
The Young Master shook his head, signaling that he was awake.
A young woman felt suspicious, so she peeled away the tape on his mouth.
The Young Master was worried about Lin Miao opening her eyes when they proceeded to carry her out of the car, so he told Lin Miao to not open her eyes.
It wasn’t a concern yet though. She was facing away from them, so they couldn’t see her even if she opened her eyes.
But the Young Master was afraid of her flipping around.
And then he said to those people, “A straightforward person doesn’t resort to insinuations. We’re only eight. You guys want money, we just want to live. We can leave it as that; don’t hurt us and my parents will pay you.”
The young woman was satisfied, “No wonder you’re a rich kid, what a good talker.”
“I’m just being honest. You guys just want to be rich, so there’s no need to kill two people. Plus, my family will probably forget about this when we return alive. They wouldn’t care about it since we would both be back in one piece. But it would be a whole other story if you kill us, we’re the only two kids in the family.” Yu Jingxuan said calmly.
And then he heard a response from a middle-aged man. “Cover their eyes first.”
Yu Jingxuan knew that they did listen to at least a part of what he said.
But they still weren’t safe yet because the risk was too high to return them to town.
They will definitely continue to balance things out and negotiate, so they would want a backup plan.
They each carried one child and trekked on, they even switched people to carry them in the middle of the journey.
Finally, they arrived at a place and dropped the children on the ground.
“Let’s go talk.” The kidnappers said, panting.
And then they left to discuss with each other.
Lin Miao just felt that her brother was very smart. She could smell the scent of grass pastures around her.
She stopped resisting after being carried out of the car. She tried to make the person she bit forget about the bite.
The two kids were very cooperative, so he did indeed forget it.
When they left, the Young Master began to say, “Don’t be scared, Shuishui.”
Lin Miao wasn’t very scared, her brother will protect her.
Her hearing seemed to be boosted by her lack of sight. She immediately located where her brother was and shuffled towards him.
She was soon able to settle down beside him.
At this moment, the door opened again.
Some people stepped in.
They took pictures of the children.
And then said to the person on the other side, “Fifty million, we’ll let them go as soon as we get it.”
“I can provide the money, just untie them. Little Yu is sick, he can’t walk far, they won't run away.” The Young Master’s mother’s voice came from the other side, crying.
Upon hearing this, the young woman suddenly felt that the mother was very generous with money. She wanted more, “Add another million and we won’t torture them. We’ll even untie them for you.”
“Okay, please, untie them, and send a picture to me.”
So, one of the kidnappers soon untied the two kids.
One million just for a few ropes!
Sixty million in total, holy shit she has a lot of money! They were rich! Rich!
So, they quickly sent a picture.
After they untied Lin Miao, she still shuffled beside her brother despite her limbs feeling numb as if they were being stabbed by needles.
She rushed to check her brother’s forehead. It wasn’t hot. Fortunately, it wasn’t hot.
She was worried about him catching the wind since they stepped out of the mansion. She always felt that the Young Master would get sick when he caught the wind.
The Young Master’s mother received the pictures and saw the bruises on the two kids’ wrists. “I won’t call the police, my children are more important, how do I pay? As long as you keep your promises, I won’t call the police once the kids come back.”
“We’ll let you know when we’re ready.”
And then the kidnappers hung up and began to party around.
“Sixty million! Sixty million!”
Lin Miao quietly waited in the corner with the Young Master.
The kidnappers also took their eye covers off. Now they could see that there were four people in total: One young man, one young woman, and two middle-aged men. Their faces were all covered with black stuff.
Lin Miao and the Young Master could make out their age with their voices and appearances.
“Four plutomaniacs.”
At this moment, another person ran in from outside. “Sis, I’ve brought Dahuang!”
(Note: Dahuang is pinyin for 大黄, which is the dog’s nickname. It is likely a big dog with yellow hair as “黄” means yellow and “大” means big in chinese.)
“Woof Woof Woof!”
A young boy with the same black-covered face arrived with a big dog.
The yellow dog was very skinny, but its stomach was a bit big.
The young boy tied the dog’s leash outside of the room. The rope was long enough to ensure that the dog could bite anyone that tries to escape.
It was enough to intimidate the two kids.
Then they heard them say, “Let’s go back to prepare our alibi from the scene.”
The dog kept on barking outside.
The young boy kicked the dog, “Don’t bark now, wait until they try to run, then bark!”
The dog whimpered, and then went silent.
They closed the door behind them and then locked it up.
The two children finally began to talk.
Lin Miao caressed the Young Master’s purple wrist. She felt so bad for him that she was about to cry again, “Gege…”
“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” The Young Master patted her head. They still needed to escape.
Considering the kidnappers’ intelligence, they were definitely not the mastermind.
Even though he managed to persuade them, the person behind this obviously didn’t want to keep them alive.
The mastermind knew his mother’s problems, her fans, their family situation, and knew that they were going outside today.
He didn’t have any evidence and couldn’t think of any motives, but the Young Master has already started a mental list of suspects.
But he was still confused why the mastermind wanted to kill him.
Lin Miao had made her way to the door. They were imprisoned inside a dirt hut.
There was grass growing on the floor, it might have been empty for a long time.
The door didn’t look sturdy, but the dog outside started barking right when Lin Miao approached it.
Then a person came running to the hut.
“What are you doing? Stop trying to run away, Dahuang has killed people before, it's not my fault if you continue to try and get bitten to death by it!”
The Young Master quickly made his way beside her and pulled her behind him, “Can we have something to eat? My mom will ask if I’m alive or not before she sends the money. My health isn’t good, so it wouldn’t be in your best interest if I die before the exchange.”
The person cursed to himself, kicked the still barking dog, and then left.
Lin Miao and the Young Master also took the opportunity to look outside.
They were surrounded by barren lands.
The dead grass seemed endless.
Lin Miao was very familiar with this. Her village called it “Marshen”, it was a type of pasture. Her fellow villagers would cut the grass right when it grows tall enough from the pasture to feed the cows.
(Note: Marshen is pinyin for “马儿深”)
But the grass would be all withering away right now, so it would likely be the last harvest of the year.
But the “Marshen” here was tall and uncut.
This meant that they were probably far away from other people.
Lin Miao shared her discovery with her brother. They sat down on the grass in the hut.
He was able to guess the same.
After a long wait, the same young person returned. He gave two boiled sweet potatoes and a bottle of water to them.
The two kids were really hungry.
The sweet potatoes were cold and unpeeled.
The Young Master had never tried one before. Lin Miao took one and peeled it, “This is a sweet potato. It’s really good, try it.”
The Young Master started to peel the skin like Lin Miao, then the two slowly started to eat.
The young person looked at the two kids who were quite cooperative and quiet, but most importantly, they were worth sixty million, so he said, “I’ll bring you more tomorrow.”
He paused to think, and then tried to scare them, “Don’t go outside, I’m leaving. If the dog actually bites you, I won’t have enough time to save you guys.”
He then left, closing the door behind him.
Lin Miao didn’t eat much at the mansion, making her stomach shrink, so she was full after one sweet potato.
The dog was still barking.
Lin Miao looked through the hole, the dog was very skinny, as if it was a creature of skin and bones.
There was also a dog back in her village door. It was the village head’s, and it was fat.
The dog would welcome her every day when she came back from school.
Lin Miao took half of the sweet potato. “Gege, I want to feed the dog, it looks like it hasn’t eaten anything.”
The Young Master didn’t refuse and nodded instead.
The dog started barking once they encroached the wall. It was very aggressive.
Lin Miao told herself to be brave and threw the sweet potato out. Then, the two rushed back in. They were still a bit scared of the dog.
“They’ll let us go once they get the money.” The Young Master comforted.
In reality, the situation wasn’t bright at all. The biggest probability was that they would abandon them in the hut and starve the dog, and then...
The dog outside stopped barking.
Lin Miao hugged her brother and then touched his forehead again, letting out another breath of relief after confirming that he wasn’t having a fever.
“Gege, Gege, watch me make a bed.” Lin Miao said.
As she spoke, she stood up and walked cheerfully to gather the dead grass at the corner.
The Young Master also stood up. It was useless to think so much right now, it would be better for them to just play along!
So, he started gathering grass with Lin Miao, and then the two evaluated the hut to find the ideal location to make their beds.
They were stuck here anyway, so why not improve their living conditions.
They found a place in the room with a hole in the wall and started to lay down the grass there.
There wasn't that much grass, but the two still felt pretty accomplished after spreading out a thin sheet of grass.
Lin Miao looked through the hole and at the grass outside, she really wanted to pull them...