“Why should I answer you?” Shi Bao’er retorted, raising her chin up high.
“Okay, in that case, I’m not going to put you in a spot, my niece.”
“Stop calling me your niece. My uncle has already divorced you. Did you forget that?”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you yourself to acknowledge that I’m your aunt, then.”
“Acknowledge you myself? Dream on!” Shi Bao’er barked, after which her hands were put into handcuffs.
An Xiaoning glared at her condescendingly and said, “I’m looking forward to see if I’m dreaming or not.” She opened the door and said to the butler, “She’s a very disobedient child. Take her to the place where I had arranged. Call me again once she’s learned her lesson.”
“Alright.”
Shi Bao’er was once again dragged away by No. 5 and No. 8, who followed the butler’s lead.
An Xiaoning stood by the entrance and stared at the sky above. The air on Mount Heyuan is so fresh. What a brilliant place for watching the sunrise.
Soon, she heard the subtle sounds of Shi Bao’er shrieking and screaming in horror. Her voice seemed to be trembling, and she sounded extremely agonized. No. 5 returned and said to An Xiaoning, “Everything has been settled. The kid’s starting to beg for mercy.”
“It’s been less than two minutes and she’s already succumbed? It’s still early. Let’s continue testing her patience and tenacity. I shall see how bad of a temper she really has and how brave she really is,” An Xiaoning said while taking a look at the time on her mobile phone.
“Sis, won’t this backfire? Won’t she become even more rebellious and vicious from now on?”
“Children like her must be dealt with the hard way. I know my limits.” She handed him her car keys and continued, “Let’s stay here for a few days. Go bring the things inside the trunk of the car to the house.”
“Okay.”
No. 5 took out the suitcases before carrying another bag of items, which were wrapped in bedsheets, toward An Xiaoning.
An Xiaoning grabbed the bag and untied the bedsheets to reveal a stack of books, which were all about ways and solutions to deal with rebellious children using psychology.
Not only did she require a clear strategy and relentlessness to deal with children like Shi Bao’er, she also needed a great ton of patience.
An Xiaoning thought that she would feel a great sense of accomplishment after completing the task.
No. 5 entered with two cartons of bottled mineral water, as well as two cartons of ready-made fast food, which he then placed inside the refrigerator in the room.
No. 5 sat down on the bed and asked, “Sis, do you plan to finish reading all these books?”
“Of course. There are only a few of them anyway. I can finish reading all of them in a few days.”
No. 5 remarked in disbelief, “A few days? Sis, each book is so thick. You won’t be able to read all of them, even if you finish one book in two days.”
“I don’t need two days for a book. I can finish two books in a day.”
“Sis, that’s an incredible reading speed,” said No. 5, who was awestruck.
“It once took me a short amount of time to memorize a book that was of a sizable thickness. Reading is a piece of cake. This is my forte,” she said confidently.
“Impressive.”
“I’ll seek her out again after finishing this book,” said An Xiaoning, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed while reading attentively.
——
Fang Erlan was jolted awake by the pain. The effects of the anesthetic had already worn off long ago. However, the pain would still be bearable as long as she remained still.
She was greeted with the sight of Xiao Chenyang the moment she opened her eyes.
She subconsciously got the shivers upon recalling the scenario last night. She grabbed his shirt and said worriedly, “You are to bring me along everywhere you go from now on.”
“Okay.”
“You can’t leave me alone, not even for a minute.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll have to accompany me, even if I’m going to the washroom.”
“Okay.”
Feeling much more secure after hearing his answers, Fang Erlan asked, “What happened to the man who stabbed me?”
“He’s dead.”
“Did you ask him why he wanted to kill me, then?”
Xiao Chenyang moved her hand away and stood up to grab a document from the table, on which there was a colored photograph. He explained, “He said that this woman instigated him to kill you. Do you… know her? The information shows that she’s from the same village as you.”
Fang Erlan squinted to take a look and said, “She does look very familiar…”
“Her name is Fang Ruzhen.”
“Fang Ruzhen?” A sudden memory from her past popped up in her head. She took a closer look at the photo, after which she turned as pale as a sheet and was at a sudden loss for words.
“Erlan, what’s the matter?”
Tears welled up in Fang Erlan’s eyes, and her vision began to get blurry. “Ruzhen… Fang Ruzhen…”
Noticing that she was behaving unusually, Xiao Chenyang asked, “Do you really know her?”
Fang Erlan nodded with tears in her eyes and said, “I do, but she’s been missing for more than a decade. Why would she… suddenly want to kill me… I don’t have a feud with her.”
“Are you sure that you didn’t have any conflict with her that made her bear a grudge against you?”
After going through her memories carefully, Fang Erlan answered, “No, we’re childhood friends and we used to play together when we were children. Later on, her mother killed her father cruelly and Ruzhen went missing afterward. Her grandparents, uncle, and aunt tried to search for her everywhere but did not manage to find her even after a long time. I never saw her again ever since.”
After some thought, Xiao Chenyang said, “It’d be impossible for her to try and kill you without any reason. Perhaps you did offend her but you’re just unaware of it. But you haven’t seen each other for so many years. Children probably wouldn’t bear grudges for so long. It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Are you sure that she was the one who had instigated the man to do it?”
“Yes, there’s a voice recording. Listen to it.” Xiao Chenyang replayed the voice recording and said, “I’ve already verified that the voice belongs to her. I’ve also found her address and contact number. Would you like to contact her and ask her about it yourself?”
“Yes. Give it to me, I’ll call her now to ask her just why she wanted to kill me,” Fang Erlan urged agitatedly.
“Okay, don’t get too worked up and impatient.” He then dialed Fang Ruzhen’s mobile number.
After a melodious dial tone, a woman answered coldly, “Hello, who’s speaking?”
“Are you Ms. Fang Ruzhen?” Xiao Chenyang asked.
“Yes. You are?”
“I’m Ms. Fang Erlan’s bodyguard. She has something to say to you,” Xiao Chenyang answered before handing the phone to Fang Erlan.
Fang Erlan held the mobile phone with trembling hands and asked straightaway, “Ruzhen, it really is you. Why did you do that?”
“Why… did I do what?” Fang Ruzhen had yet to recover from the shock of receiving a sudden call from her. She was completely caught off guard and was at a momentary loss for an answer.
