Chapter 269 – Always A Step Ahead
No one was born a demon and even if he were, he would have some softness and kindness in his heart.
Three years ago, Danny had chanced upon an orphanage, seen its dire straits and the pitiful children and he had been pulled back into his childhood memories. He had walked in wanting to give the children something, and that was how a kind girl had walked into his life.
This kind girl was Sang Qing-Xin and she had fallen in love with a demon; had a daughter with the demon.
Danny was not a demon in Sang Qing-Xin’s world. He was just a purchaser for a foreign business enterprise and travelled often. The times when Danny was home were her happiest times and her home was always full of laughter. She loved how Danny would hold her baby girl Sang Yue-Yue up high and felt that that was the most beautiful scene in the world.
It was late at night and Sang Yue-Yue refused to go to sleep.
“Mummy, when is Daddy coming back?” Sang Yue-Yue blinked adorably from under her covers with large, dark eyes.
“Daddy’s only been away for a few days and you miss him already?” Sang Qing-Xin patted Sang Yue-Yue’s little head. “Go to sleep. Your Daddy will be home when you wake up.”
“No, I’m not sleeping. I want Daddy.”
“Hmm? Not listening to me? Then I’ll… Scratch your itch!” Sang Qing-Xin reached into the warm covers and tickled Sang Yue-Yue.
“Heeheehee….” Sang Yue-Yue rolled about on the bed.
“Sh… Sleep, sleep.” Sang Qing-Xin stopped tickling her.
Sang Yue-Yue’s eyes were still wide open. “Mummy, why is my surname ‘Sang’?”
Sang Qing-Xin paused. “Your Daddy said that we would take my surname if we had a girl, and his surname if we had a boy. Mummy wants to have a little brother for you, and he will be surnamed ‘Dan’, like Daddy.”
“Why do the children here have no Mummy or Daddy?”
“Their Mummies and Daddies have given them up, so they live in the orphanage.”
“I live in the orphanage too, so why do I have Mummy and Daddy?”
“Silly, stop asking these questions. I’ll spank you if you don’t go to sleep.”
“Mummy, I miss Daddy…”
The long-winded conversation in the little room was full of warmth and a mother’s love.
Outside the window, Xia Lei felt a twinge in his heart. The woman in the room was waiting for her man and the child was waiting for her father, but the man they were waiting for would never have a chance to return to them.
Xia Lei hesitated, then knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Sang Qing-Xin’s voice was filled with alarm.
“Are you Miss Sang Qing-Xin?” said Xia Lei.
“I am. Who are you? How did you get in?”
“Don’t be afraid, and don’t be nervous either. I’m not a bad guy. I’m Danny’s friend and I’m here because of an emergency,” said Xia Lei.
“You’re Danny’s friend? I’ve never seen his friends.” Sang Qing-Xin still refused to open the door. “Please leave, or I’ll call the police.”
“Danny’s been in a car accident. The doctors need a family member to sign the agreement before they can operate. Danny told me this address – he will die if you don’t go to the hospital and sign the agreement,” said Xia Lei.
The door opened quickly and the woman behind the door was small and skinny. Her skin was sallow and she was not beautiful at all. She had a kindly, humble air.
“Come with me,” said Xia Lei, “Danny’s in a dangerous situation. Oh, take your child too. Danny wants to see Yue-Yue.”
“Wait, I’ll carry her.” Sang Qing-Xin grew anxious and hurried to carry Sang Yue-Yue. She was so anxious that she did not put on her shoes and followed Xia Lei out in just her slippers.
“Mummy, what happened to Daddy?” Sang Yue-Yue was just a child of three and she did not understand the implications of a car accident.
Sang Qing-Xin brushed some tears away. “We’re going to see Daddy now.”
“Yeah! I want to see Daddy! Heehee…” Sang Yue-Yue danced in happiness.
Xia Lei let out a small sigh and opened the car door. “Please get in.”
Sang Qing-Xin carried Sang Yue-Yue into the passenger seat and Xia Lei also got in the car. He started the engine and drove towards the main gates of the orphanage.
The gates to the orphanage were wide open but the old man security guard did not come out to close the gates.
Sang Qing-Xin looked at Xia Lei in alarm. “How did you get in?”
She was asking this question for the second time. She had been in a panic when she heard that Danny was in an accident and forgot to pursue the matter earlier but the open gates made her wary again.
Xia Lei did not speak. He stepped on the accelerator and the black Chevrolet dashed through the orphanage gates and onto deserted streets.
“Let me out!” Sang Qin-Xin was surprised and angry. She shouted at Xia Lei, “I’ll call the police!”
Xia Lei ignored her and continued driving.
Sang Qing-Xin took her phone out and made to call the police.
Xia Lei snatched the phone out of her hands and raised his voice, “Calm down. I’m not a bad person – I’m saving you two!”
“Whuuh…” Sang Yue-Yue got scared to tears by Xia Lei.
Sang Qing-Xin was also scared to tears and she sobbed, “Mister, I have no money. Please, I beg you, let me and my child go. Don’t hurt us. I really, really have no money. The orphanage depends on the donations of kind people for its operations… I beg you…”
Xia Lei wanted to tell them the truth in that instant but the sight of their tears closed his mouth.
It was easy enough for him to open his mouth and tell them the truth but this concerned their entire lives. Would a kind person like Sang Qing-Xin accept the news that the man she loved was a demon-like killer? And a cute child like Sang Yue-Yue – would she accept the fact that her father was a bad man? How would she face the strange looks from classmates and their gossiping when she went to school?
“Shut up!” Xia Lei put on a fierce act. “Or else-”
He did not voice his threat but Sang Qing-Xin shut her mouth. Sang Yue-Yue kept crying and Sang Qing-Xin covered her mouth, afraid that the child’s crying would anger this fierce man and draw calamity.
Xia Lei stopped the car by the side of the road and looked back in the direction of Angel Orphanage.
Sang Qing-Xin quietly reached to open the door, but it was locked. She could not open it.
“Don’t be foolish. I came to save you. Look behind us,” said Xia Lei.
Sang Qing-Xin looked back. Some black Toyota Prados appeared on the road by Angel Orphanage, led by a Bugatti Veyron. The doors opened and a group of black-suited men emerged. They walked quickly to the main doors of the orphanage. Sang Qing-Xin’s gaze went to Gu Ke-Wu, who stood in the doorway of Angel Orphanage. This was her first time seeing him and she did not know who he was.
“Who… are they?” she asked probingly.
“Bad guys. You’d have fallen into their hands if I were one step later. They will use you to corner Danny. I am protecting you, believe me. I will not harm you. I’ll let you see Danny,” said Xia Lei.
“W, Why should I believe you?” Sang Qing-Xin was still wary.
“You have no choice,” said Xia Lei.
“Y, you say you’re protecting us, so just send Yue-Yue and I to the police station,” said Sang Qing-Xin.
Xia Lei started the car but did not switch the lights on. He turned into a road before heading straight towards the military factory.
Two bodyguards approached the guard-post at the gates of Angel Orphanage. After a quick search, one bodyguard said, “Young Master, there’s an old man here. He’s fast asleep.”
“No surveillance cameras,” said another bodyguard.
“Don’t bother about him. Look for them and get them out.” Gu Ke-Wu was not in the mood to care about an old security guard.
The bodyguards dispersed quickly, going to every room to search for Sang Qing-Xin and Sang Yue-Yue. They did not have Xia Lei’s left eye, so they could only search by pushing every door open.
Gu Ke-Wu stood in the activities section of the orphanage yard and his brows furrowed more deeply with every door that was opened. He seemed to suddenly realise something and he swung his head around to stare at the wide-open gates. The gates had been open when he’d brought his men in – why didn’t the old security guard close them?
“Shit!” Gu Ke-Wu ran towards the guard-post.
The old security guard was awakened by a cold splash of water from a cup. He opened his eyes to see the evil glare of Gu Ke-Wu.
Gu Ke-Wu grabbed the old man by the collar and shouted angrily, “Talk! Did someone come by earlier?”
The old guard was scared silly. “Wh, what do you want?”
“Talk!” Gu Ke-Wu slammed the old guard’s head onto the bed.
“I, I don’t know… I’ve only seen you. Wh, what do you want?” The old man seemed to think of something and he trembled as he fished out a roll of loose change from his mouth. “I, I just have this little bit. I, I’ll give them all to you. Please don’t, don’t scare the children.”
Gu Ke-Wu wanted to slam his head into the wall at that instant. He was the heir of the Gu clan and this old man was treating him like a robber! Fine, he could think of him as a robber, but this old fart didn’t even have a hundred yuan!
A bodyguard appeared in the doorway of the guard-post. “They aren’t here, Young Master Wu. We’ve searched the whole place and we haven’t seen the mother and daughter.”
“What?” Gu Ke-Wu’s heart sank.
He’d had a feeling when he’d realised that the gate was open but he didn’t expect that what he was worried about would actually happen!
Another bodyguard appeared in the doorway. “We’ve searched everywhere, Young Master Wu. They’re not here. What do we do?”
Xia Lei’s face appeared in Gu Ke-Wu’s mind immediately. He seemed to lose his vitality when Xia Lei’s face appeared in his head and he aged ten years in an instant. This was an indescribable feeling. He had already calculated and taken action but Xia Lei was always one step ahead! Why? Why!
“What do we do now, Young Master Wu?” asked a bodyguard cautiously.
Gu Ke-Wu suddenly roared crazily, “What are you standing around for? SEARCH! Find that mother and daughter, even if you have to turn the whole of Jingdu City upside down!”
The group of bodyguards looked at each other. Jingdu was huge and had a population of over 20 million – how were they going to find the mother and daughter?
