The man paused for a moment, then retorted sternly, “What the heck? A kid?! Come out here. I’ll help your parents teach you a lesson!” Su Luozhan’s brow furrowed, but before she could say anything, the man at the door started rambling madly. “You have to have basic respect as a human, you know! Do you know what respect is? Not causing others trouble. What school do you go to? I’ll for sure call your teachers. What exactly are they teaching you, you brat?!”
There was no sign of the man falling silent, and a cold shadow spread over Su Luozhan’s pretty little face. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I apologize, okay?”
“What are you saying? I can’t hear you! Where’s all that energy you had a minute ago?”
Su Luozhan just wanted to get rid of this weirdo who’d turned up all of a sudden. She stuffed the napkins in Chenchen’s mouth a little more securely, stood, and walked toward the door. One step, two steps…
Just before she reached the door, she stopped abruptly. Although that man always cleaned and paid the fees on time, everyone knew that no one lived here. The building had stood empty for ages. Why wasn’t this man alarmed to learn—in the middle of the night, no less—that a child was living here without her parents?
Putting two and two together, Su Luozhan turned tail and ran. In the same moment, the old wooden door was forced open violently from outside, and multiple police officers barged in. Su Luozhan grabbed the machete that was stuck in the cabinet. Before, she hadn’t been able to get the blade out no matter what she did—but under this pressure, she now somehow pulled it free. The police were about to reach her, though.
Su Luozhan lifted the machete and pressed it against the back of Chenchen’s neck. Blood immediately welled up and began to drip. “Don’t come any closer!” she screamed.
The front door quivered against the wall, having been roughly knocked open, yet the air in the room seemed to freeze.
Suddenly, Su Luozhan knelt, hiding behind Chenchen. Her heavy machete seemed about to come down at any moment. The blade traveled around Chenchen’s neck once and finally stopped on one side. Su Luozhan’s hands trembled, but her gaze, when she stared up at the officers, looked like that of a small beast fighting to the death—ferocious and furious.
Tao Ran stopped anyone from getting closer. He stood a few careful steps away. “Su…Su Luozhan, right?”
Su Luozhan didn’t respond.
Thoughts flew through Tao Ran’s head. He didn’t know how to negotiate with someone this young. That was when Fei Du appeared at the door, arriving a little later than everyone else. He turned slightly to the side, hiding his injured arm. Then he swept a casual look around the room. “Where’s the person we’re taking in?”
Su Luozhan froze again. She couldn’t help but look at him.
“Oh. There’s a kid,” Fei Du said, as if he’d only just noticed her. His tone brusque, he asked her, “Where’s the kidnapping murderer who was with you?”
Su Luozhan looked at the machete in her hand and the girl under its blade, then back up at Fei Du, as though she didn’t know how to respond.
“Put the knife down. It’s okay. No need to be so nervous.” Fei Du looked around the old unit. He could see that the previous owner had long since moved out, but they’d left behind signs of a chaotic life: walls stained yellow from smoke and oil, and a pile of empty liquor bottles in the corner. Fei Du snorted judgmentally. “What a thing to do—use a stupid child as bait, then hide. I’ve never encountered such an incompetent criminal before. Don’t worry, little girl—this place is completely surrounded by police. He won’t get away. These nice police officers and their Law on the Protection of Minors will keep you safe… I can’t believe you can even lift such a large knife. Isn’t it heavy?”
Now that he’d mentioned it, Su Luozhan immediately felt as though her wrist was going numb, as though it could no longer hold the blade’s weight. Simultaneously, she pieced together what Fei Du was saying—the police thought the man had done this, and that she was just an innocent piece of bait!
She’d fooled them, she realized smugly. Staring pathetically at Fei Du, she forced tears to well in her eyes, which reddened the rims and made Su Luozhan look even more pitiful than Chenchen.
Tao Ran immediately caught on and stepped forward. When he saw Su Luozhan shrink back and grip the machete tighter in alarm, he crouched down and spread his hands. With his gaze at her level, he tried to focus entirely on her and ignore Chenchen. “Is it true? Someone forced you?”
Su Luozhan hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded decisively.
Tao Ran’s voice grew even gentler, and he slowly extended an open hand to her, inch by inch. “Then can you give me the knife and take us to find the bad guy?”
Su Luozhan stared at his hand, suddenly unsure. When it came too close, her own hands nervously lifted the machete a little. The trembling blade nicked Chenchen’s neck in no time—but this time, Suo Luozhan hadn’t done so deliberately. She really couldn’t hold it up anymore.
Tao Ran’s hand paused naturally in midair. “Is the bad guy named Xu Wenchao? Did he use you to kidnap Qu Tong? Did he do anything bad to you?”
Fei Du snorted. “To get together with him, did your mother dress you up like a doll and put makeup on you?”
Su Luozhan gasped extremely quietly, as though controlling her emotions took all her strength.
“She was getting old, and she couldn’t keep up her youthful good looks, so she put her child on the line. She wouldn’t let you wear anything else or cut your hair, right?” Fei Du stared at her. “Did she abuse you? Did she ever hit you?”
As he spoke, Su Luozhan’s tears spilled over and blurred her vision. It was unclear whether they were real or fake. Suddenly, she felt something tighten over her wrist—Tao Ran had taken the opportunity to grab the hand she was holding the machete with. Su Luozhan struggled instinctively against his grip, but Tao Ran said quietly, “Don’t be afraid. It’s okay—it’s okay. I know you’re a good kid. Someone forced you to do this. Don’t worry…”
His voice was so gentle, but he had a vise grip on her. Su Luozhan had no way to resist. After struggling for a while, she gave up and let Tao Ran take her knife.
An officer approached and scooped up Chenchen, removing her from Su Luozhan’s control.