Xia Linyin looked at the empty space in front of her and felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.

The teacher said that Mo Li had transferred schools.

She couldn't believe that Mo Li had transferred schools without saying goodbye.

She asked the teacher for the address and went to Mo Li's house.

In the ruins-like place, excavators were working with a roar.

She walked through the pile of rubble until she found Mo Li's house.

The red-tiled brick house, located next to a stinking ditch, had its door half-closed. Pushing the door open, the inside was a mess, as if it had been swept by a strong wind.

Xia Linyin saw dried bloodstains on the ground. Further inside, in Mo Li's room, she saw scattered drink straws, erasers, pen refills, and a lock of long hair tied with a red string...

She also found the sycamore leaf she had lost.

The landlord told her that the people living there had moved out and hadn't paid their utility bills, but now she couldn't get through to them by phone.

She checked the room; Mo's father's clothes were gone, but Mo Li's belongings were still there—books, clothes, and shoes…

Mo Li's father is gone, so what about Mo Li? Where did Mo Li go?

No one could answer her question.

A neighbor told her that Mo's father had accumulated gambling debts and had gone into hiding in the countryside.

But where is the countryside?

Mo Li and his father vanished without a trace, as if they had evaporated into thin air.

He and his father were rootless people in this city, and probably no one, except for Xia Linyin and the debt collectors, would care where they went.

Xia Linyin realized that she and Mo Li had truly lost all contact.

She couldn't find him.

Xia Linyin picked up some of Mo Li's belongings, as well as the small items scattered on the ground, and took them home.

We'll return it to Mo Li when we find him.

She also had to question him about why he secretly collected the things she had used. Xia Linyin held these things in a daze, lost in thought.

She often came here to visit, hoping that Mo Li would return one day.

They also encountered several groups of people who came to collect debts, and they were all looking for where Mo Li's father had gone.

Until one day, excavators roared and demolished the houses here, turning them into ruins.

It shattered her last glimmer of hope.

——

"Perform well, and if the boss takes a liking to you, your hard times will be over."

The scarred man patted Mo Li's cheek and said that even though he only liked women, he couldn't help but be amazed when he saw Mo Li's face.

The hair that had covered her eyebrows, eyes, and ears, which was too long, was all cut off, and she got a clean-cut buzz cut, which completely revealed Mo Li's eyebrows, eyes, and face shape.

The eyebrows are not thick, but the shape is very nice, as if they have been trimmed and are long without any stray hairs.

Especially his eyes, which were pure, clear, and even somewhat eerie black. However, because he was nearsighted, his eyes had a misty quality when he wasn't wearing glasses, which eliminated the unnatural and eerie feeling of the blackness and made his pupils even more attractive.

It gives you the urge to dig it up and keep it as a treasure.

After a week of good food and drink, Mo Li's cheeks have filled out a bit, and her complexion has become rosier.

Her chin is no longer so frighteningly sharp, and every feature of her face has a kind of exquisite beauty.

The scarred man grabbed Mo Li's shoulder and led her into the living room, which was decorated in an extremely luxurious style, exuding an air of wealth.

At a long dining table that could seat more than a dozen people, a man with a burly face, wearing a black silk shirt, and with a thick gold chain around his neck sat at the table.

Adorned with gold and jade rings, she held a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, cutting the steak, which was only medium-rare, with fresh blood still visible as she cut it.

The knife made a screeching sound as it sliced ​​through the plate. The man cut off a large piece of beef, put it in his mouth, and chewed it heartily.

You could vaguely see bits of steak and blood foam around the corners of his mouth.

Behind the man stood two rows of uniformly dressed subordinates, all with their hands respectfully folded in front of them, their eyes fixed straight ahead, like two rows of standard-bearers.

The scarred man dragged Mo Li to the dining table. He didn't even glance at them, focusing instead on eating the steak on his plate.

For a moment, only the sound of the man chewing filled the living room.

Putting the last piece of meat into his mouth, the man grabbed the wine glass beside him and drank the red wine in one gulp.

Red wine spilled from the corner of his mouth and slid down his neck. The man picked up a damp towel from beside him and wiped his mouth. He then threw the stained towel back onto his plate before looking at the scarred man and Mo Li.

The scarred man immediately kicked Mo Li in the knee, forcing Mo Li to kneel down.

With one hand, he restrained the struggling Mo Li, his large, iron-like hand pressing down on Mo Li's shoulder like a mountain, while his other hand gripped Mo Li's head, forcing Mo Li to tilt his head back.

As if appraising merchandise, Chen Laoda scrutinized Mo Li for over ten seconds, especially staring at Mo Li's eyes for a few seconds before laughing and saying, "These eyes... are quite interesting."

Patting his full belly, Boss Chen turned around and spread his legs, revealing a large bulge in his crotch.

Touching the large bulge through the fabric, Boss Chen looked at Mo Li with primal desire in his eyes. "See that?"

Mo Li tensed up and struggled, but the scarred man grabbed his shoulder even harder, with a force that almost crushed his shoulder bone.

Boss Chen chuckled, loosened his belt, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a dark pistol.

You know how to lick an ice pop, right?

"Use your mouth to lick my dick until it's as big as it was before. If you lick it well, I'll give you whatever you want. If you don't—"

With the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against Mo Li's head, Boss Chen said, "I'll shoot you dead!"

The scarred man released Mo Li. Mo Li, who had a gun pressed against his forehead by Boss Chen, did not move. He looked at Boss Chen fearlessly, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion.

This doesn't look like the eyes of a teenager; it looks more like the eyes of a killer.

Perhaps it was because he was beaten to the point of near death by his father, or perhaps for some other reason, that Mo Li changed.

Feeling inferior, sensitive, and timid, and numb to being beaten, he was no longer the Mo Li he once was the moment he suddenly rebelled against his father and his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.

He, who had once been numb, now had a longing for this world, and the blood ties between him and Mo's father were severed by Mo's father himself the moment he sold him.

Apart from the girl hidden deep in his heart, nothing else in this world meant anything to him.

With a "click," Boss Chen cocked his pistol and pressed it against Mo Li's forehead, asking, "Aren't you afraid?"

Whether it's Boss Chen's muscular physique or the aura of someone who has climbed to a high position step by step through bloodshed, he exudes a tremendous sense of oppression.

Those with a weak heart might urinate on the spot under such pressure.