In the blink of an eye, while Rao was throwing a tantrum, Ruan Chen packed her luggage with trembling hands—a tattered bundle containing a few patched clothes and a few biscuits she had found among the things Hu Wanglong had left behind.

She tiptoed out the door, wearing sandals with broken buckles.

She wandered aimlessly for a long time, from dawn to dusk, until she was dizzy with hunger.

The temperature dropped even lower in the evening, and a light drizzle was falling. Ruan Chen was shivering from the cold. She squatted down in front of a shop, took out all the clothes from her bag and wrapped them around herself, and then ate two chocolate sandwich cookies.

A homeless man was wandering on the street when he saw a pretty but somewhat abrupt little face under the dim streetlights.

The filthy, smelly man swallowed hard, approaching his precious prey, a gift from heaven, his breath trembling with excitement.

The next second, a sharp pain came from between his legs.

Ruan Chen gripped the steel pipe tightly, his skinny legs trembling slightly, whether from fear or cold, he didn't know.

The steel pipe was hollow, and her palms were covered in sticky blood.

With a cold face, Ruan Chen pulled out the steel pipe, and amidst the homeless man's pig-like screams and fountains of blood, he thrust it forward fiercely again!

The homeless man couldn't even scream this time.

She wiped the blood splattered on her face with the back of her hand, her eyes chillingly cold, and picked up her small bundle to find her next place to stay.

A van stopped in front of Ruan Chen, splashing dirty water all over her as it braked.

Her eyes still held a murderous glint as she gripped the blood-stained steel pipe tightly with one hand, wiping her other hand on her clothes.

The car door was pulled open, a sack was thrown out, and then the van sped away.

Ruan Chen glanced at the departing van; it had a Beijing license plate (京A).

It was already late at night, and the streets were deserted. She stared at the strangely twisting sack for a long time before using a steel pipe to pry it open.

It was a little boy.

Blindfolded, gagged, and tightly bound.

Ruan Chen carefully untied his restraints.

She looked at the little boy in his elegant suit and leather shoes and felt ashamed of herself for the first time.

The boy was exquisitely handsome, with a pair of clear, mercury-like eyes that stared at Ruan Chen for a long time before asking, "Where is this?"

Ruan Chen did not answer him.

At that moment, a bold idea came to her: to take the little boy back to Cong Rao.

This way, she could still live in that disgusting house for the time being, instead of being sold to the ecstasy hall—even though she hated it. But her brief runaway had made her realize that she couldn't survive on her own outside—the world was full of dangers for a delicate little girl like her.

So she crossed her arms and coldly questioned from above, "It seems your family doesn't want you anymore; they've abandoned you."

The little boy's feigned composure was easily shattered by Ruan Chen, and he frantically denied it, "No, they just..."

He stopped, recalling how, when the gun was pointed at him and his brother, his father almost without hesitation chose his brother.

The dirty-looking older woman in front of me is right; her family doesn't want her anymore.

"Just what? Hmm? Look, they stuffed you into a sack and threw you out. It's obvious they're afraid you'll come back. You're just a burden."

Ruan Chen was young and didn't understand what PUA was, but she seemed to have a natural talent for manipulating this boy who was younger than her.

“You don’t believe me? Then go back and ask them yourself, see if they’ll throw you out again—but you might not be so lucky next time,” Ruan Chen said, generously handing over the last chocolate sandwich cookie. “If you hadn’t met me, you would have frozen or starved to death on the street tomorrow morning.”

The boy took the bait that Ruan Chen handed him and stuffed it into his mouth in a few bites.

Ruan Chen deliberately ignored him, dragging the blood-stained steel pipe, and turned to walk towards the slums on her own.

Anyway, this is the outskirts of Meicheng, and besides, in the middle of the night, the only people on the street besides her are some homeless people who look crazy.

The boy followed her.

He would leave when Ruan Chen left, and stop when Ruan Chen stopped, just like a homeless puppy.

Ruan Chen had her back to him, suppressing a smug smile. She walked several hundred meters before turning around and saying in a condescending tone, "Alright, seeing how pitiful you are, would you like to come home with me and be my younger brother? My parents are just missing a son."

The boy hesitated and remained silent.

Ruan Chen leaned close to his ear with malice and pointed to the black smoke billowing from the garbage incineration plant not far away. "Little guy, do you know what that is? Every day, many people freeze to death on the roadside, and they are stuffed into that big chimney and burned into smoke. If you freeze on the roadside overnight, you'll become the black smoke rising from the ground tomorrow."

The little boy finally got scared.

He obediently called out, "Sister."

Ruan Chen nodded in satisfaction and gave the little boy a hand.

The little boy's hands were just as white and soft, lying obediently in Ruan Chen's dark, thin hands, which were still calloused and stained with blood.

How old are you this year?

"You're eight years old, sister."

The little one was unusually sweet-talking, as if she was genuinely afraid that Ruan Chen would abandon her.

"What's your name?"

He was about to utter the last two words, "Fu...", when he suddenly remembered his father's repeated admonitions.

"Remember, no matter who asks, never reveal your real name. This is very important; it concerns your life."

So he swallowed the remaining two words back and shook his head, "Sister, I...don't remember."

Ruan Chen frowned and looked him over.

He can't even remember his own name? Is it because he's mentally challenged that his family doesn't want him?

It's okay, such a handsome little boy, even if he's mentally challenged, can fetch a good price.

Ruan Chen held his hand, feeling just like she was walking a stray dog ​​she'd picked up from the street. So she said, "Then you can be called Jianzhi. Your surname is Fu, right? So your full name is Fu Jianzhi."

Fu Jianzhi nodded immediately.

Ruan Chen was worried that he might not remember, so she asked again, "What's your name?"

“Fu Jianzhi, sister.”

She led Fu Jianzhi back to the slums. The road was dark and difficult to walk on, especially since it was raining late at night. Fu Jianzhi followed behind her, walking with uneven steps.

Ruan Chen's palm suddenly felt empty, and Fu Jianzhi tripped over something and fell to the ground.

She hesitated for a moment, then bent down and laboriously carried the little boy on her back, stumbling as she walked home.

Fu Jianzhi felt pain all over his body, especially his feet. Although the leather shoes looked nice, they had blistered his feet.

He endured it all the way, afraid that the older sister who found him would also find him troublesome and abandon him halfway.

Fu Jianzhi put his arm around the girl's thin shoulders and smelled the unpleasant scent emanating from her, which gave him a strange sense of peace.

Cong Rao and Cao De are still awake.

They have discovered that Ruan Chen is missing, along with a few of her clothes and the leftover cookies from Hu Wanglong.

Without a doubt, she ran away.

For Cao De, this meant a loss of 30,000 yuan, and he was frantic with worry.

He was venting his anger on Cong Rao, demanding to know where Ruan Chen might have run off to, when the door was pushed open.

He had been searching for Ruan Chen all day. She stood quietly at the door, carrying a mud monkey on her back. Her small face was both beautiful and cold.

"Didn't you want a son? I've found one for you."