"Young Master, I..." Yu Qiao hesitated, gripping Shen Zhao's hand tightly with unease, her slender shoulders drooping, as if trying to escape.

Shen Zhao gently patted her back, his voice as gentle as a pool of soft water, extremely soothing: "Baby, to me, whether you are Yu Qiao or Yuan Jiang, you are my lover and wife."

"It's the same for them. Whether you are Yu Qiao or Yuan Jiang, you are the daughter they have been searching for for more than ten years."

“Baby, don’t be afraid.” Shen Zhao kissed her eyebrows and eyes, and hugged her. “If you don’t want to accept them, I can take you away.”

"We're not going back to City A. You can go wherever you want."

His words were soothing and gentle, like soft music, calming the restless emotions in Yu Qiao's heart.

Yu Qiao recalled Jiang Zhujun and Yuan Zhiling's faces, and a memory suddenly flashed through her mind: half a year ago, Yuan Zhiling appeared in Luwei Village, and upon seeing her, his face was filled with wild joy and excitement, as if he had found some treasure.

However, at that time, she forgot who Yuan Zhiling was.

She slowly lifted her dark eyelashes and suddenly smiled: "Young Master, you even tried to run away from home for my sake?"

Shen Zhao laughed along with her: "I have a weak constitution and haven't traveled far much, but I really want to go with you to see the scenery elsewhere."

"I also want to try to see all the ugliness in this world, and use my abilities to help those in need."

It's like a baby, but others may not have the courage to live.

"Young Master." Yu Qiao looked stunned, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed his lips. A heartfelt smile appeared on her pretty face.

"I suddenly realized that it was fortunate that I was the one who was kidnapped back then, not some other girl."

"This world is far too malicious towards girls."

"human trafficking, illegal egg retrieval, and even surrogacy..."

“If I hadn’t gone through this, I might never have known what these girls might have suffered. Now that I know, I have more courage to confront these dirty and dark deals.”

Yu Qiao's light gray eyes shone as she gripped Chen Zhao's hand tightly: "Young Master, I think I know what kind of life I want to live and what kind of person I want to become in the future."

"Hmm?" Shen Zhao brushed her messy hair aside and tucked it behind her ear.

“I want to be a journalist.” Yu Qiao’s lips curled up: “To expose these unknown dark sides to the public and warn everyone.”

"At the same time, within my limited capacity, I will help those girls who have been persecuted and misled."

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Shen Zhao put his arm around Yu Qiao’s shoulder.

A gentle sea breeze blew, and the blazing sun hanging in the azure sky grew increasingly dazzling, gradually becoming unbearable to look at.

Yu Qiao squinted, looked up at the sky, and said softly, "Let's go back before that."

"I really want my parents to hug me."

"I've wanted to for a while now."

Shen Zhao agreed with everything she said.

He said, "I'll do anything as long as I'm with you."

————

One day later, in a prison in City A.

"Yaozu, why are you locking us up together?" Chen Baozhu, dressed in a dark blue prison uniform, her hair a mess like a bird's nest, swallowed hard as she looked around with one eye open, swallowing hard. "Are we going to be beheaded?! I don't want to die, waaaah..."

"Shut up!" Zhuang Yaozu leaned against the corner of the wall, barely alive. Four of his ribs were broken, and his tendons in his hands and feet had all been severed and had not yet been reattached.

Chen Baozhu's tendons in her hands and feet have been reconnected. She grits her teeth slightly, and her limbs can still move.

His cloudy eyes darted around twice, his face turning ashen, and he sighed, "But it's still better to be here than to be caught by that wretched girl. That wretched girl is inhuman; how could she treat the mother who raised her like that!"

"Everyone says that the kindness of raising children is greater than heaven, but this wretched girl, I spit on her! She's a heartless wretch!"

Chen Baozhu grew angrier as she spoke, accidentally aggravating her wound and wincing in pain: "Ouch, it hurts, it hurts like hell! You heartless, despicable bastards!"

Zhuang Yaozu's liver-colored lips trembled. The pain all over his body almost made him faint at any moment, but even if he fainted, he would be woken up by the pain.

"Squeak squeak squeak~" Two mice crawled on the ground.

The stench was so strong that two rats frantically scurried into Zhuang Yaozu's trouser legs, disappearing into his crotch in a flash.

"Holy shit!!" Zhuang Yaozu trembled all over, his left eye snapped open, the bloodshot eyeball almost bulging out: "Chen Baozhu, quick! Quickly catch the rat for me!"

"Fuck you!"

Chen Baozhu gasped in shock. In an instant, bright red blood gushed from Zhuang Yaozu's crotch and flowed onto the ground.

"Ah...it hurts so much, I *****" Zhuang Yaozu trembled all over, and the veins on his neck bulged out in a terrifyingly twisted way.

The stench of blood excited the two hungry rats even more. Their eyes gleamed green, and they began to tear and bite wildly.

"Ah!" Zhuang Yaozu was covered in sweat, writhing and struggling on the ground in pain, roaring angrily, "You wretched woman! Quick, get her away!"

When Chen Baozhu saw this scene, she was so frightened that her hair stood on end and her eyes widened. She looked around, but there were no tools she could use.

She could only take off her shoes and smash them hard against Zhuang Yaozu's genitals: "Come out! Come out! This is my manhood, do you think you can eat it?!"

"Squeak squeak squeak~" The rat became increasingly ferocious.

One of them actually crawled out from there, bared its teeth, and fiercely pounced on Chen Baozhu's face, biting off a piece of flesh!

"My face!" Chen Baozhu screamed, her face contorted and hideous, clutching at the rat that was still tearing at her face, but she couldn't tear it off no matter what she did.

"Squeak squeak squeak~" The rat bared its cold fangs and pounced on the ground, biting Chen Baozhu's lips.

"Squeak squeak squeak~"

"Squeak squeak squeak~"

Because of the squeaking, more than a dozen rats came and began to climb all over Chen Baozhu and Zhuang Yaozu, tearing at their flesh.

The pitiful and desperate howls filled the entire prison until the two men were on the verge of death, barely clinging to life, when two strong and tall men slowly appeared.

"Tsk, things might not be going well, he's about to die." One of them slowly unlocked the door, looked at the scene inside, and sneered.

Another person chuckled sinisterly, "It would be too easy for such villains to die. Don't forget the orders from above: we can't let these two idiots die. Drag them away for treatment right away."

"Old Fang, you've avenged your daughter. Come on, let's carry these two beasts out."

The man, referred to as Lao Fang, had tears in his eyes as he recalled how his young daughter had been forcibly taken away by evil people, and how, after searching for many years, her remains were finally found recently.

Then, when he stared at Zhuang Yaozu and Chen Baozhu, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes: "Let's go, if we wait any longer, they might just die."

"Hmm, next time, let some snakes in."

Old Fang sneered, "Then I'll learn how to raise a few."

"No, no..." Zhuang Yaozu faintly heard their conversation and cried out in grief and indignation.

The pain throbbed through his nerve endings, making him feel like he was in hell. He began to cry and beg, "Just kill me! Let me die a quick death!"

Chen Baozhu wasn't in much better shape. Her entire face was torn and bloody, and even speaking was excruciatingly painful. She mumbled, "You bitch, once I get out of here, I'll definitely, I'll definitely kill you..."

"Want to die? Not so easy!" Old Fang spat fiercely. "After doing so many despicable things, your retribution has come! You think this is the end of it?"

The other man sneered repeatedly, patted Lao Fang's shoulder reassuringly, and then spat on Chen Baozhu's hideous flesh: "The future is long! Whatever sins you've committed, plenty of people will come after you!"

"Old Fang, try to look on the bright side! At least the people who harmed your daughter have been caught. In the future, the two of us brothers will slowly torture these beasts!"

"Okay, good!" Old Fang wiped away the tears welling up in his eyes with his rough hands, and a relieved smile finally appeared on his weathered and numb face.

Daughter, the person who harmed you has received his just deserts.

Don't worry, Dad will definitely get you the justice that is rightfully yours!

————

Silver Bay Manor.

Jiang Zhujun paced back and forth anxiously, frequently peering towards the door: "Jin'er, didn't Zhao Bao say he'd be here soon? Half an hour has passed, and we still haven't seen him."

"Zhujun, don't be too anxious. Since Zhaobao said he was coming back, he must have brought Jiangjiang back with him." Qin Jin'er was no less surprised than anyone else when she learned that Yu Qiao was Yuan Jiang.

But after the initial surprise came overwhelming joy.

Yu Qiao, that's Zhao Bao's girlfriend! I never would have guessed she's actually Zhu Jun's daughter!

That means you know them inside and out.

Yuan Zhiling was equally anxious, sweat beading on his forehead: "Did they bring Shen Zhao back or not?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a low-key yet luxurious Maybach sped towards them from a distance.

Yu Qiao nervously clenched her fingers, her pretty face filled with anxiety. Shen Zhao noticed this, squeezed Yu Qiao's hand, and said gently, "Baby, don't be nervous."

“If they do anything that makes you uncomfortable, I’ll drag you away immediately.”

Yu Qiao pressed her long, fair fingers to her chest, her light gray eyes fixed on Shen Zhao, and nodded: "Okay."

The car stopped.

Fang Jiaojiao immediately got out of the car, went around to the side to open the car door for Shen Zhao. After Shen Zhao got out of the car, he went around to the other side to open the car door and gentlemanly extended his hand: "Baby, get out of the car."

"Is it Jiang Jiang?" Jiang Zhujun looked on with longing eyes, her heart filled with excitement, but her feet felt as heavy as if they weighed a ton, and her eyes were dry and about to burst into tears.

Yuan Zhiling was even more furious, her face flushed red as she stared intently into the car, wishing she could rush over, yet also fearful of startling Yu Qiao.

He could only stand beside Jiang Zhujun, and even his breathing became erratic.

Qin Jin'er was also on edge because of this commotion, and she gripped Chen Yujin's hand tightly.

Chen Yu Jin hissed, noticing that the back of his hand was already red. He turned to look at his eldest and youngest sons, who seemed nonchalant, and whispered a reminder with his tongue pressed against his back teeth: "Madam, be gentle, you're hurting me."

Qin Jin'er was stunned. She turned her head to look at Chen Yujin and glared at him fiercely: "Shut up!"

"I'm waiting to see Yu Qiao!"

Chen Yujin said, feeling wronged, "Oh."

The most unhappy person was Yuan Jiang.

Yuan Jiang stood at the very back, her delicate face contorted with anger, her fingers clenched tightly.

Why did you come back?

Since they've been gone for so many years, why do they still come back to fight her for her parents?

You shameless wretch! The Jiang family and the Yuan family belong to her!

With a vicious and sinister gaze, Yu Qiao keenly sensed the malice as she peered through the crowd. She expressionlessly raised her long eyes and, through the crowd, saw Yuan Jiang's ferocious face.

It's her, the daughter adopted by Jiang Zhujun and Yuan Zhiling.

That person, Yuan Jiang, whom she stopped halfway and beat half to death.

Yu Qiao slowly withdrew her gaze, looked at Shen Zhao's well-defined hands, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly, and took Shen Zhao's hand as she got out of the car.

I had just gone downstairs, and my eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet.

Suddenly, I smelled a familiar fragrance, followed by a long-lost warm embrace.

"Jiang Jiang, my Jiang Jiang..." Jiang Zhujun hugged Yu Qiao tightly, tears instantly falling as she looked at her with pity.

"You've suffered so much. It's all my fault. Why did I let you go to the toilet alone? It's all my fault, Jiang Jiang. Don't blame me, don't hate me..."

Jiang Zhujun had nightmares every day and night. She dreamed that Yuan Jiang was beaten to death by bad guys, that Yuan Jiang was secretly hiding in a corner crying and looking for her, and that Yuan Jiang said she hated her...

Every day, every moment, she lived in grief. She begged and knelt countless times, saying that as long as Yuan Jiang could live well, she would be willing to shorten her own lifespan!

"I'm back, I'm finally back..." Jiang Zhujun couldn't contain her excitement. Her breathing became rapid, and her pale face gradually turned rosy.

He hugged Yu Qiao tightly, tears falling onto her neck.

Yu Qiao was at a loss, looking blankly at Shen Zhao, letting Jiang Zhujun hug her and say those words, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

“Jiang Jiang, my Jiang Jiang…” Yuan Zhiling’s eyes shone with joy no less than Jiang Zhujun’s. She stepped forward and patted Yu Qiao’s shoulder: “Mom and Dad have been looking for you for so long…”

"I knew it! Our Jiang Jiang must still be alive!"

"Jiang Jiang, quickly call him Daddy."

Yu Qiao awkwardly turned her head away; the word was too unfamiliar and difficult for her to understand now.

It was simply impossible to open my mouth.

Jiang Zhujun immediately noticed Yu Qiao's discomfort, wiped away her tears, pushed Yuan Zhiling away, and glared at him coldly: "What are you calling Dad? Jiang Jiang just got back, don't scare her!"

His gaze towards Yu Qiao suddenly turned tender and loving: "Jiang Jiang, I'm sorry, we were too excited and scared you, weren't we?"

Yu Qiao's fingers curled up, her slender shoulders drooped, she thought for a while, then looked up at Chen Zhao.

Shen Zhao's lips curved slightly, and he gave her an approving look.

This undoubtedly gave Yu Qiao courage. Her eyelashes trembled as she slowly said, "No."

"Hmm?" Jiang Zhujun was a beat slow to respond, looking at her with teary eyes.

Yu Qiao patiently repeated, "You didn't scare me."

"Tsk~" came a cold tsk sound.

"What would scare her about speaking politely?"