kidnapping

Kidnapping?

Li Mantao's eyes widened slightly: "Those people are kidnappers? I, I thought..."

He knew that Rong Yi was avoiding a group of people, but he simply thought that Rong Yi had offended some local bully, and he didn't expect that it would be a kidnapping.

The seriousness of the matter was beyond his imagination. Li Mantao had never thought that kidnapping, a plot that only happened on TV, would actually happen to him.

However, Li Mantao sensed something was amiss. Aren't kidnappers usually the rich or powerful? Why hadn't Rong Yi's family come looking for him even after all these days since he escaped from the kidnappers' den?

Rong Yi also didn't say that he wanted to look for his family, so Li Mantao mistakenly thought that he was homeless because he got into trouble.

With more and more questions in his heart, Li Mantao slowed down his pace, looked at Rong Yi cautiously, and said, "Can you tell me the truth? I'm actually very curious, but if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Your happiness is the most important thing."

Rong Yi looked into Li Mantao's clear eyes, which were full of worry and heartache, but no regret or fear.

It is obvious that his identity may bring danger.

Rong Yi looked away and said, "Do you know the Rong family?"

Li Mantao shook his head.

Rong Yi mentioned the name of a leading enterprise that was familiar to the people in City C. Li Mantao nodded this time. Some guesses popped up in his mind, and he looked at Rong Yi with his mouth wide open.

"The chairman concealed his marriage, fell in love with my mother, and gave birth to me." Rong Yi said with lowered eyes, "After my mother learned the truth, she became depressed. After she passed away, I was taken back to the Rong family."

Just a few words contained so much information that Li Mantao was splattered with gossip and his jaw dropped. "So, you were kidnapped because of your father?"

Rong Yi gently lifted her eyelashes and looked at him, and asked, "Don't you hate me? I'm an illegitimate child."

"You're such a good person, why would I hate you?" Li Mantao asked curiously. "You didn't choose your birth, and your mother was a victim of deception. The person you should really hate is your biological father, right?"

As he spoke, he became angry: "I hate liars the most, especially those who cheat on my feelings."

Rong Yi's emotions were complicated and indescribable. He had despicably taken advantage of Li Mantao's sympathy. Regardless of whether it was a deception or not, his identity as an illegitimate child was a fact.

But he didn't want to be hated.

He didn't care about other people's dislike, but he didn't want to be disliked by Li Mantao.

Rong Yi avoided Li Mantao's gaze and quietly changed the subject: "That kidnapping targeted my brother."

Li Mantao's attention was indeed diverted. He asked anxiously, "It was your brother who was being kidnapped, so why was it you who was arrested in the end?"

"My brother is weak, and his mother has been keeping his identity a secret. The kidnappers didn't know who my brother is," Rong Yi said. "I'm a year younger than him, but I'm much taller than him."

Li Mantao held his breath. That's why the kidnappers mistook Rong Yi for his brother.

"But you are also a child of the Rong family. You were captured, so why didn't they come looking for you?"

Rong Yi chuckled softly: "Madam is worried that I will threaten my brother's position. I know that she knew about the kidnappers' plan in advance, otherwise she would not let me go out with my brother."

"The chairman is currently struggling with his capital chain and needs help from his wife's family. Naturally, he has to follow his wife's wishes."

"But," Rong Yi turned to look at him, "I'm not interested in power or status at all."

"If possible, I just hope to live with my mother and depend on each other, instead of being a poor wretch hated by everyone in a hypocritical wealthy family."

The young man had handsome features and a tall stature. He had just descended from the sky like a hero to help Li Mantao fight off the bad guys, but now he was as fragile as a piece of porcelain about to break.

Li Mantao's heart pounded, overflowing with an unfamiliar emotion. He interpreted it as pity.

It’s not that I feel sorry for Rong Yi, but I just can’t help but want him to stop being sad and upset, and want to pull him out of the mud.

Li Mantao stopped and looked at Rong Yi's back who also stopped. He followed his heart, opened his arms and hugged Rong Yi tightly.

He said in a muffled voice: "You are not a pitiful creature, you are not pitiful at all."

Li Mantao let go of Rong Yi, stood on tiptoe, and held Rong Yi's thin cheeks with his hands.

"Because you have me now!"

The young boy's almond-shaped eyes were sparkling as he looked straight into Rong Yi's heart. His heartbeat grew louder and faster, like a torrential downpour, gradually drowning out all the sounds from the outside world.

He saw Li Mantao's pale pink lips opening and closing, and he said something, but he didn't hear it.

Li Mantao was overwhelmed with passion and made a heartfelt confession, but the other party did not respond. She stared at him without blinking, with emotions in her eyes that he could not interpret.

He subconsciously looked away, and the pair of bright eyes disappeared, replaced by a red earlobe. He woke up as if from a dream and whispered, "I didn't hear what you just said."

Li Mantao turned around, realizing belatedly how corny his words were. He scratched his head a bit embarrassedly and said, "I just said, let's be good friends for life."

Rong Yi's breathing stopped for a second, and he concealed this unnatural reaction. He gently placed his hand on Li Mantao's head and whispered, "Okay."

After returning home, Li Mantao found Rong Yi tossing and turning in the middle of the night. When he turned on the light, he found Rong Yi covering his shoulders with sweat on his face.

"What's wrong? Was it the injury you got this afternoon?" Li Mantao wanted to lift up Rong Yi's clothes eagerly, but was stopped by Rong Yi.

Rong Yi whispered, "It's okay."

"How can you be fine?" Li Mantao couldn't help but lose his temper. "You're sweating so much, let me see."

Their movement alarmed the grandfather on the other bed. Grandpa asked Rong Yi to take off his clothes, and Li Mantao finally saw the wound on his shoulder.

The place hit by the wooden stick was now swollen and dark purple, looking shocking.

Grandpa didn't ask the reason, he just went to get some medicated oil and rubbed Rongyi's wound.

Li Mantao felt distressed when he saw this. Thinking that it was because of his injury, he couldn't hold back his tears and fell from his eyes.

Rong Yi was sweating profusely from the pain, but she still had the mind to comfort him. She kept whispering that it was okay. The sound of her enduring pain made Li Mantao cry even harder.

I really can't stand this guy, he's always trying to be tough...

"Teacher Taotao? Teacher Taotao? You've come back to life! You've been staring at Rongyi for quite some time!"

Li Mantao suddenly came to his senses and saw Deng Yangshuo, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, looking back at him.

Still lost in the memory, Li Mantao asked with a gloomy face, "What's wrong?"

Deng Yangshuo smiled, revealing his two little canine teeth, and said, "Let's follow each other on Weibo so we can play together in the future."

Don't hit someone who smiles at you, and this person is now Rong Yi's friend. Li Mantao calmed down and said, "What's your Weibo name?"

"Shuo Ri Ba Ba, the domineering Ba."

Li Mantao glanced at Deng Yangshuo with an indescribable expression: "..."

He logged onto Weibo, where his secondary account was displayed. Thinking of the content on his secondary account, Li Mantao shifted his body guiltily, avoiding Rong Yi's sight, and switched to his primary account.

The big news broke, showing that he had gained more than 100,000 new followers, which made Li Mantao's phone freeze for a while.

"Teacher Taotao became famous overnight," Deng Yangshuo said with a smile. "That video from the comic convention went viral. Do you want me to forward a copy to you?"

"No." Li Mantao didn't really want to see it, so he ignored Deng Yangshuo's words, searched for his Weibo ID, added him to his follow list, and then logged out of Weibo.

Rong Heng first sent Deng Yangshuo home, and then drove the car to the gate of C.

"Manman? Can I call you that?" Rong Heng turned around and asked.

Li Mantao refused without a second thought: "No."

Rong Yi looked up, the corners of his lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay." Rong Heng touched his nose awkwardly. Normally, he was the boss in the company and rarely got rejected. But Li Mantao's status was special, so he could only cough lightly and say, "Then I'll call you Teacher Taotao too?"

"That won't work either." Li Mantao said bluntly, "Just call me by my name. We're not that familiar."

"Okay, Li Mantao," Rong Heng readily changed his tone and said, "You're going to stay at Ayi's place. Do you need to go back to the dormitory to get your things? I can take you there."

This is necessary. Li Mantao's dormitory is quite far from the school gate, and carrying luggage all the way there will definitely make you tired like a dog.

He thought about it, didn't refuse, and pointed Rong Heng in the direction of the dormitory.

When they arrived downstairs at the dormitory, Li Mantao asked Rong Yi to wait while he went upstairs.

I ran into a few classmates on the way, and when they saw Li Mantao, they gathered around to ask questions. Someone had forwarded the comic exhibition video to their class group, and seeing the person involved, they couldn't help but want to know the details.

Li Mantao was worried about Rong Yi who was waiting for him. After briefly explaining what had happened, he went back to the dormitory to pack his things.

Since Kong Zhong was not there, Li Mantao was relieved to avoid being lectured.

He packed a few sets of clothes into his backpack, thought for a moment, and decided not to take Kong Zhong's computer. He only took the tablet and the drawing board and hurried downstairs.

Rong Yi's injury will not heal in a short time, and he has to live in Rong Yi's house. It is not good for him to occupy Kong Zhong's computer all the time, so it is better for him to buy another one for himself.

When I got on the bus again, it was less than five minutes after Li Mantao got off.

Rong Heng looked at Li Mantao's deflated backpack and said, "Is this all you brought?"

Li Mantao didn't have much stuff to begin with, and just as he was about to say that it was enough, Rong Yi beside him spoke up, "I'll buy whatever's missing."

Rong Heng nodded, said nothing more, and set off for Rong Yi's house.

After sending the two to their destination, Rong Heng looked at his watch and said, "I have a meeting soon, so I won't be going up." He looked at Li Mantao and said, "If you need anything, you can send me a message."

Li Mantao nodded perfunctorily and followed Rong Yi upstairs.

Rongyi's house is simply decorated, with three bedrooms and two living rooms. Apart from the necessary furniture, there is nothing else. However, the space is very large, about 150 to 160 square meters.

There are three rooms, one is the master bedroom where Rongyi sleeps, one is used as a study, and the other one is filled with a lot of fitness equipment but has no bed.

Li Mantao looked around and saw no other bed except the one in the master bedroom.

The question is, where should he sleep?