"Alright, be careful on the road," the elderly woman said as she watched Qin Fujia leave the neighborhood. She didn’t look away until he was out of sight, her curiosity still piqued. This young man was quite odd.
After Qin Fujia got into the taxi and put some distance between himself and the neighborhood, he called Ye Xiaoyuan.
The phone rang only once before it was answered.
"Did you get it?" Ye Xiaoyuan asked directly, skipping any small talk.
"Yes, I got it." Qin Fujia glanced at his watch. "When should I give it to you?"
"I’ll get it when we meet later." Ye Xiaoyuan then asked, "Did you notice anything unusual nearby?"
"No," Qin Fujia replied after a brief pause. Considering Ye Xiaoyuan was his uncle, he kindly added, "You might want to be cautious about your neighbors. I’m not sure if they recognized the difference between me and you."
If there were still any supporters of Ye Xiaoyuan from before, there might be potential danger.
Ye Xiaoyuan was silent for a few seconds before responding, "Alright, I understand. I’ll have someone handle it."
"Better to be safe," Qin Fujia said before ending the call.
He wasn’t so much worried about Ye Xiaoyuan’s safety as he was concerned that any trouble involving Ye Xiaoyuan might endanger Ann. The ruthless people involved could be a threat, and he wasn’t willing to risk his sister’s safety. The experience of Ann’s disappearance years ago was a painful lesson they would never forget.
Qin Fujia looked out the window, his thoughts drifting along with the passing scenery.
---
Recently, Qin Lvzheng had started taking on new legal cases. While he didn’t need to handle routine cases personally, the complex ones were time-consuming and challenging.
He had a quick dinner and worked until after eight in the evening before wrapping up the day’s tasks.
He instructed his assistant to handle the results with the clients and headed back to Bay Villa.
After a long day, he was eager to get home and see Ann.
The sky had turned completely dark, with a crescent moon and twinkling stars overhead.
Qin Lvzheng parked his car at Bay Villa’s entrance, tossed the keys to the bodyguard to park the car, and then rode his bicycle, which was parked at the gate, toward the castle.
Noticing that his older brothers’ bicycles were also there, Qin Lvzheng felt relieved. He wasn’t the last to arrive home. If he had arrived any later, Ann would be going to bed, and he wouldn’t have had the chance to see her.
With this thought, Qin Lvzheng quickened his pace and reached the castle gate.
He parked his bicycle next to the other bikes at the gate and immediately noticed that Ann’s pink mini bike was missing.
Qin Lvzheng turned to the bodyguard at the gate and asked, "Is Ann’s bike broken? Why isn’t it here?"
The bodyguard respectfully replied, "Young Master Lvzheng, Miss Ann took her bike and went to the back of the castle to play with Young Master Yaoyu and Young Master Qianyi."
"Got it," Qin Lvzheng nodded, understanding.
He first went inside the castle to take a shower and change into clean clothes, then stepped out of the castle and headed in the direction the bodyguard had mentioned.
As he walked a bit, he spotted Ann’s pink mini bike parked on the lawn in the distance, but there was no one around.
Qin Lvzheng eagerly wanted to find his sister, feeling that Bay Villa was too large, making it time-consuming to find Ann.
At that moment, a small white figure suddenly darted out from the flower bushes, accompanied by a honking sound.
Startled, Qin Lvzheng focused and saw it was a large white goose. "Why aren’t you with Ann?"
The large white goose, usually very attached to Ann, looked up with its small eyes blinking. "Gagaga!"
It was answering, but the family couldn’t understand its language, so it was essentially speaking to an empty audience.
Qin Lvzheng, not understanding the goose’s honking, said, "Forget it... Do you know where Ann is?"
After a pause, he added, "Can you lead me to her?"
The large white goose honked once and began waddling ahead, flapping its wings occasionally to speed up.
Qin Lvzheng hurried after it.
Despite being quite plump, the goose was surprisingly fast.
The goose stopped abruptly and turned its head to glare at Qin Lvzheng.
It seemed to be saying, "Don’t think I don’t know that’s not a nice comment!"
The goose ran even faster, as if trying to prove it was not just a plump but also a nimble goose.
Beyond the lawn was the indoor basketball court.
The basketball court was empty, and there were no signs of anyone having played basketball recently.
Qin Lvzheng frowned and looked at the large white goose, "Is Ann here?"
He found it hard to believe.
The goose glared at him again, then made a few low honks and dashed toward a basketball equipment rack, disappearing behind it.
Qin Lvzheng felt a headache coming on. At that moment, he wished he had a skill to understand goose honking.
As an experienced lawyer, he could detect lies quickly, and the same applied to the goose. It was clear the goose wasn’t lying; Ann was indeed here.
He looked around in confusion.
How did Ann end up here?
Just then, a soft little voice called out from a corner:
"Third Brother, Ann is hiding here~"
Qin Lvzheng quickly followed the voice to the corner.
Sure enough, behind the basketball equipment rack, he found his sister Ann and the large white goose, who had vanished earlier.
The large white goose was snuggled up to little Ann, both hiding in the corner.
The goose proudly lifted its head as if saying, "See? I told you Ann was here! Don’t doubt me, human!"
Seeing his sister had been found, Qin Lvzheng’s smile widened. He crouched down to Ann’s level and whispered, "Is Ann playing hide and seek with your fifth brother?"
"Mmhm!" Qin Sui’an’s eyes brightened. "Third Brother is amazing! You guessed it right away!"
Qin Lvzheng’s smile grew even wider, and the fatigue from the day seemed to vanish instantly.
Ann curled up into a small ball to make more room for her third brother and whispered, "Big Brother said if Ann hides well, he’ll take Ann to play~"
Qin Lvzheng immediately thought to himself that he couldn’t let the sixth brother take Ann out. He wouldn’t take proper care of her, which could be dangerous.
He couldn’t help but hope the sixth brother would find Ann quickly.
Suddenly, Qin Lvzheng noticed Ann looking at him with a pitiful expression.
Feeling inexplicably guilty, he asked, "Ann, what’s wrong?"
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