Chapter 1

On my first day at a new company, I found a little boy crying outside a shopping mall.

When I realized he couldn’t remember his family’s phone number, I immediately called the police.

“Hello, do you handle missing-person reports? I’m with a boy about five years old. He won’t tell me where his parents are, and I’m running out of time.”

There was a two-second silence on the other end.

“Ma’am, did you just say you’re holding a child?”

“That’s right. He’s with me. Please send someone quickly. I can only wait another fifteen minutes.”

“Please stay calm! What are your demands?”

I was stunned.

“What demands? I just need you to hurry. If you take too long, I’ll have to leave him here!”

As I said that, the call abruptly cut off.

I angrily tapped my screen.

Cheap electronics!

I’d had this phone for less than three years, and it had to break at the worst possible moment!

Twelve minutes later.

Four tactical vehicles, six patrol cars, and an ambulance appeared outside the shopping mall all at once.

The police cordoned off the entire area.

Security guards hurriedly evacuated the shoppers.

Across the street, figures in tactical gear silently took up positions on the roof.

Meanwhile, I was sitting outside a bakery with a grilled sausage in one hand and wiping sauce from the little boy’s mouth with the other.

A uniformed man approached, his expression grave.

“Miss, let’s discuss this calmly. First, please let the child go.”

I looked up and sprang to my feet in delight.

“You’re finally here! Please take him off my hands. I’m about to lose my entire attendance bonus!”

The man froze.

The boy immediately wrapped both arms around my leg.

“No! I’m not going! I want to stay with Sis!”

Every police officer’s expression changed at once.

Someone behind them shouted:

“The child is showing signs of attachment to the suspect! Everyone, do not provoke her!”

Me: “???”

Wait a minute.

Something seemed off.

But what truly drove me to despair was still to come.

Just then, a luxury black car screeched to a halt outside the police cordon.

A tall man jumped out.

The moment he saw the child beside me, his eyes reddened.

“Son!”

The boy turned around.

“Dad!”

The man looked at me, his voice chillingly cold.

“How much money do you want?”

I stared at him.

“What are you talking about?”

He gritted his teeth.

“Ten million. Is that enough? As long as you don’t hurt my son, I’ll transfer it right now!”

I lowered my eyes to the half-eaten sausage in my hand.

Then I looked at the little boy hugging my leg.

Finally, I asked cautiously:

“Sir, if I told you I only wanted eighteen yuan for the sausage, would you believe me?”

No one answered.

Because in the very next second, the boy looked up and pointed straight at a woman standing behind the crowd.

“Dad! That auntie told me to run away!”

“She also said that if I didn’t disappear today, Mom would never wake up!”

The woman’s smile instantly froze.

And I suddenly realized—

I hadn’t merely found a lost child.

I’d stumbled upon a secret big enough to tear an entire wealthy family apart.

Chapter 1: The Call That Set the Dispatch Center on Red Alert

My name is Song Ruoxi. I’m twenty-three.

If I had to introduce myself in one sentence, I’d say:

I have a kind heart, but a mouth that makes people want to call the police.

I’ve never deliberately hurt anyone in my life.

And yet, the moment I open my mouth, even a good deed can turn into a disaster.

My father once seriously suggested I get examined to see whether some part of my brain had been wired to the wrong speech nerve.

My mother took a simpler approach.

She bought a little notebook and wrote eight huge characters on the cover:

“PLEASE TALK LESS. NO ONE TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP.”

I’ve tried to improve.

Really.

But life always seems to enjoy testing people who are working on themselves.

Take this morning, for example.

After three months of unemployment, I finally made it through five rounds of interviews and landed a job at Tiansheng Group.

A monthly salary of eighteen thousand yuan.

A year-end bonus worth six months’ pay.

Free lunch, full social insurance, and even a housing allowance.

For someone who had once lived on instant noodles for twenty days straight, it was nothing short of a chance to change my life.

So the night before, I set a total of seven alarms.

The next morning, I woke up on time.

I did my makeup carefully.

I put on my new suit.

I wore the high heels I had agonized over for half a month before finally paying for them.

Everything was perfect.

Until I passed Wanhe Mall.

A tiny hand suddenly tugged at the hem of my jacket.

“Big Sis…”

I lowered my head.

A little boy of about five stood in front of me.

He wore a pale-blue jacket and white overalls, with a small silver bracelet around his neck.

His round eyes were red, and both his hands were icy cold.

“Can you help me find my dad?”

I checked my watch.

8:17 a.m.

The company wanted me there before 8:45.

It took twenty minutes to get there from here.

That meant I had only eight minutes to sort this out.

I immediately crouched down.

“What’s your name?”

“Baozi.”

“I mean your real name.”

“Dad calls me Baozi.”

“What’s your dad’s name?”

The boy thought for a long time.

“Dad’s name is… Dad.”

I took a deep breath.

All right.

A remarkably productive conversation.

I tried again.

“Do you remember any of your family’s phone numbers?”

He shook his head.

“Who were you with?”

“Auntie.”

“Where is she?”

“She told me to wait here. But I’ve been waiting for a long time, and she hasn’t come back.”

I immediately sensed something was wrong.

A five-year-old, cleanly dressed and clearly well cared for—why had he been left alone on the street?

I looked around.

No adult seemed to be searching for a lost child.

So I took the boy’s hand and brought him to the nearest security desk.

Unfortunately, the guard on duty had just gone to check the fire-alarm system.

I checked my watch again.

8:20.

There was no time!

I decided to call the police.

As soon as the call connected, I blurted out everything in one breath:

“Hello, I’m with a child about five years old. He won’t tell me his real name or where his parents are. I have something very important to do, so I can’t keep looking after him much longer.”

The dispatcher immediately asked:

“May I know where you are?”

“Outside Wanhe Mall. I’ll give you fifteen minutes, all right?”

“Could you describe the child’s condition?”

“He’s still in one piece. Nothing’s missing. But if you don’t get here in time, I can’t promise what will happen next.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said I’m about to lose patience! He keeps clinging to me. I can’t get away!”