Chapter 2

The dispatcher’s chair scraped sharply on the other end.

“Please stay calm! Don’t do anything rash!”

“I am calm! You’re the ones who need to hurry!”

“Do you have any demands?”

“Yes! I want this settled before 8:40. After that, I won’t be responsible for what happens!”

“You—”

Beep.

The screen went black.

I stood there, stunned.

The battery was dead.

Dead again!

I was sure I’d charged it last night!

Then I remembered.

My cat had bitten through the charging cable the night before.

I had plugged the cable into the outlet without checking whether the phone was actually charging.

I looked down at the boy.

The boy looked up at me.

We stared at each other in silence for three seconds.

At last, I sighed.

“Fine. Let’s get something to eat while we wait for the police.”

“Do they have sausages?”

“Yes.”

“Can I get extra cheese?”

“Yes.”

“Do they have orange juice?”

I looked at the balance in my e-wallet.

Thirty-two yuan and sixty cents.

I gritted my teeth.

“They have everything!”

The boy immediately broke into a radiant smile.

“You’re the best big sister in the world!”

I was so touched I nearly cried.

That’s children for you.

Give them one sausage and they’re grateful.

Unlike my former department manager.

I worked overtime for three nights straight, and he still said I hadn’t shown enough dedication.

Unfortunately, that joy lasted less than ten minutes.

Because then I witnessed something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.

Eleven police cars appeared.

Dozens of people quickly sealed off the street.

A loudspeaker blared:

“Woman in the cream-colored suit! Please stay calm! We’ve arrived in response to your request!”

I was biting into my sausage. Hearing that, I stood up at once.

“Here! I’m over here!”

I even waved enthusiastically.

“You came just in time! I’m about to be late for work!”

At once.

More than twenty pairs of eyes locked onto me.

An older police officer stepped forward.

He raised both hands and spoke slowly.

“Young lady, we understand that you’re under a lot of stress.”

I nodded.

“That’s right! I’m really stressed!”

His expression turned grave.

“Can you tell me what has driven you to such despair?”

I nearly burst into tears.

“I was unemployed for three months! Today is my first day at work! If I get fired, I honestly don’t know how I’ll survive!”

The officer froze.

He turned to look at his colleagues.

One of them immediately began taking notes.

I faintly heard him say:

“Subject is under severe financial pressure, with signs of emotional instability…”

Me: “?”

They seemed to have misunderstood something.

I hurriedly explained:

“No, that’s not it! I just want to hand the boy over to you!”

As I spoke, I gently nudged Baozi forward.

To my surprise, the boy immediately burst into tears.

“No! I don’t want to leave you!”

He threw himself at me and clung tightly to my waist.

“Don’t leave me, Sis! I’m scared!”

I panicked.

“Hey, I’m not leaving you! I’m just handing you over to the police!”

But in the eyes of everyone around us, the scene apparently meant something entirely different.

The older officer’s expression changed at once.

“Young lady, don’t get agitated! Just keep the child beside you for now!”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Huh? Didn’t you come to take him away?”

“We will. But first, please calm down.”

“I am calm!”

“Good, good. We believe you.”

The more I listened, the stranger it sounded.

Why were they talking to me as if I were a bomb about to go off?

Chapter 2: One Sausage Worth Ten Million

Just as I was trying to explain, the roar of an engine suddenly cut through the air.

A black Rolls-Royce stopped outside the cordon.

The door flew open.

A man about thirty stepped out.

He wore a black suit. His features were handsome, but his face was deathly pale.

The moment he saw Baozi, he rushed over.

“Xiaoyu!”

The boy looked up.

“Dad!”

I was so happy I nearly jumped.

Thank goodness!

The boy’s father had finally arrived!

I immediately crouched down to pry his little hands off my clothes.

“Good boy, Baozi. Your dad’s here to get you. Go home with him.”

Unexpectedly, the man suddenly stopped.

He looked at my hand on his son’s shoulder.

Then he looked at the police around us.

Finally, he spoke in a hoarse voice:

“What do you want?”

I was bewildered.

“What do I want?”

“Money? A house? Or do you want me to apologize publicly?”

I was even more confused.

“Apologize for what?”

The man took a deep breath.

“Ten million.”

Me: “…”

He continued:

“If that isn’t enough, twenty million.”

Me: “…”

“As long as you let my son return safely, we can negotiate any terms.”

I lowered my head and looked at the sausage in my hand.

One sausage.

Worth eighteen yuan.

Yet the man in front of me was offering twenty million.

A terribly unethical thought crossed my mind.

What if I didn’t explain just yet?

All I had to do was nod, and I could retire today.

No more work.

No more overtime.

No more having to watch my boss’s mood.

I could even buy my troublesome cat a room of its own!

But the very next second, my conscience dragged me back to reality.

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“No, thank you! I don’t need that much!”

The man immediately said:

“Then name your price.”

Embarrassed, I held up the sausage.

“Actually… if it’s not too much trouble, you could just pay me back the eighteen yuan.”

The air fell completely silent.

The wind blew.

A yellow leaf rolled across the street.

The police officer nearest to us slowly turned to look at me.

The man in the black suit looked at me too.

His expression was as if he had just heard an alien language.

“Eighteen… yuan?”

“That’s right.”

I even explained seriously:

“The sausage was twelve, extra cheese was four, and the orange juice was six. That makes twenty-two yuan. But the vendor gave me a discount, so it came to eighteen.”

“…”

“Oh, and you don’t need to pay me for my time. I only helped because I happened to be there.”

The man fell silent for a long time.

Then he slowly asked:

“You’re not the person who called and demanded ransom?”

My eyes widened.

“WHAT RANSOM?”

The older officer cleared his throat.

“Ms. Song, please stay calm and let us explain.”

It turned out that, fifteen minutes earlier, the emergency dispatch center had received a call from me.

During the call, I had repeatedly said things like:

“I’m holding a child.”

“I can’t keep him much longer.”

“If you don’t arrive on time, I can’t guarantee what will happen.”

“I’ll give you fifteen minutes.”

And, most terrifying of all—

I had declared:

“He’s in my hands. I can’t get away!”

After the call abruptly disconnected, dispatch immediately classified it as a possible child-kidnapping case.

And to make matters worse—

That very morning, the Gu family had just reported their five-year-old son missing.