In Xu Youning’s room on the second floor.

  Xu Youning put down her bag and slipped down onto the carpet feebly.

  Her patience had finally worn out now, and tears fell silently from her eyes.

  Her hand touched her lower abdomen, but she could not cure anything with her fingers.

  She always knew that tears were useless.

  In the year of her parents’ death, she’d cried so hard, but they had not come back to life in the end.

  Xu Youning had failed to reach her grandmother before she died. She’d cried very hard beside Grandma’s corpse, but Grandma had not come back to life either. Grandma could not comfort her as before or kindly tell her that everything would be in the past.

  At this moment, tears still could not be exchanged for life.

  However, other than crying, she could not do anything else.

  She knew what she had lost, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

  That afternoon, Xu Youning went for a lie down on the bed. As soon as she closed her eyes, a long dream came to her and overwhelmingly enveloped her.

  In her dream, she went back to her childhood. Back then, she didn’t know much, and she didn’t care about anything besides for having three meals a day.

  Back then, she did not fall in love with Mu Sijue, nor did she know Kang Ruicheng. Life was so simple that she could almost see the outline of her future.

  Later, she did not know why her simple and beautiful life was suddenly broken, and bloody wounds appeared in front of her. She was trapped and had nowhere to go because of the whip of fate.

  Life became a monster overnight and opened its big, bloody mouth toward her—


  Xu Youning took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Only then did she realize that it was just a dream.

  She wiped her forehead and found herself in a cold sweat. When she looked out of the window, it was already dark outside.

  “Auntie Youning!” Mumu pushed the door open with a bang and ran in, rubbing his hands. “It’s so cold! It’s so cold!”


  Xu Youning forced a smile and said, “Who’s been looking after you?”


  “Uncle Ah Jin!” Mumu jumped onto the bed and said with a smile, “I just had a snowball fight with Uncle Ah Jin downstairs!”


  Last night, it had snowed for the first time all winter in City A. There had been flurries of snowflakes all night, and the snow had not melted at all yet.

  Xu Youning covered Mumu’s cold little hands. “Are you still cold?”


  “Much better. Thank you, Auntie Youning!” Mumu climbed into Xu Youning’s arms and looked up at her. “Uncle Ah Jin told me that you are going out tonight.”


  “Yeah, I can’t sleep with you.” Xu Youning stroked the little guy’s face. “But you can sleep in my room. You can see me when you open your eyes tomorrow.”


  Mumu nodded hard. “I’ll wait for you. You must come back!” He reached out his hand, about to make a pinky promise with Xu Youning.

  Xu Youning held his pinky with hers and said, “I promise you.”


  After dinner, Xu Youning helped Mumu take a shower and coaxed him to sleep. Then she took off her loose sweater and slacks, put on a black, tight and stretchy suit, and went downstairs.

  Downstairs, Kang Ruicheng, Ah Jin and others were waiting for Xu Youning.

  Xu Youning picked up the car key and said, “Let’s go.”


  “A Ning!” Kang Ruicheng walked up to Xu Youning and told her, “Be careful.”


  “Don’t worry.” Xu Youning said, “I have a plan.”


  Kang Ruicheng stroked Xu Youning’s arm and stared at her with burning eyes. “I’ll wait for you to come back.”


  Xu Youning replied with an “Okay!” and turned to walk out.

  Ah Jin said to a few of his staff, “Follow Miss Xu.”


  The others followed Xu Youning out, and Ah Jin stayed.

  Ah Jin looked at Kang Ruicheng and took the initiative to ask, “Brother Cheng, do you have something to tell me?”


  Kang Ruicheng was very pleased with Ah Jin’s ability to observe people’s expressions. He nodded and said, “Take good care of A Ning.”


  “Brother Cheng, we know what to do.”


  Ah Jin did not continue. Kang Ruicheng should explain the rest.

  Sure enough, Kang Ruicheng went on to say, “There is one more thing. Pay attention to A Ning’s every move.”

  Ah Jin pretended to be surprised for a moment and then nodded. “I understand. Brother Cheng, don’t worry.”


  Then Kang Ruicheng waved his hand and said, “Go ahead.”


  Ah Jin ran out and knocked on Xu Youning’s car door.

  Xu Youning wound down the window and looked at Ah Jin coldly. “What’s the matter?”


  Ah Jin rubbed his frozen hands and said, “Miss Xu, let me drive. You should keep your strength.”


  Xu Youning knew that Ah Jin was here to keep an eye on her. She sat in the back seat and said, “I’ve already set up the navigation. You can drive according to it.”


  Ah Jin looked at the set destination. Sure enough, it was the Mu Sijue’s villa’s address.

  He nodded and said, “Okay.”


  The car drove away from the old city area through the cold night. It did not take long for them to arrive at the villa area in the suburbs.

  At this point, Mu Sijue received some news.

  The subordinate hurriedly reported to Mu Sijue, “Seventh Brother, that…… Xu Youning is on her way there with a lot of people. The guy named Ah Jin, whom Kang Ruicheng attached great importance to, seems to be on his way as well.”


  Except for Ah Guang, none of his other men knew about the fact that Ah Jin worked for him.

  Kang Ruicheng had trusted Ah Jin very much recently. The reason he had sent Ah Jin out was probably to keep an eye on Xu Youning’s every move.

  Unfortunately, Kang Ruicheng had sent the wrong person out.

  Mu Sijue looked out of the window, and his eyes were as dark as the night. “Carry out the plan. Remember, except for Xu Youning, no-one is allowed to come in. Kill anyone who breaks in!”


  “I got it!”


  After the subordinate went, only Mu Sijue was left in the study.

  Mu Sijue got up, walked over to the French window and pushed it open.

  The cold wind howled and blew in. It fell on his face like a knife, scraping his skin.

  Mu Sijue did not feel the pain at all, and his eyes fell on the long road in front of the gate.

  He had been waiting for Xu Youning to come over for a long time.

  At this point, Xu Youning was less than three kilometers away from the villa.

  Xu Youning had not stayed for long, but most of Mu Sijue and her stories together had happened here.

  She had an innate sense of familiarity with this place.

  Soon, the car stopped near the villa. Ah Jin and Xu Youning got out of the car first. The others gathered around Xu Youning and looked at her. “Miss Xu, what should we do next?”


  Xu Youning pulled out a gun and installed the silencer neatly. “Let’s go in!”


  She strode toward the villa recklessly as if she was going home, not breaking into someone else’s house.

  Xu Youning looked inside the door of the villa and saw through the study window that the light was on.

  Without thinking too much about it, she tried entering the password, and got the indication that the password was wrong, so the gate could not be opened.

  It was not surprising. After she’d left, why wouldn’t Mu Sijue change the password?

  “Miss Xu, if we make two more mistakes, the system will raise the alarm.” Ah Jin asked, “Shall we try another way?”


  “We still have another way!”


  Xu Youning removed the lock’s shell with her bare hands, connected the lock to the computer, and tried to crack the password.

  However, in the end, there was only one line of unreadable code showing in the program.

  Xu Youning looked at the study again and vaguely guessed that Mu Sijue might be playing tricks.

  She did not guess wrong. It was indeed Mu Sijue who was controlling everything from the study.

  Mu Sijue was sitting in front of the computer, busily moving his fingers.

  As he did not want Xu Youning to crack the password, his face would sometimes appear in Xu Youning’s computer, not to mention lines of unreadable code.

  Xu Youning could not waste time, but she also did not want to give up trying to open the gate as it was the most convenient channel. After thinking for a while, she motioned for Ah Jin to take the others and climb over the wall, and she continued to fight against Mu Sijue with her limited computer knowledge.

  If Mu Sijue dared to tease her again, she would smash the lock. Even if the alarm went off, she was not afraid!

  Ah Jin led the others and soon found a suitable place to climb over the wall. As they were climbing the wall, the gate suddenly opened.

  Xu Youning thought that she had cracked the password, so she called to Ah Jin, “Come here!”


  She got up, took the lead and rushed in. Suddenly, she realized something. Looking back, she found that the gate behind her had been closed. Except for her, Ah Jin and the others were all stuck outside the gate.

  “Miss Xu!”


  The group of people outside the gate screamed to Ah Jin.

  Ah Jin couldn’t do anything about it, could he? He could only contact Kang Ruicheng as soon as possible.

  Xu Youning realized that she had fallen into Mu Sijue’s trap and she forced herself to calm down. But no matter how calm she was, she felt like an animal in an iron cage with no way out.

  “Miss Xu.” Mu Sijue’s men appeared at leisure. “Seventh Brother invites you in.”


  Xu Youning stood still with a wary look on her face. “Why doesn’t he come out personally?”


  “Because Seventh Brother wants you to go in.” The subordinate was as impatient as Mu Sijue, warning her, “If you don’t go in, those people outside won’t be able to leave here alive.”


  Xu Youning subconsciously looked outside, and beams of red light were aimed at Ah Jin and the others. It was obvious that they had been targeted from a higher position.

  “Miss Xu!” Ah Jin rushed over. “Don’t go in. We’ll save you!”


  “Miss Xu, Seventh Brother asked me to remind you,” said Mu Sijue’s subordinate, “that no-one could save you. If you were to break in rashly, you would cause their death.”


  Xu Youning knew how ruthless Mu Sijue was. If he said he would do something then he would definitely do it.

  It was obvious that Mu Sijue had been waiting for her. He was well-prepared, and it was impossible for Ah Jin and the others to save her.

  She did not want anyone to risk their lives for her.

  “Ah Jin, you leave first.” Xu Youning said, “I’ll be home later.”


  Ah Jin gave a look of struggle. “Miss Xu!”


  “Go!” Xu Youning demanded angrily, “Do you want to die?!”


  Ah Jin gritted his teeth and beckoned the other subordinates. “Let’s leave!”


  No one hesitated. With the threat of death, the others turned around and left. Only Ah Jin looked back at Xu Youning.

  “Miss Xu, go in.” Mu Sijue’s subordinate calmly urged Xu Youning.

  Xu Youning took a second look at the villa, only to find that all the lights were on. The whole villa was bright and intimidatingly high-profile.

  Mu Sijue must have done that deliberately. He was waiting for her inside.

  No matter what Mu Sijue wanted to do, she had to face it.

  However, the main purpose of her visit here today was to see Mu Sijue. As for the memory card, she could find a reason to convince Kang Ruicheng that she could not get it.

  She took a deep breath and walked toward the villa.

  She unconsciously stroked her lower abdomen and silently told the baby in her belly, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll take you to your father.”