The capital’s northern district was vast, its land area several times larger than some small countries.
Gu Jingchuan appeared again.
This was clearly no coincidence.
Lin Mo hadn’t dwelled on it much yesterday, but now her delicate face darkened slightly, her tone icy. "Gu Jingchuan, are you stalking me?"
Unfazed by the accusation, Gu Jingchuan smirked. "I didn’t stalk you. I paid a private investigator to find out where you were. You weren’t answering my calls, so I had to come see you."
After pursuing Lin Mo for three years, he knew her well.
Better to admit things outright than to hide them—she’d be angry, but not as furious.
Seeing him still smiling, Lin Mo’s expression turned completely cold. "What, is this something to be proud of? You violated my privacy. I could call the police!"
The radiant beauty’s frosty demeanor was startling in its intensity.
Gu Jingchuan knew when to yield. He immediately apologized. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just missed you too much!"
Lin Mo stared at him coldly. "Is this a challenge to see who can keep a straight face? You win."
Gu Jingchuan: "..."
Right now, the priority was getting to the hospital.
Lin Mo turned to Ji'an. "Help Auntie Zhen into the car."
Ji'an shot Gu Jingchuan a venomous glare through his long bangs.
This guy was the same as before—sticking to his sister like a damn leech!
As he helped Auntie Zhen toward the car, Ji'an deliberately slammed into Gu Jingchuan.
The impact sent Gu Jingchuan stumbling back, his arm throbbing. His temper flared instantly. "What the hell was that for?"
Ji'an stopped and turned, his eyes glinting with menace. "Stay away from my sister."
A primal sense of danger prickled down Gu Jingchuan’s spine, as if he’d been marked by a predator.
Noticing the fresh bruises and cuts on Ji'an’s face—clearly from a fight—Gu Jingchuan realized this wasn’t someone to provoke. Hot-blooded young men like him would fight to the death.
Gu Jingchuan backed down, forcing a smile. "Hey, Ji'an, you’ve got it wrong. I’m here to make things right with your sister. Let me take you all to the hospital."
Years had passed, and Gu Jingchuan hadn’t recognized Shen Ji'an at first.
But since he called Lin Mo "sister," and Gu Jingchuan knew what her other two brothers looked like, this had to be the youngest—the fourth.
"No need. We’ll handle it ourselves," Lin Mo refused.
Zhang Nan drove while Lin Mo sat in the passenger seat, with Ji'an and Auntie Zhen in the back.
Lin Mo turned to Ji'an. "I went to your place, but your neighbor said a man came looking for you last night and beat you and Auntie Zhen. Is that true?"
Ji'an wiped the blood from Auntie Zhen’s mouth with a tissue and nodded. "Yeah."
"Who was it? Why did they attack you? I want you to tell me everything that’s happened to you over the years—right now."
Lin Mo wasn’t in the mood for subtlety anymore. She wanted answers.
Ji'an crumpled the tissue in his hand and lowered his gaze.
Kids were chubby for two reasons: genetics or an insatiable appetite.
Shen Ji'an fell into the latter category.
At three years old, he’d once chased a chicken for its eggs and ended up with a mouthful of chicken droppings—proof of his gluttony.
The day he disappeared, the park was sweltering. His second brother had gone to buy drinks, leaving him and his third brother under a tree.
His third brother was easily distracted, staring wide-eyed at a couple kissing on a bench.
Meanwhile, Shen Ji'an’s nose caught the overpowering scent of grilled sausages.
Following the smell, he found a kind-faced middle-aged woman selling them.
She smiled at him. "Want one, little boy?"
His mouth watered, but he shook his head. "I don’t have money."
His sister had taught him never to take things for free.
The woman held out a sausage. "You’re so cute. Auntie will give you one."
At seven years old, his willpower battled his hunger—and lost.
He could always pay her back later.
Grinning, he accepted it. "Thank you, Auntie!"
After wolfing it down, exhaustion hit him like a wave. The world blurred, and soon, everything went black.
When he woke up, he was in the back of a moving truck.
The ceiling was pitch-black, and the rough ride tossed him around. Every collision with the metal walls sent sharp pain through his body.
His hands and feet were bound, his mouth gagged. He couldn’t scream.
That was when he realized—he’d been kidnapped.
Despair flooded him, tears streaming down his face.
Stupid mouth! Why did you have to eat that?
His tears dried, but his stomach growled. It was dinnertime, yet he had nothing to eat.
He had no idea where he was or where he was headed.
But then, Shen Ji'an forced himself to calm down.
His sister had always said: No matter what happens, stay calm. Think. Never give up.
The journey felt endless. He woke from hunger multiple times, only to find the truck still moving.
The kidnappers must have been rushing to their destination before his brother could report him missing.
He lost track of time, but when the truck doors finally opened, he was in a remote village so small it wasn’t even on maps.
The woman wasn’t alone—a male accomplice helped her stuff him into a sack and carry him further.
When he saw daylight again, it was in a shabby, low-roofed house surrounded by others just like it.
The woman chattered in a dialect he didn’t understand.
A scar-faced man studied him before disappearing inside and returning with cash.
That was when Shen Ji'an knew—he’d been sold.
Later, when he learned the local dialect, he understood what the woman had said: "Look how sturdy this boy is. Plump kids bring good fortune. With him, your wife might finally settle down."
The villagers were used to bought children. Some even advised the scarred man on how to break them in.
Beat them when they disobey. Beat them when they try to run. Eventually, they’ll stop trying.
Besides, the paths out of this place were nearly impossible to find. Where could they even run?
Shen Ji'an escaped many times. Each attempt ended in a beating. Eventually, he stopped trying and resigned himself to life with the scarred man.
Months later, convinced he’d given up, the man said, "Tonight, I’ll take you to meet your mother."
That night, in a small shack behind the house, Shen Ji'an saw a woman chained by the ankles.
Her hair was matted, her clothes filthy, her eyes devoid of light.
At the sound of footsteps, she flinched, fear flashing in her gaze.
"Why is she locked up?" Shen Ji'an asked.
The scarred man ignored him, speaking to the woman instead. "Xiao Zhen, this is our son. From now on, we’ll raise him together."
Later, Shen Ji'an learned the truth—this woman had also been trafficked.
She had even worse luck. After graduating from high school, while traveling, she saw a pregnant woman fall and kindly helped her home, only to be ambushed by human traffickers who exploited her kindness.
As soon as she arrived, Scarface raped her, and she became pregnant.
But she refused to bear the child. She violently struck her abdomen with heavy objects until she miscarried.
Later, Scarface raped her again, and she became pregnant once more. This time, she forced another miscarriage, even more brutally, until her uterus hemorrhaged, nearly killing her.
She would rather die than be treated as a breeding tool here.
But she didn’t die—she was saved, though she could never conceive again.
Only then did Scarface consider buying a child.
Women are soft-hearted. Constant brutality wouldn’t work, but forming a bond with a child might make her stay willingly.
Things seemed to unfold exactly as Scarface had hoped.
Shen Ji'an was obedient and well-behaved, beaten into submission with no thoughts of escape.
He called the woman "Mom," bringing her meals and keeping her company with conversation.
Slowly, she began to speak again, even smile.
Scarface was pleased, though he still beat them both whenever he drank too much.
He was poor and downtrodden, scraping by on menial labor, and only at home could he taste the illusion of power.
But things wouldn’t always go Scarface’s way.
Because Shen Ji'an had never given up.
At first, his failed escape attempts were just a ruse—if he didn’t try, it would seem suspicious.
But the mountainous terrain was treacherous, and it took him a long, long time to finally map out a real escape route.
The night before their planned escape, he asked Auntie Zhen, "Do you want to come with me?"
For the first time, a light flickered in Auntie Zhen’s eyes. She nodded.
During the day, the village was bustling, and any suspicious behavior from the abducted would draw immediate intervention.
Their only chance was at night.
Shen Ji'an stole Scarface’s money, unlocked Auntie Zhen’s chains, and they crept out under cover of darkness.
But fate was against them—a neighbor’s dog barked loudly at the noise.
Shen Ji'an, now emaciated after losing dozens of pounds, grabbed Auntie Zhen’s hand and ran.
But Auntie Zhen’s body had been confined for too long. Her legs wouldn’t obey, and she couldn’t move fast enough.
They were caught.
Scarface grabbed a shovel and swung it at Shen Ji'an.
Auntie Zhen shielded him, taking the blow to her head instead.
Blood drenched Shen Ji'an as he broke down in genuine, wrenching sobs for the first time.
Scarface, furious at their betrayal, refused to take her for treatment.
It was Shen Ji'an who dropped to his knees, kowtowing and begging, "Please, save her! I’m begging you!"
Scarface pressed his face into the dirt with his foot. "Will you ever try to run again?"
"Never… never again…"
Shen Ji'an swore it over and over.
The shovel blow left Auntie Zhen with lasting brain damage, causing sporadic fits of madness.
Still, Shen Ji'an didn’t give up. Two years later, he planned another escape.
This time, he stole sleeping pills from the village’s underground clinic and drugged both Scarface and the nearby dogs.
He took Auntie Zhen with him again—because she had gone mad protecting him.
