Chapter 68: Sixty-Eight, Fanwai – Chronicle of a Kidnapping: Who gave you permission to call me by that name? I don’t know you that well.

Qiao JingXuan, the young master of Qiao family, was very smart and was great at learning too. When he was 14 years old, he graduated junior high school with excellent grades. His exams ended early, so he was on holiday starting June 18 and he would go to study abroad in the fall.

What was he going to do over such a long vacation? In order to reward their baby son, Mother and Father Qiao gave him many choices. Qiao JingXuan could go to the African savannah and get close contact with the wild animals, he could go surfing in Hawaii, or he could go to the southern hemisphere for the summer to see the stars, whichever was fine. As long as he wanted it, there was nothing Mother and Father Qiao couldn’t handle.

Qiao JingXuan had a lot of ideas. It took a few days for him to come up with something greatly exciting. So he also prepared his own luggage and waited just two days before getting on the plane.

As a result, on noon on the first day of his departure, Qiao JingXuan found that his own big sister was also packing up. Mother Qiao chatted as she helped out, “Didn’t your group go to Ning City before? Why are you going again now?”

Qiao YaGe said absent-mindedly, “I ate at noon and I have to eat again at night, how does one affect the other?”

Mother Qiao scolded, “What did you say, kid? Can this be the same?”

Qiao YaGe snapped out of it and gave a serious answer, “Ning City’s classical performance market has developed well in recent years. With a warm invitation from the city’s literary and art ministers, the head of the delegation feels that it’s necessary to go again so that the chances of future exchanges will increase a little.”

“So it’s like that.” Mother Qiao paused afterwards and then said, “YaGe, the Cheng family is over there, you……”

Qiao YaGe furrowed her brow and sighed, “Ma, how long ago was that ancient history, can you just let it go?”

“Alright, alright, I won’t bring it up, I won’t!” Qiao said immediately. “The winter is wet and cold over there, you pay attention to your body, wear a little more, don’t underestimate the temperature……”

Qiao JingXuan didn’t listen to whatever else the mother and daughter said. He just made his decision on a whim; he would go to Ning City too.

Qiao YaGe thought this was very weird. Trying to dispel her young brother’s idea, she said persuasively, “JingXuan, I am going to perform, not for fun. Besides, Ning City doesn’t have a fun African savannah. What are you going to do?”

“It doesn’t matter if I go to the savannah a few days late. Anyway, my holiday is long,” Qiao JingXuan said stubbornly, “I’ve never been to Ning City, they say it’s pretty there, so I just want to see it. Anyway, it’s conveniently like buy one get one free, I can act as your flower protector and help you keep off the bumblebees and butterflies. Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?”

Qiao YaGe was 35 years old, still a bachelorette, so although her suitors could be lined up for three blocks around the Qiao household, this “violin goddess” so far hadn’t shown herself to any of them.

Hearing her little brother say this, Qiao YaGe can’t help but want to laugh and cry, “Alright, alright, then you come on and work hard.”

The baby son was determined to follow his big sister to Ning City, so Mother and Father Qiao couldn’t stop him and could only agree. So in the afternoon, the siblings flew to Ning City with the orchestra.

What a coincidence, as the two siblings left the airport, they met Father and Mother Cheng, who happened to have ridden on a private jet from the capital to Ning City.

Although the relationship between the two families had become a bit awkward over the years, there were still business dealings between them and no enmity. The Cheng family’s older couple were still very caring towards the younger generation, so after talking to Qiao YaGe, who had a day off in Ning City and wouldn’t perform until the next night, they invited the siblings to go to their household for dinner.

Qiao YaGe refused at first, but, surprisingly, Qiao JingXuan agreed, “Okay, thank you, Uncle, Auntie.”

No way, Qiao YaGe had to sacrifice herself, saying she would help Mother Cheng prepare dinner. Mother and Father Cheng, of course, readily agreed.

By the time they arrived at the Cheng household, it was already 5pm. The huge villa was very quiet and the playground in the backyard was empty too. For some reason, Qiao JingXuan felt a little disappointed inside.

Qiao YaGe didn’t notice the expression on her brother’s face, instead she looked the family portrait in a display case in the living room. Her heart filled with a bad taste.

The photo was probably taken this year. There were Father and Mother Cheng, and also Cheng YuTang and Ji XiaoYu. Seven years had passed, but the years hadn’t seemed to have left any traces on the husbands. The two men were sitting together with their fingers interlocked and the expressions on their faces were as happy and sweet as had been at their stunning wedding reception. On the left and right side of the husbands were two delicate little boys, one about seven years old, the other slightly younger. They both looked very similar to the two husbands.

“YaGe, JingXuan, you two should eat a little of this fruit, don’t be restrained.” Mother Cheng served refreshments to the siblings and then said to Father Cheng, “Old man, XiaoYu went to the company to pick TangTang up from work, I’ll be cooking with YaGe at home, so you go to the kindergarten to pick up DangDang and let a driver pick PaoPao up.”

Father Cheng is about to agree when Qiao JingXuan suddenly said, “Auntie, I’ll go to pick PaoPao up with the driver, I’m not hungry now anyway.”

Mother Cheng was a bit surprised, “Ay, JingXuan, do you still remember PaoPao? He was less than a year old the last time you saw him.”

Qiao JingXuan said, “I remember. He was very cute.”

To be honest, Qiao JingXuan’s impression was pretty vague, because at that time he had been just seven years old. Of his faint impression, he recalled that he had been a fat bean with chubby cheeks like a dumpling and he bit him hard when he saw him. He had almost broken his skin with that bite and was as fierce as a chick that the Cheng family had once raised, not cute at all.

However, he was a good, sensible boy who knew how to say good things and who also knew what shouldn’t be said.

Mother Cheng smiled and said, “That’s fine, then we’ll trouble JingXuan to pick up Cheng PaoPao.”

Qiao JingXuan, with a gentleman’s air, replied, “It’s no trouble, Auntie’s being polite.”

Then Father Cheng called the driver and Qiao JingXuan got in the car to head for the school to pick up Cheng PaoPao.

Cheng PaoPao was seven years old, so he was just in the first grade and got off school at 5:30pm.

When Qiao JingXuan arrived at the school, it was just five minutes before 5:30. After a while, primary school students came out with their little schoolbags on their backs.

Qiao JingXuan watched with wide eyes into the large group of small radish heads to pick out which one was Cheng PaoPao, looking until his eyes were spent. He thought that all the little boys looked alike and it didn’t seem that he was one of them.

The driver said that none of these were the young master, so the two continued to wait.

After over ten minutes, a middle-aged female teacher hurried to the school gate. The driver said that this was the young master’s teacher, Ms. Zhang, and immediately went forward to talk to her. Teacher Zhang said with dissatisfaction, “Cheng FengLai just had a fight with a male classmate during class, beating him until his nose bled. He refuses to admit his mistake to the other party, so he’s now writing a self-reflection in the Academic Affairs Office!”

Qiao JingXuan froze for a moment before reacting, because Teacher Zhang had said “Cheng FengLai” instead of Cheng PaoPao. However, he wasn’t surprised by the fact that Cheng PaoPao had fought a classmate, because the fat bean hadn’t been well-behaved since childhood.

Since he came over to pick a certain someone up, he would have to be the one to work things out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Mother Cheng. So, he said sincerely, “Teacher, I am Cheng FengLai’s gege. May I go in now and see if he can write it?”

“Cheng FengLai has an older brother? Why haven’t I heard of that……” Teacher Zhang muttered to herself and looked at him up and down in suspicion.

Qiao JingXuan showed her a polite, decent smile.

He wore nice dress clothes and was very tall and handsome. With a single glance, she could tell that he was the kind of student who earned excellent grades, was particularly sensible, and came from an excellent family. Coupled with the Cheng family driver’s affirmation of his identity, Ms. Zhang agreed and led Qiao JingXuan into the school.

When he arrived at the Academic Affairs Office, Qiao JingXuan saw someone from behind sitting down at a table, spinning his pen carelessly. When he saw he was an incredibly beautiful little boy, he couldn’t keep his feet from freezing where they landed.

No wonder he didn’t recognize him at the school gate just now. If Cheng PaoPao had really come out, he definitely wouldn’t have acknowledged his mistaken assumption.

The seven-year-old Cheng PaoPao was no longer as chubby as a little piglet. Although his face still had a little bit of baby fat, it was an amount that suited him. His silky black eyes were like black grapes that had been soaked in water, with long, upturned eyelashes, and his skin was white and tender like an eggshell.

As they walked in, Teacher Zhang asked, “Cheng FengLai, have you finished your self-reflection?”

Cheng PaoPao raised his head and, with an innocent and naive expression, said, “Teacher Zhang, I won’t write it.”

Looking at this face that seemed to harmless towards living creatures, like a porcelain doll, Teacher Zhang’s tone also softened without her realizing, “Since it hasn’t been written, don’t make this mistake again next time, you know? Well, you take the self-reflection home and write it. Your gege is here to pick you up.”

Cheng PaoPao turned his eyes and saw the teenager standing next to Teacher Zhang and he couldn’t help but furrow his little forehead.

Qiao JingXuan stepped forward and coughed before saying, “PaoPao, I’m JingXuan-gege, your grandma has something to do at home, so I’m picking you up on her behalf.”

Cheng PaoPao stared at him for a while, then pulled on the hem of Ms. Zhang’s clothes, and, wearing an expression as if he had just met a strange older man, said, “Teacher Zhang, this person isn’t my gege, I don’t know him.”

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

Teacher Zhang was a bit embarrassed and also began to feel fresh vigilance inside. She moved in front of Cheng PaoPao and said, “Student, are you really Cheng FengLai’s older brother?”

Although she didn’t know what business the Cheng family did or what was going on with his parents, she did know that Cheng family was quite rich. There were special drivers and bodyguards and all those luxury cars. If she was negligent for even a moment, letting some ill-intentioned criminals bore in and steal Cheng FengLai away, it would be troublesome.

“Ms. Zhang, although I’m not Cheng FengLai’s natural brother, I’m definitely not a stranger. The relationship between our two families is very good, it’s just that I haven’t seen him for a few years, so he doesn’t recognize me,” Qiao JingXuan explained. Seeing that Teacher Zhang was on guard and didn’t relax after that, he had no choice but to take out his phone and call Mother Cheng.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Mother Cheng often came to the school to pick up her eldest grandson, so Teacher Zhang was very familiar with her. After getting a clear answer on the phone, she was relieved. She said to Cheng PaoPao, “Cheng FengLai, your grandma said, he is indeed the son of your family friends. He just arrived in Ning City this afternoon and came to the school to pick you up from school, so don’t worry, go home with him. But remember to hand in the self-reflection tomorrow morning, otherwise the teacher will be forced to ask your daddy and mommy to come to school.”

Cheng PaoPao pursed his lips, cleaned up his things without a word, and then left the Academic Affairs Office with Qiao JingXuan.

It got dark early in the winter, so although it was only 6pm, the sky was already dark.

Cheng PaoPao only came up to Qiao JingXuan’s waist, so Qiao JingXuan had to bow his head to look at his little snow-white face. It was like he was lacking a million-buck appearance, it just seemed so laughable. He said, “Cheng PaoPao, why were you fighting with your classmate?”

“Who gave you permission to call me by that name? I don’t know you that well.” Cheng PaoPao glared at him, folding his hands behind his back like a little lord, “My fighting is not your business. When we get back, don’t say a thing to my grandparents or parents, or else –”

Qiao JingXuan offered, “Or else what? You’ll beat me up too?”

Cheng PaoPao hummed, showing a self-satisfied expression, the expression showing that he thought Qiao JingXuan had got it right.

Qiao JingXuan almost laughed out loud. He deliberately teased him, “Cheng PaoPao, you were such a good boy when you were a kid, following right behind this gege everywhere. Don’t you remember?”

Cheng PaoPao’s tender little face immediately flushed, “Impossible, you’re talking nonsense!”

Qiao JingXuan said, “If you don’t believe me, ask your father and mo…daddy.”

It was unfamiliar to put these two terms together, so he almost made a mistake.

However, he could see that Cheng PaoPao was a kid with a strong sense of pride, he wouldn’t verify this kind of thing with his family, so that’s why he dared to say it.

Sure enough, Cheng PaoPao was tongue-tied. After a moment of indignation, he turned his head away and ignored him. The same went for getting in the car, where he sat on the other side of the back seat, far, far away.

Qiao JingXuan was amused to see his bulging cheeks and, for a moment, he itched to poke them with his finger. Just as he reached out, he remembered his childhood experience and had to pull it back again.

He was so fierce when he was less than a year old, so he must be even stronger now.

After a moment of relative silence, Qiao JingXuan couldn’t help but speak up, “Cheng PaoPao, you have two daddies, but no mama, do others find this strange?”

He had been very curious about this issue, but he had never asked before now.

Cheng PaoPao suddenly turned his head, his eyebrows bent so he looked like an angry little beast, “If anyone thinks it’s strange, I’ll hit them until they don’t think it anymore!” He followed that savage statement with another sentence, “That goes for you too!”

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

Now he knew why Cheng PaoPao’s classmate had been beaten up.

A seven-year-old kid who was half his size, of course, couldn’t beat him, but Qiao JingXuan had a lot of maturity, so he let the little guy go. Otherwise if he made him cry, it would be difficult to explain when he got back to the Cheng household.

Qiao JingXuan was thinking about something to say to coax Cheng PaoPao when the driver suddenly said, “Young master, there’s a car accident in front of us. Should we wait for the traffic police to finish up or should we go take a detour?”

Qiao JingXuan looked up and, sure enough, a dozen meters ahead of them, two cars had had a fender-bender and two car owners stood in the middle of the road, blaming each other, so the cars behind them couldn’t pass.

Cheng PaoPao, with an dominating air of old-fashioned maturity, said, “Bypass it, who knows how long waiting will take.”

The driver agreed and followed the car in front of him, turning around and taking the road in the opposite direction, then he took a detour around and got back on the small road to the villa community.

Ten minutes later, a pickup truck suddenly passed them from behind and, after crossing in front of them, suddenly slammed on the brakes and turned so they were blocking the road. The driver was startled and quickly stepped on the brakes to avoid hitting the pickup.

A van came up behind them, sealing the escape route.

Then the doors of both vehicles opened at the same time and ten men wearing black masks got out and surrounded the Cheng family car.

Qiao JingXuan’s heart sank, uh oh, looks like we’ve run into kidnappers!

How could I come across this in Ning City, I’m so unlucky.

The driver reacted quickly, immediately pulling out his phone and dialing a number. However, before the call could connect, the door was violently opened and the man was dragged out.

Qiao JingXuan and Cheng PaoPao were also pulled out of the car on the left and right by two brawny men. Qiao JingXuan’s phone was then found and thrown on the ground to be smashed with a stomp.

One of them said, “In addition to the Cheng family’s kid, why is there an extra teenager?”

Another person chuckled darkly, “More is more. Since he can ride in the Cheng family’s car, it means their relationship is deep, so we can get two birds with one stone.”

Cheng family’s driver was skilled, so with just a little effort, he had already taken down three or four of the kidnappers. But the other side had a lot of people and they weren’t all poorly skilled. So before long, he was outnumbered, knocked unconscious, and thrown to the grass on the side of the road.

Qiao JingXuan was both nervous and angry, unconsciously clenching his fists which made soft cracking sounds, preparing to fight when the lowlife kidnappers approached.

He had been learning to fight since he was a kid, for seven or eight years now, so he was somewhat skilled. But he had never actually fought someone before, so he didn’t know how it would turn out with this group of kidnappers.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t overestimate my own strength and go looking for trouble.” As Qiao JingXuan was estimating how many he could deal with at once, Cheng PaoPao, who he thought would be terrified, suddenly opened his mouth and spoke tepidly, making him glance over by accident.

At that moment, several kidnappers approached holding rope to tie the two hostages. Cheng PaoPao, with a little panic on his fair face, said, “Uncle, I’m afraid of pain, can you not tie me up? I promise not to run around screaming. I’ll give you whatever you want, and so will my father.”

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

The gangsters burst into laughter. The one who was originally going to tie up Cheng PaoPao was even wiping tears from his eyes, “Okay, this uncle won’t tie you up. If you don’t behave, Uncle will give you a spanking.” As he spoke, he grabbed him up by the scruff like a chick and put him in the pickup.

Then it was Qiao JingXuan’s turn. Qiao JingXuan opened his mouth. He was too embarrassed to say something like Cheng PaoPao who had no lower limit and he didn’t want to risk a fight with the kidnappers. So his hands were tied to his feet so that he was tied up like a big dumpling. Then they stuffed a dirty rag in his mouth and threw him into the back of the pickup.

Then the kidnappers got into the vehicles and quickly left the scene of the crime in the dark.

After more than an hour, the kidnappers drove into a scrap factory in the outskirts and then locked the two hostages into a small shack.

The heads of the kidnappers, known as Qian Ge, used the phone of the Cheng family driver to make a call, “Hey, Cheng Zong? Your baby son and a teenage brat are now in Laozi’s hands. If the two of them are going to make it home safely, you’ll need to prepare twenty million yuan before midnight tonight – no, twenty-five million in cash, placed in the garbage collection station in the alley behind the People’s South Road Newsstand.

“You want to talk to your son? OK, as long as Cheng Zong is willing to prepare the money, you can say anything.”

Qian Ge put the phone next to Cheng PaoPao’s mouth, pinched his face with his other hand, and said with a crooked grin and laugh, “Come, Young Master Cheng, say hello to your dear father.”

Cheng PaoPao glared at him with his pinched-red face, then chirped out as he cried, “Father, I’m so scared. You gotta come save me, wuwuwuwu……”

Qian Ge pulled the phone away in satisfaction and said compassionately, “Cheng Zong, did you hear clearly? At midnight, hand over the money or I’ll chop a finger off your son for each hour you’re late. If I don’t see the money by eight tomorrow morning, you’ll just have to wait to collect your son’s corpse! Remember not to call the police, or Laozi will kill a hostage immediately!”

After hanging up the phone, Qian Ge and his men went out, locking the iron door behind them.

Just the two hostages were left in the room. Cheng PaoPao cried and cried silently, then he closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, appearing to go to sleep.

Qiao JingXuan finally spat the rag out of his mouth fiercely, the action making his cheeks sore. Then he whispered, “Hey, Cheng PaoPao, are you actually sleeping at this time?”

“What else is there to do? I can’t run away right now. Ay, I’m so hungry.” Cheng PaoPao opened his eyes and said with his cheeks puffed up, “I blame you, I’ve been at that school for almost a year and it’s been fine, then I was kidnapped as soon as you showed up today. It’s all your fault!”

Qiao JingXuan almost burst out laughing. What this little brat is saying doesn’t even make sense, I was the one who was kind enough to pick him up from school and, as a result, I, the innocent person, was implicated. I’m the unlucky one, eh?

After Cheng PaoPao finished speaking, he ignored him and closed his eyes again.

Qiao JingXuan had to shut his mouth and instead tried to struggle a bit. The ropes were tied too tightly around his body and couldn’t be loosened.

The room was empty and there was only a thick layer of dust on the ground, so there was nothing he could use as a tool. The room had a window two meters off the ground, but there were two-finger-thick iron bars welded on and the gap between the bars was narrow. Not to mention him, but even a kid the size of Cheng PaoPao couldn’t squeeze through.

He leaned against the wall and sighed softly, there’s no way out, we can only wait for the Cheng family to come to the rescue.

After a while, Qiao JingXuan suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulder and he looked over to the side. It turned out that Cheng PaoPao had fallen asleep and was leaning on him.

The little boy’s sleeping face was innocent, his little lips childishly pursed a bit and his complexion tender and pink. Those long lashes trembled with each breath. He looked as cute as an angel in a painting.

Qiao JingXuan’s heart softened and wanted to reach out and touch the little guy’s face. But there was no way that he could move.

Forget it, he would sleep too.

He adjusted his sitting position so that Cheng PaoPao would be a little more comfortable, and then he closed his own eyes.

Who knew how long it had been when there came the sound of fighting and screaming from outside. Qiao JingXuan woke from his sleep and found that the Cheng PaoPao at his side was missing. There was only one person left in the room. He had a pain in the back of his neck, as if he had been struck by a blow.

What happened? Did the kidnappers knock me out and take Cheng PaoPao? Oh heavens, they better not have done anything to that little guy!

Just as he was getting anxious, the door was opened and someone with a familiar, calm male voice asked, “JingXuan, are you okay?”

Qiao JingXuan was overjoyed. “YuTang-gege, I’m fine!”

“Good.” Cheng YuTang walked in and cut the rope around his body with a knife.

Qiao JingXuan asked quickly, “YuTang-gege, PaoPao? How is he?”

Cheng and said, “He’s fine too, he’s out in the car.”

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

What, what, I misheard him, right? Are I dreaming and just not awake yet?

Outside the shack, he saw that all the kidnappers, including Qian Ge, motionless on the ground like dirt and that the police were cleaning up the scene.

Qiao JingXuan said incredulously, “YuTang-gege, what’s going on here? How did Cheng PaoPao escape?”

Cheng YuTang cleared his throat and said, “You were asleep, right? The door of the room actually wasn’t locked, PaoPao just pushed it open. Then he ran down the road to get someone to call while the kidnappers weren’t paying attention. He gave me the location and I brought people over here.”

It was that simple? Qiao JingXuan couldn’t believe it, but there was no other reasonable explanation he could think of.

Then he noticed the car parked in the open space next to him. Ji XiaoYu was sitting in the passenger seat and Cheng PaoPao was in the back seat. He was holding a piece of pig’s trotter in his hand, gnawing at it, and his mouth was slick with oil.

Ji XiaoYu poked his head out the window, yawning, “Can we go now? Let’s hurry back to bed, I’m so sleepy.”

Cheng YuTang motioned for Qiao JingXuan to get in the car and then sat himself in the driver’s seat. He kissed Ji XiaoYu’s lips and smiled, “Baby, if you’re sleepy, go to sleep first.”

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

This sight was a bit spicy. He silently turned his head and endured. He couldn’t help but ask the one who was nibbling the trotter and licking his fingers with relish, Cheng PaoPao, who was ignoring the intimacy of his two fathers, “Just now……”

“What just now? You’re the one I hate the most, I won’t tell you, hmph!” Cheng PaoPao twisted his head, making it clear he didn’t want to talk to him. But afterwards, he snuck a glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

Qiao JingXuan: “……”

After that, Qiao JingXuan returned to the Cheng household in a daze. In turn, he was comforted by his scared, sniffling big sister. Then his parents, who heard the news, were scared and ordered him to return to the capital and also ordered him not to hang out with the Cheng family boy again. And the next day, he was put on an international flight to the African savanna.

After that, he was sent to Europe to study.

By the time he finally returned to China, twelve years had already passed.

Twelve years, more than 4,000 days and nights, long enough to forget many people and things.

Until a certain day in spring, when Qiao JingXuan, who was learning to take over the family business, happened to go to Ning City for a business trip. He experienced deja vu in the street when he came across an incredibly beautiful young man.

In a trance, Qiao JingXuan muttered, “Cheng PaoPao?”

The young man gave him a blank look, “Who gave you permission to call me by that name? I don’t know you that well.”

——END——

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Footnotes:

1. flower protector (护花使者): someone who protects a beautiful woman (flower), usually the woman a man likes; flower protectors can also patrol bar areas to protect drunken women

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PaoPao is so cute, getting all flustered over being told (the lie that) he clung to his gege as a baby~