Little Ye went directly back to the ground floor restaurant, where their boss was already sitting and drinking porridge, exhibiting the elegance of a gentleman in every gesture.

Little Ye walked directly into the restaurant, which was filled with many people, all of whom were their boss’s subordinates and also considered their brothers.

The man’s gaze fell on Little Ye, his brow furrowed slightly, and then he asked, "Why did you take so long downstairs?"

Little Ye sat opposite the man, chuckled, and honestly replied, "I chatted with them for a bit. The aunty’s voice is so gentle, just like my mom’s."

He already didn’t remember what his mom looked like, only that she was a very gentle woman with a soft voice.

The man paused his porridge-drinking, his deep eyes fixed on Little Ye, and he spoke softly, "What did you talk about?"

Little Ye grabbed a bowl of rice and placed it in front of himself, asking someone beside him to pass him a pair of chopsticks before replying, "They wanted to know who you were. I didn’t tell them and said I had to ask you whether to let them know... Also, the aunty asked me how old I am and what my name is..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The man beside him tilted his head towards Little Ye and asked, "Did you answer?"

Little Ye nodded, "I told them I am about to turn eighteen, and also that my name is Little Ye."

The man immediately swore, then raised his hand to slap Little Ye on the back of the head, saying, "Are you stupid? We are kidnappers now, which kidnappers would voluntarily tell others about themselves?"

Being hit, Little Ye was momentarily stunned and then innocently asked, "Didn’t I do the right thing?"

"Of course not, you fool!" The man huffed, wishing he could pry open his skull with a knife to see what was inside.

Usually, he was quite a clever kid, but why was he acting so dumb now?

Little Ye looked innocent as he directly lifted his head to glance at their boss across the table, calling out sadly, "Boss..."

The man continued eating porridge, hearing him call out, he looked up and spoke with a deep meaning, "Indeed, quite foolish."

Little Ye, "...But Brother Ping hit me."

The man remained unmoved and replied coolly, "You deserved it."

Little Ye, "..." He was done for; even the boss didn’t love him anymore. He had become an unloved child.

He lowered his head, sulkily starting to eat from his bowl of rice, feeling quite upset.

Just as he was eating with his head down, a roasted duck leg appeared in front of him. Looking up, he saw the boss retracting his chopsticks.

Noticing Little Ye’s gaze, the man spoke indifferently, "You’re at growing age, just eating rice, do you want to stop growing? Eat some meat."

Little Ye’s face instantly beamed with a bright smile, saying directly, "Thanks, boss."

The boss still loved him; at least he gave him the duck leg.

Sitting beside Little Ye, Brother Ping rolled his eyes, thoroughly despising Little Ye’s naive heart.

Probably no one would know this group that instills fear, specializing in killing and kidnapping people, seemed ruthless but was actually quite good to Little Ye, treating him like their own child or even like a biological younger brother.

All of them cherished Little Ye dearly, not letting him see their dark side, only hoping he would be well.

After finishing their meal, as the man prepared to go upstairs to rest, Little Ye called out to him, "Boss..."

The man stopped his steps, turned around to look at him, raising an eyebrow, "What else?"

Little Ye embarrassingly said, "Boss, the aunt’s forehead wound got infected as it wasn’t treated in time. Should we buy some medicine for them?"

Upon hearing this, he remained silent for a while, then said, "Go buy it."

Little Ye continued, "The basement is quite cold, boss, shall I bring them a blanket?"

The man’s face darkened, looking at Little Ye, instead of answering he asked, "Didn’t you hear Brother Ping just now? Have you seen anyone who’s been abducted being treated so well? They are our hostages; we are kidnappers."

Brother Ping, who was tidying up the trash, sneezed, and muttered to himself, "Who’s talking about me behind my back?"

He glanced at Little Ye’s former seat, shook his head, and sighed, "Little Ye, that foolish child."

Little Ye looked at his boss with some innocence, "But didn’t that aunt say nothing bad should happen?"

"That old lady is of the age that she could be your grandmother." the man corrected him.

Little Ye responded with an "Oh," and immediately changed how he addressed her, repeating what he said earlier, "But didn’t that granny say nothing bad should happen? What if she gets into trouble while she’s with us, boss?"

The man paused, rubbing his jaw, thinking Little Ye had a point.

Thinking about this, he finally spoke, waving his hand dismissively, "Go and get them a blanket."

Little Ye’s face instantly lit up with a smile, "Then, I’m heading downstairs, boss."

He quickly called him back, "Wait..."

Little Ye halted his steps, "Anything else, boss?"

Expressionless, the man looked at him, asking, "Do you enjoy spending time with those two?"

Little Ye thought about it, feeling a bit embarrassed as he scratched his head, "They don’t seem like bad people. Not just that aunt – also that pretty lady..."

"She could have been your aunt." He corrected him again.

"Oh, Aunt..." Little Ye obediently changed the address, continuing, "That aunt also speaks gently, she’s not fierce at all, and she’s pretty..."

The man suddenly felt impatient, waving his hand, "Alright, alright, go downstairs."

Little Ye immediately turned and ran.

Looking at Little Ye’s back, the man standing at the staircase seemed lost in thought. He had only seen Xu Qian once, but back then Xu Qian was unconscious, as for Song Qiao... he really hadn’t seen her.

While one could see Song Qiao on the news over the past two days, he didn’t watch TV, so he naturally had no idea what Song Qiao looked like.

Thinking for a moment, he directly summoned a subordinate, giving the instruction, "Go ask those two women locked in the basement, can they cook?"

The subordinate appeared puzzled, asking, "Boss, are you planning to have them cook for us? What if they poison us in the food?"