Song Xi subconsciously glanced toward the stairs, then gestured to Xu Qian, "It’s that man who’s about one-ninety, maybe a bit over, around his late twenties or early thirties, pretty good-looking and has some presence..."

She paused, then finally explained how she’d been brought here. "He told me you and my sister were in his hands, so I came with him. Just now I didn’t see you guys and thought he’d lied to me, I was even getting ready to leave."

It was just that these people let her in, but clearly had no intention of letting her leave.

She hadn’t expected that Xu Qian was actually in his hands. Then what about her sister?

Hearing this, Xu Qian’s face changed slightly, and she quickly gripped Song Xi’s hand to warn her, "That’s their boss. His temper is unpredictable, but he can still be reasoned with. But we’re still in their hands right now, you need to be careful too. Now that you’ve been brought here, you won’t be able to leave for a while. But they don’t have any feud with you, they probably just saw that you’re Qiaoqiao’s little sister and invited you over. When the time comes, they should let you go."

Even if, when the time came, they didn’t plan on letting Qiaoqiao and Song Xi go, she would still risk everything to get the two kids out of these people’s hands.

Right now she was actually hoping that so‑called "buyer" wouldn’t manage to scrape together five million for them; that way they might still have a way out.

If that "buyer" really put together the five million and paid them, they were probably doomed.

Ono came downstairs and saw Song Xi and Xu Qian together, and Xu Qian leaning close to Song Xi’s ear saying something. His steps halted, then he grinned and said, "Auntie, are you badmouthing our boss?"

Ono’s sudden voice gave Xu Qian a fright. She looked up at him, clearly displeased. "I’m just telling the truth. If your boss were a good person, I wouldn’t badmouth him."

"But our boss really is a good person."

"In what way is he a good person? Would a good person kidnap us?"

Ono’s smile didn’t fade. "We just took someone’s money to do a job for them, that’s all."

Even though this auntie kept badmouthing his boss, he couldn’t be fierce to her, because the boss had said this auntie’s background was not simple.

Xu Qian just gave a cold snort. "Kidnapping is against the law. And you guys don’t look like you’re short of that bit of money. Besides, if you let us go, however much you want I’ll give it to you."

Ono didn’t answer her. He walked straight over to stand in front of Song Xi, then said to Xu Qian, "Don’t worry, Auntie. If that stupid woman doesn’t give the five million to the boss, the boss will let you go home. For now just settle in and live here peacefully."

Five million really was a bit low, and the boss had indeed said before that if they let that auntie go home, never mind five million, even if they asked for five of her it’d be fine.

But... in this line of work you have to talk about credit. Since they took this job, unless the other side really can’t pay the remaining balance, they had to give their client a perfect explanation for this matter.

...

In the study on the second floor, the man sat behind the desk, took a photo out of his pocket—the same one from last night.

He had always carried this photo with him. Even if something happened to him, he would still protect it carefully.

His fingers rubbed over the woman in the photo as he murmured softly, "Aunt, I think I might have found it, but I don’t dare confirm if it’s really..."

He flipped to the back of the photo and saw a line of words there: "May our Moyan be as happy and carefree every year as he is this year."

Moyan... Nan Moyan, that was his name.

This photo had been taken when he was six, with his "aunt" at some amusement park in Italy. It was his first time at an amusement park. Even though they hadn’t gone on the rides, he was still extremely happy and excited at the time.

Back then it was just him and his aunt, relying on each other in Italy, living in the slums. To earn money his aunt worked several jobs a day, and stayed with him as he grew up until he was ten.

When he was twelve, his aunt was almost raped by several men. In the end, to fight back and keep her purity, she jumped from the roof of the building they lived in and died on the spot.

Ten years old—for most children that’s still the age of hiding in their parents’ arms. But because his aunt died, he became an orphan, and the hatred that filled his heart left him with only one choice: to make himself strong.

He spent two years killing every one of the men who had caused his aunt’s death. He was only twelve at the time.

As for his own background, his aunt hadn’t exactly hidden it, but she never mentioned his parents’ identities. He only knew his parents were in An City, and that their status probably wasn’t that of ordinary people. After his aunt died, the only truly valuable thing she left him was this photo.

His fingers stroked the surface of the photo, Nan Moyan’s face expressionless.

He was good at hiding his emotions. After surviving so many years amid blades and blood, he was no longer the Nan Moyan who needed his aunt’s protection.

There was a knock at the door outside. Nan Moyan looked up toward it, then slipped the photo back into his pocket and strode over.

When he opened the door, Ping-ge was still in the middle of knocking. Seeing Nan Moyan, he immediately dropped his hand and said, "Boss, I’ve already looked into what you asked me to. Aunt Nan used to be a servant for the Mu Family, and she was friends with the Mu Family’s eldest daughter. But that eldest daughter died a few years ago, and the man she married also died two years ago. Now the Mu Family has moved to Beijing and is no longer in An City, so the information we’ve been able to find is limited..."

Some of the Mu Family’s servants had been hired later by Lu Jingchen to look after Elder Mu; they hadn’t been with the Mu Family long, so they basically knew nothing about the eldest daughter.

Most of the old servants from the Mu Mansion had gone back to their hometowns after the Mu Family went bankrupt. Those who stayed had followed Elder Mu when he moved to Beijing.

Hearing this, Nan Moyan couldn’t help furrowing his brows.

Ping-ge spoke again. "But Boss, there’s something I haven’t gone to verify yet, but I seem to remember hearing before that Madam Lu..."

He paused, afraid his boss wouldn’t know who he meant, and explained more clearly, "The one we kidnapped, the one called Song Qiao—it seems like she’s the Mu Family eldest daughter’s daughter..."