Chapter 5

Chapter 5: When Did Mom Have Such a Rich Friend... Whether he knows her or not, call him "Daddy" first! A pair of long legs stepping out of such a fine car—there's no way this person is ordinary. The moment Lin Qiaoqiao shouted those words, the surroundings fell silent. Secretary Shen hastily pulled open the car door and practically jumped out without a second thought. He spoke first, "Kid, you can talk nonsense all you want, but you can't just say things like that." "My boss has been single for years—never married, and certainly never had a daughter." But before he could finish, the moment he saw Qiaoqiao's face, Secretary Shen abruptly shut his mouth. He instinctively turned to look at his boss. Those eyes couldn't help but sweep back and forth between the two faces. They looked far too similar. Standing together, anyone could tell these two were blood-related. He wanted to slap himself twice—he'd gotten too used to speaking as his boss's mouthpiece. Saying whatever came to mind. Qiaoqiao thought to herself, she didn't have a father either. Wasn't she just doing this out of desperation? But before Qiaoqiao could answer, the "fake daddy" she was clinging to spoke up. "I do." "What?" Secretary Shen thought he'd misheard. What had his boss just answered? I do? Do what? Have a daughter? Secretary Shen looked down at Lin Qiaoqiao's features again and thought, well, the boss does indeed have a daughter now. No need for a paternity test—you could tell they were blood-related. Qiaoqiao's features resembled Lin Meiyan's, but her face shape overlapped with Yu Jianghai's to a certain degree. She was just young, so it wasn't very obvious yet. Yu Jianghai looked down at the little bean clinging to his leg. She was tiny, barely reaching his knee, and was currently looking up at him with big, clear black-and-white eyes like a pool of water—absolutely beautiful. The moment he saw those eyes, he knew who she was. The likeness of an old acquaintance. So she was the daughter of an old acquaintance. The daughter of an old acquaintance. A child she'd hidden for nearly five years. If the child hadn't gotten lost, he'd probably still be in the dark. Yu Jianghai stared at Qiaoqiao's face, his expression calm, but inside, his heart was churning like a storm. Lin Qiaoqiao. Qiaoqiao. Qiaoqiao. This was his and her daughter. The two sides faced off, neither speaking. Secretary Shen was anxious on his boss's behalf. Why bother? Why put yourself through this? They'd searched all night, turned over every stone, nearly torn Jiangcheng apart. And now that they'd finally met, he wasn't saying a word. What was he doing? What was he doing! What was his mouth for! Qiaoqiao studied the uncle before her, feeling a vague sense of familiarity, but she couldn't remember who he was. But now wasn't the time to figure out who he was—it was time to escape! Lin Qiaoqiao looked back and saw that Yu Feng had caught up, standing about three meters away, looking wary of Yu Jianghai and Secretary Shen. These two were clearly not ordinary people. Especially the former—cold and stern, tall and imposing. One punch from him would probably crush him to death. With that thought, Yu Feng grew more cautious. He first nodded politely at Yu Jianghai, then waved at Lin Qiaoqiao. "Come here." Lin Qiaoqiao clung tightly to Yu Jianghai's leg, refusing to let go. She made a face at him, looking every bit like someone throwing her weight around with backup. "You come here! If you've got the guts, come here!" Yu Feng took a deep breath, furious beyond words. As a seasoned trafficker who moved between different circles, he'd long mastered the art of saying what fits the audience. Somewhere along his search for his son, he'd lost himself too. "Comrade, this is my daughter. Please return my daughter to me." He said cautiously to Yu Jianghai. Hearing this, Yu Jianghai's brows furrowed instantly, his gaze sharp, his voice cold. "Whose daughter?" His presence was too intimidating, too piercing—like iron-clad cavalry charging into battle, impossible to ignore. Yu Feng had been a trafficker for years, so he knew exactly who he could afford to offend and who he couldn't. Suppressing the goosebumps rising on his scalp, he mustered his courage and repeated, "My daughter." "Comrade, please return my daughter to me." Yu Jianghai acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He crouched down to look Lin Qiaoqiao in the eye. "Who's your father?" Lin Qiaoqiao hugged his leg, answering without hesitation, "You." "You're my real daddy." The corner of Yu Jianghai's mouth twitched upward, gone in an instant—if Secretary Shen hadn't been standing so close, he wouldn't have caught it at all. The next second. Yu Jianghai bent down and scooped Lin Qiaoqiao up into his arms. He looked at Yu Feng, his tone now carrying a hint of impatience and suppressed anger. "This is your daughter?" Was he worthy? Was he worthy!? Yu Feng couldn't answer that. He was a true southerner, barely 1.7 meters tall, skinny as a monkey. But the man before him was a full 1.9 meters, tall and powerful, with long, well-built limbs—like a tiger descending the mountain. Not to mention the arms exposed on display. If he dared say yes, the man would probably crush him to death with one swing! Crush him to death! Yu Feng didn't want to be crushed to death. He couldn't win this fight. He instinctively averted his eyes and muttered a small blessing of surrender. "Your daughter." "Boss, this is your daughter." He knelt down smoothly. Secretary Shen was dumbfounded. "How do you talk? Who's your boss? You're a human trafficker calling my boss 'boss'—what do you take my boss for?" Yu Feng gave an awkward smile and apologized. Yu Jianghai ignored him. Holding Lin Qiaoqiao, he strolled over and slipped into the car. Through the window, he turned his head to look outside and said coldly, "Secretary Shen, arrest him." The moment those last three words fell. Yu Feng snapped back to reality. Unfortunately, he was a step too slow, and Secretary Shen had him tied up in no time. Yu Jianghai was 1.9 meters tall. Secretary Shen was 1.85 meters, and having served a few years in the military before being discharged, taking down a Yu Feng was no trouble at all. Bound and tied, Yu Feng still hadn't fully processed what had happened. How had he ended up in this situation? He quickly begged for mercy, "Good sir, good sir, I was just passing through." Secretary Shen kicked him in the chest. "Passing through? You pass through at the middle of the night to worship Buddha?" Yu Feng was kicked onto his back, clutching his chest and convulsing in pain. "I really was—" passing through. Before those two words could even finish, Secretary Shen shoved a stinking rag into his mouth. "Shut up. Explain it to the police." The implication being, I'm not listening to your nonsense. Secretary Shen's whole string of actions pleased Yu Jianghai greatly. After settling Lin Qiaoqiao in the passenger seat. He went to the driver's seat, and didn't forget to instruct Secretary Shen, "Stay here and handle the rest." Secretary Shen gave a quick "Yes" and agreed promptly. Yu Jianghai then drove off with Lin Qiaoqiao toward Simenkou Hengjie. By now, it was already five in the morning. The dawn light was about to break at the horizon, the sun seemingly ready to burst through the thick clouds and blaze with brilliant radiance. Even the car was lit up, touched by a hint of pale brightness. Lin Qiaoqiao curled up in the passenger seat, curiously looking around. She didn't recognize this road. Likewise, the man driving beside her looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't put a name to his face. Lin Qiaoqiao raised her head and secretly glanced at Yu Jianghai from the corner of her eye. Yu Jianghai sat there, and because of his height, he looked a bit cramped in the driver's seat. His long legs had to be tucked in slightly, and so did the rest of him—broad shoulders, a wide back, both hands gripping the steering wheel, veins faintly visible. Further up was a face of striking handsomeness—well-defined brows and eyes, a straight nose and firm mouth, a sharp jawline. The only thing was that it was a bit too cold and stern. When he wasn't speaking, his presence was somewhat intimidating—calling it fierce as a wolf or tiger wouldn't be an overstatement. Lin Qiaoqiao felt a little uneasy. She worried that she'd just escaped a wolf's den, only to walk into a tiger's mouth. What if he was also a human trafficker? On a three-wheeled cart, she could still jump off, but if she jumped out of this kind of car, would she fall to her death? "My mom runs a restaurant. She's very rich." "I know your mother." Both of them spoke at almost the same time. Lin Qiaoqiao froze for a moment, curling up entirely in the passenger seat, looking small and pitiful. She looked up. Yu Jianghai kept his hands on the steering wheel, eyes fixed ahead, trying to soften his voice a little. "Don't be afraid." "I know your mother." "I won't hurt you." His words were simple, each one firm and resolute, as if calmly stating a fact. Yet they instantly put Lin Qiaoqiao at ease. She said quietly, "Thank you." Yu Jianghai said nothing. He wasn't a talkative man to begin with, let alone when he'd just run into the daughter of an old acquaintance. Or perhaps his own daughter. He stayed silent, simply driving the car quietly. Lin Qiaoqiao, meanwhile, had her big eyes darting around, curiously taking in her surroundings. The leather seat beneath her was very comfortable—even more comfortable than the Wuling she'd bought after guarding Linji and opening her small restaurant in her past life. What kind of car was this? Earlier, while fleeing for her life, she hadn't paid attention to such things. She curled up into a ball, but her eyes inadvertently caught the steering wheel in Yu Jianghai's hands. It had a Mercedes-Benz emblem on it. Even though Lin Qiaoqiao didn't know much about cars, she recognized that emblem. Mercedes-Benz wasn't rare in later years, but this was a 1990 Mercedes-Benz. No one understood the meaning behind that better than Lin Qiaoqiao. A look of shock instantly spread across her tiny face. The kind that couldn't be hidden at all. Yu Jianghai turned the steering wheel, glanced sideways with a cold, sharp expression, and noticing something, tried to soften his tone. "What's wrong?" Lin Qiaoqiao pointed at the emblem, furrowing her little brows, and said quietly, "It looks like a big pair of underpants." Yu Jianghai looked down at his own emblem and gave an "Mm." "It does." What was this? Was he agreeing with her? Lin Qiaoqiao was even more shocked. Her earlier comment had been a desperate move—she couldn't exactly say she recognized the Mercedes-Benz emblem. It was just a random lie she'd made up on the spot. Or rather, a thoughtless remark. It even carried a hint of belittling—belittling this Mercedes-Benz worth nearly a million that she was sitting on. But not only did he not get angry, he actually agreed with her observation. What did that mean? Lin Qiaoqiao fell silent instantly. She looked at the low houses ahead and the dusty gray road, and a thought that felt out of place suddenly crossed her mind. When did her mother ever have such a wealthy friend? Author's Note: Yu Jianghai (correcting): Not a friend—her father. Father!