Chapter 3: Kidnapping (Part 1)

  Language has a spirit of its own, so before speaking lies, one must carefully consider whether it will become a curse in the future. For example, Gu Huanli, at this moment she is trapped in a gray nightmare and cannot extricate herself.

  "Lu Yichen, you have a reputation, status, and wealth. Even if you were to keep a dozen mistresses, it wouldn't be a burden for you. Why must you bring me back to be a mere ornament?" Twenty-four-year-old Gu Huanli sat on the ground, her feet beside the shattered vase from their argument, as she looked up at Lu Yichen who was opening the door.

  He heard the sound, his body paused for a moment, slightly tilted his head to take a look, but still didn't turn around. "The woman of the Gu family can calm the house, that's why I married you." The ambiguous words were spoken in a cold voice, and then he opened the door and walked out quickly.

  Town house?

  Gu Huanli's smile faltered, her body trembling slightly, but her eyes welled up with tears. She had no idea she possessed such an unusual ability - to calm the house? Did he think of her as just a door god? Oh right, maybe he also saw her as a sea-wandering yuki-onna. Weren't his lovers secretly calling her that behind her back? The superficial eldest miss, the unromantic yuki-onna.

  She was just too lonely. So when Luo Yi Chen appeared in her life, she clung to him like a lifeline.

  Gu Huanli's favorite thing was Ruo Yichen's smile, although he rarely smiled, and even the few times he did, most of them were cold smiles. However, Gu Huanli remembered, remembered their encounter - in a Hong Kong-style restaurant, she accidentally spilled milk tea on his suit, and he, not only didn't get angry, but instead smiled and handed her a clean handkerchief. At that time, his smile was full of warmth. In Gu Huanli's eyes, the whole world lost its color because of it. She could only stare at him blankly, forgetting to say "sorry" or "thank you".

  It was all because of that smile, she tried every means to get close to him, and even hurt the nerves in her fingers to save him, without any complaints. She just wanted a warmth, she just didn't want to be an ignored child anymore, she hoped someone could accompany her, so she wouldn't feel like she was redundant.

  But what about later on...

  They became lovers, then got engaged and married. The sweet days had just begun when flaws appeared.

  Luo Yichen has a romantic partner, and not just one. Gu Huanli and he have quarreled before, but every time after the dispute, she took the initiative to find Luo Yichen to make up with him. Because, she didn't want to be alone, and never wanted to repeat the lonely days of the past again.

  "First to love, first to lose", these five words made Gu Huanli sigh for a long time. Between her and Luo Yichen, she could only be the loser. They had known each other for exactly seven years, from the girl Gu Huanli to the woman, Luo Yichen was undoubtedly the only man by her side.

  However, what comes easily will never be cherished, let alone something that is forced into one's hands!

  In the first two years of their marriage, Ruo Yu Chen would keep his mistresses outside and at least not let them appear in front of her. So, exhausted Gu Huan Li learned to turn a blind eye like many noblewomen. However, this silence and tolerance only led to Ruo Yu Chen's increasing depravity.

  Her home, her bed, her marriage, not just the third, fourth, fifth... Gu Huanli was too lazy to count those women on her fingers, anyway, each one didn't stay for long, if she had argued with each of them, she would have died from anger a long time ago.

  A heaven-reversing and earth-overturning change occurred after Chu Lianyou returned to her country.

  Gu Huanli noticed that Ruo Yichen spent less time at home, and the number of times he brought women back to the house also decreased significantly. What increased was the amount of time he spent in his study, as well as the constant ringing of his phone, and his attitude of dropping everything to answer calls and respond to messages.

  Such meticulous care, such gentleness, and such pampering were things that Gu Huanlin had never seen before. When a woman's sixth sense arrives, all she can do is follow this feeling until the truth comes to light.

  The so-called truth is that her lovely cousin fell in love with her brother-in-law, and the husband she relied on fell in love with his sister-in-law. What an interesting mess, what an interesting reality.

  So, Ruo Yi Chen chose to let her fend for herself, he wouldn't divorce her, but also wouldn't show her any care or attention. They were just husband and wife in the eyes of the law, strangers under the same roof, and in his eyes, her role was just a talisman. It turned out that the seven years they spent together, which Gu Huan Li had worked hard to maintain, was actually so tattered and insignificant, and even, so negligible.

  He never accompanied her to the park, never took her to the movies, and never attended a concert with her. Even when she had a high fever, he would only let her drive herself to the hospital to see a doctor.

  She remembered his birthday, their wedding anniversary, and even the day they met. She also recalled the first gift she gave him - a purple scarf she knitted herself.

  Maintaining love is difficult, let alone maintaining a one-man show. Gu Huanli struggled to survive in the real world and her own imagined beautiful world until she saw Ruo Yichen embracing Chu Liuyao in their home, dropping the crystal ornament she had just bought back. It was his favorite dolphin, now shattered into pieces, as if her heart were. And by her ear, only the mournful cry of Chu Liuyao; before her eyes, only Ruo Yichen's calm face, as if nothing had happened, as if nothing mattered.

  Disgusting, too disgusting! Gu Huanli had nothing to say to these two people who were supposed to be her closest family members. She just called the cleaning company and asked them to come over immediately to give her home a thorough disinfection.

  In fact, what she really wanted to disinfect was herself...

  In the corner, Gu Huan Lian still had her eyes tightly closed, tears streaming silently down from the corners of her eyes, flowing and flowing as if she wanted to pour out all the unshed tears from her past life, like a string of pearls that had been cut off.

  The Chu family was in complete disarray at this moment.

  "Ling Yu, after finishing the exam, why didn't you let the driver wait for Huan Li at the entrance for a while?" Gu Wenjuan looked at her daughter, scolding her in anger.

  Chu Lian sat on the sofa, wiping away tears, "How did I know that Xiao Li didn't go to practice piano? Usually, I'm the first one to come home, and then the driver goes to school to pick her up. Maybe... she ran off somewhere to play!"

  "Huanli is different from you!" Gu Wenjuan paced back and forth in the living room, occasionally glancing at the phone. "If it were you, I wouldn't be worried at all."

  Chu Lian's eyes widened in surprise, and she complained in a wronged tone, "Mom! Are you really my mom?! Don't you worry at all that I'm gone? Even if Xiaoli is more sensible and obedient, I'm still your own daughter!"

  Gu Wenjuan's eyes widened, staring at her, and it took half a day to react that her words were a bit heavy, so she slowed down her tone, "In Mom's eyes, she and you are both my daughters. Moreover, your uncle and aunt are not around her, so naturally, Mom is more fond of her. If you went missing, Mom would first think that you, this crazy girl, must have gone off somewhere again, and calling Tianbo's mom would probably know where you are. But Huanli is different, she never goes out to play, after school, she practices piano at home, either doing homework or practicing piano. So when she suddenly went missing, Mom was naturally very worried."

  "Then you shouldn't say that I'm lost, you're not worried at all!" Chu Lianyou said sullenly while listening to Gu Wenjuan's explanation, "Mom only has Xiaoli in her heart, and never had me."

  "What's wrong with you, child! You don't understand anything!" Gu Wenjuan was already anxious like an ant on a hot pot, and now seeing her daughter's appearance, she was really annoyed, her voice involuntarily rising several degrees. "Although you're only a few months older than Huan Lian, you're still the older sister, you should have some sense of responsibility! Now that little Lian is gone, everyone is frantically searching for her everywhere. What about you? Besides throwing a tantrum, what else can you do?"

  "What am I supposed to do!" Chu Lian was stunned, she had never thought that her mother would say such a thing to her, and her eyes widened in shock. After a long time, she gritted her teeth and said, "In the past, I thought only Xiaoli was an unwanted child, but it turns out, the truly unwanted child is me!"

  Gu Wenjuan was stunned, looking at her daughter in shock, as if Chu Lianyou were a monster she had never seen before. "What did you say? No one wants Xiaoli? How have I been teaching you?! Your uncle is busy with work and your aunt's health is not good, so Xiaoli stayed with us. How could she be an unwanted child?"

  "Has Uncle and Aunt ever given her Christmas gifts? Have they spent Spring Festival with her?! Not to mention celebrating birthdays together. Every year, I receive red envelopes from relatives and Barbie dolls, plush toys... who cares about her except our family?! You want me to learn from her? Learn what? Learn to be a wild child without parents?!"

  Gu Wenjuan's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but raise her hand, but as she looked at her daughter's innocent face, she couldn't bear to slap her. Instead, she said slowly, "Huanli isn't an orphan or a wild child without parents. Even if her parents aren't by her side, look at her - she plays the piano beautifully and is always first in class..."

  "Mom, this is just the third grade of elementary school, what's the big deal about being first in class?" Chu Lianyou interrupted her mother's words, with a hint of provocation in her voice. "In the future, I will definitely be stronger than her, no matter whether it's exam scores or anything else, I will never always lose to her."

  Gu Wenjuan put down her hands and smiled helplessly, "If you can just pass every subject in this final exam, I'll be grateful. And to surpass Huan Li, that's a good spirit, but when will that happen?"

  "One day!" Chu Lianyou clenched her fist and waved it, "One day, I'll make the whole world know that I, Chu Lianyou, am a million times stronger than Gu Huanli!"

  Gu Wenjuan shook her head, gazing deeply at her daughter. Could it be that she had been too doting on Huanli and neglected Lianyou? Otherwise, how could this child have such extreme thoughts? Perhaps, she really did something wrong. When she finds Huanli back, she should have a good talk with Lin Tao about the method of educating children. Otherwise, with Lianyou's current mindset, it will inevitably harm others and herself in the future.

  She was thinking, when the phone suddenly rang. Gu Wenjuan's eyes lit up, and she quickly picked up the phone, "Hello? Yes, not back yet. What? Okay, you find first, I'll wait for a call at home. Yes, we're all calm... If still can't find, I'll call brother and sister-in-law. Okay... You also don't be too anxious, take care of your high blood pressure."

  Watching Gu Wenjuan hang up the phone, Chu Lianyou who was still fuming just now walked over anxiously and asked, "Dad hasn't found Xiaoli yet?"

  Children are children, although they have a bit of a temper, but the sisterly love that has been there for so many years is still there. Gu Wenjuan let out a long sigh, and tears suddenly flowed down her face, "Your father has already sent someone to look for her near the school, if she can be found it's okay, if not..."

  "Mom, don't worry, Xiaoli will be fine." Chu Lianyu looked at Gu Wenjuan and started crying, feeling scared, stretched out her hand to hug her mother, muttering to herself, "Xiaoli will be fine, won't have anything happen to her."

  Just then, the phone rang again.

  Gu Wenjuan hastily picked up the phone, said a few words, and suddenly her face turned pale. "Tianxi? How did you know? Not... We will find Huanli for you. You should just focus on your studies in England... You can't help even if you come back... What? Huanli called you? No, she's not sick... She just had a nightmare last night... What? You've already booked a plane ticket? Did you tell your brother and sister-in-law? What about school... I know Huanli is your sister, but she's also our daughter..." After saying a few more words, she put down the phone and let out a deep sigh.

  "Mom, what did Tianxi say?" Chu Lianyu looked up at Gu Wenjuan's worried face and asked curiously.

  "Tianxi is worried about Huanli, so he booked a plane ticket for tonight and will be home tomorrow morning." Gu Wenjuan said this, but in her heart, she was thinking about what Tianxi had just told her. Could it really be a kidnapping? Otherwise, why would Huanli have made half a phone call and then gone silent? Moreover, what struck her as even stranger was that the obedient and sensible Huanli never proactively called her parents or brother, but this time, she had proactively called Tianxi and only said "I'm sorry"...

  What's going on here?