When they were in Li Family Village, Li Xiaoya had once sung nursery rhymes to comfort Sheng Yuxiao.
Now, when it came to reading children's picture books, she was quite experienced.
"Alright," Li Xiaoya finished reading a story carefully, then tilted her head and said to Ke Muning: "Now you read it yourself."
She was just short of assigning him a task to read aloud.
After saying this, Li Xiaoya turned to go make a phone call, but Ke Muning caught her by the back of her collar.
"I didn't hear clearly. Read it again," Ke Muning said.
When the little girl read picture book stories, her voice would become much softer. Especially when unfamiliar words came out of her mouth, it made people pay more attention to the gentle tone.
Ke Muning felt... she had deceived him.
What was wrong with listening to it again?
Nothing!
But Li Xiaoya opened her phone's voice recorder, found the latest recording, and pressed play.
Her soft voice soon came out of the recording again.
Then she pointed at Ke Muning's pocket: "I've shared it with you. You can listen to it many times."
Ke Muning: "..."
Even President Liu felt this was too perfunctory.
Didn't this child know the seriousness of the situation?
Ke Muning's mouth twitched a couple of times, but he still took out his phone and received the audio Li Xiaoya had "thoughtfully" recorded through Bluetooth.
After dealing with Ke Muning, Li Xiaoya slipped out to the small garden outside and first called Sheng Yuxiao.
When the call connected, Sheng Yuxiao's first question was: "Why didn't you call last night?"
"Ke Muning was here."
"Are you still at his place now?"
"Mm."
Sheng Yuxiao suddenly fell silent.
Li Xiaoya said softly, "Sheng Yuxiao, don't worry about me."
Sheng Yuxiao gritted out a sentence: "You haven't even been to my house yet."
Li Xiaoya also fell silent for a moment, then asked quietly, "Can I come next week then?"
Sheng Yuxiao's tone changed abruptly: "Which day? Morning or afternoon? You might as well stay at my place for two days over the weekend, and I can take you to school on Monday."
After saying this, Sheng Yuxiao paused, then asked, "Ke Muning isn't beside you right now?"
"Mm, I told him to go look at picture books."
"Picture books? Children's picture books?"
"Mm."
"He wants to learn the Hua Country language?"
"You guessed very correctly."
After Li Xiaoya finished speaking, she turned around on the small stool and immediately saw Ke Muning standing by the floor-to-ceiling window not far away.
He wasn't looking at the picture books; he was looking at her.
As if monitoring her movements.
"He seems to have guessed who you are," Li Xiaoya said uncertainly.
On the other end of the phone, Sheng Yuxiao instantly changed his sitting posture. But he quickly regained his composure.
"This is Jin City. He won't do anything out of line," Sheng Yuxiao first gave a rational analysis, but then he still asked: "Do you need me to have Secretary Wang come pick you up?"
"No need."
Just as she finished saying no need.
On the other side, Ke Muning took a "click" photo of Li Xiaoya's back.
President Liu saw this action and immediately went up to ask: "Are you going to send it to that President Wei? To scare them?"
Without turning his head, Ke Muning said: "You're too close to me."
As soon as he finished speaking, two bodyguards came up and dragged President Liu back a bit.
Ke Muning lowered his head and sent the photo to Secretary Wang's email.
However, that Secretary Wang, like him, had multiple identities and many contact methods. This email might not be seen in time.
A bit of a pity.
In less than half a minute, Secretary Wang called Sheng Yuxiao and asked, "Is your little duck alright? Ke Muning has come to Hua Country."
"How do you know too?"
"Oh, so you know that little duckling is at Ke Muning's place?"
"I know. I was the one who picked Li Xiaoya up from school."
"..." Secretary Wang wrung his hands. "Rather than sending her to Ke Muning's house, you might as well have sent her to mine."
Sheng Yuxiao was silent for a moment, then chose to tell the truth: "Keeping her at Ke Muning's house is more reliable than keeping her at yours."
Secretary Wang hung up the phone.
On the other side, Ke Muning had been waiting for a long time without receiving a single word in reply from Secretary Wang. He sighed again in disappointment, then carelessly put away his phone.
Soon after, Li Xiaoya came back.
Ke Muning asked her: "Finished calling home?"
Li Xiaoya nodded and asked Ke Muning in return: "How many characters have you learned?"
Ke Muning: "..." He hadn't learned any at all.
Li Xiaoya tilted her head: "You haven't learned even one?"
Ke Muning's face stiffened. He didn't speak, trying to intimidate Li Xiaoya with his face that was naturally capable of making children cry.
But this face, which was invincible among children, didn't have much effect on Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya slowly shook her head and said: "Stupid."
The translator didn't dare to speak.
Ke Muning turned his head to ask the translator: "What did she say?"
The translator stammered: "She said, said stupid."
Ke Muning practiced pronouncing "dumb". This word, he had often heard Secretary Wang say before.
He asked: "What's the difference between these two words?"
The translator was silent for a long time: "... Maybe 'stupid' is a bit cuter?"
Ke Muning's expression immediately changed.
And President Liu on the side became more anxious.
No way, you can tolerate even this? Does this foreigner have Schrödinger's temper?
At this moment, Ke Muning snorted coldly, picked up Li Xiaoya, and said: "Come on, I'll teach you German. Let's see if you're stupid or not."
Li Xiaoya's feet left the ground. She instinctively flailed a couple of times, then raised her hands to firmly hang onto his shoulder, and was thus carried away.
President Liu felt as if he had punched a cotton ball, with none of his expectations realized.
At this time, a bodyguard came over to escort him out.
"Remember to keep your phone accessible. Our boss may contact you at any time."
President Liu nodded, stepped out of the villa door, and as the wind blew, his stomach growled.
They didn't even give him a meal.
This treatment wasn't even as good as Li Xiaoya, a little liar.
*
On the other side, the Old Master closed his eyes and listened to the processed phone recording.
"The background sound is Dutch." The Old Master paused, "The voice is a bit distorted after processing... listen, does it sound like Ke Muning's voice?"
The Old Master's trusted subordinate leaned forward to listen again and said uncertainly: "It does sound a bit like him, mainly because there aren't many people who speak Dutch in this place. Has the young miss been kidnapped again? Should we go rescue her?"
The Old Master sighed, finally understanding the cause and effect of what happened on the island.
"She's too bold..."
"Do you mean the young miss went with him voluntarily?"
Wei Xuanming lowered his eyes but didn't speak again.
This news wasn't suitable to be spread.
She was willing to take risks.
This was exactly where she differed completely from her uncles... Back then, the Ghost family's business was also established amidst countless risks.
But some people are born unwilling to live their lives as if walking on a tightrope, while others enjoy walking on a tightrope.
He hoped more... that she was the kind of person who enjoyed walking on a tightrope.
"Destroy the recording. Don't let Wenjun and the others hear it."
The subordinate looked at him in shock.
But thinking of this person's usual style, it seemed, seemed not strange. It's just that this time, the object of his tempering had become a child.
*
The Old Master not only destroyed the recording but also told Wei Wenjun and his brother that Li Xiaoya had gone to stay at a friend's house for a few days, had already informed him by phone, was very safe, and they could rest assured.
Although Wei Wenjun and his brother often had ideological differences with the Old Master, the credibility of the Old Master's words was still very high in their hearts.
"She must have gone to the Sheng family," Wei Wenjun felt a bit upset, even his meals didn't taste good anymore.
Because they were too at ease about Li Xiaoya's situation, Li Xiaoya didn't contact her family much either.
Ke Muning thus lost the pleasure of intimidation, and his meals didn't taste good either.
"They just believe you're at a reliable person's home like this?"
"Mm." Li Xiaoya obediently nodded.
"..." The Ghost family must be sick.
Having lost his joy, Ke Muning forcibly insisted on sending Li Xiaoya to school on this Monday.
Li Xiaoya tilted her head: "It's fine, but I only have one bottom, I can't sit in so many cars."
Parked in front of them were seven or eight Rolls-Royces, clearly forming a motorcade.