The first floor of the shopping mall was in complete chaos, filled with cries and shouts.  

“I told her to wait right here—how could she just disappear?”  

“Please, you have to find my Lele. She’s the only hope of our Zhou family!”  

“My Lele…”  

Mall staff stepped forward to console them patiently. “Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ve already mobilized a full search of the mall and called the police. The station is nearby, so they’ll be here soon.”  

Meanwhile, Su Yue was also searching for Song Zhining.  

She had come out of the restroom only to find that Song Zhining was nowhere in sight. After waiting for a long time, she went back in to look but couldn’t find her at all.  

She wanted to call, but her phone had died from checking the stock market too much…  

Watching the elderly woman’s desperate sobbing, Su Yue’s heart sank.  

Zhining’s a grown adult—she couldn’t have been kidnapped… could she?  

Just then, three police officers entered through the doors.  

“Who reported the missing child?”  

The old woman froze for a second at the sight of the police, then rushed over, still weeping. “Officers, please, you have to find my granddaughter, Lele!”  

“I’ll get on my knees and beg you!”  

The officers quickly held her up. “No need for that. Just tell us the details so we can start searching right away.”  

As the old woman opened her mouth to speak, a crisp yet icy female voice cut in.  

“No need to search. Lele is right here.”  

The voice instantly silenced the noisy mall.  

All eyes turned toward the speaker.  

Song Zhining walked unhurriedly toward the mother and daughter, holding Lele in her arms. She stared at them coldly, a faint smirk on her lips but saying nothing.  

The moment the mother and daughter heard that Lele had been found, their faces twisted with fear and tension.  

Now, under Song Zhining’s gaze, their pupils shrank in terror, and their bodies trembled.  

The police asked, “Where did you find the child?”  

Song Zhining replied coolly, “Officers, I found her in the security locker room on the fourth floor. The kidnapper’s been electrocuted unconscious—you should send someone there quickly.”  

“And one more thing…”  

She paused, her lips curling slightly. “I’m accusing this mother and daughter of deliberately letting the kidnapper take Lele. They don’t deserve to be called a grandmother or an aunt.”  

The crowd erupted in shock.  

…

One hour later.  

Song Zhining and Su Yue walked out of the police station, exhaustion written all over their faces.  

Thanks to her accusation, the elderly woman and her daughter had been taken into custody, while Lele was sent to the hospital for a checkup. The kidnapper had also been successfully apprehended, and Qin Rouxia and her husband Zhou Hang arrived shortly after.  

At first, the mother and daughter vehemently denied any wrongdoing—until Song Zhining played the recording. Then, they immediately fell silent.  

Qin Rouxia, who usually appeared gentle and meek, unleashed a storm in the police station, tearing into her wicked mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  

She was beyond furious—Lele was her heart, her everything.  

Watching it all, Song Zhining felt an immense sense of satisfaction.  

Su Yue chugged an entire bottle of water, still shaken.  

“Zhining, you were amazing! Not only did you take down that kidnapper, but you also exposed that old woman’s ugly true face. But next time something like this happens, you have to tell me! I was so worried—I thought you might’ve been…”  

Song Zhining smiled. “There wasn’t enough time to explain. Anyway, let’s hurry back to work.”  

Just as they were about to leave—  

“Miss Song! Please wait!” Qin Rouxia called out to them.  

Song Zhining turned. “What is it?”  

“Could I have your contact info? Once I’ve settled everything, I’d like to properly thank you.”  

Qin Rouxia bowed deeply in gratitude.  

Song Zhining left her phone number and walked away.  

At the same time.  

In the timeline of 2019, reality suddenly shifted.  

When Qin Rouxia blinked, she wasn’t in that dark little room—she was standing at the entrance of a kindergarten.  

“Mommy~” A childish voice rang out as Lele ran over and threw herself into her arms.  

Tears instantly streamed down Qin Rouxia’s face as she held her daughter, now fully aware of the memories of what had happened.  

A flood of unfamiliar recollections filled her mind—Lele had been rescued, the kidnapper sentenced to prison, and she and Zhou Hang had cut ties with his family. Now, the three of them lived happily together.  

Just then, her phone pinged.  

[Your entrusted task has been completed by the Stationmaster. Please provide the agreed-upon reward within one hour.] 

A smaller line of text followed: The app and related memories will disappear within ten minutes of successful payment.

After a brief moment of thought, Qin Rouxia quickly took action.

Ten minutes later, Qin Rouxia watched as the app disappeared from her phone, and the memories related to it began to fade from her mind.  

But she wasn’t panicked at all. Holding Lele’s hand tightly, she walked toward her husband, who had come to pick them up by car…  

…

In the timeline of 2018, inside the restroom, Song Zhining stared at her hands.  

In her left hand was a small gold bar, while her right hand held her phone, its screen displaying the reward Qin Rouxia had paid—  

[Every year, I save a small gold bar for my daughter, planning to give them to her as a dowry when she gets married. You can sell the gold bar, but before 3 PM today, you must buy shares of Changming Times. Then, on Friday, September 3rd, sell them as soon as the market opens. Trust me—it will bring you a surprise of at least tenfold returns.]

Song Zhining checked the time: 2:20 PM. It was Tuesday, and the stock market would close in 40 minutes.  

She had a securities trading account linked to her bank—it had been opened when she applied for a credit card, though she’d never used it before.  

But now…  

Reading the promise of at least a tenfold return, and thinking about her current financial struggles, Song Zhining gritted her teeth. She took the gold bar to a jewelry store across the street. The current gold selling price was 260 yuan per gram, and the bar weighed just over 46 grams.  

When she walked out again, her bank account had an extra 12,055 yuan.  

Back at the office, just as she was about to make the trade, she glanced at Su Yue, who had always been kind to her. She decided to share the tip.  

“…I’ve never traded stocks before, but I have a feeling this one will rise soon. Do you want to buy some with me?” Song Zhining asked tentatively.  

Su Yue was surprised that Song Zhining was suddenly interested in stocks—and even inviting her to join. Had she influenced her by talking about the market so often?  

Yesterday, the U.S. had announced an interest rate cut, and a few people were speculating that a bull market might finally arrive.  

But Su Yue wasn’t entirely convinced.  

Yet, at this moment, looking into Song Zhining’s eyes, she inexplicably felt compelled to trust her.  

“Alright, I’ll buy 10,000 yuan’s worth.”  

So, together, Song Zhining and Su Yue each invested 10,000 yuan in Changming Times just before the market closed that day!  

…

The next morning, Song Zhining went to work as usual. She was too busy to check the stock market.  

Until murmurs began spreading around her.  

“Oh my god, Changming Times’ stock has skyrocketed! It’s already tripled in value!”  

“With the U.S. interest rate cut, people are saying a bull market is coming. I bought a few stocks days ago—just not this one!”  

“Why did this stock suddenly surge? Wasn’t it deep in the red before? Wait… it’s being acquired by Hengsheng Group?”  

“Zhining, it’s rising! It’s actually rising!” Su Yue rushed over, phone in hand, her face alight with excitement.