The sky was overcast, with raindrops pouring down in a continuous, dense stream, splashing water in all directions.

Jiang Yi sat under the eaves, staring intently at the splashes in a puddle, deeply absorbed in thought.

He appeared much more frail than other children his age, almost not looking his six years. His soft black hair, slightly damp, clung to his pale cheeks, giving him a sickly appearance.

After a while, Jiang Yi’s focus on the puddle was interrupted by a shadowy figure near the flowerbed.

Amid the misty rain, the figure was partially obscured by neatly trimmed greenery, making it difficult to see clearly.

Jiang Yi hesitated, squinting at the vague shadow. The sound of the rain hitting the ground was loud and incessant. After a moment’s hesitation, he climbed down from his small stool, grabbed the small umbrella by the steps, and slowly walked towards the flowerbed.

The branches and leaves of the flowerbed shook under the weight of the rain. Jiang Yi, holding his small umbrella, stared in surprise at a boy huddled under the plants, trying to avoid the rain.

The boy looked to be about six or seven years old, completely soaked and utterly miserable. His hair, tinged with a hint of gold, clung to his cheeks in wet strands, with water continuously dripping down.

Hearing the movement, the boy clutched his backpack tightly and looked up warily. His eyes, a beautiful pale blue, showed a pride uncommon in children. His lips, pale from the cold, were pressed tightly together as he glared at Jiang Yi with the ferocity of a cornered wolf cub.

His eyes were slightly red as he spat out each word in defiance, “I won’t go back!”

“Get lost!”

Jiang Yi didn’t understand English. His clear, dark eyes, still innocent, looked at the boy with a puzzled tilt of his head. He crouched down by the flowerbed, watching the boy with curiosity.

Due to his frail health, Jiang Yi rarely went outside. Since moving to this new place, he had hardly seen any children his age, let alone made friends.

Seeing a boy around his age now, a natural sense of childlike kinship arose within him.

Noticing how cold the boy looked, Jiang Yi felt a pang of sympathy. He pulled out his small kindergarten handkerchief and offered it to the boy.

The boy was startled at first, then glared at him fiercely, “Don’t come here!”

Jiang Yi was taken aback, his face falling in disappointment as he blinked, almost on the verge of tears.

Just then, the boy’s stomach let out a loud, rumbling growl that even the sound of the rain couldn’t drown out.

The boy, soaking wet, froze in embarrassment. His face turned bright red as he used his soaked backpack to cover his stomach, biting his lip in silence.

Jiang Yi, hearing the sound, stared blankly at the boy whose face had turned as red as a tomato.

Despite being startled earlier, Jiang Yi had a gentle disposition. The sight of the boy’s pitiful state made him quickly forget his own discomfort. Sniffling, he asked softly, “Are you hungry?”

The boy, having grown up abroad, only understood a little Chinese. Although he was starving, he stubbornly replied in English that he wasn’t.

Jiang Yi, thinking the boy said he was hungry, turned his head and said, “Wait here.”

With that, he stood up and walked back towards the eaves.

The boy was stunned, watching as the black-haired child with the umbrella grew smaller in the distance.

The flowerbed fell silent once more.

The large raindrops made it difficult to keep one’s eyes open, and the wet clothes clung uncomfortably to the skin, causing the boy to shiver uncontrollably. Watching Jiang Yi’s retreating figure, the boy, who had never suffered before, bit his lip, trying to put on a brave face, though his eyes couldn’t help but well up with tears.

Huddled under the flowerbed, the more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt. Clutching his backpack tightly, which held his plane ticket, he vowed tearfully that he would return to England.

He didn’t know anyone here, and everyone was forcing him to learn Chinese. He refused to stay in this place.

Jiang Yi returned to the eaves and went inside to the kitchen, where he grabbed a tomato.

He put the tomato in the large front pocket of his overalls and then walked back towards the flowerbed with his umbrella.

As expected, the boy was still there, huddled under the flowerbed, shivering from the cold.

Jiang Yi crouched down and carefully pulled the tomato from his pocket, offering it to the boy.

His clothes were now slightly wet from the walk, and his black hair stuck to his pale cheeks. Crouched on the ground, he looked small, almost like a little mushroom peeking out from under a large umbrella.

The boy, shivering, heard some movement and looked up at Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi, nervous but relieved that the boy wasn’t glaring at him, smiled, his eyes crinkling and dimples appearing on his cheeks.

After a moment’s hesitation, the boy, finally too hungry to resist, reached out and took the tomato, devouring it in a few quick bites.

After finishing the tomato, the boy, still soaked, hugged his knees and remained silent. After a long while, he awkwardly mumbled a “thank you” in English.

Jiang Yi didn’t understand, looking at him with wide eyes.

The boy seemed to struggle for a moment, finally managing to stammer out a clumsy “thank you” in Chinese.

This time, Jiang Yi understood. He shook his head and softly asked, “Where are your parents?”

The boy pressed his lips together, refusing to answer.

As the rainwater on the ground continued to pool, Jiang Yi, feeling the cold creeping up his wet pant legs, stood up and began walking back towards the eaves.

To his surprise, the boy, still clutching his backpack, stood up and followed him.

When Jiang Yi took a step, the boy followed. When Jiang Yi stopped, the boy also stopped.

Turning around, Jiang Yi noticed the boy’s tight-lipped expression, his blue eyes watching him, with damp blond hair sticking to his cheeks. When the boy noticed Jiang Yi looking at him, he quickly lowered his head.

And so, the boy followed Jiang Yi all the way back to the eaves in front of his house.

The area under the eaves was clean. Jiang Yi sat on a small bench, sneezed, rubbed his nose, and looked at the boy squatting on the steps.

The wet boy sat on the ground, his hair still dripping water. A small puddle had already formed on the floor. He hugged his backpack, his eyes drooping as he sniffled, looking utterly forlorn.

Jiang Yi was reminded of a stray dog named Bobby from a cartoon he had watched—a yellow-haired, blue-eyed puppy that was always wandering and hungry.

Feeling sorry for the boy, Jiang Yi softly invited him to sit on the small bench beside him.

The boy, soaking wet, hesitated but eventually stood up and walked towards the bench.

But just as he took a couple of steps, his waterlogged shoes made a loud squelching sound with each step.

Not only that, but his shoes started to squirt water out of the ventilation holes with every step.

Realizing this, the boy’s face turned bright red. Mortified, he refused to take another step and plopped back down on the ground.

Jiang Yi jumped off the bench and went inside to grab two towels, handing one to the boy.

The boy clumsily wiped his hair with the towel but soon found it too troublesome and began shaking his head to get rid of the water droplets.

Jiang Yi ended up with water all over his face.

He blinked slowly, but instead of getting angry, he simply wiped his face and kindly handed the boy his own towel.

The boy, with his messy blond hair, looked at Jiang Yi as he sat on the floor. He awkwardly took the towel, his ears turning slightly red.

—Meanwhile, at the Lu residence—

A group of over ten servants, holding umbrellas, hurried about, calling out, “Young Master!”

In the torrential rain, drones circled the vast Lu estate, searching for the runaway child.

The butler, wearing a raincoat, was frantic. They had been searching for over four hours but still hadn’t found Lu Li.

Lu Li, the only child of the Lu family, had just turned seven this year. Since birth, he had lived abroad with his mother, making him a stranger to China.

Recently, however, under the insistence of Old Master Lu, the family had brought Lu Li back to China.

Since returning, Lu Li had been extremely resistant, refusing to learn Chinese and displaying a terrible temper.

That afternoon, seven-year-old Lu Li, in a fit of anger, had sneaked away with his backpack when no one was watching.

The Lu estate covered over 6,000 square meters. A seven-year-old child could never reach the front gate on his own, and the surveillance footage showed no vehicles entering or leaving that day.

However, with Lu Li unable to speak Chinese and caught in the sudden downpour, the entire Lu family was on edge.

As dusk approached, the sky grew darker. The estate’s iron gate was pulled open from both sides, and a beam of light cut through the rain as a black sedan drove up in the rain.

Jiang Guojun, the driver, gripped the steering wheel, glancing at the man in the backseat through the rearview mirror. The man in the backseat, Lu Ting, was holding his phone and speaking in a low, anxious tone, “I promise, this is the only time this will happen.”

“Arno will be fine; he’s my son, and no one is more worried than I am.”

“Please, just listen to me…”

But before he could finish, the person on the other end of the line hung up. Lu Ting sighed deeply, throwing his phone aside, and leaned his head against his hand, his expression tense with worry.

Jiang Guojun shifted his gaze back to the road, his heart racing. He had worked as the Lu family’s driver for many years, but this was the first time he had seen his employer looking so distraught.

However, given the situation, he could understand Lu Ting’s anxiety.

Jiang Guojun had a son of his own, who was the same age as Lu Ting’s child. If his own son had run away in the middle of a storm, he would be beside himself with worry too.

He had heard that Lu Ting’s son, who had recently returned from abroad, didn’t speak Chinese.

Jiang Guojun sighed as he pressed down on the accelerator, increasing the car’s speed as it headed toward the underground garage. He brought the car to a smooth stop, ensuring that Lu Ting arrived at the elevator on time.

A few minutes later, after Lu Ting had been safely delivered to the elevator, Jiang Guojun finished his work for the day and began walking home, which was located on the Lu estate. As he walked, he thought about how the situation with the young master had escalated. If the boy wasn’t found by nightfall, he might grab an umbrella and join the search.

The situation was becoming increasingly dire, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he felt.

Ten minutes later, as Jiang Guojun reached his front door, he was shocked to see a small blond boy sitting under the eaves, barefoot.

The boy’s hair was partially wet and partially dry, his pants were rolled up, and he was sitting on the floor, intensely focused on a game of Go.

Jiang Guojun watched in astonishment as his normally well-behaved son pointed at the Go board and said seriously to the blond boy, “You lost.”

The boy sneezed, muttering something unintelligible in a foreign language. His large blue eyes widened in disbelief.

Jiang Guojun was dumbfounded.He nervously recalled the description of the Lu family’s missing young master: seven years old, blue eyes, blond hair, unable to speak Chinese, only English.

His eyes slowly lifted to the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy under the eaves, who was now glaring back at him with a wary expression.

Jiang Yi, who was crouching on the ground, looked up and saw his father. He waved cheerfully, “Daddy!”

Jiang Guojun swallowed hard, his voice trembling, “Son, who is he?”

Jiang Yi tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then replied honestly, “I don’t know.”

“I found him.”Standing on his tiptoes, Jiang Yi whispered seriously, “Daddy, he doesn’t have a home. He’s so pitiful, just like Bobby.”

Bobby was the stray puppy in the cartoon they had watched yesterday—yellow-haired and blue-eyed.

Jiang Guojun looked from the blue-eyed boy who had caused such a commotion at the Lu estate to his son, who was earnestly explaining that the child had no home and was pitiful.

He felt the world spinning as his vision darkened, almost passing out on the spot.