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“Xiao Qi…”
The man’s voice trembled—not from fear, but from sheer excitement.
“I’m your Sixth Brother! Do you still remember me?”
“When you were three years old, you were separated from us. We’ve been searching for you ever since, but never found you.”
“Fortunately, just a few days ago, the national information database was upgraded. Through that system, we finally located you…”
“But we feared it might be nothing but false hope, so the others didn’t come. They only sent me.”
The man’s words tumbled out in his excitement, yet Xia Zhuozhuo remained expressionless, her eyes sharp and guarded.
She had nearly been sold off just moments ago—she would not trust anyone here so easily.
“I don’t care who sent you. Before I decide to strike, get lost.”
Her rule had always been simple: If others do not offend me, I do not offend them. Unless the other side posed a threat, she would not kill rashly.
Seeing her disbelief, the man grew even more anxious.
“Xiao Qi, I really am your Sixth Brother! Our Xia family is the richest in Hucheng. That year, during the New Year’s Eve celebration, the crowd was too large, and that’s how you were separated from us. We have been searching for you all this time!”
Xia Zhuozhuo gave him a slow once-over, her gaze sweeping him from head to toe.
“The richest family?” She arched a brow. “Riding a tricycle?”
The man instinctively glanced down at himself and hurriedly explained, “No, that’s not it. My car broke down on the road, so I borrowed this tricycle from a fellow villager to fetch you… Our Xia family truly is the richest in Hucheng!”
“Enough nonsense. Get lost!”
The man grew frantic, like an ant scalded on a hot pan.
Fortunately, he quickly thought of something and pulled a fish-shaped jade pendant from his pocket.
“Look—this is the twin-fish pendant Father had specially made for you. When you were separated from us, you were still wearing the other half around your neck.”
The moment Xia Zhuozhuo saw the pendant in his hand, her eyes flickered, and at last she lowered the sickle.
She drew out the jade pendant from her own neck—sure enough, it perfectly matched the one in his palm.
When the man saw her pendant, his conviction grew absolute that she was indeed Xiao Qi.
Before, he had only recognized her by the resemblance she bore to Mother Xia. Now, he was completely certain.
He quickly pressed on, “Isn’t your pendant engraved with the three characters for Xia Zhuozhuo?”
Xia Zhuozhuo narrowed her eyes. The engraving was hidden so cleverly that even Liu Yueru had never discovered it.
This man… could he truly be her real Brother?
Half her guard lowered, she asked, “Where is your car parked?”
“At the entrance of the next village.”
“Take me there. And remember—don’t even think of playing tricks. If I catch you lying, today will be the day you die.”
“Alright, alright.” The man nodded quickly, and when they reached the doorway, he clumsily climbed onto the tricycle, gesturing for Xia Zhuozhuo to get on.
Xia Zhuozhuo was about to refuse when another wave of dizziness struck her.
After a brief hesitation, she steadied herself against the tricycle and swung up onto it.
The man stared in shock. “Xiao Qi, such skill…”
“Cut the nonsense! Go! Take that road.”
“O–oh, right.”
Xiao Qi really was… completely different from the delicate, helpless little sister he had imagined.
She was radiant and formidable, sharp as a blade!
He straightened his back, filled with renewed strength, and pedaled energetically toward the neighboring village.
With Xia Zhuozhuo directing the way, they managed to avoid running into any villagers.
Half an hour later, the tricycle finally rattled into the next village.
While riding, Xia Zhuozhuo had already sealed several of her own acupoints, temporarily suppressing the effects of the drug in her system.
She dismounted with a swift movement—and sure enough, there was a black luxury car parked ahead, carrying a Hucheng license plate.
Only, its front wheel was ruined, the hood visibly leaning to one side.
“Xiao Qi, don’t worry. I already called the nearest 4S repair shop. They said it’ll take about two hours before they can—”
Before he could finish, Xia Zhuozhuo was already at the trunk, swiftly pulling out the spare tire and a set of tools. She walked straight to the ruined wheel.
“Xiao Qi, what are you doing?”
“Fixing the car!”
Two hours? By then, everything would already be too late.
The people from that village were no good. If they caught up to them, it would only bring more trouble.
“You… you know how to fix cars?”
Xia Zhuozhuo ignored him. With practiced hands, she positioned the jack and lifted the vehicle.
In less than ten minutes, the tire was changed.
She kicked the old tire aside, opened the car door, and slid into the driver’s seat.
When she turned her head and saw the man still frozen outside like a wooden post, her brows knitted in impatience.
“What are you standing there for? Get in the car!”
“…Oh, right, right!”
Snapping back to his senses, the man rushed around and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Xiao Qi, you’re amazing—being able to change a tire. Even your Brother doesn’t know how to do that… Oh, right, just now when you were holding that sickle, what were you planning to do?”
Xia Zhuozhuo answered crisply, “Cut grass to feed the pigs.”
Summer Sixth’s heart twisted with pain.
“Xiao Qi, I never imagined you’ve been living such a hard life… Don’t worry, once you return home with your Brother, you’ll never have to do these things agai—ah!!!”
Before he could finish, the car shot forward like an arrow loosed from its string, causing Xia Liu to shriek in fright.
“Ahhh! Slower! Xiao Qi, your Brother’s scared—drive slower!”
“Shut up.”
His voice grated on Xia Zhuozhuo’s ears.
When his second round of terrified screams broke out, she didn’t bother with words. Lifting her right hand from the wheel, she chopped the side of his neck in a swift strike.
At last, the world fell quiet.
The car surged even faster, weaving between lanes on the highway, horns blaring all around.
…
Meanwhile.
On a plane preparing for takeoff, Liu Yueru hung up the phone with a dark expression. She yanked the eye mask off Jiang Ze’s face.
“Something’s gone wrong.”
Jiang Ze opened his eyes impatiently. “What happened?”
“Jiang Chunhua’s house caught fire. All of them burned to death.”
Only then did Jiang Ze sit up properly.
“And Xia Zhuozhuo?”
“Do you even need to ask? She burned to death as well!”
In Liu Yueru’s eyes, there wasn’t the slightest trace of sorrow—only irritation.
“You didn’t see her after all these years. She’s grown into a real beauty, like a flower in full bloom… Selling her for thirty thousand felt like a loss to me! According to the deal, once they verified her body, they still owed me the remaining fifteen thousand. And now? Gone—vanished into thin air!”
Jiang Ze, however, let out a breath of relief.
“Fifteen thousand is nothing. Once I marry Xinyue, even fifteen million will just be daily spending money.”
And besides, that scrawny little girl from childhood—no matter how much she’d grown, how could she possibly compare to Du Xinyue, whose delicate hands had never so much as touched spring water?
“But fifteen thousand is still money…” Liu Yueru said, her heart aching at the loss.
Jiang Ze shook his head.
“You’re just shallow-minded! In my view, as long as she was alive, I could never feel at ease. If Xinyue ever found out I had a child bride, she would definitely throw a fit. Now that she’s dead, she’ll never know Xia Zhuozhuo even existed.”
Hearing this, the stifling anger in Liu Yueru’s chest finally eased a little.
“You’re right about that. Once we return to Hucheng, I’ll burn some paper money for her. At least then I won’t feel I’ve wronged her.”
Jiang Ze frowned in disapproval.
“Xinyue’s family are Christians. Don’t mess around with that—they won’t like it. When a person dies, it’s like a lamp being snuffed out. Burning paper won’t change a thing. Besides, if she hadn’t died, being sold to the village head’s family wouldn’t have been such a bad life. So in the end, her death isn’t on us—it was just her own ill fate.”
Liu Yueru grunted in agreement. Just then, her stomach growled.
She remembered she had brought some sesame flatbread from her hometown and quickly rummaged through her bag.
At that moment, a card slipped out and fell onto the floor.
“You dropped something,” Jiang Ze said sharply, catching sight of it and reminding Liu Yueru.
Liu Yueru picked up the card from the floor, glanced at it, and remembered what it was.
“That girl, after she went out to work, would send money back every month. It takes me an hour and a half just to get to the bank in town. She must have done it on purpose to make things difficult for me, not knowing how to just send cash. Once we get to Hucheng, I’ll check how much is in there.”
Jiang Ze’s face twisted with disdain.
“She left school to work at twelve. How much could she possibly have earned? Don’t be so shortsighted. If the Du family finds out about this card, better to just throw it away!”
As he spoke, he snatched the card from Liu Yueru’s hand and tossed it aside.
“Hey—don’t throw it away!”
Liu Yueru rushed to pick it back up. “Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat! After so many years, even if she only sent a thousand yuan each month, that’s well over a hundred thousand by now.”
Jiang Ze couldn’t be bothered with her anymore. He slipped his eye mask back on and pretended to sleep.
Once they reached Hucheng and he saw Xinyue, he would have to coax her properly—she didn’t like that he had brought Liu Yueru to Hucheng with him.
Meanwhile.
The man Xia Zhuozhuo had knocked unconscious opened his eyes again—only to find they had already arrived in Hucheng.