Chapter 634: The Secret About the Past (252)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Your mother will be here to pick you up in a few days.” Mei Shuangshuang then said to Xiaozong, “Tell Xiaozong to drive the van away. The three of us will remain here.”
“Yes.”
She then walked inside the cave with Long Xiaoxi.
The cave was pitch dark and rather small. Xiaozong entered and covered the opening with some tree branches.
The cave was lit up by an electric lamp.
Long Xiaoxi sat still on the mattress, not daring to move an inch.
“Why does this chubby girl not look like your sister or your brother-in-law at all?”
“She does, she resembles my sister greatly. Just look at that face of hers. She just got too chubby,” said Mei Shuangshuang. She then took out some snacks from her bag and handed them to Long Xiaoxi. “There you go.”
Long Xiaoxi took the snacks from her and began eating them quietly.
After waiting for an hour, Xiaozong still did not receive a notification of received payment on his mobile phone. “Why is it taking so long? Give your sister a call to rush her,” he said with a frown.
Mei Shuangshuang nodded and called Mei Yangyang, who answered very soon. The first thing she said was, “Has the money been transferred?”
“Your brother-in-law is in the midst of transferring it,” said Mei Yangyang.
“Hurry up.”
Mei Shuangshuang heaved a sigh of relief after ending the call and said to Xiaozong, “They’re transferring it now.”
Bored out of his wits, Xiaozong whipped out a pair of scissors from his bag.
“What are you doing?” Mei Shuangshuang asked.
“I’d like to kill some time and have some fun. What do you say I cut off all of this little la.s.s’ hair and make her bald?” he said with an evil chuckle.
“Must you really do that? She’s already chubby enough. She’s going to look even more hideous if you make her bald. Don’t do it,” Mei Shuangshuang objected.
Xiaozong placed the scissors in front of Long Xiaoxi and taunted, “Are you afraid?”
Long Xiaoxi nodded fervently and stared at him, “Yes.”
However, her answer tempted Xiaozong even more.
At last, he walked toward Long Xiaoxi, grabbed her hair, and snipped it all off.
“What are you doing?” Mei Shuangshuang asked with a frown.
“I’m playing. I just cut her hair, I didn’t hurt her.”
Long Xiaoxi burst into tears. Just as she was about to struggle, Xiaozong warned, “Little la.s.s, don’t move about unnecessarily. Otherwise, you’re going to bleed if the scissors touch your head.”
Long Xiaoxi remained seated, shuddering uncontrollably in fear.
Mei Shuangshuang rolled her eyes and allowed him to continue since she could not seem to persuade him to stop.
Soon, all of Long Xiaoxi’s hair was snipped off. The pair of scissors used were not meant for cutting hair, and neither was Xiaozong a barber.
Thus, Long Xiaoxi’s hairdo was entirely messed up, making her look hideous in no time.
Her braids were all cut off and she became bald.
“Have you got too much time on your hands?” Mei Shuangshuang hissed.
“Haha, yes, I do. I’m just trying my hands at giving a haircut.” Xiaozong then put the pair of scissors back inside his bag and said, “Do you think your sister and brother-in-law will slaughter me when they see what I had done to their daughter?”
“They will for sure.”
Mei Shuangshuang glared at him and continued, “Is there any reception in here?”
“Yes, it’s just weaker.”
Soon, they received a text message on the mobile phone.
After reading the message, Xiaozong immediately said, “Awesome, the money has been transferred.”
“Let’s hurry and leave,” said Mei Shuangshuang, beaming with joy.
“Of course. Dump the child here and let them find her themselves,” said Xiaozong.
“What if they can’t find her? Get Fatty to send Xiaoxi to the city.”
“Do you know how dangerous that is? We must leave immediately once Fatty is here,” Xiaozong refused, pulling Mei Shuangshuang up.
Mei Shuangshuang turned around and said to Long Xiaoxi, “I’ll call your Mommy later and get your parents to pick you up. Just be good and stay here. Don’t wander off on your own. Wait for your parents to arrive, got it?”
Long Xiaoxi nodded, though she was scared out of her wits.
The loose hairs on her neck were poking her and making her uncomfortably itchy. However, Long Xiaoxi bit her lip and dared not speak up.
A while later, the two of them left, leaving Long Xiaoxi alone in the cave.
She sat on the mattress and stared at her surroundings in the darkness, overwhelmed with fear.
Afraid to even move an inch, she rubbed her eyes and cried silently.
She continued to wait for a long time. Yet, her parents still did not show up.
She supported herself up and walked toward the opening of the cave to see that there was not a single soul outside.
Long Xiaoxi sat by the opening and waited, hugging her knees.
She soon began to feel chilly due to the strong breeze on the mountains.
She returned inside the cave.
Finally, she heard a familiar voice yelling.
Upon hearing her mother’s voice, Long Xiaoxi hurriedly sprinted toward the cave opening, crying tears of joy.
“Mommy!”
It was the best sound Mei Yangyang had ever heard. She burst into tears at the sight of her daughter and rushed forward to hug her.
Long Xiaoxi was bawling loudly as well while in her mother’s embrace.
Long Tianze quickly strode toward them and pulled Long Xiaoxi into his embrace before they all headed back together.
On the way home, Mei Yangyang asked, “Xiaoxi, who was the one who cut your hair off?”
“The bad uncle who was together with Auntie. Auntie seems to have found a backing. That uncle was so mean. Auntie told him not to cut my hair but he did so anyway,” Long Xiaoxi answered.
Filled with heartache and pity for her daughter, Mei Yangyang reached a hand out to wipe Long Xiaoxi’s tears. “It’s been hard on you, Baby.”
Long Xiaoxi tugged on Long Tianze’s s.h.i.+rt tightly and said, “Daddy, I was so afraid that the Bad Uncle would kill me.”
“Everything’s fine now.” Long Tianze hugged her tightly, overwhelmed with sadness at the sight of his daughter’s hair.
He felt as if the sky was falling down the moment he heard that Mei Shuangshuang had kidnapped Long Xiaoxi to blackmail them for money.
At that very moment, he was willing to pay the price no matter how much the kidnappers had asked for.
He was willing to even lose his life, so long as Xiaoxi was safe!
He was infuriated and blamed himself for failing to protect his children well, thus allowing for such situations to happen.
Noticing the teardrops on Long Xiaoxi’s face while she was asleep in his arms, Long Tianze said to his wife, “I’ve already decided.”
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter if Xiaoxi does badly in school. Anyway, I can provide for her for the rest of her life even if she’s jobless. I just want her to be safe and healthy, both physically and mentally.”
“Are you thinking of spoiling Xiaoxi and making her become lawless?”
“Yes. I’ve already spoiled her mother rotten. It’s only right that I pamper her too. I’d like to send her to the exercise boot camp,” said Long Tianze, staring at Mei Yangyang.
“What!?!” Mei Yangyang gasped in astonishment. Having gone through the boot camp with An Xiaoning before, she knew exactly how tough and arduous the training was. If Xiaoxi had to be put through it as well…
“They don’t recruit such young members.”
“Qingyan has already acquired the boot camp, they’ll allow it with his instructions.”
“She’s just a child, do you really think she can take the strenuous training?” said Mei Yangyang.
“Who said she’d be going alone? We’ll send Wenlun and Yiheng there too. Qingyan will definitely agree to it,” Long Tianze insisted.