Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Shen Yibai’s gaze paused on the words “Dr. Musk.” Beneath his usually emotionless eyes, a faint ripple stirred.

He replied to his assistant, “All right. The sooner, the better.”

Then he took a deep breath, opened his email, and read through the information his assistant had sent about the child trafficking case that had shocked Xiangcheng twelve years ago.

“We’re finally almost home!”

Jiang Sheshe shouted excitedly.

Ning Xi rubbed her bleary eyes. A moment ago, she’d only wanted a little peace and quiet, but her sleep quality had been too good. The instant she closed her eyes, she’d actually fallen asleep.

And she had dreamed of details from that kidnapping case when she was little.

The year the case happened, Shen Yibai was eleven, and she was nine.

Because Madam Shen had just passed away, and Uncle Shen’s mistress and illegitimate child had been exposed right after, Shen Yibai’s relationship with Uncle Shen had become extremely strained.

Not only did he refuse to let the Shen Family driver take him to and from school, the Young Master even showed remarkable backbone and rode a bicycle to school by himself.

As for Ning Xi, who took the bus to school every day, she would always run into Shen Yibai during the stretch of the ride close to campus.

So it often happened that when the bus stopped at a red light, Shen Yibai would be waiting beside her window on his bicycle.

“Why didn’t you ride with Ning Mingyue?” Shen Yibai asked, one foot planted on the ground as he looked up.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, casting mottled shadows across the young boy’s face.

Back then, Shen Yibai was still nothing like the cold, unapproachable person he was now.

“I eat slowly, so I told Mingyue to go ahead,” Ning Xi said with a grin.

Before that, Ning Xi had always taken the Ning Family car to school with Ning Mingyue.

But Ning Mingyue often had things to do and needed to get to school early, or she wouldn’t go home after classes and would have the driver take a detour to drop her at a friend’s house first.

After a while, Ning Xi found it troublesome, so she simply started taking the bus to and from school by herself. It was actually much more flexible and freeing than before.

When the bus reached the stop, Shen Yibai happened to arrive at the school gate as well, so the two of them walked into school together.

“Ning Xi!!!” Fu Zhi’s excited voice rang out from the distance.

Ning Xi looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Fu Zhi, who had been beaming with joy a moment ago, turned green the instant he spotted Shen Yibai beside her.

Then he quickly slipped away, without the slightest intention of greeting this cousin of his.

Shen Yibai looked at Ning Xi in confusion.

Ning Xi nearly died laughing.

She and Fu Zhi were the same age, and Fu Zhi usually followed her around like a little tail, so she didn’t even have to guess why he was unwilling to stand with Shen Yibai:

It was because Shen Yibai had hit a growth spurt and suddenly shot up in height.

He was a whole head taller than both her and Fu Zhi.

And Ning Xi was also showing faint signs of surpassing Fu Zhi in height.

That made Fu Zhi the short one among the three of them, so naturally, he didn’t want to be seen in the same frame as Shen Yibai.

“Don’t mind him. When a kid doesn’t behave, one beating will fix it,” Ning Xi explained to Shen Yibai with a serious face.

Shen Yibai couldn’t help laughing.

After that, Ning Xi ran into Shen Yibai almost every day. When Shen Yibai noticed that Ning Xi was interested in his bicycle, he even offered to teach her.

The accident happened on the road while Ning Xi and Shen Yibai were riding to school together.

A van suddenly appeared by the roadside and snatched Shen Yibai away with chilling precision.

As the person beside Shen Yibai at the time, Ning Xi was conveniently drugged unconscious and taken into the van as well.

When she woke up again, she had already been sold into the barren mountains.

Ning Xi only learned later that the kidnapping had been carried out by one of Uncle Shen’s enemies. The other party’s original plan had been to kill Shen Yibai immediately after Uncle Shen paid the one-billion ransom.

But after the two men in black who kidnapped Shen Yibai received their payment, they wanted to make another profit. So without telling the person who hired them, they sold the two children to human traffickers.

And through that strange twist of fate, Ning Xi and Shen Yibai survived.
…

“What are you spacing out for this time?” Jiang Sheshe turned back and gave Ning Xi a suspicious look when she realized Ning Xi hadn’t chimed in.

Ning Xi quickly pulled herself out of her memories.

She had almost forgotten everything that happened in the barren mountains. According to Shen Yibai, it was because she had been feverish and sick the whole time, so it was normal for her memories to be hazy.

“Paying that much attention to me? Got a secret crush on me?” Ning Xi looked back at Jiang Sheshe just as suspiciously.

Jiang Sheshe: “…Are you insane?!”

Then she huffed, turned around, and stopped talking to Ning Xi.

[Why does Jiang Sheshe look guilty, like she just got exposed?]

[I’ve finally figured it out. Does the young miss just cling to whoever she likes? Before, Jiang Sheshe was always clinging to Wei Xuan and Ning Mingyue to talk, and now she can’t go three sentences without mentioning Ning Xi [shrug]]

[Dunno. I thought Fu Zhi was the only simp on this variety show.]

The car stopped in front of Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen’s House No. 4.

Everyone carried the snacks, raffle prizes, and decorations they had bought into the house.

Then they received a message from the Program Team.

“Youai Village Chief: guests, please decide among yourselves the contents of tomorrow’s performance and the grouping of guests. Team Leader, please send the program list to the Village Chief before eight tonight.”

Ning Mingyue, Shen Yibai, and Wei Xuan also arrived at House No. 4.

Seeing that everyone was there, Ning Xi sat down in a chair, crossed one leg over the other, and said, “Since everyone’s here, let’s all say what we’re going to perform.”

Then she planned to randomly pick someone to write it down.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, eat some spicy sauce, and the one I pick is…” Ning Xi’s finger landed in front of Xie Lanchen, and she hesitated.

“I’ll take notes,” Xie Lanchen said before Ning Xi could make her decision.

Then he naturally sat down beside her.

Ning Xi slowly uncrossed her legs. Her heart, which had been perfectly calm, suddenly began to thump.

And her mind involuntarily drifted to something else: how did Xiao Xie still smell so good after being busy all day?

“Scheming minister,” Fu Zhi silently cursed when he saw Xie Lanchen’s earnest note-taking look.

The next second, Ning Xi’s gaze locked onto him.

“Fu Zhi, you go first. Anything is fine as long as you don’t sing.”

“Why? What’s wrong with my singing?” Fu Zhi asked, utterly lacking in self-awareness.

Ning Xi’s patience ran out. She grabbed Fu Zhi by the ear. “Try pretending one more time. I dare you.”

She refused to believe Fu Zhi didn’t know how awful his singing was.

Fu Zhi: …

Didn’t they say celebrities cared a lot about their image on camera? He’d thought Ning Xi wouldn’t dare hit him so casually during a livestream. So why was she still yanking his ear at the drop of a hat?!

In the most pathetic tone possible, Fu Zhi said the most domineering words possible: “Then I can dance, can’t I?!”

Ning Xi nodded in satisfaction and signaled for Xie Lanchen to write it down.

“Then I’ll sing,” Jiang Sheshe said second.

“Can two people do a duet?” Wei Xuan suddenly asked.

Ning Xi said, “Of course. The Program Team said we can decide the groupings ourselves.”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Wei Xuan looked at Jiang Sheshe.

But Jiang Sheshe hesitated. “Huh?”

Brother Xuan had taken the initiative to perform with her, and Jiang Sheshe had thought she would be very happy.

But when she thought of the sour, miserable feelings that might follow, she began to hesitate.

If liking someone only made you sad, was there still any need to like them?

Jiang Sheshe looked at Ning Xi as if she wanted to say something.

Ning Xi said, “Not happening. I’m not dating you.”

Jiang Sheshe: …