After hanging up the phone, Ji Xingzhi stood in the living room. At this hour, he could see the lights had gone out in both rooms. Thanks to her supervision, the two kids had developed very healthy sleep schedules. Silence reigned, as there was no one else around. Ji Xingzhi turned on the light on his side and finally decided to sit on the sofa and wait for news. He had been listening to their conversation all day. Across the country, there were countless villages, big and small, but he could only think of one called Tianyang Village in Jiangcheng, Jiang'an. Near that place were the families of fallen soldiers he had previously supported. He had asked people to look into the interpersonal relationships, the lay of the land, and even the crowd that shielded them when they were discovered. In the countryside, strength in numbers was never just an idiom. But no matter how anxious he was, the news didn't arrive until the next afternoon. When Bo Xin came out of her room, what she saw were three sheets of paper on the table. They were covered in handwritten records, the characters flowing and unrestrained. So last night's commotion was him working on this. He had seemed completely disengaged and uninvolved last night. Bo Xin looked up. Ji Xingzhi sat cross-legged on the sofa. Although his expression was blank, Bo Xin could clearly sense his self-satisfaction. Amused, she flipped through several pages. The papers contained the full identity information of the family that had trafficked the child. It was a fairly large family—some lived near the convenience store, others at the foot of the mountain—always in places with heavy foot traffic. These people were shrewd and resourceful. No wonder the child was so smart, remembering his name and background, yet still unable to escape. As for the child's foot, Bo Xin had a grim guess. The smile on her face slowly faded. She praised, "Well done." "Don't treat me like one of those two kids." Bo Xin rested her chin on her hand and watched the corner of the man's mouth rise higher and higher, feeling a sense of 'he's worse than the kids.' She indulged the meritorious one's little whim, but with his body so weak, was he really staying up late to handle this? "I didn't see you taking this so seriously yesterday." Ji Xingzhi snorted, his tone oddly strange. "Because being serious is shown through actions, not words." Bo Xin raised an eyebrow. How did that feel like a veiled dig? The target being He Yewan? He Yewan had also gone through a lot of trouble to come to the capital. Bo Xin could sense the targeted intent. "Then why are you being so serious about this?" The smile on Ji Xingzhi's face froze for a moment. He looked up and saw her teasing, then turned his gaze away, indifferent. "After all, it's about Yuxu's only friend." Bo Xin drew out her 'oh' in a long tone. She remembered that since He Yewan arrived last night, Yuxu's attention had been completely focused on him. Today, He Yewan was the one picking up and dropping off Yuxu, all to see the class monitor and observe how similar he looked to the student he had mentioned. Wasn't the father's role completely taken over? Bo Xin put away the three sheets of paper. After reading them, she felt she had to go. This was beyond what He Yewan could handle. As Ji Xingzhi said, it was, after all, about Yuxu's only friend. That evening, when the two kids were done with school, He Yewan pushed them on their backs and sent them to Bo Xin. "Madame Bo Xin, I've safely delivered your children home." Bo Xin was silent for a moment. She had thought more than once that He Yewan's attentiveness was more like a kindergarten teacher's than a primary school teacher's. He Yewan hadn't been idle in his hotel room the night before. He had also been thinking about how to get the child out. In the end, he concluded that going head-on against them was out of the question. Speaking of this, He Yewan felt a bit ashamed because the method he came up with was something he had learned from Bo Xin. When Bo Xin took the child away back then, Jiang Cuijuan had come to him, asking if he knew where Madame Bo Xin had taken the child. After all, he was a teacher Yuxu cared about—wouldn't the child have come to see him before leaving? He had denied it repeatedly. It wasn't until the seventh time he threatened to call the police that those people backed off. So it had to be said that Bo Xin's approach—lowering their guard and then taking the child directly—was the best way to minimize conflict. But for this child, He Yewan wasn't sure if the same method would work. Because for this child, the village was a completely different concept than what it was to him, a teacher. To the child, it was like a cage. Clearly, He Yewan had seen what Ji Xingzhi had investigated. "That's fine. I have my own methods." Because Bo Xin was a doctor, just like He Yewan was a teacher. At the dinner table, the two were deep in conversation. Ji Xingzhi glanced at them. They were talking about bringing Yuxu back, something he knew nothing about. He picked up a piece of chicken, then put it down. 'Hmph.' Ji Xingzhi: "..." He turned to look at Bo Yuxu, who had made the sound. Bo Yuxu smiled at him, his eyes clearly communicating something. Ji Xingzhi marveled that a kid could hold a grudge for so long. Across from Bo Yuxu, Ji Yanyi, puzzled, asked, "What are you laughing at?" Bo Yuxu tilted his head slightly at Ji Yanyi, his big moist eyes full of confusion and incomprehension. Yanyi clearly couldn't read the adult tensions at the table. Bo Yuxu tapped his lunch box with his chopsticks. "Just eat your food." They had bought their meals again today, trying something new. This time, they found a boxed lunch place nearby—one portion per person, all about nutritional balance. Bo Yuxu gave him the chicken leg. "I remember you like chicken legs." Ji Yanyi said no, boxed lunches were all about balance. "Then give me your braised pork and you take the chicken leg." Ji Yanyi nodded, barely suppressing his smile. Although people always said that a chubby kid like him must love braised pork, he actually absolutely hated fatty meat—he couldn't even swallow a single bite. Even though this place was famous for its braised pork being fatty but not greasy, he still couldn't stand it. After dinner, Bo Xin was packing her luggage. Bo Yuxu was beside her, handing her things. It was late, and he was still in his school uniform. Bo Xin tilted her head. "Go change into your pajamas. I can manage packing a bag." It wasn't much—just a few clothes, toiletries, and some medical supplies. She didn't know what condition the child's foot was in. A few minutes passed, and he was still there. Bo Xin asked directly, "Is there something you want to tell me?" "I got some hair from the class monitor." Bo Yuxu remembered that during this morning's flag-raising ceremony, the class monitor stood at the very front. The class monitor's mother seemed to want to try a little braid at the end of his hair, so the hair at the back of his head was in that awkward stage—neither long nor short. He had pulled out a few strands. The class monitor had turned around, confused. Bo Yuxu had looked away and explained, 'Sorry, I suddenly remembered what you said yesterday about me not having friends. Got a little angry.' The class monitor: "..." So you pulled my hair just because of a grudge over one sentence—do you hold grudges for a whole day? Under the accusation of the class monitor's gaze, Bo Yuxu looked away, unmoved. He silently tucked the hair into his pocket, then placed it inside a thick book. He remembered that when he and his mom had done the DNA test for the legal process, they used hair. Bo Xin's eyes lit up with surprise. What a reliable kid. Now they could directly do a paternity test. Originally, she had only planned to bring the child back this time, because whether or not he was the class monitor's brother, it was still saving a child. She reached out to take the book Yuxu was offering. Then Bo Yuxu remembered something and pulled the book back. "Mom, you're taking me with you, right?" Only when he realized this did he notice that there wasn't a single item belonging to him in the luggage. He looked up, his tone filled with earnest hope. "Mom, I want to go." Bo Xin's hand stopped mid-air. She found it funny. Was this him acting spoiled? Two 'mom's in a row. She hardened her heart and curled four of her fingers. "What? If I don't take you, you won't give it to me?" Bo Yuxu lowered his head, mumbling, "I'll still give it." Bo Xin admitted she found it a bit cute, but she thought this trip really wasn't necessary for a child. Yet the child really seemed to want to go. Bo Xin hesitated, then her eyes fell on Ji Xingzhi. She realized she wasn't going alone this time. "If you want to go, you must stay close behind him, within his sight. Are you willing?" At that moment, Bo Yuxu felt he could agree to anything, let alone just staying by someone's side. "I'm willing." Ji Xingzhi, standing nearby with one hand in his pocket, interjected, "What? Don't I get a say? I'm the one being followed." Bo Xin thought not. "In this matter, you don't have the right to refuse." So it was decided: three of the four family members were going. Ji Yanyi was unhappy. "Then I'm going too." Bo Xin refused firmly. "No, you're not." She had already discussed with her parents, who would take care of the two kids during this time. Now one wasn't going, so it went from two to one. "You're all excluding me." Bo Xin nodded. "Yes, excluding you." Ji Yanyi's eyes widened, full of disbelief. He didn't expect that even the word 'exclusion' wouldn't make Mom change her mind. "I could tell jokes to make that older brother happy." Ji Yanyi was also very worried and anxious after hearing the older brother's story—not just because he was the class monitor's brother, but simply because he felt sorry for the little boy. Bo Xin glanced at Yanyi. Even his usual perky hair had drooped. The usually playful and mischievous kid had suddenly become sad. Of course, they weren't planning to go to that village directly. It was the place Ji Xingzhi had sponsored. The two locations were neither close nor far apart, and crucially, the local customs were completely different. Bo Xin sighed. "You can come too, same rules as Yuxu." Since everyone was going, Bo Xin decided to inform her parents and borrow their car. It would be much more convenient. Their family car was a black one, something of an antique in some ways. It was tall—her dad's favorite military vehicle. For the mountain village, this car seemed even more useful than Bo Xiao's car. Bo Xin touched the car's body and couldn't help making the comparison. The driver, of course, was still Ji Xingzhi. If he got tired, he could rest longer at the service area. He Yewan was in the passenger seat, reading the map. He couldn't drive, but with his extensive travel experience, he was clearly familiar with the road conditions here. The drive was about two hours, a bit shorter than Ji Xingzhi's commute to work. Ji Xingzhi knew people in that village, so he had arranged almost everything—a place to stay and basic washing facilities. He had called every service area along the way, each call lasting over five minutes. When they arrived, Ji Xingzhi greeted the person in front of them first. "Sister Fan, thank you for your hard work." Fan Wenhua looked around with rare interest. "This is the first time I've seen you bring your family." In the past, Ji Xingzhi always came alone, carrying things. Having experienced the treatment given to fallen soldiers' families, he obviously wanted to give back. She was the wife of Ji Xingzhi's comrade-in-arms. He used to call her 'sister-in-law,' but after she remarried, that title was no longer appropriate. Ji Xingzhi looked back at Bo Xin. It seemed this was indeed the first time. "Why are you sighing like that?" "Can't you tell?" After the car accident some time ago, although Ji Xingzhi had woken up, there was a faint sense of lifelessness in his eyes. It was as if he thought dying like that would be okay. Because Ji Xingzhi had received so much kindness and love from people throughout his life, his personality had been shaped accordingly, but most of those who gave him love were gone now, and he felt a sense of loss inside. But now, his eyes were clearly full of life. "Tell?" "If you can't see it, then I won't say." Fan Wenhua smiled casually. She had always seen Ji Xingzhi as a younger brother. Some things are better discovered on one's own. Ji Xingzhi didn't get an answer, so he shrugged nonchalantly. Author's note: I'm sorry, dear angel readers. I was so stuck that I lost track of time. I'll make up the word count tomorrow. I feel like my brain can't even form sentences today. They're all very choppy. Next time, I won't leave it to the last minute. I'm sorry.