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墨書 Inktalez
I was completely stunned, never expecting this outcome. In this case, I had no clues at all, yet Nie Qiuyuan saw through it at a glance.
"I just want to know how you figured it out, sir?" The young man, who was actually a couple of years older than me, spoke with a maturity that surpassed his age. "I wonder where my mistake lies?"
Nie Qiuyuan fell silent for a moment before suddenly revealing a smile I had never seen before. It carried a hint of cunning and a touch of mischief—an expression that had never appeared on his face before.
So he has many expressions too? For some reason, this expression, which I initially thought was completely incompatible with his character, seemed perfectly natural on his face, making his already handsome features even more vivid.
"I guessed, but you believed it," the idol said in a calm tone, uttering something extremely shameless.
I nearly choked. Is this really the Nie Qiuyuan I know? What has possessed him today?
Xiu Song looked at him with an incredulous expression, as if unable to believe that someone who exuded such calm and composure could also deceive others.
Nie Qiuyuan reined in his smile and nodded for me to take out the note.
"If it were an ordinary kidnapper, they would be anxious to receive the ransom. Therefore, raising the money should be done as quickly as possible; any delay could lead to complications. The Zhu Family is immensely wealthy; no matter how much the kidnappers demanded, they could immediately start preparing the funds. Yet this note states that we will hear news in five days—doesn't that seem strange?"
Indeed, from the perspective of the kidnappers, there was no reason to act this way unless...
"Unless the kidnappers' goal is not money at all but rather to prevent the young master from returning home during this period. This raises another question: what benefit do the kidnappers gain from keeping him away?"
It was indeed puzzling. However, even if this question remained unanswered, it provided another line of thought for solving the case: the person who kidnapped the young master might not be an outsider but someone with vested interests in the Zhu Family—or even someone from within the Zhu Family itself.
I suddenly realized that Nie Qiuyuan's seemingly casual inquiry about how much his family members studied was for this very purpose!
The note was filled with misspellings, yet...
"I initially suspected this was due to a rift among the Zhu Family Three Brothers, but just now, Master Zhu and Third Master aren't well-educated," Nie Qiuyuan said, picking up the note and speaking slowly. "However, the person who wrote this note certainly has a decent level of knowledge."
I glanced at the worm-like handwriting on the note and couldn't help but ask, "How did you come to that conclusion, Brother?"
Nie Qiuyuan smiled slightly, placing the note in my palm. His long fingers gently pointed out a few phrases on the note: "Zhu Jia," "For the wealthy, no compassion," "You," "Brought into the net," "Do not," "No place to bury the dead."
"Liuying, look at this. Although these words are misspelled, if you were someone uneducated who couldn't even write these words correctly, would you use those phrases?"
It suddenly dawned on me. Indeed, "Zhu Er Ye," "You," and "Do not" are all quite elegant expressions. Phrases like "For the wealthy, no compassion" and "No place to bury the dead" could hardly be written by an uneducated person. Not to mention that phrase "brought into the net"; even I wouldn't necessarily know how to read it if I weren't a top student.
Thinking from that perspective, if I were an uneducated kidnapper, the note would have been written like this:
"Zhu Lao Er, you bastard! Your son is in my hands; hurry up and bring money! If you report to the authorities, I'll slice that brat!"
And then I would misspell a few words to match the tone.
"But even in the Zhu Family mansion, there are quite a few educated people..." Xiu Song said.
"That's true, but you brought back the note, didn't you?"
The young man fell silent, and Nie Qiuyuan continued, "We talked about many things just now. Whenever it comes to Young Master, your speech slows down and your gaze softens; it's clear that your feelings for him run deep. Given that, why have you shown no signs of anxiety or tension during our time together? Because you know Huan'er is safe, right?"
Xiu Song widened his eyes in surprise once again.
"You taught the young master to fold paper cranes to give to his mother. He must be feeling very lonely, right? So, I suddenly thought, perhaps this is your true intention."
To take him away, to hide him, to let his family experience what it feels like to lose someone.
Maybe then they could see clearly what truly matters.
I looked at Nie Qiuyuan; he didn’t appear as clear and stern as he usually did during Detective Work. His beautifully sculpted face was somehow enveloped in a soft glow, making him look exceptionally charming.
For the first time, I felt that perhaps there are some cases that can only be solved by those who harbor tenderness in their hearts.
"Huan'er is at my home on the outskirts of the city, where my mother and sister are taking care of her. I'll take you there right now." Xiu Song bit his lip, a thin mist of tears forming in his eyes. "Let’s set off now."
Nie Qiuyuan raised his hand to stop him.
"Draw out the location; the two of us can go. You stay here as if nothing has happened. If anyone asks, we’ll say we discovered a clue and went out to investigate. Young Master Huan'er won’t remember these past few days, so you should accompany him well in the future."
Somehow, even though the room was very cold, a faint warmth spread through my heart.
For a child to forget the experiences of these past few days should be a piece of cake for the Black Tortoise Envoy of Mirror Gate, right?
"Liuying, let’s go." I was still lost in thought when Nie Qiuyuan already had the route map in hand, smiling at me.
We didn't enter through the front door. The handsome guy said "sorry" and gently picked me up in his arms, then jumped over the wall with me.
Having been carried over, I felt a mix of emotions. He didn’t mention anything, and I didn’t want to either. If a man isn’t proactive, then forcing things won’t yield sweet results. What I wanted wasn’t this.
Instead, I decided to focus on the rapid beating of my heart!
The atmosphere was dim, filled with a damp scent in the air. Nie Qiuyuan, like a light bird, landed softly in a secluded alley and gently set me down on the ground.
With a change of expression, white snowflakes began to drift all around us.
It was snowing.
Nie Qiuyuan raised his hand to unfasten the buttons of his outer garment, removing the Deep Blue Outer Robe and draping it over me. My mind felt sluggish at that moment, leaving me feeling like a puppet, completely at his mercy. Noticing that I was still, he lifted my arms one by one and slipped them into the swaying sleeves. Then, he skillfully tightened the robe around my waist and adjusted its length so that I wouldn’t trip.
In this way, I probably looked quite adorable.
Moreover, in my time, wearing a man’s oversized coat when it’s cold could be considered—“the privilege of a girlfriend,” right?
I think I must have been smiling foolishly.
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