Sweet Wife in My Arms

Little Xunxun was Yan Huan’s look-alike, and Lu Yi’s greatest solace for the rest of his days. The family would crumble if she was gone.

How could such a well-behaved and pretty child go missing?

Ye Shuyun covered her face and wailed whenever Xunxun crossed her mind; how could she have been so foolish to leave Xunxun while looking for a bag? What could have been more important than Xunxun?

How could she face her son, or Yan Huan in the afterlife, if something happened to Xunxun?

Yan Huan was missing and presumed dead, and now it was Xunxun’s turn. Xunxun was only a small girl who didn’t know how to speak. Who took her, and what do they plan to do with her?

No one had the answers to her questions.

Lei Qingyi was in his office reviewing security footage.

“Right there,” Lei Qingyi pointed to the screen. “That’s our guy.”

Lu Yi was beside him, concealed in the darkness. He was like a dynamite encased in ice, and it looked like he might explode at any moment. When he explodes, it would be scarier and magnificent than any dynamite.

The paused footage on the screen showed Xunxun sitting in her stroller, before a man appeared out of nowhere, covered her mouth and took her into his arms.

Lu Yi clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles cracking.

His Little Xunxun, his daughter with Yan Huan… The docile child who loved and trusted him and thought of him as her greatest protector… The timid child that would open her arms and smile at him, waiting for him to lift her into the air…

Yet the father she trusted so much couldn’t find and rescue her.

How is she? Is she thirsty or hungry? Is she being scolded, or abused? Would she be alright in this freezing weather? The thoughts melted away the calm façade he had displayed for thirty years.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine,” consoled Lei Qingyi. “We’ll find her. I have locked down every street and alley that leads out of the Sea City and ordered thorough checks on every child around Xunxun’s age. We haven’t gotten anything so far, which means that Xunxun is still within the city. And if they are in the city, we’ll be able to find them in no time.”

Lu Yi pursed his lips tightly, his piercing eyes fixed on the screen, as if he wanted to mince Xunxun’s kidnapper into a thousand pieces.

Five hours had elapsed since Xunxun’s disappearance.

Yan Huan shook the baby bottle and offered it to Xunxun.

Xunxun grabbed the bottle, laid down on her mother’s legs, and began drinking. She never had any problems drinking milk. Yan Huan heaved a sigh of relief.

She had picked it in a hurry, since she couldn’t find the brand which Xunxun drank when she was little, and wanted to make it back before Xunxun wakes up. If Xunxun rejected it, then she could only try to feed her porridge.

Luckily, she wasn’t picky when it comes to milk.

Xunxun was spirited after finishing the milk, tugging at her mother’s sleeves tightly as though she was afraid of being abandoned.

Yan Huan lifted her to the bed. The little girl had meaty limbs despite not being fat. Her pudgy little feet were especially dainty and adorable.

“Say Mama,” said Yan Huan with a smile. Her pellucid eyes made it easy to overlook the hideous scar on her face.

“Mama,” said Xunxun. She bounced up and down the bed in wild delight, her soft feet stomping on the soft bed cover. Xunxun only had such a sense of security before her mother.

“Now say Papa,” prompted Yan Huan.

Xunxun tilted her head and pursed her lips.

“Say Papa,” repeated Yan Huan, mouthing the words slowly for her daughter to read her lips. “Pa-pa.”

Xunxun nibbled on her fingers and broke into a smile.

“Gua…gua…”

“Not Guagua. Papa,” said Yan Huan.

Xunxun’s large eyes swam around intelligently as she pondered on that.

“Ba…ba…” said Xunxun. She knew how to speak, but she was reluctant to do so after Mama left. Now that Mama was back, she was keen to listen and learn.

“Papa,” repeated Yan Huan, stroking her head gently.

“Papa!” said Xunxun with improved pronunciation, still hopping on the bed.

She could hear and speak. She wasn’t a mute.

“Good girl,” praised Yan Huan. Little Xunxun beamed and wrapped her arms around Yan Huan’s neck tightly.

Yan Huan fondled her soft hair.

Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the day she sends Xunxun home.

It was late now, but she would send her back on the morrow, surely. Xunxun soon grew sleepy, and so did she.

Sleepy as she was, she did her best to coax her daughter into sleeping.

Xunxun rubbed her eyes and cuddled up against Yan Huan. The bed wasn’t as big or comfy as the one back home, but that was alright, because Mama was there.

Outside, the chilly autumn wind kept blowing, flapping the curtains up and down whenever it touched a corner of the window.

“Lu Yi! We found him,” announced Lei Qingyi as he hurried into the room. “We found the guy.”

“Where is he?” asked Lu Yi, springing to his feet and preparing to leave.

“In the hospital,” said Lei Qingyi. “Someone had smashed his head and broke one of his legs with a blunt object.”

“What about Xunxun?” asked Lu Yi coldly.

He didn’t give a damn about what happened to the guy. All he cared about was how his daughter was doing.