Chapter 8

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Protagonist:

Jiang Wenyu

After Jiang Wenyu's persuasive talk, that fat boss also agreed to continue the venture — not that he was scamming them, but the internet's prospects were simply too vast, and continuing would certainly make a lot of money, though Jiang Wenyu wouldn't be the one doing it; the startup capital required was simply too enormous, and even that fat boss had only managed to scrape together three units after emptying his savings.

The fat boss was quite ruthless too, even saying things like "If those bastards dare come again, I'll fight them to the death."

Since he hadn't brought tools today, Jiang Wenyu discussed it with him and decided to come back tomorrow to do the repairs.

Having a bit of side work gave Jiang Wenyu some motivation too; repairing these things might seem insignificant but the money came easily, and this money was all capital that would be essential in the future.

It was still early so he didn't go straight home, instead heading directly to a food processing factory in the suburban district; Chen Lan worked here, and calculating the time he walked toward the kindergarten the factory ran nearby.

The kindergarten wasn't large and had no decent facilities to speak of, but by now quite a few people had already come to pick up children, mostly factory workers, yet scanning left and right Jiang Wenyu didn't see Chen Lan.

"Maybe she's working overtime." Thinking this, he also looked inside the kindergarten; before long some small children came bouncing out, and some adults went up to meet them — among those children Jiang Wenyu saw his own daughter, Jiang Nuannuan.

"Nuan Nuan!" Jiang Wenyu called out with a smile, and that little girl with pigtails among the children instantly looked up; upon seeing Jiang Wenyu outside she seemed a bit dazed and stunned, hesitating a short while before taking small steps toward Jiang Wenyu.

Only when the little girl came close did Jiang Wenyu carefully pick her up; the lightweight Jiang Nuannuan's face showed no sign of happiness, her body even trembling slightly.

Jiang Wenyu understood just how foolish a mistake he had once made, and making up for those mistakes would take time — not just for him, but especially for the already wounded Chen Lan and Nuan Nuan.

"Nuan Nuan, how about we go wait for Mommy?"

Jiang Nuannuan lightly nodded her head but still didn't say a word.

"Hey, you! Yes, you, wait a minute!"

Just as Jiang Wenyu was about to leave with Nuan Nuan in his arms, an exceptionally bright voice rang out from behind; turning back he saw a young woman striding toward him, clearly calling to him.

After she walked over, she actually snatched the little girl from his arms under Jiang Wenyu's astonished gaze, eyeing him warily and saying, "Who are you? Daring to snatch a child in broad daylight!"

Jiang Wenyu froze — how had he become a child snatcher? The woman before him was about his age, probably a teacher at this kindergarten; right now she had pulled Jiang Nuannuan behind her and was watching him warily.

And the surroundings instantly cast many strange looks their way, some people even starting to gather around. None of them knew Jiang Wenyu, but they all knew Jiang Nuannuan; Jiang Wenyu had heard Chen Lan mention that Nuan Nuan was very cheerful at the kindergarten, and had even met many children's parents; being cute and frail she naturally became an object of special attention.

At this point those adults were practically surrounding Jiang Wenyu, some even preparing to call the police.

Feeling those strange gazes, Jiang Wenyu was about to explain, but his body suddenly shuddered.

His daughter Jiang Nuannuan, right now hiding behind that young woman, looked at him with a numb expression; that gaze differed from the crowd's yet was faintly similar — it was the look one gives a stranger, the look one gives a villain.

He remembered now — he had never come here before, and no one knew him. During those days of drowning sorrow in alcohol and escaping life, Chen Lan had shouldered the household while he ignored everything.

His heart ached; he couldn't help but lower his head, then numbly murmured softly, "I'm her father..."

"What did you say?" The young woman still shielded the little girl behind her, her face full of anger, and the crowd around them kept growing.

"..." Jiang Wenyu didn't speak another word; right now his whole person seemed somewhat numb.

He suddenly realized that the things he was doing might not be able to make up for these two closest people at all — at least not yet. Deep in his mind he seemed to recall once more the day Chen Lan and Jiang Nuannuan met with a car accident.

"Quick, call the police!"

"Human traffickers have gotten this bold now!"

Noisy voices rose from the bustling crowd, but Jiang Wenyu still kept his head lowered without a word. The little girl behind the woman still watched him with that numb gaze, but then it shifted slightly.

"He is my..."

The little girl seemed to have said something, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the surrounding crowd noise; only the woman in front seemed to have heard something, turning back and crouching before the little girl to comfort her: "Nuan Nuan don't be afraid, when the police come they'll take the bad guy away!"