Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Disappearance of Luo Qianqian (Part 3)

”It’s my sister’s hat, old lady, did you see where my sister went?” Luo Shufan took the hat from the fence, clutching it in his hands, dreading the bad news he was afraid to hear.

”Earlier I was inside and saw a car stopped here for a while, so I paid attention to it. There was a pretty sturdy guy sitting in the car. I wasn’t paying attention in the middle, but later, I heard someone calling for Luo Xianxian. I looked outside and saw three strong guys carrying a little girl toward the car. The hat dropped there, so I went out, picked it up, and hung it on the fence. I don’t know what was going on, but I took down the license plate number. Wait here, I’ll go get it for you.” The old lady walked tremblingly back inside the house. Luo Shufan was completely confused. Carried away? Strong guys? A kidnapping?

”Here it is. My son told me not to meddle in other people’s businesses, so I didn’t call the police. Sorry about that, young man.” The old lady’s trembling hand handed a piece of paper with numbers and letters through the fence and apologized.

”It’s okay, old lady, thank you for telling me this much. When my sister returns, I will bring her to thank you in person. Goodbye for now, old lady.” Luo Shufan held back the tears spinning in his eyes: Luo Qianqian, you little rascal, if you don’t behave properly, your brother will never buy you treats again. I’ll lock you at home and not let you go out to play with Xiao Yu. I’ll spank you hard every day, for being disobedient, for running around without listening to me!

It had already gotten dark, and the faintly visible stars in the sky blinked, but Luo Shufan paid no attention to the sky. He knew, every second he hesitated, his sister might face unimaginable suffering.

”Godfathers and godmothers!” Luo Shufan didn’t go home. He knew that even if his mother went home, she would first go to the He Family to pick him and his sister up. So, he ran directly to the He’s and started pounding on their door: ”Call the police quickly, my sister has been kidnapped!”

”Shufan?” Luo’s Mom, hearing the noise, panicked and opened the door to pull her son inside, asking firmly, ”What did you just say? Why didn’t Qianqian come back with you? What happened to Qianqian?”

”Mr. He, are you home? Eh? Why is the door open?” A voice came from behind Luo Shufan: ”This is He Jun’s house, Mr. He, are you here? Someone came to your office looking for you urgently, so I brought them here.”

Upon hearing Luo Shufan’s words, Mr. He was anxiously getting dressed to go to the police station to report, confused by the visitor: ”Who’s looking for me? Hey, I don’t know them. What do they want with me?”

”It’s like this. I work at the service station on the highway. I was leaving work this evening to meet my girlfriend downtown. Just as I stepped out, I found this piece of paper. I thought it was better to come over and check, just in case. Does a child named Luo Qianqian live here?” the young man brought by Mr. He’s colleague explained.

”Qianqian? Yes, yes, yes!” At that moment, the narrow doorway was crowded with the He family of three, two from the Luo family, Mr. He’s colleague, and the young man brought by the colleague—a total of seven people, but actually six people closely watching the young man.

”This is the paper I found. That’s all the information I have.” The young man handed over the paper he had kept in his pocket to the anxious families and then took his leave.

Seeing the tense situation, Mr. He’s colleague didn’t bother with formalities either and decided to leave as well, knowing that Mr. He had a godson and goddaughter.

Luo’s Mom unfolded the paper nervously, her face streaming with tears:

I am Luo Qianqian, 1.08 meters tall, girl. My mom is An Zilan, 32 years old, and my brother is Luo Shufan, ten years old. Please contact my taekwondo teacher He Jun at the Youth Palace. I am currently being taken away by strangers, and they abducted me around one o’clock. I am now in the trunk of a car. I hope whoever finds this paper will help me call the police. If you’re still worried it might be fake, please contact my family; they must be very anxious. You can even ask my family for a reward. Could you please help me? Luo Qianqian thanks the kind-hearted person willing to help.

The back of the paper was boldly emblazoned with an SOS.

”Mom, when I was looking for Qianqian earlier, I met an old lady who gave me the license plate number of the car that took Qianqian away.” Luo Shufan handed the tightly-held newspaper to his mom, tears streaming down his face as he spoke anxiously: ”Mom, let’s go to the police. Could Qianqian have been killed?”

”Don’t talk nonsense!” Mr. He sharply scolded his godson, then muttered softly, ”What on earth could they want with the children? If it were a kidnapping, they would have left us a note or something to prevent us from calling the police.”

”Come on, let’s report it to the police. Zilan, don’t overthink it. Qianqian managing to send out a message means she’s still in good hands. The sooner we report it, the sooner we can rescue Qianqian!” Mother He decisively took off her cooking apron, grasped her cane, picked up her keys and wallet, and made a move to go downstairs.

”Right, right, let’s call the police. Qianqian will be fine, she’s so clever. Brother, don’t cry, we need to go save our sister!” Luo’s Mom dried the tears from her face and also wiped her son’s tears.

”Yes, let’s call the police!” Luo Shufan, reassured by his mother’s soothing, was finally able to calm down a bit. The group headed majestically to the police station, even Mother He, who seldom left the house except for shopping trips, was helped downstairs by Mr. He, shakily but closely following the group, her anxious face impossible to disguise.

It was a coincidence that Zhang Ye was just finishing up his paperwork and preparing to leave work when he saw the familiar faces he hadn’t seen in four or five days: ”What’s happened? What’s going on?” As a policeman, his keen senses immediately noticed that the group had been crying, especially He Wenyu, who was still sobbing in He Jun’s arms, unable to speak.

”Officer Zhang, you have to help us, Qianqian has been kidnapped!” Luo’s Mom, in a sudden burst, knelt down in front of Zhang Ye. Luo’s Mom didn’t stand up but grabbed Zhang Ye’s hand, the tears she had been holding back now uncontrollably flowing down.

”Mom,” Luo Shufan wanted to help his mom up, but then he too knelt down, ”Uncle Zhang, you have to help us, Qianqian has been kidnapped!” As he spoke, tears dropped uncontrollably, ticking down onto the ground.

Mother He and He Wenyu were already upset; seeing the two people on the ground crying, they couldn’t control their tears either, which fell drip by drip.

Zhang Ye was utterly confused, helped Luo’s Mom to her feet, and grabbed Luo Shufan: ”Don’t cry for now, first tell me what happened. If you don’t tell me, how can I know how to help you?”

However, the people crying in grief and sorrow were also unable to hold back their tears and couldn’t speak.

”I’ll explain,” He’s father placed his still crying daughter on the ground, stood by Mother He, and explained to Zhang Ye, ”Qianqian was taken away this afternoon. We just received a rescue note written by Qianqian brought by a kind-hearted person. Xiao Fan also found a clue on the road where Qianqian was taken this evening, someone noted down the license plate of the car that took Qianqian.”

”Where’s the rescue note? And the license plate number, give them to me.” Zhang Ye took the note and immediately headed back to the police station. A few seconds later, he came out again: ”What are you doing? Hurry up and file the case! We need to race against time now. Have you recently offended anyone, or maybe encountered any strange people?”

Offended people? Undoubtedly, those overprotective middle-aged women. Strange people? Wait, this afternoon, that woman with chocolate-colored wavy hair!

”Xiao Yu, where did you put that letter!” Luo Shufan, holding his mother’s hand, turned and tightly grabbed Xiao Yu’s shoulders.

”What... oh, the letter.” He Wenyu, still in tears, was choked with sobs and hadn’t caught up mentally, Scared by Luo Shufan’s sudden behavior, she momentarily forgot her tears.

Zhang Ye in front was startled by Luo Shufan and stopped in his tracks. Were there more clues? And clues from the afternoon?

”The one you said was a love letter, the one that woman gave you! Right at the entrance of Youth Palace!!!” Luo Shufan gestured to his own hair and chest.

”Here it is.” He Wenyu took out the envelope from her pocket, which had warmed from being forgotten.

Zhang Ye took the envelope and opened it right there in the police station lobby:

He Jun:

Seeing these words as if seeing you in person, may you have abundant wealth.

I won’t introduce myself too much, but Luo Qianqian is in my hands. If you want Luo Qianqian safe and sound, give me fifty thousand yuan!

Definitely do not report to the police; I am not a patient kidnapper, and I will tear up the ticket.

Tomorrow at the same time, the same person will give you the payment method, and you have three days to gather the money.

Of course, if you’re late, I don’t mind the child missing something.

That’s it.

Oh right, the pig’s trotters you make are not bad.

The letter ended here. Luo Shufan’s face was filled with self-blame. Why had he not realized that the ’love letter’ would contain such content? If he had known earlier, if he had reported it sooner, would his sister have been rescued by now?

No, reporting to the police! Reporting will lead to tearing up the ticket!

”Mom, don’t call the police! Mom, I want my sister to be safe!”