Chapter 1 - Bringing You Home
This was a remote town, and it was currently raining there.
The original Angel Orphanage in the east of the town had been burned down by a fire two days ago.
The rain had eased, and a few rays of sunlight shone through the clouds. An expensive SUV was parked in front of the burned-down Angel Orphanage.
Perhaps due to the rain and the fire, there was no one around.
A person alighted from the driver's seat of the SUV. He brought a black umbrella to the back seat and opened the door before saying respectfully, "Boss, we're here."
A man got out of the car.
He was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. His hair was neatly trimmed, and he looked handsome and elegant.
He should have looked pleasing to the eye, but he had a pair of dark eyes, and his expression was extremely cold. This pair of eyes, coupled with his expression, changed his entire temperament. It made the people who looked at him from afar involuntarily feel fear, not daring to directly meet his gaze.
In reality, he was only 24 years old. His name was Yin Jiujin, and he was ranked second in the family. He was the famous God of Slaughter in the business world, and people called him Master Nine [1, "Jiu" means nine in Chinese, hence his nickname was "Master Nine".].
Not only in the business world, people in all arenas had to respect him.
The person holding the umbrella for him was his chief assistant, Lin Zimu. He was also quite famous in the business world.
Yin Jiujin slowly raised his eyes and looked at the burnt orphanage, where there was a white bundle.
He walked forward slowly. Even though he was walking through the ruins and mud, it could not conceal his noble aura.
He finally saw the white ball when he got closer.
It was a person. And a girl.
Her long ponytail hung straight down as she buried her head in her knees. She was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans with a pair of navy blue canvas shoes on her feet.
Crouching in front of these ruins, she looked tiny. She didn't look like she was about to turn eighteen. Instead, she looked rather like a twelve or thirteen year old child.
Upon hearing footsteps, the girl looked up at him and stared at him with her big round eyes. It was as if she had just woken up, making her delicate face look a little dazed.
Yin Jiujin's gaze paused slightly, and he stopped three steps away from her. "Yan Jinyu?"
The person squatting on the ground sized him up for a while before saying, "I don't know you."
"The orphan who got lost at the age of two?"
Her eyes widened. "That's none of your business."
"You got lost at such a young age, so why do you still remember your real name?"
"I'm happy with it," she deadpanned.
His sinister eyes had a slight change, "You don't look happy."
"It's none of your business."
He glanced at the red string around her neck, "Do you have a jade pendant with the word 'Yu' carved on it?"
"It's none of your business…" She looked up at him, "How did you know?"
"I came to take you home."
"Oh." She stood up obediently.
"…" Master Nine. Isn't she afraid of bumping into bad people?
Yin Jiujin's first impression of Yan Jinyu was that she was foolish and gullible.
***
Lin Zimu placed the umbrella in the trunk and returned to the driver's seat. He looked at the two people in the backseat through the rearview mirror and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Boss, aren't you going to confirm with it?"
Lin Zimu suddenly saw a pair of dark eyes and he quickly retracted his gaze. "I'm sorry, Boss. I said too much."
He took a deep breath and finally said what he wanted to, "Boss, I think it's better for you to confirm it first. After all, she's your fiancée. You can't afford to be careless."
Sitting in the back seat, the young girl's eyes flickered when she heard the words 'fiancée'. But she quickly recovered, and even someone as sharp as Yin Jiujin didn't notice it.
Yin Jiujin glanced at the girl before saying, "There's no need to."
Since he said so, Lin Zimu naturally did not dare to say anything more.
He started the car.
The car drove for about half an hour, but the little girl remained quiet. Her expression was still slightly dull as she stared out of the window in a daze.
"You're not afraid?" For the first time ever, Yin Jiujin took the initiative to speak.
Lin Zimu, who was driving in the front, suddenly hit the brakes, "I'm sorry, Boss." He didn't need to turn around to know that his boss's expression must be very scary now.
Fortunately, his boss didn't pursue his mistake.
But was the boss… possessed?
Back at the burnt down orphanage, it could be understood that the boss wanted to confirm the other party's identity and took the initiative to ask. But now…
Anyway, the boss was a little abnormal.
His boss was famous for being a man of few words, and he had never taken the initiative to speak to anyone before. Usually, people would rush to curry favor with him, even though most of the time, no one dared to approach him due to his temper.
As he was pondering, Lin Zimu silently wiped his cold sweat.
Because that young lady actually ignored the boss!
She actually dared to ignore the boss when he took the initiative to ask questions! He didn't even dare to… Oh, that was not right. It should be said that there was no one who dared to ignore the boss. At least, after following the boss for so many years and seeing all kinds of people, he had never seen anyone who dared to ignore the boss.
"Yan Jinyu."
The little girl looked up at him with clear eyes, "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else could I talk to?"
"Oh, just say what you want to say. I'm listening."
"…" Yin Jiujin.
Lin Zimu silently wiped his cold sweat again. He really didn't know whether to say this little girl was brave or stupid. He was afraid that if she angered the boss, he would also suffer.
At this moment, he did not dare to interrupt and could only pray that her boss would not implicate him in his anger.
"Aren't you not afraid to simply follow a stranger?"
Huh?!
The boss was not angry?
Lin Zimu was curious. He stole a quick glance at Yin Jiujin through the rearview mirror and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no signs of anger on his face.
At the same time, he was extremely perplexed.
Could it be that because she was his fiancée, hence the boss's attitude towards this young girl was so good? But was the boss someone who would be bound by the engagement?
Obviously not.
If it wasn't for the old madam's last words, telling the boss to make sure to find this young mistress— who had been missing for 16 years and whom the Yan family had long given up on searching for — the boss wouldn't have cared at all.
Or did the boss fall in love with this young lady at first sight?
That was even more impossible.
The cold-blooded and cruel boss was very indifferent to his parents and brothers. How could love at first sight happen to him?
Forget it. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it. Anyway, the boss was wise and wouldn't be fooled by a young lady.
"Didn't you say you wanted to bring me home? Why should I be afraid?"
"Are you not afraid that I'm a bad person and that I'm just lying to you by saying that I'm bringing you home?"
Blinking her big eyes, she asked, "Are you, then?"
For the first time in his life, Yin Jiujin was made speechless by someone. When he saw her pure and clear big eyes, he couldn't get angry with her inexplicably.
He decided to change the topic. "The orphanage has been burnt down. So, why are you there?"
"I was working in the county. I received a call from the director saying that the orphanage was gone, so I applied for leave and came back to take a look. It wasn't long after I arrived. The director and the others had moved to another place. I was planning to stay at the orphanage for a while before visiting the director and the rest, but you came."
"Working? If I remember correctly, you will only be 18 years old in two months. Why are you working instead of going to school?"
"…"Lin Zimu had heard what he said. Boss, didn't you read all these documents before coming here? Why didn't you look so angry then?
Also, you know about all these. Aren't you asking the obvious?
Yan Jinyu stared at him, "Are you concerned about me?"
It was clearly still that silly expression, but Yin Jiujin had a feeling that something was different.
However, was he concerned about her?
He did not know if it was because he was concerned about her, but he could not suppress the anger in his heart when he heard that she was working in the county.
"I'm asking you a question. Don't change the subject."
The young lady lowered her eyelashes to hide the emotions in her eyes. "It's normal to work. The orphanage doesn't have money and can't afford to provide for so many people to go to school. There are many children like me who stopped going to school after graduating from junior high school. Although I can't earn money to subsidize the orphanage, at least I can work to support myself and reduce the burden on the orphanage."
"You're considered a child laborer at your age. What kind of work can you do?"
"Our place is different from the big cities. Usually, it's easy to find a job when you're sixteen and graduated from junior high school. However, I don't seem to be very well-liked by my bosses. I don't usually stay at a job for long, so I didn't make much money after working for almost three years. I have changed quite a few jobs."
Almost three years…
Didn't that mean that she went out to work at fifteen?
Indeed, that was also what was recorded in the information he found.
At the age of fifteen, she graduated from junior high school and left this town to work in the county. In almost three years, she had changed nearly 50 jobs.
The longest she had worked on the same job was three months. Fifty jobs meant she had done almost everything.
The cashier, the restaurant waiter, the bar waiter, the postman, the food delivery courier, the sales personnel, the porter, the construction worker, the cleaner… she had even cleaned the toilets.
In the past, he hadn't thought much of it. Now, looking at the young girl's fair and clean face and her silly expression, Yin Jiujin suddenly felt a little upset.
"Show me your hands."
Yan Jinyu blinked and spread her hands out.
Her calloused palm was exposed to Yin Jiujin's sight.
His eyes darkened.
These weren't the hands of a young girl who was about to turn eighteen. Moreover, this girl looked thin and tiny. She did not look like she was about to become an adult.
She had suffered so much at such a young age.
He could not help but reach out to hold her hand. Seeing that she was about to dodge, he grabbed it. "Don't move, let me take a look."
The calluses were real.
Her hands were already like this calloused, yet her face was still fair and clean. It must be because of her strong genes.
"Take care of your hands when you get back."
Yan Jinyu looked at the hand that was being held and only raised her head after a long while. "Take care of my hands?"
"I'll get someone to buy some items that nourish the hands' skin."
Yan Jinyu retracted her hand. "Don't bother with that. I'm used to it."
His hand suddenly felt empty, and Yin Jiujin's eyes darkened again. "I don't like others to disobey me."
Throwing a glance at him, Yan Jinyu retracted her gaze and sat upright. "Where are we going?"
"I thought you didn't care."
"I don't care, but my things are in my rental house in the county. I have to go back to pack them up."
"Did you bring your identity card?"
Yan Jinyu nodded.
"It's fine as long as you have your identity card. We can buy new things in North City."
"I don't have any money. I only have one thousand dollars in my bank account which I had saved with great difficulty. I'm planning to buy a phone with that."
"Buy a phone?"
Yan Jinyu took out something from her pocket. "This is my phone. It broke a few days ago and I can't see the screen clearly. I have to change it."
A Nokia. Extremely old. The screen was even shattered.
"…"Yin Jiujin. What kind of young lady would use such a phone in this day and age? It was so old!
"I'll buy a new one for you!"
Yan Jinyu put the Nokia back into her pocket. "Fine. You're my fiancé anyway."
"…" Yin Jiujin.
He had never taken this betrothal seriously, but when he met her round, innocent, and clear eyes, he inexplicably couldn't say those words out loud.