Because I Cannot Hurt You

Han villa.

In the study room, Zhiyuan and Yunru were continuing their investigation about the two men who tried to kidnap Siying. The next thing they did was to check the security footage of the street where they were last seen with Siying and then ambushed by some unknown party. They hoped to know the identity of the man who carried out the ambush.

With Yunru in the police force and leading the investigation, it was easy to get the recording quicker. The four of them including Han Huizhong and Liang gathered around the laptop as Yunru received the recording.

Zhiyuan quickly inserted the pen drive and clicked on the file option. The video opened and it was already trimmed to the point when Siying was visible with the two men.

He froze as he finally saw his son after so many hours of searching. 

Siying…

Liang said, "There he is!"

They saw him talking to him with a smile on their faces and Siying was nodding his head with a bright smile on his lips.

Han Huizhong grimaced. "Once we get him back, I will take the responsibility of drilling into that child not to just believe anyone! It is so obvious they are luring him with something. My grandchild cannot be dumb!"

Yunru's mouth twitched. "Grandpa, Siying is only three years old."

Liang sighed. "You treat him like an adult."

He snorted. "The sooner he realizes the harsh reality of life, the better."

Zhiyuan watched in utter concentration as the clip played. He didn't miss a single shift in expression or movements. But then he widened his eyes in shock.

"Yunru, something is wrong with the recording. It just suddenly got cut off."

"What?"

He checked it and found that the recording was fine until two minutes into the clip, but then it abruptly ended and the view changed to that of the same street but it was empty. The two men were absent and so was Siying. He checked the time, and it showed the same continuity. There was no jump from one time to another.

Liang was stunned. "Something definitely happened in between. Where did they suddenly disappear?"

Han Huizhong gritted his teeth. "Somebody cut off the footage in between! The nerve!"

Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes. "I feel it's that same man who altered this footage."

Yunru solemnly said, "It is impossible for just anyone to get access to the security recording and delete a part of it."

"Then that man is not just anyone," he quietly said. "That's why he wants his involvement hidden. He must be someone really influential and powerful to get hands-on his recording."

Liang was confused. "I don't understand if he is our enemy or not. He ambushed the men, but we don't know where Siying is," he looked at Yunru and urgently asked, "Can we recover the altered part?"

"I will contact the cyber cell to recover the part."

Fifteen minutes later, he came with bad news as he rubbed the space between his brows. "They are unable to do it. Whoever has hacked into the system has hidden his traces really well. They were able to somehow retrieve the cut part, but it was destroyed beyond recognition. It is pixelated so bad that nothing is visible. Of course, they are still trying their best, but it could take time."

Zhiyuan banged his fist. "We don't have time, Yunru! It's gotten so dark. Once night hits, it would be even more dangerous for Siying to be outside. I have promised Xinyi that I will bring him back before today ends at any cost! And I will keep that promise."

Silence.

Han Huizhong tiredly sat on a chair. His fingers trembled as he clenched his stick. Zhiyuan knew that he was hell worried in his own way. He was putting up a strong stance so that nobody would lose confidence. But he understood how inwardly he must be panicking too. He talked rudely most of the time, but he loved Siying a lot. How could he see his great-grandson in danger? He was just three, so innocent and defenseless.

Zhiyuan stared at the empty air in silence, thinking of what to do. Without the footage, they wouldn't know the identity of the man and Siying's possible location. But there was one man who could help him. Or maybe not.

He picked his phone and dialed a number. "It's me. I need your help."

---

Natsukashi.

Nana gently rubbed his head and calmed Siying down. The rush hour was beginning to end, so there was more quiet and peace now. Siying sat on her lap and was sniffing.

She said, "So, your Mama got hurt and you think she hates you now?"

Siying sadly nodded.

"But from what I understood from what you said, you seem to love your Mama and Dada and they love you too. Until she fell in the water, the picnic trip seemed to go well, right? You were all happy, laughing and taking pictures, right?"

He nodded again.

"Does your Mama usually scold you? Or your Dada?"

"No."

"What does your Mama do when you make any mistake? I am not talking about the picnic."

Siying blinked his eyes.

Jian said, "Mistakes like hitting other kids, lying, talking disrespectfully to elders bla bla."

Nian continued, "Bullying your little brother, hiding your sister's toys and making her cry purposely, adding salt in Grandpa's tea instead of sugar and making him puke are some of the other examples."

Nana - "..."

"Don't compare him to you two!"

They giggled.

Nana looked at Siying and said, "Ignore them. I mean when you do something bad by mistake, what does your Mama do?"

Siying thought back and said, "Mama hugs me. She also smiles and tell itsh okay."

"So she doesn't yell at you at all? Or talk in a mean way which will make you sad?"

"No."

Jian and Nian clutched their chests and looked at him dramatically. "What? Your Mama doesn't scold you at all?"

Nian touched his chin. "So no matter what you do, she just smiles and says it's okay?"

"She doesn't pull your ears?"

"She doesn't make you kneel?"

"She doesn't punish you by making you eat food you hate the most?"

Jun grimaced.

Nana - "..."

Siying blankly stared at them. "No…"

They cried in joy. "She is an angel!"

Jian seriously stared at his mother. "Mom, we need to talk. I think it's high time we replace you now. We demand to make his mother ours!"

Nian thoughtfully nodded.

Nana facepalmed at her twin son's dramatic tactics. "Let me have a peaceful talk with him!"

Jun pushed his spectacles up. "You can only have a peaceful talk if you throw them out of here."

"How mean, little bro~" They pouted.

"Zip your mouths right now," she glared at them. Jian and Nian put a finger on their lips and sat straight.

Nana focused her attention back on Siying. "See? So your Mama is kind and doesn't scold you at all. So why do you think she would hate you? I understand it may be a big mistake this time…" she smiled and squished his cheeks, "But a mother can never hate her child. She doesn't hate you, Siying."

Siying's small face was still marred with confusion. 

"Tell me. Does she take care of you when you are sick?"

Siying's gaze sparkled. "En. Mama always by my side and pat my head."

She smiled. "Yes, because she is worried about you. She gets sad when she sees you ill. You don't know this, but I am sure that your Mama would definitely have stayed awake all those nights whenever you might have been sick. Always looking after you and always checking on you every minute if you felt better or not. Now, tell me. What does she do when you pick out the veggies that you don't like?"

Siying thought seriously. "Mama says bad to leave it and to eat all!"

Nana chuckled. "Yes, because she cares about your health. To stay strong, you have to eat everything even if you don't like it. You will get weak if you don't eat healthy food, and your Mama doesn't want to see you be a weak boy who gets sick easily."

"Does your Mama tell you stories at bedtime?"

"Yes! Mama tells many stories!"

"Does she protect you from someone who is scolding you?"

He thought back to the times when Han Huizhong would sometimes scold him and Xinyi would always be there to defend him.

"Mama always says to Grandpa not scold Siying…"

"Does she hug you when you feel afraid?"

He nodded.

"Does she laugh with you whenever you laugh?"

"Mama laughs when I make funny faces!"

"Does she get happy when you do something good?"

"En! I was first in class for an essay! Mama was happy and gave me my favorite pastry!"

She smiled and gently pinched his nose. "Then Siying my dear. Your Mama loves you a lottttt! A mother who can't sleep when her son is sick, who wants to see her child grow healthy, who plays with you and tells bedtime stories, who protects you when someone scolds you, who hugs you when you get scared, and who gets happy when you are happy is a mother who simply adores her child. She can never ever hate you."