Chapter 1335 The Grand Finale: Xiao Yan, Don't Leave Me! (Nineteenth Update)

“Smack!”

A sharp slap landed hard on Xiao Xiaoang’s face, and the bag he was holding was yanked out of his hand by Xiao Yan and flung far away!

Right after that, Little Tiger shot over like an arrow, using both paws and mouth to wildly sweep through the food on the floor.

Over there it was wolfing and gobbling, rustling nonstop, while in the living room, after Xiao Yan slapped Xiao Xiaoang, the whole room went quiet in a way that felt even more terrifying than just now!

For a moment Xiao Xiaoang was completely stunned; Xiao Yan hadn’t held back, and right now Xiao Xiaoang only felt his ears still buzzing.

Xiao Yan… had never hit him before, never…

He lifted his head, staring blankly at Xiao Yan; Xiao Yan’s stern, cold face slowly blurred in his line of sight…

“Xiao Yan… that was for you to eat… ugh… ugh ugh ugh…”

“Cry! If you’re gonna cry then get out there and cry! Aren’t you so damn capable! Aren’t you capable of sneaking out of kindergarten on your own! Aren’t you capable of stopping a taxi by yourself and going somewhere else! Aren’t you capable of running off without even telling Dad first! Since you’re so capable, then just stay out there, don’t come back!”

“Ugh ugh… ugh ugh ugh…” All the stubbornness in Xiao Xiaoang was slapped away in that one hit; right now he was just an ordinary kid bawling his eyes out.

He knew he was wrong, he knew he’d made Xiao Yan worry…

Ugh ugh…

“Still crying!”

Xiao Yan was furious, pointing at Xiao Xiaoang; his anger was so intense that his eyes went red…

“Xiao Yan… ugh ugh… ugh ugh…”

Seeing that right now Xiao Xiaoang looked like he had no intention of stopping his crying at all, Xiao Yan felt this crushing frustration, like he’d slammed his fist into cotton. This was the child he’d raised himself; how could he not know what kind of temper this kid had?

Bold and reckless, mischievous and naughty, loves playing pranks—these were all his ways of trying to get adults’ attention.

He had never done something this outrageous before.

Fearless like a newborn calf, he’s so little, he has absolutely no defenses against how dangerous the outside world is!

How many children every year get lured away by scum just because parents slip up for a moment and kids act up for a moment?

Missing children—once they go missing, it’s like they’ve fallen into the dark web of this world. Of the ones who can be found, how many are still anything like normal people when they’re found?

If today Xiao Xiaoang had really been tricked away by bad people outside, or run into some accident on the road, or anything bad had happened…

Xiao Yan truly felt like he’d rather die.

“Xiao Yan… ugh ugh…”

All Xiao Xiaoang could do was keep crying, and the half of his face that had been slapped was getting redder and redder.

Did it not make Xiao Yan’s heart ache to look at him?

It’s just…

“Xiao Xiaoang, I dote on you so much and spoil you so much every day. Whatever you want, I try to get it for you. And now you’re completely self-centered, you don’t consider anyone else’s feelings at all! You don’t consider my feelings at all!”

Xiao Yan’s furious scolding was so loud that even Little Tiger, busy eating the takeout pizza from the Michelin restaurant, kept turning his head toward this side because of the raised volume.

“You really disappointed me. You really made Dad feel—”

Xiao Xiaoang is extremely sensitive by nature; the moment he heard the tone of Xiao Yan’s words, a huge terror surged up in his heart. He couldn’t care about anything else, he lunged straight into Xiao Yan’s arms and cried,

“Dad, I was wrong, please don’t abandon me! Ugh ugh…”

“…”

“Dad! Ugh ugh… I was wrong, I was wrong…”

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment…

Xiao Xiaoang was clinging to him so tightly, and for a while everyone in the room felt their hearts twist because of Xiao Ang’s crying.

Xiao Anhe wiped his tears as he walked up to Xiao Yan, gently patted his shoulder, and said, “Let it go, okay? Xiao Ang isn’t a thoughtless kid, today was just an accident, right, Xiao Ang?”

“Dad… I promise I’ll be good from now on, Dad…”

Xiao Xiaoang kept calling out “Dad” over and over. Xiao Yan’s heart wasn’t made of stone, and besides, his anger came from worry; he had raised his hand because of deep, deep fear.

Only heaven knows how anxious he was when he didn’t know where he’d gone, how he wished he had superpowers so he could flip all of Beijing upside down in an instant!

Only heaven knows how he made call after call trying to find out where he’d gone, and how each reply that came back empty pushed his tears right to the brink.

When Su Xiaomeng called to tell him that Xiao Ang was with Yin Shixiu, he was already on his way to the police station to file a report.

(PS: Here’s a quick bit of public information: if someone goes missing, especially women or children, you should report it to the police immediately. You do not need to wait twenty-four hours.)

Once he knew he was safe, his heart finally dropped back into place. As for why he was with Yin Shixiu, he didn’t even have the spare mind-space to think about it; his whole head and whole heart were just filled with wanting to see Xiao Ang as soon as possible.

Even knowing that Xiao Xiaoang was with Yin Shixiu and was physically safe, he still couldn’t help it—just sitting on the sofa waiting, his legs would start trembling on their own.

It was just too terrifying…

When the kindergarten showed the surveillance footage of Xiao Xiaoang squeezing out through the iron back gate of the kindergarten and standing by the roadside waving down a taxi, the sweat that broke out on his back soaked straight through his shirt.

Yin Shixiu slumped wearily back onto the sofa, feeling as if most of the strength in his body had been drained away. Xiao Xiaoang refused to let go of his grip on Yin Shixiu’s hand and followed him down onto the sofa.

At this moment Pu Yang was standing off to the side, feeling more or less uneasy. She didn’t know if this little fellow would still keep the promise the two of them had made last night, whether he could withstand Yin Shixiu’s questioning without saying it was her who told him to go look for Yin Shixiu.

She stood there harboring her own secret schemes, her heart thudding away. She was the one who knew best where Xiao Ang had gone today, who he had met, and what he had done.

The fact that Xiao Ang could return safe and sound was absolutely not the outcome Pu Yang wanted to see.

It was only an hour ago that Pu Wei called to tell her those people hadn’t been able to make a move on Xiao Xiaoang. They hadn’t even managed to tail the car and directly stage a car accident.

Of course Pu Yang was very upset. On the one hand she could only admit that that brat Xiao Xiaoang has a strong life, and on the other she could only blame herself for being a bit too impatient.

There was still plenty of time ahead, but last night, for that Instant, Pu Yang had indeed grown tired of racking her brains over the fact that Xiao Xiaoang was still alive.

Now she could only pray that Xiao Xiaoang wouldn’t rat her out.

However—

Pu Yang let out a long breath. Even if that brat told the whole story, even if Yin Shixiu found out she had been pushing things from behind the scenes, it didn’t matter anymore.

She was already Mrs. Xiao.

Early this morning, she and Yin Shixiu had gone to the civil affairs bureau to get their marriage certificate.

When Xiao Anhe found out, he was both surprised and delighted, genuinely pleased. The old man had even been planning to have the servants cook up a big table of dishes in the evening so the family could have a proper celebration. But then Xiao Anhe came back early, only to be met with the news that Xiao Xiaoang had gone missing. That really was like a heavy hammer slamming straight into the old man’s heart.

Yin Shixiu hadn’t said a word all this time, and Xiao Xiaoang had just been lying on top of him crying… No one knew how long he cried. When he finally cried himself tired, all that was left were intermittent sobs.

The Michelin three-star restaurant’s pizza and the little cake gifted by the waiter had all gone into Little Tiger’s mouth. Little Tiger ate with absolutely no sense of restraint, and when he was done, there was still quite a bit of cream stuck to his dog nose!

With that cream-covered nose, Little Tiger wobbled over to where Yin Shixiu and Xiao Xiaoang were. Dogs know how to read faces too, and with one look he probably realized that this was absolutely not a good time to try and act cute.

So he just flopped down by Yin Shixiu’s feet.

Maybe what this little guy wanted to express was very simple… No matter what happened between Dad and his little master, he would be right there beside them.

Seeing that the emotions of this father and son had somewhat calmed, Pu Yang said to Xiao Anhe,

“Dad, those two are definitely going to have a lot to talk about later. You should go back to your room and sleep first. It’s getting late, and with all this tossing around, I’m afraid your body won’t be able to take it.”

Xiao Anhe took a deep breath, walked over to Yin Shixiu’s side, and said, “Little Yan, that’s enough. He’s still just a child.”

“Dad, go to bed first.”

“Mm.”

Xiao Anhe knew there was no point in staying. The issues between this father and son would have to be resolved by the two of them alone.

Yin Shixiu said to Pu Yang, “You go sleep too.”

“Okay.” Pu Yang answered, resting her hand lightly on Yin Shixiu’s shoulder and patting it, which counted as a kind of comfort.

Yin Shixiu pressed his lips together. The little boy in his arms slowly stopped crying, and there were only the two of them left in the living room, plus one bull terrier.

“Are you done crying?”

Yin Shixiu asked.

Xiao Xiaoang clung tightly to Yin Shixiu, his little face pressed firmly against Yin Shixiu’s shirt, and he shook his head, almost coquettishly.

Yin Shixiu drew in a deep breath and finally reached out to hug Xiao Xiaoang back. His voice came out hoarse,

“How could Dad ever… not want you?”

“Wuwu…”

The moment Xiao Xiaoang heard this, he immediately started crying again, feeling miserable.

“Dad was really, really worried about you. There are lots of children just like you, thinking there’s no danger outside, and then they get taken away by bad people and never, for the rest of their lives, get to see their parents again…”

After his own emotions settled, Yin Shixiu tried his best to be patient as he explained,

“They’re all just like you, thinking they’re very clever, very smart, thinking they won’t run into danger.”

“…Mm.”

Xiao Ang nodded.

“Dad only has you. The reason Dad hit you just now really was because he was too angry… No matter what, you should have called Dad. At the very least you should have let Dad know you were safe, right?”

“Mm, Yin Shixiu, don’t be angry…”

Xiao Xiaoang lifted his head, his eyes red and swollen as he looked up at him pitifully. The heavy nasal tone in his voice made it impossible for Yin Shixiu not to be moved.

“Tell Dad honestly where you went today, why you ran out of the kindergarten on your own, who you saw, and what you did, okay?”