Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

2:30 a.m.

In the Half Moon Bay villa area, the master bedroom on the second floor of the Jiang family's house was still brightly lit.

Jiang's mother, dressed in a silk nightgown, paced back and forth in the room.

"They've been gone for five hours already!" She suddenly stopped and turned to look at her husband leaning against the headboard, her brows furrowed in worry.

"Old Jiang, are you really not worried at all?"

"What's the panic?" Jiang's father sneered. "She's still a student, and she didn't bring anything with her."

"Prices in small towns aren't low these days; even a bottle of water costs two yuan."

"Once she runs out of pocket money and gets hungry, she'll definitely slink back and knock on the door."

Upon hearing this, Jiang's mother not only did not feel relieved, but instead became even angrier.

"Are you senile?!" She pointed her finger at Jiang's father's nose, her voice rising several octaves.

"The Lunar New Year just ended, and I haven't even had a chance to collect the lucky money yet!"

Jiang's mother became more and more agitated as she spoke, gesturing wildly in the air: "Besides, it's pitch black here. You know how attractive our precious daughter is, and how many people have designs on her."

"What if you run into a young punk with blond hair, and a few sweet words are all it takes to lure her away, leaving her to spend the night out? Are you really willing to let that happen?!"

The phrase "Little Yellow Hair" accurately struck at Jiang's father's Achilles' heel.

He could no longer maintain his calm sitting posture and jumped up from the bed.

Images from those social news reports flashed through my mind.

My own beautiful, innocent daughter, who rarely leaves the house, what if she really got pinned down on the yellowed sheets of a cheap hotel by some street thug...

A cold sweat broke out on Jiang's father's back, and he instinctively wanted to pick up his prayer beads and play with them to calm his nerves.

Unexpectedly, the golden nanmu wood string that was originally placed on the bedside table was gone!

"Oh no, honey, the skewers you gave me have most likely been taken by our precious daughter!"

"Selling that string of beads might actually give her the means to survive in society."

"Quick!" He yanked off the covers, not even bothering to put on his slippers. "Call that brat right now!"

It wasn't until this moment that the parents, who thought they had their daughter completely under their control, belatedly felt fear.

……

the other side.

The Alphard slowly drove into the gate of the Cloud Palace and came to a steady stop in front of Villa No. 1.

The car door slid open.

Bai Li got out of the carriage first, followed by several beautiful maids.

Chen Tingting, Zhang Qian, and Lin Xiaoshuang stretched out their arms and legs.

Li Jiaxin then opened the villa door.

The last one to emerge from the car was Jiang Ruyue.

The girl stood in front of the villa, tilted her head back, and stared wide-eyed at the clear, doe-like eyes.

His mouth gaped open, completely stunned by the sight before him.

The detached manor boasts an astonishingly large area, featuring a four-story European-style building with floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the light of luxurious crystal chandeliers.

There's even an infinity pool on the top floor, with wisps of steam rising from the water.

"This...this is where you live?" Jiang Ruyue swallowed hard.

"That's way too exaggerated."

"Compared to this place, our villa in Half Moon Bay is practically a little girl..."

Bai Li chuckled softly, put his hands in his trench coat pockets, and strolled inside.

"Let's go inside, it's windy outside."

Lin Xiaoshuang chuckled and leaned closer, taking Jiang Ruyue's arm, her soft voice soothing:

"Stop daydreaming, Yueyue. From now on, just treat this place like your own home."

Just as the group changed into slippers and stepped into the living room, the phone rang abruptly.

Jiang Ruyue shuddered.

She took her phone out of her sweatshirt pocket; it was Jiang's father calling.

This phone call tightened her nerves, which she had finally managed to relax.

The vibrant energy I felt in the bar just now, which seemed to burst forth from the sky, has vanished without a trace.

Her fingers were trembling slightly as she looked at Bai Li for help.

"Take it." Bai Li's eyes softened, her tone full of encouragement: "Running away won't solve anything. Remember what you told me in the bar?"

Jiang Ruyue bit her lower lip, Bai Li's words, "If the sky falls, I'll hold it up," replaying in her mind.

With a powerful backer backing me up, what am I afraid of?

"I remember." Jiang Ruyue's previously panicked gaze calmed down, and she straightened up.

"I need to communicate with them properly and express my true needs."

"I never want to be a puppet again."

The little girl's eyes hardened as she pressed the answer button and casually turned on speakerphone.

"Hello, Dad..."

The moment the call connected, without even a word of greeting, a deafening roar blasted from the receiver.

"Where have you been, you brat?!" Jiang's father's usual authoritative tone was laced with barely suppressed rage.

"Not home in the middle of the night? Don't you have any manners?"

"It's just asking you to practice the piano for three more hours, is it really necessary to act like you're going to kill yourself and run away from home?!"

"Do you think you're all grown up now and that your family can't control you anymore?!"

There wasn't a single question about whether they were hungry, cold, or unsafe.

The entire piece consists only of condescending accusations and the author's anger and embarrassment at having his authority challenged.

These few words echoed through the empty living room via speakerphone.

Standing to the side, Chen Tingting rolled her eyes and couldn't help but spit on the ground:

"These parents are really sick. I even doubt if Yueyue is their biological child."

Li Jiaxin sneered repeatedly, crossing her arms over her chest:

"Indeed, this father treats his daughter more like an enemy..."

Jiang Ruyue's eyes instantly reddened.

But under Bai Li's encouraging gaze, she forced back her tears and tried her best to make her voice sound calm.

"Dad, I came out tonight to make my stance clear." Jiang Ruyue stared directly into the air, as if facing a stern father:

"I've always wanted to say that I know you provide for me, and you've arranged everything for me; these are all ways you express your love."

"But...you're doing it the wrong way."

"I am a living, breathing person, not an object for you to flaunt, much less a puppet for you to manipulate."

"I will have my own unhappy emotions, and I will have things I like to do and things I don't want to do."

"I also long to be like ordinary girls, to have friends I can go shopping with and confide in, instead of spending my days doing homework and playing the piano."

"If you force me to compromise, I'll go back to that high-pressure life and continue being an appendage to your facade..."

Jiang Ruyue paused, her tone becoming more resolute than ever before:

"Then I'd rather never go back."

This statement was made.

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone.

A full three seconds passed.

"What did you say?!"

Jiang's father raised his voice again.

"Weren't we doing this for your own good?! And in the end, it's all our fault?"

A loud bang came from the receiver, like someone slamming their fist on the table, making Jiang Ruyue's hand tremble.

"Fine! You think you're all grown up now?! You dare to make demands of me, and you even dare to say you won't come back!" Jiang's father roared in exasperation.

"Where are you now? Give me your address right now!"

The feeling of helplessness, where even normal communication was impossible, made Jiang Ruyue feel suffocated.

The little girl finally couldn't take it anymore.

Tears fell like beads from a broken string, pattering onto the phone screen.

Her shoulders were shaking, and she was crying so hard she couldn't even finish a sentence; she was completely defeated.

Bai Li sighed.

He stood up, walked up to Jiang Ruyue, and snatched the phone from her.

Bai Li's voice was somewhat cold as he leaned closer to the microphone:

"Your daughter is in my hands now."

"If you want people, come find me at Cloud Palace No. 1."

After saying that, Bai Li hung up the phone.

beep...

In the master bedroom of Half Moon Bay Villa.

Jiang's mother stood frozen by the bed, still in the position of trying to snatch the phone.

That was a man's voice just now...

Your daughter is in my hands. If you want her back... then...

The familiar sentence structure made it hard for Jiang's mother not to misunderstand.

"Kidnapping..." Jiang's mother's legs went weak, and her face turned deathly pale.

"Old Jiang, Ruyue's been kidnapped! That man was so arrogant, what do we do?!"

Jiang's mother grabbed the hem of Jiang's father's pajamas:

"Raise money! Yes, raise money quickly! I'll give any amount, as long as he doesn't harm my daughter!"

Jiang's father grabbed his wife, who was on the verge of losing her mind, his voice trembling:

"Calm down! Think carefully about the location he just reported!"

Jiang's mother stood there, stunned, tears still welling up in her eyes:

"Position...position? What position?"

"Cloud Top Heavenly Palace One!" Jiang's father uttered these words, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

"Do people who live in that place need your ransom?!"

Jiang's mother was dumbfounded.

Genting Tiangong-1...

This is an extremely prestigious figure in Pingxian's wealthy circles, someone they can only look up to and can't even find a way to curry favor with.

Yunding Tiangong is the best-located, most expensive, and most heavily guarded private estate in the entire county.

The business owners in Ping County work their entire lives just to buy a house there as a symbol of status.

Villa No. 1 is the pinnacle of luxury.

"Then...what should we do?" Jiang's mother stamped her feet anxiously, her usual shrewd and capable demeanor completely gone.

"You're a leader at work, very aloof, and you've never even accepted a substantial gift."

"What else do I, a businessman, have to offer besides these few million dollars in dirty money?"

She gripped her phone tightly: "No, I have to find someone to ask around, even if it's just to pull some strings and find out what's going on."

Jiang's mother hurriedly dialed several phone numbers of people she was on good terms with at the Pingxian Chamber of Commerce.

"Hello, Mr. Li, sorry to bother you so late at night, but could you please help me find out who the owner of Cloud Palace No. 1 is...?"

"Oh, Mrs. Jiang, please don't ask me about this. I don't know anything about it! I'll hang up now!"

beep...

Undeterred, Jiang's mother quickly dialed another local thug's number:

"Brother Wang, I need a favor. Who exactly lives in Cloud Palace Number One...?"

"Shh!" The person on the other end of the phone gasped, their voice extremely low.

"Mrs. Jiang, listen to my advice. No matter what trouble your family has gotten into, don't go around asking about that person."

"This person is too mysterious, with an unfathomable background. Even the county magistrate couldn't find out anything about him!"

It was another crisp and decisive hanging-up.

I made several calls in a row, but all of them were met with a cold shoulder.

As soon as they heard the words "Cloud Top Heavenly Palace No. 1," the bosses who usually called each other brothers would hang up the phone, afraid of getting into trouble.

Jiang's mother held her phone, looking at her husband with a blank expression.

In Ping County, when the couple went out for social events, people would give them some face and call them Director Jiang or General Manager Jiang, which made them quite influential.

Wherever he goes, he always acts like an elder who has everything under control.

Now, the situation has completely reversed.

They acted as if they were novices challenging a max-level demon king.

They never imagined that one day they would be the challengers who had to humble themselves.

Faced with this kind of devastating attack, all their past pride and confidence were crushed to pieces.

"Let's go." Jiang's father stood up, looking ten years older in an instant.

He walked to the wardrobe, took out the clothes from the door: "Things have come to this, I have no choice but to go."

Jiang's mother wiped away her tears, hastily threw on a cashmere coat, and didn't even bother with basic makeup.

Three o'clock in the morning.

A black Audi sedan drove out of the Half Moon Bay villa area and sped towards the Cloud Top Palace.