Song Jingtian stated as if it were only natural, but Tang Li dared not take it lightly.
These kinds of situations can easily lead to misunderstandings.
Tang Li handed her own cellphone to Song Jingtian, insisting he call home immediately. Song Jingtian was reluctant, but under her pressure, he finally dialed the landline of his residence obediently.
The little guy secretly gloated, pursed his lips, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Tang Li: "I told you no one was home at my place, did I lie to you?"
"Your mother isn’t at home?" Tang Li asked him.
Song Jingtian kept his eyes on the cartoon, answering her casually: "My mother went out to have fun with Aunt Min a couple days ago, and both the driver and the housekeeper have taken days off."
Tang Li had been deceived by him before and couldn’t afford to trust his words completely this time.
"So you’ve been at home alone the past few days?"
"I’ve been staying at my sister’s place."
"Did you run out on your own?"
Finally, the little guy shifted his gaze to her and shuffled on the chair: "The generation gap between my sister, her husband, and me is quite significant. Forced to live together, it’s easy to cause conflicts. So after thinking it over for two days, I felt it was better to return to Songlin Garden."
The unspoken implication—
Yes, I left on my own!
Wu Xuehan was terribly frightened, she turned her head to look at Tang Li.
If the parents discover that their child is missing and report it to the police, things could get extremely messy, and Tang Li might end up being accused of child trafficking, which would really be a good deed gone wrong.
"Then call your sister," Tang Li commanded Song Jingtian: "She must be worried sick about you running out ."
However, Song Jingtian said: "I told her I was going to my elder brother’s place today, and she even had the driver take me there, so she definitely thinks I’m at Yunqi Villa right now."
Afraid that Tang Li would send him away, he hesitated but eventually spilled his secret plans: "But my elder brother is very busy, he has been away at meetings these past few days, the driver dropped me off at the entrance of the villa, I told him to go back first, then I walked down the mountain, caught sight of a taxi, and hailed it."
Wu Xuehan whispered in Tang Li’s ear: "Kids these days are really something to be afraid of..."
When they were young, they would never dare to go out alone at night.
A child walking alone on the street is highly likely to be abducted.
Tang Li took back her cellphone and went out to the balcony.
Seeing her leave, Song Jingtian let go of his "Tiger Whip" and turned to ask Wu Xuehan: "You use a gas water heater here, right?"
On the balcony, Tang Li hesitated for a moment before dialing Song Baiyan’s private number.
The phone rang for a while before being picked up.
Upon hearing Song Baiyan’s familiar deep voice, Tang Li didn’t forget that Song Jingtian mentioned he was away at a meeting.
Recently, there’s been an international economic summit held in Shangbu, covered across various online platforms; even if she didn’t pay much attention to the news, she had heard about it. Thus, cautious of not wanting to disturb Song Baiyan’s work, she did not beat around the bush, simply explaining the situation and telling him that she had taken Song Jingtian to her school.
Song Baiyan only asked to speak with Song Jingtian.
Tang Li walked back to the dorm with the phone, but upon opening the balcony door, she saw Song Jingtian holding Wu Xuehan’s little washbasin in one hand and a new towel in the other, and on his feet... were her pair of lady’s slippers.
The very picture of someone preparing to wash up before bedtime.
Upon hearing it was Song Baiyan on the phone, Song Jingtian hastily put down what he was holding.
Taking the cellphone, he gripped it with both hands and brought it to his ear, immediately turning into a well-behaved and sensible boy. Song Jingtian glanced at Tang Li in response to whatever Song Baiyan had said: "You don’t need to worry about me; I’ll go back home tomorrow."