In fact, the lotus leaves in the lake weren’t picked by those people; it was that bastard Chen Nan who did it.
After he dug out the lotus roots, the lotus leaves growing on them were naturally snapped off by him. The people in the lake hadn’t even dug out any lotus roots, so they hadn’t broken off any lotus leaf stems.
"We didn’t do this," said the guys in the lake, looking around in frustration.
"You’re the only ones in the lake, if not you, then who could it be?"
One of them pointed to where Chen Nan had been sitting, but after speaking, they realized that aside from a willow tree, Chen Nan’s figure was nowhere to be seen; he had run off long ago.
The three from the student council turned around only to find no one there. "All of you, get out of the lake and come with me," they demanded.
All the people in the lake, covered in mud and looking miserable, cursed Chen Nan’s ancestors in their hearts; he had dug up the lotus roots and run off, making them take the blame. In all their lives, they had never seen such a despicable person—it was utterly heartless!
The whole class, Su Qingqing had a lot of fun.
Just before class was about to end, Chen Nan remembered Shi’er’s situation, so he took the opportunity to tell Su Qingqing while she was in good spirits.
Although Su Qingqing could be a bit willful at times, she had a kind heart and immediately agreed to let Shi’er temporarily stay at her house, surprisingly not suspecting any illicit relationship between Chen Nan and Shi’er.
One must say that the girl was quite enthusiastic. After school, she dragged Liu Tiantian to the market, saying she wanted to prepare a nice dinner to welcome Shi’er.
Chen Nan knew she was in a good mood today and didn’t stop her. He walked home alone.
After getting home, Chen Nan sat in the living room watching TV while letting Shi’er play on the computer in the room.
About half an hour later—
Suddenly, a loud noise came as the door was kicked open.
Su Qingqing and Liu Tiantian rushed in with panicked faces and anxiously said, "You idiot, something terrible has happened. Xinya has had an accident!"
Chen Nan’s face changed drastically, and he hurriedly asked, "What happened? What’s wrong?"
"She’s been kidnapped!"
Su Qingqing, looking completely distraught, said, "I just went with little silly to buy groceries, and on the way back we encountered Xinya, who seemed to have just finished shopping as well, walking ahead of us; but before we could catch up to her, a van pulled up beside the road. Two men jumped out, one of them touched Xinya, and then they dragged her into the van and drove off, We chased for a bit but couldn’t keep up, so we had no choice but to come back and find you."
Chen Nan’s face turned grim.
Xinya was no weakling; ordinary people couldn’t touch her. The two who kidnapped her must be experts.
"Did you get a clear look at the license plate number?" Chen Nan asked.
Su Qingqing quickly replied, "I saw it clearly, Sky A-98156."
Chen Nan pulled out his phone and called his junior, briefly explaining about Huo Xinya. He asked her to use the Sky Team’s intelligence network to trace the license plate number, only to discover, upon checking, that it was a fake plate and couldn’t be traced.
"Alright, use the Sky Team’s intelligence network to trace it fully, and inform me immediately if there’s any news."
After speaking with his junior, Chen Nan strode toward the door.
Su Qingqing quickly asked, "You idiot, where are you going? You don’t even know where she is."
"Even if I don’t know, I have to search. You girls stay at home, don’t go anywhere," Chen Nan said, already rushing out the door.
Su Qingqing hurriedly followed, but by the time she got outside, Chen Nan’s figure was nowhere to be seen. He had already left.
Just then, Shi’er came walking over from Chen Nan’s room. "Yun Fei sister, what happened to Master Chen?"
When Su Qingqing had come back to find Chen Nan earlier, she had already visited Chen Nan’s room and seen Shi’er, so she wasn’t surprised to see her now and hastily explained that Huo Xinya had been kidnapped.
Shi’er seemed thoughtful and nodded, silently pinching her fingers as if calculating something like a fortune teller.
Moments later, she looked toward the door and said, "I’ve been cooped up in the room the whole day; I’m stifled. I’m going out for a walk."
"You just got here, don’t you get lost, okay? I’ll go with you," Su Qingqing said.
"No need, I’m just going to walk around nearby."
Without waiting for Su Qingqing to respond, she hurried outside.
Worried that she might get lost, Su Qingqing quickly followed, but by the time she came outside, Shi’er had already disappeared. "She runs too fast; could she know martial arts too?" Su Qingqing murmured.
Meanwhile, after Chen Nan ran outside, he aimlessly wandered the streets, hoping to bump into the van Su Qingqing had described.
But in a city as vast as this, with so many vehicles, the odds of running into the exact van were incredibly slim.
Standing by the road, Chen Nan couldn’t make sense of it.
How could someone as kind as Huo Xinya offend anyone?
Chen Nan suddenly felt afraid. He was afraid of losing Huo Xinya, afraid she might disappear and could never be found again.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, suddenly a whizzing sound came through the air, and a hidden weapon seemed to be heading his way. Chen Nan quickly reached out and caught the "hidden weapon," discovering it was a small paper ball.
The note had a line of curly traditional characters: "Huo Xinya is in the abandoned factory ten miles into West Suburb."
Chen Nan turned to look in the direction from which the paper had come, but found no one there.
The writing on the note was twisted and poorly done, even worse than that of an elementary school student, and carried a faint scent, somewhat similar to the fragrance on Shi’er.
But she, a frail girl, not knowing martial arts, how could she know about these things?
Chen Nan found it unlikely. Shaking his head to clear it, he quickly rushed toward West Suburb. Saving her was imperative.