It seems that the villain is targeting me.

[After that, the story never mentioned it again.] The system said, [I can connect to real-life channels to investigate, but the internet is not well developed in this era. It may take some time for me to find her mother's exact location.]

"Well," Xiao Niao nodded, "Let's find it first, and I'll figure out the rest..."

At this moment, Number Four, who had been drooping his head on the table, suddenly jumped up.

It screamed, "Man!"

Xiao Niao was startled: "What's going on?"

"Little girl! Little girl Chen!" Cat Number Four was so anxious that her words were incoherent. "She was being chased and beaten by some thugs, and then... then she ran away, went back home, and then..."

Xiao Niao stood up at once: "Calm down and get to the point!"

"Chen Zhengkang took advantage of no one being around to steal the little girl's hard-earned tuition money," Number Four swallowed, "She's home alone now."

Xiao Niao's eyebrows twitched violently.

She grabbed the keys, turned around and ran out of the house.

Chapter 23 The Bird Makes a Vow

This was the first time Xiao Niao felt so anxious since coming into this world.

I shouldn't have let her stay in that house alone, Xiao Niao thought to herself as she ran downstairs.

Oh, I'm so stupid.

As long as Chen Zhengkang can't beat anyone again, the boy will be safe... This is too simple to think about.

Had his mind become dull after spending some time in this peaceful world? Xiao Niao reflected on this.

Now we must rush over to check on the baby's condition.

As for whether it would arouse suspicion, and how to explain his visit... he couldn't care less about that now.

In the main storyline, a supporting character's childhood home address will naturally not be indicated. Fortunately, she had sent the child home that day and still remembered how to get there.

In the 1990s, taxis only existed in a few large cities, and the most common means of transportation in county towns was still three-wheeled motorcycles.

Xiao Niao stopped an electric tricycle on the street, paid the driver more money, and asked him to take him there as quickly as possible.

The master is also very honest. If he says we want the fastest speed, then he will do it at the fastest speed without any ambiguity.

Xiao Niao felt that he had just settled into his seat when the whole car suddenly took off.

...It really flew, she just saw the two rear wheels leave the ground.

Xiao Niao thought, it’s a good thing that he didn’t bring Xiao Si out with him.

Her first experience of riding in a convertible was obviously terrible. The wind blew so hard that she could hardly open her eyes, and she could only awkwardly cover her face with her hands.

Fortunately, there is no need to actually speak when talking to Tongzi, otherwise he would be full of anger.

"...How did Xiaoya suddenly run into some thugs?" Xiao Niao's brows knitted together. "Shouldn't they have given us a warning in advance?"

[It's possible that this wasn't mentioned in the main storyline... or it could be the butterfly effect caused by your arrival.]

The system was getting a bit anxious. [Bird, hurry over! I can only vaguely sense that Chen Xiaoya hasn't moved—but my last scan was three hours ago.]

【She has been sitting in the same place motionless for three hours! 】

Xiao Niao's heart sank.

Both No. 4 and Tongzi have the habit of conducting routine scans of mission targets.

Generally speaking, the ones scanned are the children of luck, but now Xiao Niao's focus is on Chen Xiaoya, so the target of the system scan naturally becomes Xiaoya.

Unfortunately, when the chase happened in the early morning, No. 4 and Tongzi were not monitoring Xiaoya's condition.

"I'll be there right away," Xiao Niao whispered, not knowing who he was trying to comfort. "It's only three hours, it'll be fine."

With the help of a speed as if flying at low altitude, Xiao Niao was soon carried to the bottom of the old tube building.

She paid the agreed money and got off the tricycle with weak legs.

The place where Xiao Niao got off the bus happened to be a study shed, a simple shed with an iron railing and surrounded by blue iron sheets and plastic sheets, for use by nearby residents.

The bird immediately saw the twisted and deformed bicycle squeezed at the edge of the carport.

This car is indeed very conspicuous. The main shaft is almost bent into a circle, and it is obvious that it has become scrap metal.

How did you push this back?

It was in such a bad state that even a thief would not look at it, but the car owner still stubbornly locked it up.

The first time Xiao Niao saw the bicycle, he felt a pang in his heart.

She almost intuitively thought that this might be the little girl's bicycle... She met those gangsters while riding this bicycle.

The car has been smashed like this, will people...

She didn't think about it any further.

[Sixth floor, third room on the left.] The system spoke in my mind.

Xiao Niao withdrew his gaze, looked up at the simple stairwell with whitewashed walls, and began to climb the stairs resignedly.

Fortunately, this body is really young, and its physical strength is even more abundant than Xiao Niao's in college.

She ran to the sixth floor in less than a minute.

"The third room... the third room on the left..." Xiao Niao panted, his eyes falling on the old-fashioned security door.

[…Bird, wait a moment.] The system suddenly spoke.

Xiao Niao calmed his heartbeat: "What?"

[…The vital signs are stable.] The system exhaled. [She is on the sofa, probably asleep.]

"what……"

Xiao Niao responded in a daze, and couldn't help but squat down, with one hand clenched on the railing of the security door.

She had been running so fast that she had to use some force with her hands to prevent herself from falling to the ground.

"That's... okay," Xiao Niao said in a muffled voice, "I was scared to death."

The system secretly complained in its heart: In fact, if Chen Xiaoya really had something to do, we would have completed the mission and returned to reality now.

But the bird probably didn't like to hear this, so it thought it was better not to say it.

The air was quiet for a minute or two. Neither the system nor Xiao Niao spoke. The weather was very hot and the sound of cicadas could be heard outside.

By the time the bird stood up again, it seemed to have made up its mind.

"...Tongzi, let's find a way to bring the little girl back home," she said. "With Chen Zhengkang gone, she's the only child left at home. It's not safe."

No matter what, she couldn't let this child go down the same path as the original plot.

Whether it's paying for her education or keeping her away from her terrible family background, it's always better to do it as early as possible.

A little later,

Maybe it's too late.

[I've thought about it, but there's really no way to take her away without forcing her...]

The system didn't seem to know what to say, and its tone was very worried.

Xiao Niao was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Well, you said before that you were investigating Chen Xiaoya's mother. Have you found any results yet?"

【Um? 】

[Wait a minute, bird...]

The system froze for a few seconds, seemingly performing a keyword search on the vast amount of information data.

She didn't know how much time had passed. The answer to this question might be of great importance. The waiting made Xiao Niao feel tormented. She could hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

Finally, the system spoke again.

【Well, I found her mother. 】

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Liu

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willow

Ling

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Chen Xiaoya was trapped in a confused dream.

She could hardly remember how she put down the things in her hands, and how she dragged her heavy body and mechanically put the furniture back together.

What to do next?

The bicycle was smashed and she could no longer do her part-time job. It was her fault and she had let down her boss's trust and goodwill.

And Arjun, she has to return the money to her friend...

There is still a lot to do, but everything seems meaningless.

Her body became very heavy, and the strong feeling of depression made her almost unable to lift her head. Chen Xiaoya climbed stiffly onto the sofa and lay down, burying her face in her arms.

Her ankle hurt a little, but she didn't want to care about it anymore.

She did not sleep well, and was visited by many bizarre dreams. In the dreams, heavy rain fell endlessly, and monsters wandered in the corridor, knocking on the door again and again.

Knocking on the door...

Chen Xiaoya was in a confused state of half-asleep for a long time before he realized that the knock on the door was actually there.

The sound was not heavy, and the knocking was quite restrained.

She sat up unsteadily from the sofa, her eyes misty, showing no sign of wanting to move.

There were two more crisp sounds.

"Little girl." Someone outside the house called her name.

A muffled voice came from the door panel with poor sound insulation, and it didn't sound like a man's voice.

Chen Xiaoya could almost imagine the other person's movements as he bent his knuckles and gently knocked on the door.

"Do you remember me?" the other person said, "I'm the guy at the police station that day. We had supper together."

Her brain started to work slowly, and she stayed there for a few seconds without responding. She just slowly climbed down from the sofa and walked to the door.

She reached out and unlocked the door.

The person outside the house seemed to have not expected that she would open the door so easily. He was stunned for a moment and subconsciously took a half step back.

But Chen Xiaoya just raised his head woodenly.

The two looked at each other across a security door.

After a while, Xiao Niao slowly half-knelt down so that her eyes were level with the other person. She licked her dry lips and tried to appear harmless.

"Hello, little boy," Xiao Niao said in a very soft voice, "Hello, we have met before. My name is Xiao Niao."

Chen Xiaoya didn't say anything. She looked at the bird with her dark eyes.

[Her mother ran away from here and remarried soon after.]

Tongzi's earlier words echoed in Xiaoniao's mind.

[…She gave birth to two more children, and her new husband is very reliable, so her family is pretty happy.]

Xiao Niao looked at the thin and pale child through the iron bars of the security door.

The child was actually not very short, but he had little flesh on his body and was wearing old clothes that didn't fit him well. Standing alone in the room, he looked particularly thin.

Xiao Niao actually had no intention of blaming, nor did he have any right to blaming Chen Xiaoya's mother.