It seems that the villain is targeting me.

She opened the door quietly and wanted to walk into the room as quietly as possible, but when she opened the door, she found that the light in the room was on.

Xiao Niao was stunned for a moment.

Chen Xiaoya was lying in bed with the quilt covering her. When she saw Xiaoniao push the door open and walk in, she immediately jumped out of bed and tiptoed over in her slippers.

"Why haven't you slept yet?" Xiaoniao looked at Xiaoya with a hint of blame.

She had something on her mind, so her face looked a little serious.

Xiaoniao clearly remembered that the child had already gone to bed when she left.

"I'm not sleepy," Chen Xiaoya looked up at her, "Where have you been?"

"...I contacted some friends I know here," Xiao Niao explained vaguely, then asked, "Have you been waiting for me to come back? It's almost twelve o'clock, why don't you go to bed first?"

Chen Xiaoya lowered his head and looked at his toes.

The child's voice is muffled

"I thought you were gone."

"What did you do?" Chen Xiaoya asked stubbornly, with a little redness in the corners of his eyes.

Xiao Niao's knuckles twitched, and the already weak anger completely dissipated.

In the end, she didn't say anything, but at least she gently squeezed Xiaoya's shoulder and said, "...Go to bed."

Chen Xiaoya quietly observed the bird's expression. Many different thoughts flashed through his mind, but in the end they all subsided silently.

“Okay,” she whispered, you…be careful.”

Chapter 41 System: As the saying goes, when things are out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy going on.

Ah, it’s the unfamiliar ceiling.

This was the first thought that came to Chen Xiaoya's mind after he woke up.

Her head was a little fuzzy from her sleep, and she stared blankly at the incandescent light above her head for a long time before she remembered that she was no longer at home.

It was already bright outside, long past her usual time to get up.

Perhaps because he had just woken up, Chen Xiaoya was stunned for a few seconds before slowly turning his head and looking to his side.

Just a few centimeters away from her was Xiao Niao's sleeping face... Of course, this was impossible.

Xiaoniao booked a standard room in the hotel with two beds, but they slept in separate beds last night.

That time on the night train, Xiaoniao was so busy scolding the child that she forgot to buy an extra sleeper ticket, so she had to spend the night with her.

The actual situation was that the bed where Xiao Niao was sleeping was at least one meter away from Chen Xiaoya.

But when you lie flat on the pillow and look sideways, you can't tell any difference between the beds, which are of the same style.

Chen Xiaoya thought a little dizzily: From this angle, it seems like we are lying on the same bed...

Xiao Niao tucked in the quilt and curled up like a silkworm cocoon, appearing to be sleeping soundly. His head and neck were tilted towards him intentionally or unintentionally, and the outlines of his jaw and neck could be clearly seen.

After falling asleep, Xiao Niao's hair was a little messy, and the soft hair on his forehead stood up randomly, like the messy down feathers of a young bird.

This person's name is also a bit strange when you hear it at first, but when you call it out after getting familiar with it, you will inexplicably feel a sense of familiarity.

After all, the name is not offensive in terms of pronunciation, and if the tone is lowered, it will have a hint of ambiguity that is difficult to explain.

Xiao Niao seemed to have said that, and people at home often called her that, Chen Xiaoya thought.

Well, family...

Chen Xiaoya's throat rolled slightly, and his lips trembled unconsciously. The emotions that came from nowhere pushed the words to his throat.

“…Little bird.”

Chen Xiaoya recited it in a low voice, as if he was still immersed in a dream.

The eyelashes of the person opposite suddenly trembled, and his light-colored eyes opened without warning, directly meeting her panicked and evasive gaze.

But Xiao Niao did not comment on her somewhat abrupt title... If you look closely, you will find that this person's pupils are not focused at all.

Is he still asleep? Chen Xiaoya's heartbeat was a little intense.

Sure enough, just as she imagined, Xiao Niao opened his eyes for a while, blinked slowly and dully a few times, and after several seconds, his eyes regained their spirit.

"Um...are you awake?"

The person opposite him slowly sat up and asked vaguely while yawning loudly, "...Ah, good morning."

"Good morning." Chen Xiaoya replied as calmly as possible.

Xiao Niao will actually feel a little depressed when she just wakes up, but as long as you don't deliberately make her angry, basically nothing will happen.

But in Chen Xiaoya's eyes, the man's low mood after waking up was a completely different picture.

She saw that after the bird said good morning to her, it swayed there stupidly, looking like a high school student who had not gotten enough sleep.

...a look she had never seen before.

Xiao Niao didn't realize Chen Xiaoya's strange behavior. She touched the back of her furry neck gloomily, and walked into the bathroom dragging her slippers.

Chen Xiaoya was no longer sleepy, so she jumped out of bed and followed Xiaoniao into the bathroom to wash up.

The hotels at that time were not as spacious as the big hotels of later generations. The bathroom space was quite narrow and there was only one washbasin.

Xiao Niao was brushing her teeth, so she gave up half of her space to Chen Xiaoya, letting the child get some water to wash his face first.

By the time both of them finished washing up, Xiaoniao was basically completely awake.

She lowered her head to glance at Chen Xiaoya - the child had eaten well, slept well, and rested for most of the day, and had completely recovered to a lively state.

Xiao Niao then patted the child's shoulder and carried the confused Chen Xiaoya to the bed.

Then she sat down, asked Chen Xiaoya to stand up, and started a one-sided scolding while quoting classics without using any dirty words.

Only after Chen Xiaoya was scolded to the point of drooping his head and wanting to bury it in his chest did Xiao Niao clear his throat and ask in summary, "Do you understand where you went wrong now?"

"...You shouldn't have run out alone."

"What about next time?"

Chen Xiaoya put his hands behind his back and drooped his shoulders in frustration. "Go find the police and adults..."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "I, I definitely won't look for strangers... I'll look for you."

Xiao Niao felt that this was quite reasonable.

She touched the little boy's head encouragingly and said, "That's right. Remember this in the future."

Stop taking matters into your own hands."

"Look," Xiao Niao looked into Xiao Ya's eyes seriously, "If you were missing or something happened to you, I would definitely be worried, right?"

"Yeah." Chen Xiaoya nodded.

Xiao Niao stopped criticizing because she knew the kid must have learned his lesson this time.

The other party behaves this way more because they are full of distrust towards adults and have no awareness of relying on others for help.

As long as the child lives in a normal family atmosphere, he will gradually change.

Xiao Niao thought for a while, worrying about how to arrange things for Xiaoya next - she certainly couldn't let this child go out and fight the criminal group.

Emotionally, she didn't want the child to be involved in these dangerous things.

Intellectually speaking, the more Chen Xiaoya is exposed to the dark side of society, the greater the possibility that she will become a "doctor" in the future.

It was neither reasonable nor moral for Xiao Niao to let the child take risks.

After thinking for a moment, she began to speak, "I already have a basic understanding of Zheng Qiong's situation. I've contacted the friends I know and will try to find her."

"I'll be out these few days, trying to find out some information."

"——As for you," Xiao Niao said in a warning tone, "stay right here and don't run around."

Chen Xiaoya looked at the bird unwillingly, but she was still upset from being scolded, so she just agreed obediently.

Of course, Xiaoniao now has no idea what kind of subjective initiative this child will display in the future...

At this point, she just nodded in satisfaction: "Well, I'll leave you some money. If you're hungry, you can go out and buy something to eat, or ask the hotel owner to cook for you."

"I may not come back every day," Xiao Niao explained, "I may spend the night outside, but my friends will follow me, so you don't have to worry..."

After all, she will be fighting against a human trafficking criminal gang, and she doesn't know what situation she will encounter. It is better to give her child some vaccinations in advance.

The bird's original intention was to reassure Chen Xiaoya, so that she would not run out anxiously to look for someone just because she hadn't seen it for a long time.

But before she could finish her words, there was a bang on the door of the room.

"Is this Xiao Niao's room? Is there anyone inside?" asked the person outside.

Xiao Niao was interrupted midway, but there was nothing he could do. He could only stand up helplessly and open the door.

Standing outside the door was the hotel owner, whom Xiaoniao had seen at the front desk before.

"That's me," Xiao Niao asked, "What's the matter?"

"Oh," the proprietress said, "a woman named Lu Zhiqing called you and said she found what you were looking for. Call her back as soon as possible."

Xiao Niao said, "Oh, OK, please reply for me and I'll call back later."

The proprietress delivered the message and then walked away leisurely.

Xiao Niao watched the proprietress leave, closed the door and turned around - only to find that the child had stood behind him without him noticing.

She was a little frightened and subconsciously took a step back, but accidentally bumped into the door.

Chen Xiaoya looked up at her eagerly: "Are you going to spend the night outside?"

Xiao Niao: "It's possible..."

Chen Xiaoya: "Oh."

------

-

Xiao Niao took his backpack (which contained a cat), said goodbye to Chen Xiaoya, and left the hotel under the latter's gaze.

She chose not to make the call at the hotel, but instead found the nearest public telephone booth as she had done before.

She inserted a coin to make a call.

Lu Zhiqing's efficiency is indeed very high. Xiaoniao asked her for help last night, and she had already achieved certain results this morning.

"My father does have some friends in Taoyuan. I can give you a few phone numbers. These people may have the information you want."

The social security at that time was not very good, and people doing business would more or less know some people in the gray area, and a local tyrant in Taoyuan happened to have dealings with Lu's father.

After a long and thorough talk with Xiaoniao last night, Lu Zhiqing slowly let go of some of his stubbornness.

She thought to herself with self-mockery that she should have accepted the fact that her father had no love for her at all a long time ago.

Instead of expecting such a person to treat you fairly, it is better to make full use of the current advantages and gain the greatest benefits for yourself.

She then relented and stopped insisting on holding her sister responsible. She only asked Lu Yao to apologize to her in front of everyone in the family and for Lu's father to compensate her.

Afterwards, Lu Zhiqing casually mentioned Taoyuan at the breakfast table and got a few numbers from his father.

Among these people, in addition to local businessmen in Taoyuan, there are also several small bosses in the gray area.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Of course, the local evil forces in Taoyuan also need to eat, drink, defecate, and support their families, so they will not easily let go of any opportunity to make money.

They can easily connect with local vendors and make money together.

But what Xiaoniao didn't expect was that Lu Zhiqing actually mentioned a character that he had never expected to appear here.

"Do you remember the boy you saw in my house before?"

The boy here refers to Gu Tianjiao,

The son of destiny in this small world.

"His mother came to take him home yesterday and rested at the Lu residence for the night...I just happened to find out this morning that you were going to use money to buy the child back."

Lu Zhiqing said, "Aunt Gu said she's coming to Taoyuan soon and might be able to help you."

This is completely unexpected news.

Xiao Niao felt a little confused.

The backpack on his back was torn open by the claws at some point, and No. 4, who had been trapped inside for a long time, was panting and pulled himself onto Xiaoniao's shoulders through his clothes.