Plunder

By the time he rushed to the residence, Lin Youyou and Sister Chen had just stepped out of the taxi.

"Youyou, what on earth happened to the children?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Cheng Lu’s face was filled with anxiety. On the way, he had called Lin Youyou many times and sent numerous messages, but she never responded.

"Why are you here?" Lin Youyou looked at Cheng Lu, her face filled with confusion.

"Madam, I was the one who told the master," Sister Chen confessed.

Cheng Lu looked at Lin Youyou, his heart ached terribly. Her gaunt cheeks were streaked with tears, and those big eyes of hers still brimmed with tears.

"Don’t worry, with me here, nothing will happen to the children."

Cheng Lu stepped forward and pulled Lin Youyou into his embrace.

He was tall and his embrace was warm and firm. The moment Lin Youyou was wrapped in his arms, all her defenses collapsed, and she burst into tears with a "waah."

"Lu Ge, my mom took the children away to force us to break up. Beibei and Gege are still so young, they are still nursing, they can’t be apart from me. Lu Ge, what should we do?"

Lin Youyou cried helplessly.

Cheng Lu felt extremely distressed. He had not imagined Mrs. Jia’s determination to separate him from Lin Youyou would be so strong.

He gently patted Lin Youyou’s back, comforting her, "Don’t be afraid, I’m here. I will think of a way right now, and we will definitely find the children."

Lin Youyou didn’t mention the conditions Mrs. Jia had laid out. She feared that if she spoke them, Cheng Lu might really agree, and then she would lose him forever.

Once inside the house, Cheng Lu instructed Sister Chen to take care of Lin Youyou, while he immediately started making calls outside to arrange for people to search for Mrs. Jia and the children’s whereabouts.

Time flew by unnoticed, and it was already noon. Sister Rong had prepared lunch, and Qiao En had sent several messages to Lin Youyou, none of which got a response.

So, she made a call.

When Lin Youyou received the call from Qiao En, it struck her that she had forgotten about her appointment with Qiao En.

"Young Madam, I’m so sorry, something unexpected came up, and I can’t make it this afternoon."

Lin Youyou tried to make her voice sound normal, but she had cried for too long, and a nasal buzzing noise could be heard.

It was the sound of someone who had been crying.

Qiao En, on alert, asked, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing, I can handle it."

Lin Youyou politely tried to cover it up.

"Alright then, let’s reschedule for another day."

Qiao En hung up the phone.

But the unease in her heart had climbed higher, "Sister Rong, I’m going out for a bit."

Not caring for the consequences, she drove straight to Lin Youyou’s residence.

When she arrived, she unexpectedly found Cheng Lu there as well.

"Are the children asleep?"

Qiao En started asking about Beibei and Gege as soon as she entered.

"Young Madam, I’m sorry that you had to make the trip," Lin Youyou’s eyes were red, and she tried her best to change the subject, but Qiao En was not so easily fooled.

"Youyou, what on earth has happened? Why are you even hiding it from me?"

Lin Youyou hung her head low.

From a young age, she developed the habit of not bothering others.

So, no matter how big the issue, her first response was always to solve it herself rather than seeking help everywhere.

Lin Youyou kept silent, and Qiao En turned to Sister Chen.

"Sister Chen, where are the children?"

Sister Chen hesitated, struggling to utter a word.

Lin Youyou had instructed her not to speak out of turn, so unless Lin Youyou brought it up herself, she would absolutely remain silent.

Sister Chen didn’t answer, Lin Youyou didn’t answer; hence, there must be something fishy going on.

Qiao En couldn’t care less now, she hurried upstairs, but after searching every bedroom, she couldn’t find any trace of the two children.

"Youyou, did your parents take the children away?"

Qiao En had a unique perspective on issues, and with one question, she got to the heart of the problem.

"Hmm."

Finally, Lin Youyou made a sound.

Out on the balcony, Cheng Lu was still incessantly on the phone.

At this moment, all of Lin Youyou’s hope was pinned on Cheng Lu.

Seeing this, Qiao En didn’t think twice and immediately dialed Zhou Jin’an’s number.

He had just finished socializing, his voice lazy as he asked, "What’s up?"

"Youyou’s mom took away Beibei and Gege."

Qiao En quickly relayed the situation, and upon hearing this, Zhou Jin’an’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Does Cheng Lu know?"

"Yes, he’s making phone calls to contact people."

Qiao En replied truthfully.

Zhou Jin’an paused for a moment and then said, "Send me your location, I’m coming over right now."

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhou Jin’an appeared.

"Director Zhou."

Lin Youyou stood up to greet him, and Zhou Jin’an nodded in acknowledgment.

"Tell me exactly what happened; I’ll find someone to look into it."

Lin Youyou recounted everything in detail, how Mrs. Jia had tricked her into going to the hospital and then came to the house to distract Sister Chen and took the children away.

After hearing this, Zhou Jin’an’s face immediately darkened.

"They really stop at nothing!"

"Director Zhou, Young Madam, please help me, all I want now is to get my children back. I can agree to break up with her, and I can even agree to go on a blind date and have a shotgun wedding."

Lin Youyou sobbed as she spoke.

Qiao En grabbed a tissue and walked over to wipe the tears from her cheeks, "You fool, do you know there’s a saying, ’give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’? If you agree to everything your mom wants, what about Cheng Lu? Do you really want to break up?"

Lin Youyou’s head drooped, "Right now, I just want my children back. I’m not thinking about anything else; I just want my children."

She leaned on the couch and began another round of crying.

"Jin’an, hurry up and help them," Qiao En implored.

After becoming a mother, Qiao En had a heart as soft as water.

Zhou Jin’an swiped on his phone screen for a while and then made a phone call.

"Get me the surveillance footage; I want to find out where that car went."

Who he was calling, Qiao En didn’t know.

By noon, none of them had eaten lunch.

"Madam, I’ll go make some food, you haven’t eaten lunch yet."

"I’m not hungry."

Lin Youyou refused.

"You go make it, I’ll take care of her here," Qiao En instructed.

She sat down beside Lin Youyou, "Don’t worry too much, ’even tigers don’t eat their young.’ Beibei and Gege are your mom’s grandchildren, although she took them away, she definitely won’t harm the two children."

"But they are so young, they’re still breastfeeding."

Thinking of those chubby little ones, Lin Youyou’s tears started falling anew.

Sister Chen was quick and soon had prepared three dishes and a soup.

No one had eaten, and Lin Youyou refused to sit at the dining table, claiming she had no appetite.

Cheng Lu was still busy on the balcony, and Zhou Jin’an got up to call him, but he also refused to come.

In the end, the meal turned into a working lunch for Qiao En and Zhou Jin’an.

Just after lunch, Zhou Jin’an received a phone call.

"Director Zhou, we have a lead on the task you assigned. The person entered an old residential area with two children. We will pinpoint the specific apartment number as soon as possible. Once found, shall we bring the person back to you immediately?"

"Report back to me the moment you find them!" Zhou Jin’an responded.

"Got it!"

A resounding voice came through from the other end.

The day brightened, and then it darkened.

The night fell completely over this cold and indifferent city.

"I can’t wait any longer, Beibei and Gege have never been away from me, they’re still breastfeeding. I need to go out and look for them; I must find them."

Lin Youyou was like a madwoman, insisting on going out.

Qiao En quickly embraced her, "Lin Youyou, I advise you to stay calm. If you want to be with Assistant Cheng, and you want your children to be safe and sound, then you need to keep your cool. Only when you’ve calmed down, will this situation settle, and we’ll be able to think rationally about the problem."

"I can’t be calm now," Lin Youyou cried again.

That night, Qiao En stayed over at Lin Youyou’s place.

Lin Youyou leaned on Qiao En’s shoulder and cried all night long, "Young Madam, do you think I’m especially stupid? My mom set a trap for me, and I didn’t have any guard up."

"Don’t talk about yourself like that; you were just being filial, which is why you got schemed against."

On the balcony, Cheng Lu looked dejected.

"I’m such a loser, I never should have dragged Youyou down."

A can of beer was opened in front of him, and Zhou Jin’an leaned back in a lounge chair, his long legs resting on the table.

"If love wasn’t tested by ninety-nine trials, how could you learn to cherish it? Don’t worry, by tomorrow morning, we’ll definitely find them."

Indeed, as soon as dawn broke the next day, they received news.