Wei Qian was so angry at Song Xiaobao that his ears were ringing and his whole body was weak. Wei Zhiyuan, who was tall and strong, pressed down on him. He struggled twice but couldn't break free.

Mrs. Song in the kitchen threw down her broom and walked in quickly. Seeing this, she was really afraid that Wei Qian would fight with Xiao Bao without any restraint, so she protected her son in a cunning and subtle way. She slapped Xiao Bao lightly on the back and said, "How can you talk to your brother like that? Are you crazy?"

Song Xiaobao stiffened his neck, still wanting to show that he was tough and uncompromising, but tears started pouring down first.

Old Mrs. Song sighed, standing in the vortex of this family conflict - between Wei Qian and Xiaobao, she tried to smooth things over with an attitude of presiding over the overall situation: "If you ask me, Xiaobao, it's all your fault. Did your brother say you were wrong? You are so young now, if you don't study hard, what are you going to do in the future? You can't even get enough change to buy vegetables from me at the vegetable market, and you're still a middle school student, ah!"

Xiao Bao wiped away his tears fiercely: "Middle school students don't learn to count change!"

Old Lady Song, with her unique perspective as a completely illiterate person, confidently retorted, "Bullshit! Our village party secretary was a middle school student, and he was very good at using an abacus back then."

After the old lady's unreasonable disturbance, Wei Qian's throbbing head finally calmed down a little. He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a while, then took a deep breath, softened his tone, and said to Wei Zhiyuan: "Let me go."

Wei Zhiyuan had been suppressing him, and only when he felt his intense heartbeat finally calm down bit by bit did he slowly release his hand on his wrist. As a result, when he looked down, he found that his brother's wrist had been pinched red by him.

Wei Zhiyuan quickly grasped it gently in his palm and rubbed it with his fingertips: "Brother, Xiaobao has been very sensible when you are not around. She is just acting like a spoiled child with you. Look, the girl is almost crying like Meng Jiangnu. Don't be angry."

Old Mrs. Song on the side nodded repeatedly as she listened, and at the same time thought with regret, this is the difference between being educated and being uneducated, why can't she say such pleasant words?

Old Mrs. Song quickly chimed in, "That's right, her brother, let's talk it over nicely."

Wei Qian had never learned what it meant to "talk things over nicely" since he was born. At this moment, he didn't want to say anything anymore. He felt a kind of exhaustion that was almost like hunger and cold, even though he didn't want to eat anything and the heating was warm enough.

Wei Qian stood up slowly, his chest aching a little. He seemed too lazy to look at Song Xiaobao again. He walked straight past her, turned back to his room, and slammed the door.

After the crisis was over, Old Lady Song turned around and glared at Xiao Bao, scolding him in a low voice: "Still crying! What are you aggrieved about? Are you looking for a beating?"

Song Xiaobao yelled at her, "I won't cut my hair! I won't cut it!"

Wei Zhiyuan looked at her in disbelief. Not to mention the two hairs on his head, he would have shaved his head and hung it in the living room as a light bulb without a second thought if his elder brother said so.

Song Xiaobao keenly read the fact that she had no allies from their eyes. For a moment, she felt like a small boat in the vast universe, like a sea of ​​stars. The loneliness of being alone and without a shore made her heartbroken. Xiaobao sat on the sofa and cried to herself - she was about to part with her beloved Changfa.

Unfortunately, no one can understand her girlish sadness.

Old Mrs. Song didn't want to see her throwing a tantrum like a child, so she went to the kitchen to continue cleaning. Wei Zhiyuan quietly returned to his room, busy recalling the person he had just hugged in a hurry... After Wei Zhiyuan understood what he wanted, he no longer restrained himself and began to indulge his wild thoughts. Fantasy seemed to have built a world for him, and he would always get enough comfort and peace by sitting in it for a while.

That youthful and naive sentiment, as fresh as the spring in March, was so powerful that it even diluted the inherent paranoia and coldness in his nature.

After Song Xiaobao faced her eldest brother's horrific violence, she was ignored by the whole family. She thought angrily, "It turns out that he treats you all well, but he hates me alone."

In the blink of an eye, two abnormal circuits in Song Xiaobao's brain connected together incoherently, and the sparks of a short circuit flashed "crackling". She decided to run away from home.

After she left, she had a bright future. No one forced her to go to school and do homework, no one forced her to wear the ugly school uniform, and no one forced her to cut her hair into a strange style with the front and back of her hair cut to the ears.

Just like the freedom fighters who have fought against their fathers generation after generation throughout the ages, Song Xiaobao brought out her rare drive to put this sparking idea into practice.

Usually the first person to get up in the morning is Old Lady Song. Even though Wei Qian told her not to do heavy work, she has been a working woman all her life and enjoying a leisurely life is a skill she cannot learn, so she still insists on selling tea eggs and boiled corn every morning.

The second person to get up was Wei Qian. Wei Qian's life was not easy after entering university. The class schedule of science and engineering was not easy enough, and he also had to squeeze out time to make money. It was considered good if he could sleep five hours a day. Now it was vacation, and although he didn't have to go to school, he had to argue with Lao Xiong about the project, so he needed to get up early to prepare, and there was a tough battle to fight in the morning meeting.

As for Wei Zhiyuan, his teacher was crazy beyond belief. During the winter vacation, Wei Zhiyuan and his classmates only had three days off, namely, New Year's Eve and the first and second days of the new year. The rest of the time was spent in class and training, with no weekends or holidays. Wei Zhiyuan basically left as soon as he got up, and ate breakfast on the way.

For the above reasons, none of the three people went out after 7:30 in the morning. It was too early, so no one went to wake Song Xiaobao up.

However, on this day, Wei Qian, who was the last one to leave, locked the door. Although he was angry, he really didn't intend to let Xiaobao run outside like a wild horse all day.

But he didn't know that his behavior was unnecessary, nor did he know that Song Xiaobao was no longer at home.

In the middle of the night the day before, Song Xiaobao was getting more and more upset, so when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she took out all the pocket money she had saved, a total of two hundred and eight yuan and fifty cents - because her pocket money could be deducted at any time due to one or two small mistakes, Song Xiaobao had become accustomed to saving some food for herself like a little hamster.

As for her daily expenses, most of what she spent came from Wei Zhiyuan.

Xiaobao wore her warmest clothes outside, stuffed a few changes of clothes into her bag, took her favorite hairband and hairpins, packed a water bottle and a bag of bread, and left thinking she was well prepared.

For the entire morning, no one noticed what was happening.

Wei Qian was still concentrating on torturing Lao Xiong. Early in the morning, he laid out the entire project's operating model in front of Lao Xiong in detail. The printed version was half a centimeter thick. No one knew how he managed to do it in such a short time.

This is the prelude to being possessed by a ghost... The old bear said helplessly: "You are really a stubborn guy, are you determined?"

"I have written down the solutions to the questions you asked me the other day." Wei Qian didn't tease him and simply said something, then picked up the cup and drank half a cup of water in one gulp. He didn't know whether he caught a cold or was so angry with Xiao Bao that he got mad at him, but he felt his throat was very uncomfortable when he got up in the morning, and it hurt even when he swallowed saliva, as if it was a sign of inflammation.

Lao Xiong took his plan with a sigh, feeling that there was a debt collector sitting opposite him.

He flipped through it briefly and was quite amazed. Lao Xiong had hired some young men around Wei Qian's age, some of whom were very creative, but none of them together were as daring as this guy.

Lao Xiong moved his butt and sat up straight. He coughed dryly and put on a businesslike face. "Without considering the actual feasibility, some places are indeed insightful and creative. But the young people running around the streets are all creative. I don't need a plan of 'the bolder the people, the more productive the land'. There is no precedent for dumplings stuffed with saccharin, right? Try to cook a pot and stand on the street to sell it. Can you convince me with this thing?"

Wei Qian looked at him and said indifferently, "I never have wild ideas. If I can write, I can do it."

The old bear stared into Wei Qian's eyes. The man's gaze was as gentle as ever, but it was always a hidden thorn. Wei Qian refused to give in and said word by word: "As long as I want something, even if it is the moon in the sky, I will eat it as if it were a mooncake. Do you believe it?"

Old Xiong remained calm on the surface, but in his heart he felt that this was something Wei Qian would say. And based on what Old Xiong had known about him over the years, he thought that he might actually be able to do it.

For a short while, Lao Xiong was almost infected by Wei Qian's spirit of desperation. Perhaps an indomitable and determined person can ignite the blood of others.

However, it is only “almost” after all.

The old bear sighed in his heart: After all, you are young.

Men in their thirties and forties are still vigorous in their careers. They are energetic and strong, and their ambitions will reach the peak of their lives as conditions mature. However, when they are in their early twenties, the recklessness of young men can no longer be regained.

Lao Xiong could hardly remember what he was like when he was a dozen years younger. When he looked at Wei Qian, he began to suspect that he was getting old.

How come this kid, even at this point, can still struggle like he has nothing?

Maybe Wei Qian still mentally believes that he has "nothing" or he is born to be a gambler-like madman.

No matter how many glorious years flashed through Lao Xiong's mind, his fathead fish-like dull and honest face never revealed any clues. Lao Xiong crossed his fingers, placed them on the table, and asked Wei Qian word by word: "Okay, let me discuss one last question with you. Thirty million, I can't bear the current financial risk. What if I give you the money and you can't get the project? If you can't get the project approved and can't provide any guarantees, no one will dare to do the 'bridge project' for you. By then, the interest on this money alone will be at least ten thousand a day. What reason do I have to bear this capital cost for you?"

Wei Qian said without blinking, "I have a family and I can't move my house. As for the rest, I have saved over the past few years and I can give you a small sum of 200,000 yuan. If you agree, I will go there tonight and give you a rough result in 20 days. If there is really no hope, I will sell everything I have and return the money to you."

The old bear shook his head and smiled: "You've sold everything you have, but you haven't sold your house yet, so you're not a desperate criminal."

Wei Qian: "Do you agree?"

Old Xiong thought for a moment. Perhaps it was the young man who awakened his youthful blood, or perhaps it was the assurance Wei Qian gave him that moved him. Old Xiong finally gave in. "How about this? I'll try to get you some money in the next two days. But even if I ask my old man to be the guarantor, it will take at least 20 days or a month. I'll give you a month and a half in total. Not to mention planning permission, you have to at least give me a land use agreement with the government. I'll go all out this time and give you a 250. How about that?"

Wei Qian's eyes lit up in an instant.

Old Bear was afraid that he would get carried away, so he knocked on the table and said, "But I have to say this in advance. Brothers should settle accounts clearly. If you really can't get it, come back and compensate me as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Wei Qian showed his first smile of the whole day on his face. Then he felt his throat was dry and sore. Before his smile could even begin, it was blocked by a cough.

At this moment, the phone in Wei Qian's pocket suddenly rang. He looked down at the caller ID and saw that it was actually from home.

Wei Qian sighed tiredly, not knowing what Song Xiaobao had done. His temples felt tight for a moment, so he quickly drank a few sips of warm water to suppress his cough, then picked up the phone: "Hello..."

The person on the other end of the phone was not Song Xiaobao who came here specifically to cause trouble. Wei Qian heard the trembling voice of Old Lady Song: "Her brother, was it you who locked the door when you left the house last?"

Wei Qian: "Well, what's wrong?"

Old Lady Song: "Xiaobao is missing!"

Wei Qian: “What?”

He no longer cared about arguing about which project was fat or lean, and no longer cared about whether this was a gamble or a carefully designed competition. Outside the window, endless heavy snow fell, and Wei Qian's chaotic mind was left with only one question -

Where can Xiaobao go in such a cold weather? Does she have money? Does she have enough  clothes ? What does she eat? What does she drink?

When Wei Qian rushed out of Lao Xiong's office like a soulless person, he bumped into Sister Xiong who came to bring food to Lao Xiong. Sister Xiong looked at him in confusion and asked, "Is his house on fire?"

Lao Xiong reached out and took out a dumpling from the lunch box, demonstrating what it means to be "slow-tempered" to the fullest. He chewed and swallowed it leisurely before answering, "No, the little girl ran away from home."

After hearing this, Mrs. Xiong opened her almond-shaped eyes wide, raised her hand and gave Old Bear a dark cloud over his head: "Then what are you going to eat? Are you looking for death? Hurry up and find someone to help you find it!"

The old bear was nearly choked to death by the fierce attack that was like a thunderbolt. He collapsed on the table and pounded his chest desperately for a long time.

Glancing at his wife's expression, he had no choice but to obey the emperor's order and, with an empty stomach, followed his impetuous sister-in-law Xiong to help find the teenagers who had run away from home. He had met Xiaobao a few times and knew what a heartless person that girl was, and he didn't think she could get far.

Who hasn't run away from home when they were young and frivolous? You will come back naturally when the money is gone. Why rush?

When Wei Zhiyuan got the news, he took half a day off and came back. He opened Xiaobao's piggy bank, took a look inside and said, "She took more than 200 yuan."

Old Lady Song: "Where does she get so much money?"

Wei Zhiyuan glanced at her and said, "...ask me for it."

Old Mrs. Song was desperate and instinctively complained to whoever she caught. She slapped her thigh and almost cried, "Why did you give it to her when she asked for it? Why do you indulge her bad habits? This is not loving her, this is harming her!"

"That's enough! Stop making trouble." Wei Qian walked out of Xiaobao's room, stopped Old Lady Song, took out his phone and said to Sanpang on the other end, "She should be wearing a white down jacket and carrying a bag...ah? What does the bag look like? The bag..."

He frowned as he said this, and his temples became tighter and tighter, causing his head to hurt more and more. Wei Qian pinched his eyebrows hard.

Wei Zhiyuan mentioned him quietly: "It's an orange backpack with a Mickey Mouse head hanging on the zipper."

Wei Qian quickly repeated his words and hung up the phone: "I'll go out and look around again."

Old Mrs. Song jumped up immediately: "I'm going too!"

Wei Qian ignored her, slammed the door and left.

Wei Zhiyuan quickly put on his coat and said to Old Lady Song, "Don't go with me. It's snowing heavily outside. If you slip and fall, it will be even more chaotic. I'll go and take a look."

As expected, Old Lady Song listened to him.

This was the second time, and she had gotten used to it - when everyone was listless and anxious, Wei Zhiyuan maintained his usual calmness unusually. Old Lady Song never knew whether he was a little slow-tempered or just naturally cold-blooded, and she couldn't develop a deep relationship with him even though they were together day and night.

She didn't know what could touch Wei Zhiyuan. It seemed that nothing could move him. He just knew what to do at any time.

The snow melted as soon as it touched people's faces, and people walking through the heavy snow were soon soaked from head to face. When Wei Zhiyuan caught up with Wei Qian, he felt that his cheeks seemed abnormally red.

Wei Zhiyuan hurried over and said to him, "Her quilt was neatly folded. I don't think she folded it before she left. She probably didn't sleep last night and left in the middle of the night. It was minus ten degrees last night, and water would freeze when it fell outside. She couldn't have wandered around outside. She most likely called a car and found a place to stay... Brother, are you sick?"

Wei Qian shook his head: "Where can she live?"

Wei Zhiyuan frowned, thought for a few seconds, and said clearly: "Xiaobao is not very courageous. It is unlikely that she would go to a strange place in the middle of the night. It was so late yesterday, and she couldn't have run to her classmate's house. Near the school...near the school is unlikely. She just had an argument with you about her grades, so she probably doesn't want to go to school. How about we look for her near her rehearsal place?"

Wei Qian stopped, feeling a splitting headache.

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask where Xiaobao was rehearsing, but he couldn't get the words out.

Wei Qian thought in confusion, how much he had neglected his little girl. He didn't even know what she liked to play, who she liked to be with, or where she liked to go and what she liked to do.

What on earth does he do all day long?

"I know the place," Wei Zhiyuan observed his expression and immediately understood what he was thinking, and quickly added, "It's in the dance studio of the Children's Activity Center in the city center. I'll take you there."

It was difficult to get a taxi in the heavy snow. After waiting for a long time, the two of them quickly stopped one.

But somehow something happened halfway through the journey and the road ahead became blocked by an open-air parking lot, making it impossible to drive through.

Wei Qian turned around and asked, "How far is it?"

Wei Zhiyuan said: "About one station."

Wei Qian drove straight to the front of the car and ran wildly in the snow and ice.

Wei Zhiyuan hurried to catch up. He still felt that Wei Qian's face looked a little abnormal, so he caught up with him, took off his scarf and hung it around Wei Qian's neck.

The two walked in the heavy snow for an unknown amount of time, and their exposed skin was almost numb from the cold.

Then they saw the source of the traffic jam. There seemed to be a car accident at the intersection. There were several police cars around and a large group of people had surrounded it.

Wei Qian was just about to push through the crowd and walk over when suddenly, a few words from a passerby came into his ears.

"The little girl is still young." Someone said, "What a sin! It's snowing so heavily, why don't you drive slower?"

Wei Qian's scalp immediately exploded, and a vicious chill crept up his spine.

He didn't know how he started asking the question. When he came to his senses, he already heard his own voice as if it came from someone else's mouth.

"…What little girl?"

"I just hit a little girl at the intersection. She was about 16 or 17 years old. The blood was flowing... Ouch, I think she is dead."

Another person turned around and described it to him with gestures: "That's right, the traffic light here has been broken for several days, and no one has repaired it. It's snowing so heavily. Just now I saw a little girl in white  clothes ..."

Wei Qian could no longer hear what was said afterwards. He felt as if someone had hit him on the chest with a hammer, breaking his sternum and almost crushing his internal organs into pieces.

The world was spinning.