CHAPTER 12 ♦ KIDNAP

One month away from mid-year examinations, Qin Ke Xuan was currently facing her first ever examinations. Only having finished her primary school level textbooks, Qin Ke Xuan sat her at seat, bored out of her mind, as she surveyed the classroom filled with students scribbling away at a tremendous speed. She wanted to find some book to read to pass the time, but she only had an exam script in her hands, her textbooks were all placed away at the teacher’s table.

Qin Ke Xuan decided to just submit her script and leave, except that her phone started ringing, attracting the attention of the students and the teacher. The teacher in front immediately started shouting: “Qin Ke Xuan?! Are you thinking of cheating? Didn’t I say that phones are not allowed into the examination venues?!”

Qin Ke Xuan fished out her phone expressionlessly, “Who are you?”

“Xuan Xuan, it’s me your father, father’s got something to say, listen carefully.”

“Speak.”

“Tonight, don’t come home, can you see if you can stay over at a friend’s place for the night?”

“Reason.”

“Uh… the, there’s some problems at home, it’s better for you not to come back, be good, stay over at a friend’s for tonight first.”

“Then when it is okay to go back?”

“It depends on the situation when it’s all okay, I’ll give you a call.”

“Mmh.” Qin Ke Xuan hung up, wrote her name on the blank script, and walked towards the furious teacher whose hands were still shaking from anger as she pointed at Qin Ke Xuan in ridicule. Qin Ke Xuan placed the script on the teacher’s table and turned to leave.

After seeing the script completely blank save for a name, that teacher was furious enough to faint.

 

Qin Shu Hua, completely disoriented from all the things he was trying to settle, upon seeing Qin Ke Xuan coming back from school froze, unable to react for a moment, “Xuan Xuan, why are you back?”

Qin Ke Xuan surveyed the people in the room, asking instead of replying: “Why are they here?” If she had not remembered wrongly, the people wearing such clothes in Conan were known as the police, and they specialised in catching killers, similar to detectives back in her time. Unless someone really died the other time? And that these policemen were here to catch her? Qin Ke Xuan frowned faintly, surveying the surroundings quickly. If she was not able to finish off these people instantly, then she would have to look for the best escape route.

One of the policemen walked towards Qin Ke Xuan, stopping in front of her, and asked Qin Shu Hua: “This is…”

“My daughter.”

While Qin Ke Xuan was still deliberating if she should gain the initiative by striking first, the policeman started: “Hm, under such situations, we would first protect the children, we’ll have two policemen stationed along with your daughter. I’ll explain to her the current situation so as to seek her cooperation.” After saying his piece, he turned to start arranging.

Were they not here to apprehend her? Qin Ke Xuan then turned to look at Jiang Hui Lin sobbing at the sofa, and asked Qin Shu Hua: “What happened?”

Qin Shu Hua frowned in worry, suddenly appearing older than his age, said dejectedly: “Your brother got kidnapped, and the kidnapper is currently threatening us. Xuan Xuan, you must be good and listen to the police uncle, don’t go running around anyhow okay?”

Qin Ke Xian nodded and returned to her room. The two policemen standing beside her, “glaring” at her as though she would disappear any moment, dashed her original training plans. If she were to have them leave, they would reject her with the “cannot allow any hindrance to the execution of official business” reason.

Qin Ke Xuan could not help it except to grudgingly switch on her computer to search information up.

The two policemen, however, started chatting, “This girl’s too, you know, I mean she still has the mood to go online when her little brother’s kidnapped?”

“Aye, you don’t know how serious computer addiction is among high school kids nowadays. It’s so bad to the extent that they become dismissive of their parents, so it’s not that strange!”

“Her parents were beside themselves with worry when I was downstairs just now. She didn’t even react though, it’s as though the entire thing’s completely unrelated to her.”

“Don’t you know, I head that that woman’s not her biological mother, her brother’s actually the son of her stepmother and father. Tsk tsk, no wonder she’s so cold-blooded about it.”

“…”

The two of them kept on murmuring as though Qin Ke Xuan could not hear them.

Until their captain, the policemen who had been talking with Qin Shu Hua initially, walked in and glared at them did they slowly shut their traps. Officer Song walked towards Qin Ke Xuan, asking: “Did you offend anyone recently?”

Qin Ke Xuan looked at him fixedly, neither talking nor adorning any expression, as though a puppet doll. Her eyes, however, revealed the glaring astuteness that spared none the ability to overlook her presence.

No matter how Officer Song looked, she appeared to very normal, albeit slightly skinner than a high school student. She did not seem to have any reason to seek such a huge trouble unless that was the kidnappers’ scheme?

He coughed lightly, continuing: “Or meet any peculiar people?”

“Just say what you want to express straightforwardly.” Be it the policemen here, or the detectives back in her days, they were all so ridiculously slow.

Officer Song rubbed away his non-existent cold sweat discreetly, “Actually, you needn’t be involved in this, however, if we don’t ask you, we will miss out a large piece of the events that happened, and we won’t be able to help you locate your brother…”

Qin Ke Xuan: “Don’t beat around the bush, what’s your point.”

Officer Song choked. He was labelled as long-winded by a kid.

“It’s like this, the kidnappers called, demanding that in order to release your brother, we need to send you to them…”

Qin Ke Xuan cut him off, “Then how are you handling it?” If they had really decided to have her exchange herself for that little brat, she would consider giving them a piece of her mind, by force.

“Of course we cannot accept the kidnappers’ conditions! You don’t need to worry about this, we will settle the matters, all you have to do is wait for our instructions.” Officer Song patted his chest, giving his word that he would safeguard the citizens’ security.

Qin Ke Xuan spared him a sideward glance, “So you’re here to waste my time just to tell me you’re doing what you’re supposed to do?”

Officer Song choked on his breath, “Cough cough cough…”

“If you have the time to do that, why don’t you spend it on locating where the kidnappers are. If there’s nothing else, you may leave.” What Qin Ke Xuan had very unambiguously hinted at was: don’t stay here and be an eyesore, please do get lost.

Officer Song returned to his post, comforting his fragile glass heart.

As for the other two policemen, they gave each other a look and very unanimously decided to halt their discuss on Qin Ke Xuan. Who knows if they would encounter a similarly bitter treatment as their captain had.

Qin Ke Xuan continued searching up information online regarding information about rising from the dead. The majority of the stuff she found, however, were fictional works. They were all time-traveling stuff when she briefly swept through them, talking about dying in this world and being reincarnated in another, some even being reincarnated as kids, some as servants, all sorts of personas basically. This seemed to be somewhat similar to her situation, but the different part was that they went back in time, while she came forward in time…

She did not seem to be able to find a way to go back. The stuff she read though seemed a little too much, to actually be able to time travel even while their sleeping or drinking water? Looked like she still had to dig deeper to look for the information, there was no way she would believe such absurdities.

Yin Xu Dong after ending school headed straight over to Qin Ke Xuan’s place via the balcony. He was, however, immediately subjected to face-planting the ground by the two shadows pouncing at him the moment he dropped down in her balcony.

“Bah! Who that?! Which asshole dares to plot against me?!” Yin Xu Dong sprawled on the ground was still struggling.

Qin Ke Xuan started towards him: “Let him go.”

The two policemen upon seeing that he was someone Qin Ke Xuan knew, released Yin Xu Dong. Yin Xu Dong stood up, patting his shirt, very ready to start cursing at them only to swallow his anger when he realised the two uncles were donned in police uniform. (The two policemen: who you callin’ uncle, you’re the goddamn uncle!)  He turned to Qin Ke Xuan: “What’re they here for? Why are there policemen in your house?”

Qin Ke Xuan: “They have nothing better to do.” They have nothing to do so they decided to stay and look after an insignificant person like her, also known as the glorified protection.

The two policemen: “…” That was so not implicit! Forget it, it was not worthwhile for them to argue with a little girl, it would just lower their standards.

Qin Ke Xuan continued: “You, double your training menu.”

Yin Xu Dong howled in grief: “What for?!” He was already barely coping with the current training menu, was she telling him to go seek death by doubling it?

“You got restrained so easily by the two nuisances without any resistance, why don’t you go train instead of standing here shamelessly.” Qin Ke Xuan said nonchalantly.

The two policemen currently cold-shouldered by her chanted mentally: the two nuisances were not referencing to themselves, not themselves…

Yin Xu Dong explained with a flushed face: “Wasn’t it because I didn’t notice them. How would I know there would be other people in your room. And on top of that, they mounted a sneak attack, how would I be able to react in time!”

“Then for the sake of you becoming more vigilant such that you will react in time next time, double your training.”

The time, Yin Xu Dong was robbed of his breath to even howl in anguish, who knew if she would double his training again?

Qin Ke Xuan sat down before her computer again, calling the currently close to fainting Yin Xu Dong: “Come here.”

Yin Xu Dong leant over, asking: “What is it?”

Qin Ke Xuan was just about to ask, but noticed the two policemen still standing there, and told them: “The two of you wait outside for a while.”

“Our apologies, but we must make sure the subject of our protection is within sight at all times.” One of the two rejected her righteously.

“Yin Xu Dong, throw them out.” She agreed to allow the two of them to “protect” her, but that did not mean she would endure them constantly supervising her. Was it that they would continue staying here as long as that little brat Qin Peng Cheng was still missing?  How troublesome!

Yin Xu Dong hesitated, “Xuan Xuan, to be impulsive would be diabolical. If you’d like to say anything, it’d be best to talk it out diplomatically. They are policemen, to beat up policemen can land you in jail.”

Qin Ke Xuan deliberated for a moment. It was indeed inappropriate to invite trouble unnecessarily at such a timing. Hence she said: “Then we’ll talk outside. You, are you able to jump down the balcony?”

Yin Xu Dong nodded, “I can. But as long as we communicate with them properly to have them stay away would be good enough, there’s no need to escape.”

“Then you go and communicate, if not, we’ll leave.”

The two policemen were speechless, did they assume they were transparent? To brazenly discuss whether they should beat up policemen or escape right in front of them?

Yin Xu Dong said to the two police smilingly: “The two policemen uncle also heard us? If you guys don’t leave, I think we’ll create quite a bit of trouble? For the sake of not bringing both parties any inconvenience, is it possible to give us some privacy? I promise we won’t do anything illegal!”

What else can the two policemen say, with the thought of how dangerous could the house be unless the kidnappers were to walk right into the trap in mind, the two of them left the room to stand guard outside.

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TRANSLATOR & EDITOR: WYNNE