Chapter 130: There is nothing more delightful than being loved
Chapter 130
After successfully defeating Yuan Yong, Yuan Si did not indulge excessively in joy, for he still had two rivals competing with him for his sister's affection.
Yuan Si's greatest passion was sleeping due to his inherently lazy nature. Every day, he pondered how to spend money without working. Whenever conflicts arose with his brothers, he would calmly lie down, pretending to be a harmless loser.
However, his sister Yuan Luoyi was something Yuan Si would never let go of. He had come prepared today.
As soon as they left the Yuan residence, his fans would surround Yuan Fa and Yuan Rui, while he would take Yuan Luoyi and leave for a joyful day at the amusement park.
The group exited the main hall of the Yuan residence, passing through the small flower garden in front of the gate. They were about to reach the main entrance when Yuan Si's heart leaped with excitement, finally able to get rid of these two bothersome fellows.
Suddenly, Yuan Fa cried out in alarm, "Mother is back!"
Yuan Rui peeked out, "Oh my god, she really is back! Quick, hide!"
The two pushed Yuan Si into the bushes, and Yuan Luoyi obediently hid nearby.
Yuan Si felt somewhat regretful, as success was so close, yet unattainable.
Yuan's Mother had left the Yuan residence last week to undertake a mission in the neighboring northern country. According to schedule, she should have returned in another week. Her early return meant she must have completed her mission ahead of time.
After waiting for a moment, Yuan Si asked, "Has she left?"
Yuan Fa replied, "I don't know. Let's go see. Luoyi, wait here."
The three crouched and moved forward, their movements light, fearing exposure. Unlike their father, the gentle Yuan's Mother never hit her children. When angered, she would directly chase them with a knife.
Yuan Si peered through the thin bushes, seeing two servants carrying fertilizer, but no sign of Yuan's Mother.
Yuan Si said, "She must have left."
Yuan Rui said, "She's still here. Move a bit forward, and you'll see her."
Yuan Si shifted forward.
Suddenly, a powerful force shoved Yuan Si hard. He tumbled head-first, rolling several times on the ground before finally hitting a wooden frame and stopping.
He quickly scrambled up, finding himself in a small room surrounded by plants and trees, with glass walls and a glass ceiling - Yuan Rui's plant cultivation experiment room.
"Bang!"
The glass door was shut, and Yuan Rui helpfully handed Yuan Fa a lock. The two joined forces to lock Yuan Si inside.
It took Yuan Si a second to gather his thoughts, then he pointed at Yuan Rui, his finger trembling with rage, "You little..."
Yuan Rui said, "I'm sorry, Fourth Brother. Although I'm only twelve, I'm a scientist from the same university as Second Brother. I want Luoyi to experience university life too, so I collaborated with Second Brother in this act."
Yuan Si regretted his carelessness. Despite Yuan Rui's small stature, his brain was highly developed, with at least eight hundred tricks up his sleeve!
Yuan Fa mocked, "You even had your fans waiting at the gate, thinking you could ambush me so blatantly. Did you think I wouldn't notice? You can stay in this greenhouse and enjoy yourself!"
The two laughed wickedly and triumphantly, like hyenas successful in their theft on the savanna. They trotted back to find their sister, chatting merrily.
Yuan Fa: "Hahaha, he actually believed Mother was back. You acted really well just now. If I had said it alone, he might not have believed it."
Yuan Rui: "You flatter me, Brother. It was your brilliant plan."
Yuan Fa: "With Yuan Yong being punished in the study, Yuan Si locked in the greenhouse, Luoyi can enjoy a full day at the university today!"
To savor the victory once more, Yuan Fa turned back to look at the glass house, where Yuan Si stood alone.
Normally, if Yuan Si lost, he would simply lie down and sleep, easily letting go and moving on, eating and sleeping well.
But now, Yuan Si stood still, his gaze burning like fire. He raised his index finger and thumb, mimicking a gun pointed at Yuan Fa, then cocked it slightly.
"Bang!"
He imitated the sound of gunfire.
The game was not over, and not all pieces had been played.
The lazy Yuan Si was weak, but a serious Yuan Si was strong. Even trapped, he could still make Yuan Fa and Yuan Rui pay a price.
A massive black figure appeared and grabbed Yuan Fa and Yuan Rui by the shoulders before they could escape.
Yuan's Father angrily scrutinized his two sons.
Yuan Fa and Yuan Rui instantly turned pale, sweating profusely.
From the distant glass room, Yuan Si smiled, "Checkmate!"
He had cornered the king on the chessboard.
Yawning, Yuan Si found a comfortable patch of grass to lie on. Earlier in the study, he had intentionally torn off Yuan Fa's badge to smash a teacup. Yuan's Father, finding it later, would surely come looking for Yuan Fa.
After all, in the entire family, only Yuan Fa would consider that ugly skull pendant fashionable.
Today, Yuan Si couldn't take his sister out to play, so neither could anyone else!
A shared fate of misery!
As Yuan Fa and Yuan Rui struggled in vain, Yuan Luoyi silently walked to the entrance of the Yuan residence, took out the access card she had "borrowed" from Yuan Si, and swiped it on the machine.
"Beep!"
The gate opened, and she stepped outside, calmly waiting.
A black car sped towards her and screeched to a halt. The door flung open, and a pair of hands pulled Yuan Luoyi inside.
The men in black masks cheered.
"Success! We've kidnapped the Yuan family's precious daughter!"
"We'll never worry about food and clothing again!"
"Our days of trailing her haven't been wasted! We thought we'd have to wait until Monday when she went to school, but she came out today!"
One man looked at Yuan Luoyi and said, "Little one, don't be afraid or call out. Once your family pays the ransom, we'll send you back."
Yuan Luoyi nodded, unwilling to speak.
This kidnapping incident at age seven, she had experienced countless times. After the world lines merged, everything restarted, and infant Yuan Luoyi once again came to the Yuan family.
More memory fragments surfaced, so many that Yuan Luoyi often woke up crying at night.
How many times had the world lines merged?
She didn't know.
Her weary soul wandered endlessly in the cyclical space-time, without beginning or end.
She finally understood why her past selves from other timelines had created this system to suppress her abilities and seal away her vast memories.
Recalling too much would only make her more weary; forgetting was the way to liberation.
This time, she had become the most abnormal one in the family. She tried her best to emulate her peers, not revealing her true self.
The car let out a piercing screech of brakes, and a group of people got out, taking Yuan Luoyi into an abandoned factory.
After entering, she went straight to a chair and sat on it, scrutinizing the kidnappers.
They froze for a moment, utterly surprised. They had kidnapped and killed many wealthy young ladies, but had never encountered a child so relaxed throughout the ordeal.
Moreover, the little girl in front of them was only seven years old, yet her gaze upon them made them feel as if they were being seen through. She was unnaturally composed.
Yuan Luoyi said, "Your daughter is not dead. I have found her."
The kidnappers looked at each other in confusion.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
A butler emerged from the shadows and stood beside Yuan Luoyi. Dressed in a neat tailcoat, he looked disdainfully at the kidnappers, "The young master is not speaking to you."
Seeing the stranger, the kidnappers' first reaction was panic. They raised their guns, but they had no chance to fire. More servants charged out, blades flashing, gunshots ringing out, blood splattering.
Just like in the previous timeline, the kidnappers were all dead, but this time, they were killed by Yuan Luoyi's servants instead of her older brother.
After the world merged this time, Yuan Luoyi became an infant.
It was hard; she wanted to speak, but could only make unintelligible baby noises.
However, she couldn't waste time. The Yuan family's power under Yuan Jianghai's rule was deeply entrenched, and she needed to quickly build a shadow Yuan family to oppose it.
Once she had grown enough muscles to control her limbs and crawl out of the crib, and could speak simple sentences, she began selecting servants based on her memories from her past life.
She could reveal each servant's past, present, and future, peer into their hearts, and even control their thoughts. They revered her as a divine being, offering their all in awe.
In the chaotic room, a few more servants appeared, dragging an injured man - Xiao Feng, the driver and mole within the Yuan family who had masterminded the kidnapping.
A beautiful maid smiled, "Young master, he tried to commit suicide, so I had to break his hands and feet, and shatter his jaw."
She grabbed Xiao Feng's hair, forcing him to look up.
Yuan Luoyi and Xiao Feng gazed at each other. He was utterly dejected, wanting only to die quickly. He looked at Yuan Luoyi as if she were a monster, fearful and disgusted.
It was understandable; everything she was doing now was not what a normal seven-year-old girl would do.
Yuan Luoyi repeated her earlier words, "Your daughter is not dead. I have found her."
Xiao Feng's eyes suddenly lit up, but quickly dimmed again. He did not believe this information.
Yuan Luoyi said, "Grandfather killed many innocent children to create me, but some managed to escape, and she was one of them. The servants have already rescued her. She is mentally unstable, but if you stay by her side, she may gradually recover."
The servants handed over a photograph showing Xiao Feng's daughter, disheveled, wearing a light blue dress, crouched on the ground with a vacant stare.
In an instant, this father who had infiltrated the Yuan family to avenge his daughter broke down.
His cherished child was merely disposable material in Yuan Jianghai's eyes, subjected to unimaginable torment to end up like this. He sobbed, unable to compose himself for a long time.
Yuan Luoyi said, "You found the wrong target for revenge. Father had long since distanced himself from Grandfather."
Xiao Feng struggled to move his injured jaw, his voice slurred, "What... is your goal?"
Yuan Luoyi extended her small hand to him, like a cloud-born deity looking down upon the mortals of the world, compassionate and gentle.
"The tragedies of the past cannot be changed. I can only keep moving forward. Offer your loyalty to me, and we can reduce future tragedies..."
Yuan Luoyi had tried many ways to eliminate Yuan Jianghai, but whenever he died, a new ambitious person would quickly inherit his mantle and continue his work.
Because of human selfishness, Yuan Luoyi was created.
And because of human selfishness, Yuan Luoyi could not truly eliminate "Yuan Jianghai."
Love and selfishness coexisted.
Looking into Xiao Feng's eyes, Yuan Luoyi felt saddened. In a sense, she had harmed his daughter; she was Number 61, born with original sin.
Xiao Feng went from suspicion to breakdown, and now, looking at Yuan Luoyi, he had a new hope. He needed light, and for his daughter, he needed to live on.
Just as Yuan Si had said, his sister was similar to him, able to control people's hearts...
Yuan Luoyi gained a new servant.
After completing the final tasks, Yuan Luoyi was sent back to the Yuan residence. As soon as she got out of the car, her older brother Yuan Ao rushed over in a hurry.
After Yuan's Father had finished educating his four wicked sons, he noticed his daughter was missing. Yuan Ao had also been summoned home, and they began searching for Yuan Luoyi everywhere.
Yuan Ao picked Yuan Luoyi up, "Why did you wander off alone?"
Yuan Luoyi said, "It was too boring at home, so I went for a walk. A kind person saw me and gave me a ride back just now."
Yuan Ao said, "Don't do that again, it's too dangerous."
Yuan Luoyi said, "Okay."
She understood that the danger he referred to was the threat to anyone's life who approached her, as Yuan Ao had looked murderous just now, only relaxing when holding her.
Yuan Luoyi asked, "What about my other brothers?"
Yuan Ao said, "Still alive."
Yuan Luoyi understood; that meant they were injured, but not badly enough for the hospital.
That was fine. Over the weekend, they would be confined to bed at home. Yuan Luoyi decided to finish her homework, then go visit and cheer them up, sharing some snacks.
She leaned softly against Yuan Ao's shoulder, gradually relaxing in body and mind. Only during moments like this could she truly be a child, not thinking about anything, relying on her brothers.
She no longer cared so much about the outcome. What mattered most to her was the present moment.
Nothing brought more joy than being loved. This was the driving force that kept her going.