Jiang Nan Fang received a call from Rui Rui just before boarding her flight.
Only then did she learn that Jing Yu and Tian Tian had gotten into trouble.
Terrified, she immediately ran out from the security check, calling A Cheng as she ran.
Jing Yu had said he wasn't feeling well and went to his room to rest, so A Cheng hadn't thought much of it.
As usual, he stayed faithfully by the villa entrance.
Upon receiving Jiang Nan Fang's call, he rushed into the room and found that the children were indeed gone, which petrified him.
Following the address Jiang Nan Fang sent, he took his brothers and quickly chased after them.
Fortunately, the ride-hailing driver had acted on impulse and hadn't yet decided how to dispose of Jing Yu and Tian Tian, so they were found without much difficulty.
After reporting the incident, the driver was taken away, and the group returned home.
Jiang Nan Fang took a taxi to meet them. They encountered each other halfway, and A Cheng was so guilt-stricken that he didn't dare to look up at her.
"Madam, I apologize. It was my dereliction of duty; it has nothing to do with the other brothers."
"If you must fire someone, fire only me. I implore you to be magnanimous and put in a good word for us with Mr. Zhan, giving my brothers a chance to redeem themselves."
They all understood Zhan Bei Jue's style of handling matters; he did not tolerate mistakes in work.
Furthermore, this was the second time they had lost the children, and there was no way they could escape being fired this time.
After A Cheng finished speaking, before Jiang Nan Fang could say anything, Tian Tian burst into tears.
She pitifully hugged Jiang Nan Fang's leg and pleaded.
"Mommy, please don't blame Uncle A Cheng; it's not his fault. It was my brother and I who wanted to come find you; we deliberately hid from him."
"We didn't mean to cause trouble for you, and we'll never dare to do it again. It's not Uncle A Cheng's fault. Please, don't tell Daddy, and don't fire him."
Jing Yu also felt remorseful, tugging at Jiang Nan Fang's clothes.
"Mommy, sister is right. It's all my fault; it was my idea alone, and it has nothing to do with them."
"Uncle A Cheng is always very good to us; please don't blame him."
A group of tall, burly bodyguards felt a pang of sadness at the children's pleas.
Jiang Nan Fang felt just as heartbroken.
People are emotional beings. Although she didn't interact much with A Cheng, he had been taking care of the children with great dedication.
She didn't have Zhan Bei Jue's strong disciplinary power and had no intention of blaming A Cheng.
"Don't cry. This isn't entirely your fault; Mommy also did things wrong."
"Mommy shouldn't have left secretly without telling you. Let's all learn from this experience, be more careful in the future, and not implicate others."
"Let's keep this between us; let's not tell Daddy, okay?"
A Cheng was surprised by Jiang Nan Fang's words, his eyes moved, and he choked up slightly.
"Madam..."
"The primary responsibility lies with me; I failed as a parent. Consider this a lesson, and let's all be more mindful from now on. Let's not mention this again."
Upon returning home, Jiang Nan Fang asked A Cheng to pick up the other two children.
She figured they must be worried at school about what had happened at home, so it was best to put their minds at ease.
After all four children were reunited, sitting around with Jiang Nan Fang, she told them the truth.
"Last time we went to Bei Cheng, there were indeed some issues between your Daddy and me. I intended to go and ask him for clarification in person today..."
"I've decided that from now on, I won't hide anything from you. We'll face everything together."
"Let's call Daddy right now and ask him what's going on. We'll resolve all problems together from now on, okay?"
Everyone was happy; Mommy had finally come to her senses.
Jiang Nan Fang dialed Zhan Bei Jue's number and put it on speaker. He answered immediately.
"Daddy!"
Ge Er was the first to lean forward and shout into the phone.
"It's Ge Er. Are you busy now?"
Zhan Bei Jue's voice was low and stern.
"Daddy is handling a very important matter right now and cannot be on the phone. If you have nothing urgent, don't call me today. I'll call you back when Daddy has time, okay?"
Everyone was taken aback by his reaction.
Just as Ge Er was about to ask what had happened, there was a rustling sound from the other end, and the call was hung up.
Zhan Bei Jue was indeed facing a serious situation; Melody had gone missing.
According to her usual routine, she should have returned to the hotel to rest around six in the evening.
Yesterday, Zhan Bei Jue was busy with work at the hotel and hadn't paid attention to the time.
Around eight in the evening, feeling a bit hungry, he went for a walk and only then realized Melody hadn't returned.
He thought something had happened at the hospital and called her, but her phone was off.
Zhan Bei Jue went to the hospital, and a nurse told him that Melody had left two hours earlier.
He didn't know if she was in a bad mood and wanted some time alone, went somewhere, or if something had happened to her.
Zhan Bei Jue could only wait patiently at the hotel.
By past ten in the evening, there was still no news.
He asked the hospital staff to check the surveillance footage and discovered that Melody hadn't taken a taxi at the hospital entrance but a black car.
Suspecting something had happened to her, Zhan Bei Jue reported it to the police.
The black car information hadn't been traced yet when, at past three in the morning, he received a mysterious call.
The caller told him that Melody was in their hands and that if he wanted her back, he would have to exchange her life for his mother's.
Zhan Bei Jue never expected anyone to be so audacious as to investigate his whereabouts covertly.
And to know his personal affairs so clearly.
Someone knew things that even Jiang Nan Fang didn't...
Demanding his mother's life in exchange for Melody, could it be his mother's old enemy?
Zhan Bei Jue made an excuse, saying it would be inconvenient to bring his mother, who was a vegetative patient, out and that he would need to go through hospital procedures. The caller gave him three hours to prepare.
If his mother wasn't seen at the designated location before six in the morning, they would be waiting to collect Melody's body.
The police were monitoring Zhan Bei Jue's call.
However, the caller was clearly well-prepared and couldn't be traced at all.
For now, they could only start by investigating Zhan Bei Jue's mother's social circle to identify suspects.
Zhan Bei Jue didn't know his mother well, and they were operating in the open while he was in the dark.
Anyone who had ever had a grievance with her was a potential suspect, and since his mother couldn't speak, the situation was difficult.
Zhan Bei Jue thought of a good idea and planned to call the other party himself to negotiate.
However, the other party was too cunning; they changed their SIM card and IP address after one call, and any subsequent attempts to call resulted in a dead number.
At six o'clock, the caller rang again, asking about his preparations.
Zhan Bei Jue said, "Taking the life of a vegetative patient wouldn't mean much to you. Even if you don't kill her, she won't live much longer. I suggest you ask for something more practical."
"I'll give you money. As long as you release her, I'll pay any amount."
The caller, using a voice changer, had a strange and terrifying voice. Upon hearing this, they laughed twice.
"Indeed, the lives of the Zhan family are valuable. It was a good decision to kidnap her. Since you're so generous, I won't be polite."
"I'll send you an account number shortly. Transfer 1 billion yuan to this account within two hours. One second late, and I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life."