Chapter 68 I Love Learning English

Saturday, noon.

Shortly after Long Xiaotian had quietly piloted his dragon knight no. 1 and set off for what he considered a romantic date.

On the mahogany dining table in the Long family villa, the private chef had already laid out a sumptuous lunch.

At the mahjong table, Mother Long had just discarded a Red Dragon tile, ending her morning game with great satisfaction.

She was wearing the latest Chanel suit, and her well-maintained face showed no traces of age, with the corners of her eyes and brows radiating the satisfaction of having won money.

"Grandma Zhang, go call Long Xiaotian down for lunch," Mother Long instructed the nanny standing by, her tone casual.

"Very well, Madam."

A few minutes later, the nanny, Grandma Zhang, walked down from upstairs, a troubled look on her face: "Madam, the young master is not in his room."

"Not there?" Mother Long's delicate brows furrowed slightly, displeased. "Where has that child run off to play again? Has he finished his homework?"

"He finished it; it's all on his desk," Grandma Zhang replied. "He also left a note on the table."

Soon, the note was presented to her.

It bore a line of text written in crooked pinyin: "wo xiang chu qu zhou zhou, wu nian, wo qin ai de mu qin."

Looking at the text, Mother Long was stunned for a moment, then laughed in exasperation: " 'I want to go out for a walk, do not worry, my dear mother'? Hmph, this Little Rascal is trying to get artsy with me?"

She didn't take it too seriously.

In her view, this was just another one of her son's pranks imitating the adult world.

She waved her hand and said to the nanny: "Go, tell the security guards to look around the residential complex; he must be hiding in some corner playing on his tablet again. If you find him, drag him straight back to me, and he's not allowed to have dessert at lunch."

However, half an hour passed, and the security guards sent out returned empty-handed, reporting that they had searched the entire villa complex, even scouring the bottom of the artificial lake, but hadn't seen a trace of the young master.

Now, the casual expression on Mother Long's face vanished, and she became flustered.

"How can you not find him? A person that big, did he just fly away?" She stood up, her voice involuntarily raising a pitch. "The garage! Go check the garage! Did he hide in one of the cars and fall asleep?"

A few minutes later, the person in charge of searching ran back in a panic: "Madam, there's no one in the garage, and the surveillance... the surveillance seems to have had a problem; there's a blank segment in the footage around 11:30 in the morning!"

The blank surveillance footage became the final straw.

Mother Long's face drained of color instantly. She could no longer maintain the elegance of a noble lady. With trembling hands, she took out her phone and dialed the number she knew best, her voice already choked with sobs: "Honey! Something's wrong! Our son is gone! Our son is gone! Waaah—"

In the presidential suite of the most luxurious Hilton Hotel in Baishui City.

A middle-aged man with a potbelly and a shiny, balding head was currently wearing a silk bathrobe, holding a young, beautiful college student who looked no more than twenty years old. He held a glass of red wine in his hand, a malicious smile on his face.

"Baby, come, let's continue learning English. That pronunciation from just now, demonstrate it for me one more time..."

The man had just finished speaking and was about to lean in when the phone on the nightstand, used exclusively for private matters, rang.

The man, who was Long Xiaotian's father, Long Dagui, was annoyed at having his mood interrupted. He reluctantly picked up the phone, and seeing it was his wife's number, answered even more unhappily.

"What are you howling for! It's the middle of the day, has the sky fallen?"

On the other end of the line came his wife's incoherent sobbing.

At first, Long Dagui didn't take it seriously, even crossing his legs and winking at the college student beside him, saying impatiently: "How could a grown person get lost? He must be pulling another prank somewhere, don't make such a fuss..."

But listening to his wife sobbing on the phone about not being able to find him and mentioning the blank surveillance footage, the smile on Long Dagui's face faltered, and his expression became grave.

"What are you saying? You really can't find him anywhere?!"

He sprang up from the bed, not even caring that his bathrobe slipped off, and roared into the phone: "Call the police! Call the police immediately! I'm coming back right now!"

Hanging up, he scrambled to put on his clothes, cursing and swearing, the fat on his face trembling with rage: "That Little Rascal! That little bastard! Only nine years old and he dares to run away from home on me! Wait until I get back and break his legs! I don't know which scoundrel he learned these crooked ways from!"

What he didn't know was that the scoundrel he spoke of was none other than himself.

He also didn't know that the ultimate goal of his son's runaway attempt was to personally experience that creature he had boasted about countless times to his drinking buddies—the most wonderful creature in the world: a female college student.

And, to learn English.

Long Dagui got dressed, not even having time to wash his face, hurriedly tossed a stack of cash to the equally frightened college student, then grabbed another phone and dialed a number he knew by heart.

As the call connected, he immediately adopted a humble and anxious tone: "Director Wang! Brother Wang! It's me, Dagui! Something terrible has happened, my son is missing! Yes, right here in my residential complex, he's vanished without a trace! You have to help me!"

An hour later, at the courtyard of the Baishui City Public Security Bureau.

A motorcade of several expensive luxury cars appeared, the screeching of brakes piercing the quiet of the afternoon.

Long Dagui was the first to tumble out of the car, followed by Mother Long, who was supported by a nanny and crying a river of tears.

Long Xiaotian's grandmother collapsed to the ground as soon as she stepped out of the car, slapping her thighs and letting out a piercing wail: "My precious grandson! Where are you? It must be some godforsaken human trafficker who kidnapped you! Oh heavens, please open your eyes!"

In contrast, Long Xiaotian's grandfather appeared much calmer.

This respected elder in the Baishui City business world simply walked silently to an inconspicuous corner, took out his phone, and began quietly calling several old friends who were leaders at provincial television stations and major newspapers.

Deputy Director Wang of the Baishui City Public Security Bureau had already been waiting in person at the entrance of the office building; seeing this spectacle, he felt his head spinning.

He stepped forward quickly, shook Long Dagui's hand, and forced a calm expression onto his face: "Mr. Long, don't worry, we will do our best..."

Before he could finish, his words were completely drowned out by the grandmother's heart-wrenching wails.