To My Dear Mr. Huo

The three siblings were taken by a car. Da transported his valuable ‘cargo’ directly to a warehouse near the pier.

When they had reached their destination, Da brought the three of them out. By this point, Huo Jinkai had woken up. After all, he was the oldest by a few years, and his body was much more fit than an average youth, due to his physical training regime.

The moment Huo Jinkai woke up, he immediately sensed that something was amiss. Glancing at his younger brother and sister, who were sound asleep on the floor, he could almost immediately guess at the unfortunate predicament they were currently in.

Huo Jinkai could scarcely believe it. His great uncle was a prominent figure in their province, and his uncle was the commander of the regional military branch.

He would not have credited it under any other circumstances – that someone would ever dare to target the Huo children, let alone manage to pull off kidnapping them!

“Who are you? Do you know which family we belong to? Release us right now!”

At 14 years old, Huo Jinkai was Old Master Huo’s favorite grandson. His grandfather had kept Jinkai by his side from a young age, and mentored him well. He had learned how to project an air of superiority and maturity that was far from the norm for a 14-year-old child.

The expression he wore as well as his aura earned him much admiration on the part of his peers when he was still in school.

However, he knew he was neither speaking to students of his school now nor facing the staff at his father’s company. Instead, he was talking to a group of threatening and evil kidnappers, and he risked losing his life at any moment.

“Ah, young man, you’re rather brave!”

Da glanced at Huo Jinkai and sneered, “Release you? Sure, I can do that. It’s not out of the question. All you need to do is to get your old man to bring us the cash.”

Instantly, Huo Jinkai understood Da’s motives. It was obvious that all their kidnappers wanted out of this was money.

He glanced around and realized that, other than Da, all of the other three accomplices had covered up their faces with cloth.

This observation afforded him some slight relief, as he believed that the hiding of their identity meant that the kidnappers had no intention of killing them. They should be safe for now.

“What’s wrong? Are you finally getting scared? Are you afraid now?” Da took out his cell phone and stood in front of Huo Jinkai. “Come, give me your father’s phone number.”

Huo Jinkai glanced directly at the phone in Da’s hands without saying a word. Da seemed to be unphased by the young man’s lack of cooperation, and he followed up his demand by punching Huo Jinkai in the chest.

“Young man, what are you thinking? Hm? I’m telling you, ignoring me is not going to help. Don’t think of escaping while I’m around. If you don’t wish to die, follow my orders obediently. If not, I will make sure you suffer.”

Huo Jinkai clenched his teeth in distaste and glared at Da, who was staring before him. Although he did not wish to comply, he was pretty much helpless to resist.

After all, he had no way of knowing whether or not that the bunch of kidnappers would seriously harm him for resisting, whether now or later.

As he hesitated, another punch landed on him from behind.

“Quick, give me that phone number now.”

Given his options, Huo Jinkai decided to give Huo Mingguang’s phone number to Da. As he spoke the numbers aloud, he started to observe the surroundings he was trapped in surreptitiously, trying to find any possible escape routes they could take.

Most days, Huo Mingguang had his phone on him at all times. However, today for some reason, he was not picking up the call.

Da assumed this meant that Huo Jinkai had lied to him, and punched him viciously again.

“Stupid boy, are you playing me?”

Huo Jinkai was no doubt mature for his age, but he was still just 14. He could not help but cry out in pain, and the noise woke Huo Jinyao up.

Like Huo Jinkai, the moment Huo Jinyao came to, he knew at once that he had been kidnapped. He was greeted by the sight of Da hitting his older brother, Huo Jinkai.

“Stop that! Who are you? Stop that right now. How dare you hit him? You better stop it now.”

Huo JInyao was only two years younger than Huo Jinkai, and the two siblings had been close their whole lives.

As he watched his older brother get beaten, he could not help but cry out in indignation.

Even though his hands and legs were bound, it didn’t stop him from thrashing his body around. He’d been placed prone on the ground, and from that position, he’d managed to find a way to directly use his bound legs to kick Da.

Although he was small and weak, his kick was able to make contact with Da all the same. Da nearly lost his balance because of Huo Jinyao’s strike. He managed to regain his footing, and lashed out in anger, kicking Huo Jinyao’s little body back.

The blow hit Huo Jinyao with such force that he rolled over twice and only came to a halt after bumping into a table leg. His hip smacked against the corner of the table and he curled inwards in pain.

“You little devil. How dare you do that. Do you think I’m afraid to kill you? Let me remind you that the three of you are my hostages now. If you provoke me further, I will not hesitate to kill you both. I only need one of you alive for my plans.”

Da was a hardened killer to whom human lives were of little value. After delivering his threat, he turned to glance at Huo Jinkai and used his phone to rap forcefully on his forehead.

“Stupid boy, if you do not wish to die, you’d better get your father to send us the money. If not…”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it at Huo Jinkai’s head. “I don’t mind killing you if you would prefer it.”

Huo Jinkai and Huo Jinyao had not expected their kidnapper to have a gun. Seeing the weapon, Huo Jinkai and Huo Jinyao were both shocked and kept silent.

That was a gun in the room, an actual gun! Huo Jinyao was still smarting from the kick he had received from Da, as well as from his recent violent impact against the edge of the table.

His pain and injuries aside, he was feeling extremely worried and fearful. As he glanced at his sister, who was still lying bound on the floor, Huo Jinyao began to continuously grind his teeth in anxiety.

He did not worry that much for him or Huo Jinkai as they were old enough to handle themselves. However, his sister was a different matter. She was still so young…

With such a threat hanging over him, Huo Jinkai had no choice but to offer Old Master Huo’s phone number. Da swiftly keyed the numbers into his phone and made a phone call.

Huo Jinyao curled up into himself, resisting the pain, all the while thinking up ways in which he could escape.

Unlike his brother, he had always had a playful personality from a young age. He had developed a strong friendship with his uncle Zhang Yichen.

Zhang Yichen might have been a few years older than him, but despite their age gap, they had always had a good time together.

While Huo Jinkai had been learning how to manage the family business, Huo Jinyao had tagged along with his aunt to see the armed forces a few times. He believed that, as the family already had a capable successor in Huo Jinkai, he could live a life of relaxation.

When he was older, he would join the army. He would become a soldier just like two of his uncles had.

As Da held out the phone and instructed Huo Jinkai to make a call, Huo Jinyao continued to look around, taking in the surroundings.

He had role-played with Zhang Yichen in the army several times. He always loved hearing his uncle talk about how the soldiers carried out their missions.

Although only 12, he was a rather precocious and smart child. His mind was hard at work analyzing the situation he and his siblings had found themselves in.

Da had not hidden his identity, while the other three kidnappers had covered their faces. That meant that the other three kidnappers were afraid of the children identifying them.

However, Da was not afraid of identification. What could the lack of fear mean? It appeared that Da was either the leader of the group or the expendable man in this operation, an easy scapegoat.

According to what he had seen though, Da was the leader.

Da was not afraid of being identified. What could it mean? Although Huo Jinyao was young, he had picked up a lot during his time in the armed forces. He had a bad feeling in his gut.

This person was likely planning to kill them.

Even if he were to receive the money he had demanded, it was no guarantee their lives would be spared. As realization dawned, Huo Jinyao could no longer remain passive.

He glanced up at Huo Jinkai and found that his brother was already looking at him.

The 14-year-old was no less precocious and was thinking along the same lines as his younger brother.

Growing up together their whole lives, each brother could read the other well, and they both knew that they had reached the same conclusion. They had to come up with a plan. Now.

Huo Jinyao darted his eyes around quickly. He knew the lives of all the Huo children were at stake. If they were unlucky, they could lose everything today.

Da had been on the call for a while before he turned to the brothers.

Rather than hanging up immediately, he thrust the phone at Huo Jinkai. “Young man, your father wants to hear your voice. Speak up.”

Huo Jinkai was extremely reluctant to do so – he did not want to compel his parents to give the kidnappers their dirty money. Too slow to speak, he was punched yet again.

That cry of pain was easily transmitted straight into Huo Mingguang’s ears, who immediately panicked. He was, of course, at once willing to accede to the kidnapper’s terms.

However, Da’s demands for payment in cash were not easily met. Even though the Huo family was rich, they did not have that much cash in hand.

To fulfill the terms of the ransom, Huo Mingguang said he would need a few days to prepare and gather the cash.

Da who felt extremely cheered by this response, replied breezily, “Two days. I’ll give you two days to prepare the money. If I do not receive the payment within two days, I won’t be held responsible for our actions.”

“Two days is too short. Not to mention, tomorrow is Sunday. The banks will not be open on a Sunday. If you could be more flexible…”

“Three days then, that’s the most I can give you. If you complain further, I will kill one of your children right now to make my point.”

Da did not bother to say more and hung up.

After he ended the call, Liang, a lackey of his, spoke up in confusion, “Da, how could you give them three whole days? Aren’t you afraid that they’ll report this matter to the police?”

“Relax. They can’t find us. A search would be futile if they were given 30 days, let alone a mere three.”

Da spoke those words confidently because he had observed that warehouse for a long time.

It was the innermost warehouse and the oldest one as well. It had been slated for demolition long ago. Due to the construction of a new pier, it had been forgotten.

The warehouse was far from the inner city, and Rong city was truly sizeable – that meant it would be no mean feat for anyone to find them.

“Da, you are indeed a genius.” Wang Ming looked at Da in admiration. “Does this mean we’re going to be rich in a few days?”

“Of course.”

As Da spoke, he glanced at the two brothers, Huo Jinkai and Huo Jinyao.

Now, they just had to wait for the Huo family to deliver the money. His thoughts fixed upon future wealth, Da began to daydream and revel in his fantasies.

……

Liu Tongjia could never have imagined that her short rest in her room would lead to such disastrous consequences. She had taken a catnap only to wake up and realize that all three children had been kidnapped.

She had not anticipated being so incapable of suppressing her anxiety. As she went around begging people to help, she did not know that out of her three children, two had already left her forever.

The three days of apprehension were nothing short of hell on earth – as a mother, she cared the most about her children. Yet despite all her fears, she had not imagined that the passing of the three days would not end with the safe return of her children.

Two of them would come back chilled corpses.