Chapter 88
For the past few days, although Jian Yunlan’s roast duck had reached near perfection in terms of culinary skill, he had always felt one regret.
The quality of the ducks wasn’t good enough!
As a child, he could only go grocery shopping with his father, Ye Qingquan, and the selection was limited to a few vendors in the market. Most of the ducks sold there came from large-scale farms. Even though he picked the best ones available every day, they still weren’t as good as truly premium ducks.
What if that abandoned duck farm really had high-quality ducks?
Novels always said that the most legendary ingredients were found in remote, uninhabited places.
So, on the way to the abandoned duck farm, the little boy didn’t struggle at all.
He folded his hands across his chest, his eyes sparkling as he stared at the kidnapper. His chubby, snow-white cheeks were adorned with an innocent smile. Every so often, he would glance at the kidnapper, his gaze filled with excitement.
…As if the kidnapper wasn’t a threat but his personal savior.
The kidnapper felt chills down his spine under that gaze.
In all his years of kidnapping, this was the first time he’d ever been stared at like this by his target. It made him deeply uncomfortable.
He was starting to wonder—who was the real predator here?
Finally, when they arrived at the duck farm, the kidnapper couldn’t hold back anymore. He yanked the gag out of the boy’s mouth and snapped angrily, “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you staring at me like that?!”
“Just say what you want already!”
The kidnapper expected the usual questions—”Where are my parents?” “Are you going to hurt me?” “Please let me go, my family has money, they can pay you!”
However…
The little boy kept looking at him with those sparkling eyes.
Then, in a soft, sticky voice, the boy asked: “Uncle, how big are the ducks? How much do they weigh? What breed are they—Beijing duck or Sansui duck? Do they have thick fat? How’s the condition of their feathers?”
Kidnapper: “Give up. There’s no way I’m letting you go—wait, what???”
The kidnapper stared at the boy.
The boy stared at the kidnapper.
The boy blinked once. Twice. Three times.
His large, watery eyes were filled with curiosity, thirst for knowledge… and a hint of unsettling excitement.
The kidnapper suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body.
He rubbed his arms, shivered, and finally lost his patience. Without another word, he picked the little boy up and tossed him into a nearby warehouse—like he was getting rid of a scorching hot potato.
With a loud slam, the door shut.
From inside, the little boy wasn’t discouraged at all. He pressed up against the door, his big eyes peeking through the cracks. His gaze—deep, almost blue-black in color—was eerily intense, as if he had stepped straight out of a horror movie.
In a soft, coaxing voice, he said:
“Uncle, don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you~ I just want to see the ducks. Let me see them, okay? I promise I’ll only look! Really!”
Kidnapper: “…”
Under that unwavering stare, the kidnapper shivered violently.
A moment later, the warehouse door was yanked open once again.
“Quack! Quack quack quack!!!”
A duck was suddenly thrown through the gap in the door, flapping in panic.
“Here’s your damn duck! Now can you finally shut up?!” The kidnapper panted heavily, his voice filled with both anger and fear. “Stop staring at me like that! If you keep looking at me, I swear I’ll—”
Finally, the warehouse fell silent.
“Thank you, Uncle,” a sweet voice replied.
Only then did the kidnapper breathe a sigh of relief.
…Wait, breathe a sigh of relief?
Who was the real hostage here?! The kidnapper wiped his face in despair, feeling utterly defeated.
*
Inside the warehouse.
Hugging the loudly quacking duck, Jian Yunlan was beyond excited.
The duck was huge—almost bigger than him. It shrank fearfully into the corner, flapping its wings in distress.
—Its feathers were pure white with a faint milky-yellow sheen. Since it had spent a lot of time running around in the wild, its webbed feet and feathers were slightly dirty. But its body was plump and well-proportioned—the kind of duck with the richest fat content. Roasted, it would turn out perfectly succulent, crispy but not greasy, with tender meat…
Most importantly—
The Godly Chef’s Eye unhesitatingly displayed a label next to the duck:
[Premium Beijing Duck (2-star): Wuhu, Lanlan really hit the jackpot this time! A high-quality, fat-rich Beijing duck of this breed is extremely rare! Today, Lanlan is truly blessed by the koi god! With Lanlan’s top-tier cooking skills and this top-tier duck, won’t his diners be completely enchanted?]
Jian Yunlan pressed his ear against the door, listening to the sounds outside. He could hear the calls of many ducks.
Such high-quality ducks… and there was an entire flock outside.
A rough estimate—at least fifty of them.
Jackpot!
The little boy excitedly examined the duck, flipping it around to inspect it from every angle, nearly unable to resist giving it a big kiss.
On the other side of the warehouse, Huo Yan, whose hands were tied, watched this bizarre scene unfold and instinctively shrank back, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
This person seemed really strange.
Better not get involved with him!
After all, he was the young master of the prestigious Huo family. His uncle had always told him that he was different from ordinary children—he absolutely couldn’t associate with some random weird kid.
But… being left alone in this warehouse, the loneliness and fear of being kidnapped got the better of him. He couldn’t help but speak up.
“Hey, you—you got kidnapped too? How much ransom is he asking from your family?”
Jian Yunlan paused in his duck-petting.
He looked up at Huo Yan and only then realized—there was actually another person in the warehouse. “Uh… I guess you could say that.”
Technically, he had voluntarily followed along, but the explanation was a bit complicated.
Hearing this, Huo Yan let out a small sigh of relief. Then, lifting his chin slightly with a touch of pride, he said, “I… I got kidnapped too, but I’m the grandson of the Huo family. Someone will definitely come looking for me soon and rescue us. Don’t be scared.”
He deliberately emphasized the words Huo family, fully expecting the other boy to be impressed.
However—
Jian Yunlan simply raised an eyebrow.
Huo family?
Never heard of it.
Was he supposed to say something admiring now?
After a moment of silence, Jian Yunlan wracked his brain and finally squeezed out:
“Oh, okay. That’s impressive. You… sure picked a good family to be born into.”
Wait, was that the right thing to say?
“Is the Huo family… the martial arts one? Like Huo Yuanjia…?”
Huo Yan: “……”
This was the greatest humiliation of his life!
His small face flushed red—partly from anger, partly from embarrassment. His entire body trembled with frustration.
If today was Jian Yunlan’s lucky day, then for Huo Yan, it was undoubtedly his worst day ever.
First, he had been craving roast duck for ages, but by the time his uncle finally took him to the stall, it was already sold out.
Then, when he begged his uncle to call his grandmother, hoping she would use her connections to get him a duck, she flatly refused. That was bad enough…
But the absolute worst thing had happened just half an hour ago.
He had thought—It’s just a roast duck, right? If no one will help me, I’ll go buy it myself!
So, he had slipped away from his uncle’s side and just as he found the roast duck stall—
A huge hand had suddenly covered his mouth from behind.
And just like that, he had been kidnapped and dragged off to this godforsaken place.
To top it all off—
The young master of the Huo family… had been pecked on the butt by a duck.
And now, the only other kidnapped person he had encountered was this weird boy, who was hugging a duck like it was a treasure and had the audacity to not recognize the Huo family!
The more Huo Yan thought about it, the more wronged he felt.
All the pent-up frustration, humiliation, and fear swirled together, and before long, his big eyes welled up with tears.
But he clenched his little fists tightly and refused to let them fall.
“Hey—don’t cry…”
Jian Yunlan hadn’t expected that one simple sentence would actually make the kid cry.
For a moment, he had no idea what to do. After all, in all his years of life, he had zero experience comforting children.
And technically, he was still a kid himself.
After thinking hard for a long while, Jian Yunlan finally came up with something.
“Don’t cry. Tomorrow… tomorrow, come to my roast duck stall—it’s right across from Zhu Yuan. I’ll give you a roast duck for free. How about that?”
Only after speaking did Jian Yunlan realize—his roast duck stall wasn’t exactly famous. The kid might not have even heard of it.
However, in the very next second—
Huo Yan’s head snapped up to look at Jian Yunlan.
…His entire miserable day had all started because he hadn’t been able to eat that roast duck.
And now, out of nowhere, salvation had arrived, falling right into his lap?!
He stared at Jian Yunlan. The Huo family’s young master, who was used to looking down on others, now had eyes full of hope. Half-doubtful, half-expectant, he asked, “My god, you—you’re the roast duck stall owner? For real? You’re really going to give me a free roast duck?!”
Jian Yunlan nodded. “Yeah, really.”
Huo Yan hesitated for a moment.
“…Alright, I believe you.”
Finally, his tears stopped.
But then, as if remembering something, the anticipation on his face faded. “But… we don’t even know if we’ll make it out of here alive. We’re still in the hands of the kidnappers… They might kill us…”
Fear was evident in Huo Yan’s wide eyes. “And… and he has—”
Jian Yunlan was just about to say something when—
Boom!
The warehouse door was kicked open.
The kidnapper, no longer the frightened man from earlier, now stood smugly at the entrance.
Holding a phone in his right hand, he spoke into the microphone, “Mr. Huo, your biological son is in my hands. If you want him alive, bring ten million in cash to this location immediately. No cops.”
Huo Yan’s fear peaked.
He glanced around helplessly, his face turning deathly pale.
Because…
In the kidnapper’s other hand was a gun.
And at this very moment, that gun was aimed directly at Jian Yunlan’s forehead.
The kidnapper’s lips curled into a sinister smirk.
—He had sensed it earlier. This little boy definitely had something up his sleeve.
But so what?
At a distance greater than ten steps, a gun was faster.
Within ten steps, a gun was both faster and deadlier.
“Mr. Huo, think carefully,” the kidnapper rasped. “Your next words will decide whether your son lives or dies.”
Silence from the other end of the line.
*
At the top floor of the Huo Corporation, slender fingers tapped the desk twice.
What kind of new scam was this?
Huo Ye paused, frowning. “Son? I don’t have a son.”
He gazed out at the city lights beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, momentarily dazed.
A son…
A memory surfaced.
So will Taotie appear and beat off the kidnapper or Jian Yunlan just decides to startle the fifty ducks into flying into the kidnapper’s face?