Chapter 48: The Twist

At that moment, Lin Xing couldn’t care about anything else. He stopped his training and ran straight to the communications office.

“This is Lin Xing.”

The moment he picked up the phone, he was met with the sound of his wife’s devastated sobbing on the other end.

“Lin Xing, what do I do? Guoguo is missing, she’s gone…”

Lin Xing’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly asked, “How did she go missing?”

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

Very quickly, through his wife’s tearful and choked account, Lin Xing got a rough idea of the situation.

And in that instant, even Lin Xing—who had always been a tough man, who bled but never cried on the battlefield—felt his eyes redden.

“Ah Wan, you’ve run into child traffickers,” Lin Xing forced himself to say, voicing his grim conclusion.

He understood now. His wife had encountered traffickers, and there was a high chance that Guoguo had been taken by that pair of fake elderly “grandparents.”

Lin Xing was filled with regret. He knew his wife was naïve and inexperienced with the ways of the world. How could he have felt at ease letting her take Guoguo on the train alone just because he was busy?

Lin Xing came from a rural family, the second child, never favored by his parents or brothers.

So, he left that disappointing home early and joined the army.

His wife, Zhang Shuwan, had come into his life when he’d managed to return home for a rare visit. His parents had wanted him to marry the daughter of a textile factory director in exchange for two job positions for his brothers. He refused, and it was an elderly neighbor who introduced him to Ah Wan.

Ah Wan was a city girl, the only daughter of her parents, who doted on her dearly.

When it came time for Ah Wan to consider marriage, her parents had only one requirement: that her husband treat her well.

Before meeting Lin Xing, Ah Wan had met plenty of suitors, but none were suitable.

When Lin Xing appeared, her parents were very satisfied with him, and he and Ah Wan quickly took a liking to each other.

So, they married soon after.

But unexpectedly, just a year after their marriage, her parents died in a factory accident. Ah Wan became a martyr’s child, but also an orphan.

At that time, many of the Zhang family relatives wanted to seize her parents’ assets. Even Lin Xing’s own parents and siblings had similar thoughts.

It was Lin Xing who, with tough measures, protected her.

That was also the time when Lin Xing’s decisiveness and even ruthlessness made others give up any further schemes.

Lin Xing knew his wife was pure-hearted, so he had to protect her well.

Now, they had been married for seven years.

But they only had Guoguo, their one and only daughter. No matter how hard they tried, they hadn’t been able to have another child.

Both Lin Xing and his wife cherished Guoguo like a precious jewel.

Previously, Ah Wan and Guoguo had been living with him on base.

But a few months ago, he was transferred to the Northwest Military District. Since he hadn’t settled in yet, his wife and daughter stayed behind.

Now that he’d established himself, he finally dared to let them come join him.

Originally, he’d planned to take leave and personally pick them up from their hometown.

But he couldn’t get leave, and training was intense.

When Ah Wan said she could take Guoguo on the train herself, Lin Xing hesitated, but eventually agreed.

Now, Lin Xing wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

He knew his wife’s personality—how could he have let her travel alone with Guoguo?

It was his fault. He’d been careless.

On the other end of the line, after confirming that Guoguo had indeed been abducted, Zhang Shuwan froze for a moment, then broke down in tears.

She thought, it was her fault Guoguo was lost. If Guoguo couldn’t be found, she would go with her.

At this point, Lin Xing couldn’t care about training anymore. He knew how urgent it was to find someone quickly. After comforting his wife as best he could, he hung up, quickly asked his superiors for leave, and prepared to leave the base to search for his daughter.

But just as he was about to drive out of the base, he heard a young soldier shouting behind him, “Captain Lin! Captain Lin! Your daughter’s been found!”

Found?!

Lin Xing practically leapt out of the car, grabbing the young soldier’s arm and questioning him. Under the soldier’s guidance, he rushed back to the communications office and received a call from Sheng Zexi.

Lin Xing knew who Sheng Zexi was—a legendary soldier in the Northwest Military District.

Not long ago, Sheng had filed a marriage report, brought his wife to join him, and applied for housing. Lin Xing knew this because he’d applied for housing too.

Their apartments were right next to each other—neighbors.

On the phone, Sheng Zexi explained that he and his wife were on the same train, and his wife had noticed something off about an elderly couple, smelled medicine on the child, and suspected they were traffickers.

In the end, he worked with the train staff to catch the traffickers.

And rescued the child.

“That little girl named Guoguo, about four years old, looks a lot like you. Is she your daughter?”

“Yes, yes, that’s my Guoguo…” Lin Xing was so emotional he nearly cried. He quickly explained that his wife had just called to say their daughter had been kidnapped.

“Guoguo is with me. My wife and I will bring her to the base. We should arrive tomorrow,” Sheng Zexi said.

“Thank you, Captain Sheng, thank you so much to you and your wife.” Lin Xing was never good with words, and all he could say was thank you.

But he knew this was a life-saving favor from Captain Sheng and his wife. He would definitely repay this debt.

Knowing Guoguo was safe, Lin Xing finally felt at ease. He immediately called his wife to tell her the good news.

He told her not to wait there anymore, but to come straight to the base.

Upon hearing that Guoguo had been saved, Zhang Shuwan burst into tears of joy, filled with gratitude for Sheng Zexi and his wife, whom she hadn’t even met yet.

Remembering her husband said their apartments were connected and they’d be neighbors, Zhang Shuwan resolved not only to thank Captain Sheng and his wife, but also to get to know Sheng’s wife better.

After confirming everything by phone, Sheng Zexi returned to the train and told Gu Jianing the news.

Gu Jianing hadn’t expected that the little girl they’d saved was actually their neighbor’s child—what a twist of fate.

Soon, the train started moving again.

As it headed northwest, the temperature dropped rapidly. Sheng Zexi hurried to help Gu Jianing into a thicker coat, worried she’d get cold.

That afternoon, Gu Jianing happened to glance up and saw white snowflakes drifting past the window.

“It’s snowing,” she said, gazing out at the swirling snow.

Sheng Zexi sat beside her, looking out as well.

“Mm, when we get to the base, the snow will be even thicker.”

Before long, the heavy snow would seal off the mountains. At that time, it would be nearly impossible to travel or hunt, and even transporting supplies would be difficult.

Whenever the base’s supply store got any goods, they’d be snapped up immediately.

Meat was especially rare.

Sheng Zexi felt grateful that the Gu family had prepared so many supplies and food for Ningning.

With all that, getting through the two months of snowed-in winter shouldn’t be a problem."