Volume One Chapter One The Pitiful Child Bullied

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“You little wretch, did you steal the money from my room?”
In a small bungalow in Xiaoxigou, a woman grabbed a broom and struck a thin little girl hard, sending her sprawling onto the muddy ground.
In December, icy water mixed with dirt soaked through the girl’s flimsy clothes. Shivering, her teeth chattering, she tried to defend herself, “I… I didn’t…”
The girl was nothing but skin and bones, her hair dull and disheveled, an old wound on her forehead still beading with blood. Yet despite her gaunt face, one could see the delicate beauty of her features, especially her large, dark eyes, bright as the starry sky.
Zhao Guihua grew angrier at the sight of Tuantuan’s innocent eyes, as if the girl were accusing her of being some kind of monster.
Zhao Guihua snatched up a nearby stick and struck Tuantuan again, cursing, “Still talking back, are you? You little brat, I raised you, fed you, and you dare to steal my money? I’ll beat you to death!”
Soaked through by cold water, every blow was agony for Tuantuan’s frail body. At just three and a half years old, she didn’t even have the strength to resist.
When Zhao Guihua saw Tuantuan lying motionless in the mud, barely clinging to life, she finally stopped, panting heavily.
She could scold and beat her, but she couldn’t let her die.
Tuantuan was her cash cow. If she died, how would Zhao Guihua get her money?
Two years ago, a mysterious woman entrusted the one-and-a-half-year-old Tuantuan to Zhao Guihua and her husband, Gou Dashan, claiming she couldn’t raise her own daughter. She paid them every year to look after Tuantuan.
Every year, they were also required to give the woman a strand of Tuantuan’s hair, left at a designated spot—hair for money, every year. If the hair wasn’t Tuantuan’s, or if they tried any tricks, the money would have to be returned in full.
Blinded by greed, Zhao Guihua and Gou Dashan naturally agreed. Two hundred thousand yuan a year for doing nothing, and a convenient scapegoat for their tempers—life was good.
Zhao Guihua glared at the girl in the mud. “Acting at your age already. You’ll be no good when you grow up. Tell me now—where’s the money?”
Every inch of Tuantuan ached, but her feeble little voice was still stubborn. “I didn’t take it… it wasn’t me…”
She hadn’t taken it and refused to confess.
Zhao Guihua’s anger flared. She kicked Tuantuan hard. “Still denying it? Ever since we took you in, I’ve had nothing but bad luck. Now you steal my money? Go kneel at the door. You can get up when you’re ready to confess!”
Zhao Guihua’s poisonous glare bored into Tuantuan, forcing her to kneel.
The little girl struggled to her feet and knelt outside on the cold ground.
With a slam, Zhao Guihua shut the door. Tuantuan collapsed, icy cold seeping through her body, and she felt as though she might die at any moment.
If she died… maybe the pain would finally stop.
If she were never beaten or left hungry again, dying suddenly didn’t seem so bad…

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Tuantuan’s eyelids grew heavy, and slowly, she closed her eyes…
…
Meanwhile, in the Yang Group’s skyscraper in the capital, a young man in a baseball cap burst into an office in a rush.
“Big Brother, I’ve found our little sister!”
The man behind the desk looked up in shock, his cold gaze filled with disbelief. “Really, Third Brother? Are you sure?”
Yang Suiyi, his eyes red, nodded repeatedly and handed over a photo. “Look, Big Brother—it’s this little girl. Doesn’t she look like our sister? Doesn’t she have Mother’s features?”
Yang Chengze took the photo with trembling hands, his eyes turning red. The little girl in the picture looked strikingly like their late mother.
A fierce light shone beneath his sharp brows. “You found her based on that dream?”
“Yes, that dream.” Yang Suiyi nodded again, goosebumps rising all over.
A few days ago, Yang Chengze had dreamed of his sister suffering in a mountain village, clearly seeing the surroundings and even the village’s name—Xiaoxigou.
It felt as real as if he’d been there himself.
After waking, Yang Chengze told no one.
It was too much to believe, even for him—how could he expect anyone else to believe it?
But then, one after another, all four of his brothers had the same dream, even their youngest, the sixth brother, said he dreamed of their sister.
It was uncanny—one person dreaming was strange enough, but all six brothers having the same dream?
Was their missing sister reaching out to them in a dream?
But weren’t dreams only for the dead?
Their sister was alive—what could it mean?
At first, Yang Chengze hadn’t cared, but when his brothers shared their dreams, he started investigating.
When Yang Suiyi got news, he rushed to tell Yang Chengze, because…
Yang Chengze seized his keys, excitement in his every step. “Let’s go! Let’s bring our sister home!”
But Yang Suiyi said, “Second Brother already took the helicopter to Xiaoxigou. Fourth and Fifth went with him.”
He hadn’t caught up with them in time, so he could only come for his eldest brother.

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Yang Chengze: “!!”
“Finding our sister is so important—why didn’t you tell me right away?” Yang Chengze’s presence was so imposing that Yang Suiyi felt his breath catch.
Yang Suiyi, nearly in tears, complained, “Big Brother, how is this my fault? Second Brother got the news and just took off in the helicopter—he didn’t tell me until he was already in the air!”
Second Brother, with his pilot’s license, just did as he pleased, flying off on a whim.
As if having a pilot’s license made him special!
Anyone could learn to fly! Once they brought their sister home, he’d get his license too, and take her traveling the world whenever they wished!
If only Sixth Brother weren’t so little, it’d just be the three brothers left in the capital by now.
“Second Brother said, don’t tell the family yet—wait until we’re sure it’s really her. He’s afraid the news might worsen Father’s condition.”
Yang Chengze nodded, excitement shining in his eyes beneath his sharp brows. He quickened his pace, taking Yang Suiyi with him to Xiaoxigou to find their sister.
The Yang family had six sons, and the seventh child was a daughter. When she was born, the whole family was overjoyed. They celebrated for three days straight, eager for the whole world to know that the Yang family finally had a daughter!
Two years ago, the precious daughter vanished at just one and a half years old. Even with a hundred million yuan reward, there was no news.
For two years, the family never gave up searching, but nothing came of it.
Now, at last, there was hope—from a bizarre dream, no less. Their hearts were in their throats.
Why those dreams?
Was their sister in danger, reaching out to them in the only way she could?
If so, they couldn’t bear to imagine what she was suffering.
Go!
Bring their sister home, at once!
They could only hope—it wasn’t too late.