Chapter 5 - Li Xia, Find Her

That night, after the little guy picked at his dinner and washed up, Zhao JingShi squeezed into his son's small bed.

YuShi gave him an eye: "Dad, you have your own bed. Why do you still want to sleep in my bed?"

This brat...

"Are you afraid to sleep alone?"

"Hmm," he agreed. But 'If I wasn't worried for you, why would I squeeze in this small bed?' Zhao JingShi eyed his son,"Go to sleep."

The boy rolled around first. He rolled left and rolled right and finally ended up throwing his short legs on top of Zhao JingShi's. "Dad! When my mom finds us will she squeeze into my bed too?" He laughed, kicking his feet.

Zhao JingShi grunted. He cut eyes at his son. "Why would she squeeze into this small bed? Your mom will sleep with me."

YuShi made a face in protest. He blinked, eyes wide with innocent curiosity, "Why do you want to rob me of my mom?" He turned over on his stomach, putting distance between them. "Don't talk to me. I'm going to sleep."

His bad temper lasted for less than one minute. Then he turned his head towards Zhao JingShi and whispered, "Dad, when I wake up, do you think she will find me?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Looking into the child's hopeful gaze was hard but Zhao JingShi believed in teaching his son not to avoid hard things. He reached over and began rubbing the boy's back in a gentle but firm motion. In the past, it helped YuShi fall asleep. "Not tomorrow, maybe not the next day," he was truthful. "Wait a little. Dad will find your mother for you."

YuShi fell asleep dreaming of what his mom's arms felt like but Zhao JingShen stayed awake long after, waiting for news.

It was later in the night that the phone's soft ringtone disturbed him from sleep.

Groggily, he untangled himself from his child and hurriedly swiped across the screen. As he put the phone to his ear, he left the room quietly.

"What have you found?" He asked Feng Bo as he walked into his study. The room was dark save for city lights reflecting into the window wall beside a desk. He stood at the window, listening with veiled impatience.

"Li Xia was to graduate from her university soon," his assistant told him something he already knew. His hand clenched on the glass to help rein his impatience. "Except she ran away from home about two weeks ago."

His eyes closed. Tightly. "Why am I only hearing this now?" He paid a lot of people a lot of money to look after Li Xia.

"Sir," Feng Bo talked fast, "her family are keeping it quiet ... er.... likely to avoid drawing your attention. No one currently knows where she is."

He took a moment to absorb that. "No one knows where she is?" His voice descended to a cold growl. "Dare you repeat that?"

"We're looking for her now."

"She must have entered this country. Did you check the entry logs?"

"We're working on it but there hasn't been enough time yet to tell for sure."

Zhao JinShi didn't care how many people he had to rouse from their beds late at night to get the information he needed. "Find her." He shut the phone, unable to contain his emotions.

He braced his arms against the wall and stood there, watching the city lights and thinking. Only when the sky began to lighten did he return to keep his child company.

And so, in the morning, the little brat opened his eyes and blinked at him: "Dad, why do you look like a panda?"

Zhao JingShi: "...." Brat.