Chapter 319: Chapter 312: Exposure (Part 1) Chapter 319: Chapter 312: Exposure (Part 1) Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya ran over there with Hou Junyi, with Da Mi following closely beside Fang Mengmeng, and Young Master Xiao walking behind them, while Zheng Tan was at the very end.

Just now, because of the conversation between Young Master Xiao and Fang Mengmeng and the others, an unpleasant feeling surged up in Zheng Tan, startling him. He turned around without paying attention and knocked a crystal glass to the floor. Before Zheng Tan could think about how to deal with it, Mao Dou started barking over there.

In order to better observe Young Master Xiao and prevent him from suddenly doing something threatening, Zheng Tan walked at the back, keeping an eye on Young Master Xiao. During the conversation, Young Master Xiao had said that he was the only one in the house, so the most threatening person should undoubtedly be Young Master Xiao. What Zheng Tan needed to do now was to keep an eye on this person.

Fortunately, Young Master Xiao did not seem to take Zheng Tan seriously and was only watching the three kids running ahead.

When Zheng Tan arrived, he saw Mao Dou at one end of the first-floor corridor. At the end of the corridor was a closed door, which probably led to a workshop. Next to that door was a metal shelf for placing objects, positioned against the corner. At the moment, Mao Dou was barking in front of the shelf, as if something was hidden underneath, occasionally scratching with its paws.

Zheng Tan kept an eye on Young Master Xiao’s expression. After seeing Mao Dou’s situation, Young Master Xiao’s gaze flickered, and he rubbed his thumb and index finger together, then stuffed his hand into the pocket of his sport jacket.

Seeing this, Zheng Tan felt a chill in his heart. He was afraid that there might be some sort of offensive knife or similar weapon in the jacket pocket.

“Mao Dou!”

Hou Junyi ran over, intending to pick up Mao Dou, but Mao Dou was very persistent about the space under the shelf. When Hou Junyi tried to pick him up, Mao Dou struggled a few times and bumped against the shelf, making a loud noise.

“Ah! A rat!” Chu Laiya exclaimed.

A rat about ten centimeters long ran out from under the shelf. As Chu Laiya screamed, it quickly scurried past her feet and disappeared near the living room where they had been sitting, obviously finding another hiding place.

“Nosy as a dog catching a mouse!” Chu Laiya patted her chest, still startled from when the rat ran past her feet.

As for Mao Dou, they all knew that Hou Junyi’s Mao Dou liked to catch mice, having caught three rats within a year, which is why Hou Junyi once boasted that his Mao Dou was worth several cats of other families. However, the day after Hou Junyi boasted, Da Mi caught five big rats and laid them out at Hou Junyi’s doorstep, which gave Hou Junyi’s mother a fright.

“So it was just a rat.” Fang Mengmeng let go of her worry and apologized to Young Master Xiao. She had said she would watch the pets to prevent them from causing trouble, but troubles kept happening one after another.

“It’s alright,” Young Master Xiao said with a smile. His right hand that he had put into his pocket did not come out.

“Hey, monkey, what are you still standing there for?!” Fang Mengmeng urged.

Hou Junyi, holding Mao Dou beside the shelf, stood there as if he had become dumbstruck. After hearing Fang Mengmeng’s words, Hou Junyi’s body trembled, and then he slowly turned around. Strangely enough, as Hou Junyi turned with Mao Dou in his arms, his complexion looked somewhat pale, as if scared stiff.

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t be scared. Although Mao Dou is mischievous, Young Master Xiao won’t blame you. Look, even Heitan breaking things didn’t get a comment,” Chu Laiya consoled.

Hou Junyi took a quick glance at Young Master Xiao, who was still smiling, opened his mouth as if to explain something, then closed it, hesitated, and then said, “I want to go home!”

Chu Laiya glanced at her watch. Actually, it was not too bad, not yet nine o’clock. They usually discussed models until 9:30 before going home. She wanted to stay at her idol’s place a bit longer, such a rare opportunity.

Young Master Xiao laughed. He had already known about the three children’s schedule during the chat just now, and besides, they had not informed their families before coming.

“It’s still ten minutes to nine now. How about this, since you came all the way here, I’ll give you a signed DVD,” Young Master Xiao said.

Chu Laiya and Fang Mengmeng’s eyes lit up. “Is it the award-winning one from this year? In HD?”

“Do you still have DVDs of the movies you acted in before? We can buy them! I brought money,” Fang Mengmeng said. “If the money isn’t enough, can I pay by card?”

“No need, consider it a gift from me. Oh, those are all upstairs. I’ll take you up to have a look, and you can pick whichever you want,” Young Master Xiao said.

“Great~”
Watching Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya follow Young Master Xiao upstairs with expectant faces, Hou Junyi hesitated for a moment, put down Mao Dou, and quickly followed. He was uneasy about his two companions. As he went up the stairs, Hou Junyi took out his phone from his pocket, intending to call home. However, upon taking out his phone, he found that the screen showed no signal at all.

Zheng Tan followed Young Master Xiao upstairs, and was also waiting for Hou Junyi behind, so when Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya entered the room Young Master Xiao mentioned, which contained the collection of DVDs and posters, Zheng Tan didn’t go in and waited in the hallway of the second floor near the room door for Hou Junyi.

When Hou Junyi ran up to the second floor frantically calling for Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya, Zheng Tan heard a bang and turned his head to see that the door of the room they had just entered had been shut, and Young Master Xiao was standing at the door, watching Hou Junyi rushing upstairs.

“What… what are you trying to do?!” Hou Junyi asked, looking at the closed door.

Young Master Xiao stood there with an indifferent expression on his face, looking at Hou Junyi and said, “Can you tell me what you just found out, smart little classmate?”

“Let us go home! If we can’t get home by 9:30, you’ll be in trouble,” Hou Junyi said.

This was the truth. Generally, if the three children were not home by 9:30, the parents from the three families would call each other to inquire.

Young Master Xiao’s face grew cold, “So, little friend, you’d better behave and listen!”

Young Master Xiao walked toward Hou Junyi. He had not expected these three children to come over today, and to insistently keep ringing the doorbell. Before opening the door, he had seen the three of them outside through the security camera and peephole. As for the three pets, perhaps because of the angle, he had not noticed them until the door was opened. He had always thought that children were easy to fool; as long as he guarded against the dog discovering something, it would be fine. But unexpectedly, the boy surnamed Hou seemed to know a lot, and it appeared he had found out something.

That’s why sometimes, the more you know, the more danger you’re in.

Seeing Young Master Xiao approaching him, Hou Junyi threw his phone at him with all his might and, without seeing if it had hit the target, turned and ran downstairs. Mao Dou, not knowing what was happening, followed Hou Junyi down.

Young Master Xiao, who had sidestepped to avoid the incoming cellphone, also chased after them.

Zheng Tan put his ear to the door and listened carefully to the sounds of Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya locked inside the room. They seemed to still be energetic, and for the time being, there should be no safety issue. He then followed them downstairs, not knowing what exactly Hou Junyi had discovered that made Young Master Xiao expose himself directly.

The hesitation Young Master Xiao showed when they first entered, furrowing his brows with a troubled look, was probably an act for the three children, aimed at making them voluntarily promise to take good care of the three pets that came in with them.

Why did this person not want to encounter dogs and cats? Could it be that he was afraid that something incriminating would be detected by the pets with their keen sense of smell?

Fang Mengmeng and Chu Laiya locked in the room also realized something was wrong. They couldn’t open the door, and the only high and small window was firmly closed. The glass was too hard to break, and they didn’t know what material it was made of. What was originally a transparent window now looked like it was covered by a thick layer of dense fog. This was the light-adjusting glass Hou Junyi had spoken of that could both become transparent and prevent sight.

The most infuriating part for the two was that all the lights in the room had also been turned off. Fang Mengmeng had wanted to try using the light switch to send an SOS signal, which her father had taught her, but it now seemed useless.

Their bags were still in the living room on the first floor, and they hadn’t brought their phones. The only useful thing they had was a keychain Fang Mengmeng carried with her at all times, which had a mini flashlight the size of a pen cap on it. Use this to signal SOS? It seemed difficult, and the effect would definitely not be good.

Realizing that they couldn’t break the window, Fang Mengmeng decided to change tactics. After searching with the mini flashlight, she focused on the louvered vent on the wall. However, it seemed too small. Even if they smashed through the vent, they weren’t sure they could squeeze through, nor did they know where it led.

After all, they were just two children. Although they were very scared and couldn’t come up with any good ideas at the moment, they were much better than other children who could only cry and shout.

Chu Laiya, while smashing the vent with Fang Mengmeng, kept shouting “Help!” But, it was doubtful whether anyone outside the room could hear their calls. The soundproofing was already excellent, and now, the world’s famous classical music playing outside the room was not very loud, but just enough to cover the faint cries emanating from inside the room.

Meanwhile, Hou Junyi, who had run downstairs wanting to quickly go out and call for help to rescue his two friends, found out that neither the windows nor the front door could be opened anymore. The large floor-to-ceiling windows were all tightly closed, becoming blurred and isolating the inside from the outside.

Hou Junyi then rushed to the living room, hoping to find something that might help. But because he was so scared and in such a hurry, he didn’t notice there was a step from the front door toward the living room, and he stumbled and fell. Turning his head, he saw Young Master Xiao, holding a golf club, was less than three meters away from him.

The pupils constricted, and the intelligent brain went blank.

Young Master Xiao needed just two more steps forward to grab the troublesome boy, but at that moment, he suddenly felt someone pulling his clothes hard and flinging him aside from behind.

It was so sudden that Young Master Xiao could not have anticipated someone being behind him—all his attention was on Hou Junyi and the dog on the ground, with no guard up against his rear.

Bam!

Young Master Xiao hit the wall beside him, his head also striking it. As he tried to turn around to see who it was, he only caught a glimpse of a shadow flashing through his peripheral vision. The next moment, another powerful force struck his waist.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to support it by casting your recommendation votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep