“Hand the phone over,” said Xu Lan who was barely containing his anger.

Xiao Zhang handed the phone over gingerly, as though he was the one who made a mistake.

“Hello, Bai Wu. I’m Xu Lan.”

“Papa, Papa, is that really you? Sob… Papa, where did you go? I’m so scared. Where are you, Papa? Hiccup…”

It was normal for Bai Wu to choke and hiccup whenever he cried.

“I’m picking up your call in the police station now.” Xu Lan’s tone was not softened by Bai Wu’s gentle cries. If anything, he was even more displeased.

The fact that Bai Wu could make a call showed that he was not as helpless as he claimed to be.

“… Papa, I’m terrified. When are you coming back?” After noticing Xu Lan’s displeasure, Bai Wu sobbed harder as he asked.

“Go to bed. I’ll be home when I’m done,” said Xu Lan solemnly.

“No, Papa. I’m afraid and I want to be with you. I’m worried that I’ll not see you any more if I were to fall asleep now.” Bai Wu’s ability to travel across different spaces were not something that he had conscious control over.

“Bai Wu, how old are you now? Is there a phone in the room? Why didn’t you call my mobile number? Where are you now? I’m very busy and I want you to go to bed!”

Xu Lan rested his left hand in his pocket as he bombarded Bai Wu with questions that he could not answer.

“Papa…” Bai Wu uttered with a shivering voice.

“Go to bed now. You can either do that or watch TV,” Xu Lan replied emotionlessly.

Beep, beep, beep…

Bai Wu’s tears filled his eye sockets to the brim, threatening to fall anytime now. He bit on his lips as he tried to hold his tears back.

“What did Xiao Xu say?”

The landlord with a headful of white hair petted Bai Wu after noticing that he was stunted. To him, Bai Wu was a polite child who was as old as his grandson.

“Papa, he…” Bai Wu’s tears started to fall the moment he brought up Xu Lan’s name.

He could not comprehend the sudden change in attitude. He felt dispensable, the way he felt before he met Xu Lan.

He remembered taking a shower with his father. How was it possible that his father disappeared after he opened his eyes, to think that it was already late at night!

He wondered if his father saw him as a burden and decided not to see him anymore…

“Eh, don’t cry, don’t cry. Since Xiao Xu can’t make it back, are you all by yourself now?”

The landlord leaned on his walking stick as he wiped off Bai Wu’s tears. Not only was this child as young as his grandson, just as his grandson, he too was a clingy crybaby. Unfortunately, due to his schooling arrangement, his grandson had to stay with the father and he did not get to see his grandson very often.

“Child, why don’t you come sleep at mine if you’re scared?” said the landlord lovingly.

“…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person. You’re staying at my house now, no? I’m just worried that you can’t sleep alone. On top of that, you’re too young and it’s not safe for you to be alone.” The landlord offered an explanation after he noticed Bai Wu’s hesitation.

“… Thank you for the offer, but I don’t need to sleep,” Bai Wu said with his watery eyes and a forced smile.

He was worried that he would never see Xu Lan again if he were to fall asleep.

“Sure. Instead of sleeping, let’s watch some shows on TV.” The landlord had his walking stick in one hand and held Bai Wu’s hand in the other. Both of them walked into the house.

Back at the police station, Xu Lan hung up and stormed toward Hu Cheng.

“Why? Did the child get on your wrong side?” Earlier that day, he was still treating the child like a treasure; at night, it was a completely different situation altogether.

“Nothing important. Everyone, please focus on your tasks. Xiao Li and I shall head out now.”

Xu Lan kept his head low and his face covered from everyone’s line of vision. He spoke in a dejected tone and seemed to be frustrated.

“Alright, everyone, get back to your work,” Hu Cheng announced as he patted Xu Lan on his shoulder.

“Eh, what do you think happened to Sergeant Xu?” Xiao Li bumped against Zhu Jing with his shoulder and asked.

“How would I know? The child probably angered him one way or another. Since he can’t do anything about it, he had no choice but to let the child be.”

Zhu Jing shrugged to emphasized her lack of knowledge.

“If the child were to make his way here in the middle of the night, he might even run into trouble on his journey over.” As Xiao Li considered the possibilities, he felt uneasy.

“Are you both done with your idle chit-chat yet? If you are, please get back to work!” Xu Lan warned them angrily.

“…” Xiao Li and Zhu Jing kept their head low as they followed Xu Lan into the surveillance room, while Wu Wendi trailed behind them quietly.

Xu Lan acted the way he did because Bai Wu made a call under the pretense that he was under an emergency, causing unnecessary panic to everyone in the police station.

On the other hand, he believed that Bai Wu could easily transform his physique into that of a three-year-old, twelve-year-old, or even an eighteen-year-old. None of these would be a problem for him.

If he could get someone to make a call to the police station, he would have no problem of taking good care of himself.

Xu Lan steeled his heart and dispelled Xiao Li’s words out of his mind.

After all, a tough battle was waiting ahead!