Startled White Lotus (Seeking Collection)

  "It's not that serious, I have something on right now," said Di Yu.

  "It's serious, of course. A few years ago, Fourth Uncle's son, Di Lin, didn't come home for dinner on Wednesday evening. The old master made Fourth Uncle kneel in the living room all night, saying he was incompetent as a father and that from then on, whoever was late would have to kneel for as long as they were late. I'm afraid when the time comes, the old master will make Father punish him by kneeling." Di Yun said rapidly.

  "Alright, I know," Di Yu said and hung up the phone. No matter how rushed he was, he had to send Ma Hao back home first.

  "Di Yu, is there something wrong? If not, I'll call a taxi and go back myself—" "No need, nothing's wrong." Di Yu interrupted Ma Hao's words. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Ma Hao's home.

  As soon as the doorbell rang, the door opened quickly, and the one who opened the door was a woman who shocked Di Yu to the extreme!

  The woman had a head of beautiful black hair and phoenix-like eyes that were very spirited, but her complexion was somewhat pale.

  "Xiao Hao, are you hurt? How did it end up like this?"

  The woman may have been too worried about Ma Hao's body and completely ignored Di Yu, who sent him back, nor did she see Di Yu's dazed eyes.

  Di Yu gazed at the woman's back as she entered the door and murmured: "Little fairy..."

  He could never forget the remaining six brothers and sisters who had been tempered by mutual killing among a thousand people, Xiaoxian was one of them, with the code name Chongtian Cannon, but unlike him, she died because Di Yu accidentally replaced him to block a bullet in a mission.

  Due to his one and only negligence, Di Yu lost the woman he loved.

  She was seventeen years old that year.

  And the woman in front of her, apart from being more mature than Little Fairy and having a slightly plumper figure, was astonishingly similar to Little Fairy.

  "Auntie, I'm fine!" Ma Hao struggled free from the woman and said to her while looking at Di Yu who was still standing stupidly outside the door: "My friend is still outside, he's the one who saved me."

  "It's all right, I'm just glad nothing happened. Those kidnappers called me and asked for ransom, telling me to wait for further instructions. I was so worried! The woman's face turned red with relief as she patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief. When she saw Di Yu outside the door, she quickly turned around and pulled him in, apologizing: "I'm really sorry, thank you for saving our little Hao."

  "Little aunt, you entertain him first, his name is Di Yu, he's my good brother, I'll go back to my room to apply some medicine. Di Yu, come in and sit down!" Ma Hao said after finishing speaking, then went back to his own room, leaving only Di Yu and his little aunt in the living room.

  "Mr. Di, please sit down. I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Bai He, and I'm Ma Hao's aunt." Although the woman noticed that Di Yu looked at her with some embarrassment, she still asked him to sit down calmly, and seeing that Ma Hao was able to walk and jump around, she didn't have the same worries as before.

  "Oh, Miss Bai, hello." Di Yu quickly reacted.

  "What would you like to drink, Mr. Di? I'll go get it for you." Bai He smiled politely and said.

  "Pincer Shanghai Strength." Di Yu almost subconsciously said, but regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. Every time he was with Xiaoxia and she asked him what to drink, this was always his answer. Before sending Ma Hao back home, he had planned to send Ma Hao back and then head home himself, but upon seeing Bai He, it seemed like his brain had become a complete blank.

  Bai He was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "It seems that Mr. Di often goes to bars to drink, Scotch on the rocks, wait a minute, I'll go get it for you."

  Soon, Bai He brought a bottle of black-labeled whiskey with English lettering, which was the Scottish vodka that Di Yu had just mentioned, a high-concentration liquor.

  Bai He personally poured a cup for Di Yu, smiling and saying: "Mr. Di's hobby is quite special, if I wasn't running a bar myself, it would be hard to find this kind of wine at the moment."

  "Are you opening a bar? Oh right, I think Xiao Bai - Ma Hao mentioned it to me, but I forgot." Di Yu looked at her curiously.

  "Oh, really? Mr. Di and our Xiao Hao are...?" asked Bai He.

  "I'm in the same dorm as Ma Hao." Di Yu looked at the glass filled with Scotch whisky, and he could clearly see his own reflection. However, in his eyes, there was another blurry figure in the glass that resembled Bai He's appearance.

  "Are you and Xiao Hao classmates?" Bai He looked at Di Yu's empty and expressionless eyes with a mixture of surprise and doubt. Earlier, Ma Hao had hastily introduced Di Yu as the one who rescued him from his kidnappers, so she thought Di Yu was someone from society, and although he wore black-framed glasses, he didn't look like a student at all.

  This is also the case with Bai He, who was mainly responsible for taking care of her sister's son, Ma Hao. Today, a phone call from a kidnapper scared her half to death. Her sister passed away when Ma Hao was only in his early teens, and over the years, Ma Hao and she relied on each other, going through many hardships together. In order to take care of her sister's son, she had exhausted her youth, but she had no regrets because Ma Hao is her sister's only remaining family member at this time.

  She was worried that Ma Hao had gotten involved with some unsavory people outside.

  Adding to this, Di Yu had been acting strangely since he saw her, which couldn't help but make Bai He doubt.

  "Can you keep me company for a drink?" Di Yu suddenly said to Bai He.

  "I?" Bai He hesitated for a moment, but couldn't refuse either. The bottle on the table was indeed very strong liquor, but she ran a bar and could hold her own, so she agreed to Di Yu's request and poured another glass to drink with him.

  "Miss Bai, may I ask you a question?" Di Yu looked into Bai He's eyes, which were too similar.

  "Please speak, Mr. Di." Bai He put down his cup, but avoided Di Yu's gaze.

  "Do you have a sister? I mean, a real sister!" Di Yu suspected that Xiao Xiannv might be Bai He's sister, as the two looked incredibly alike. Like him, Xiao Xiannv was one of the children brought back from all over the world by their organization's former leader, and she had no idea what her family or relatives were like.

  "I didn't expect Di Yu to ask such a question, Bai He was unprepared, but still shook his head and replied: 'Why would Mr. Di ask such a question? I don't have a sister, only an older sister.'"

  "Oh." Hearing this answer, Di Yu showed a hint of disappointment. The little fairy was already gone. If he could find her lost relatives for her, it would be a comfort to the little fairy's spirit in heaven. Unfortunately, Bai He probably just looked like her and nothing more.

  Finally discovering his own loss of composure, Di Yu forced a smile and said: "Sorry, because you look too much like one of my friends."

  "Hehe, no big deal, people can look similar after all. No wonder Mr. Di was a bit dazed earlier, it turns out that's the reason." Bai He didn't think that Di Yu saying she looked like someone else was just a trick to get her talking, because Di Yu's actions earlier were truly spaced out and not fake.

  Perhaps it was because Ma Hao didn't make it clear from the start that Di Yu was his classmate, and Bai He subconsciously didn't treat him as Ma Hao's classmate either, always addressing him as Mr. Di.

  "Mr. Di, can you tell me what exactly happened? Why would someone kidnap Xiao Hao?" Bai He was still worried, although Ma Hao had returned safely this time, there was no guarantee that the same thing wouldn't happen again in the future, she asked with concern.

  Di Yu returned to normal and said: "I'm not very clear about this matter, but it's likely that Martin is more possible."

  Today, the people he and Ma Hao offended are only Dillin and Martin. Using this little rascal to deal with Ma Hao and himself, it is more likely that Martin is behind it.

  In fact, his guess was not wrong at all. Martin deliberately came to pick up Dillin from Country M today and originally wanted to please him to make a big deal, but it was ruined by Diyu and others.

  "Martin?!" Bai He's heart skipped a beat, she of course knew Martin, Ma Tianxiong's other son, and stood up anxiously, clasping her hands together, worriedly saying: "Why did Martin kidnap Xiao Hao, is he afraid that Xiao Hao will return to the Ma family and fight with him over property? No, that can't be right, Ma Tianxiong never intended to acknowledge Xiao Hao in the first place, how could it be like this?"

  If you haven't seen what it's like to be an ant on a hot pot, Bai He is now in that state. Her calm mood just turned into extreme worry. The Ma family is wealthy and powerful, if Ma Ding really sets his mind to deal with Ma Hao, what can she do?

  "Miss Bai, Miss Bai!" Di Yu shouted twice, but Bai He seemed to have not heard him, still looking anxious. Di Yu didn't know that Bai He had been raising Ma Haoruo with great care and caution over the years, as if walking on thin ice. Seeing that Bai He's mind was elsewhere, he stepped forward and pressed down on her shoulder.

  Bai He was like a startled rabbit, suddenly jumping up with an "ah" and slipping underfoot, falling backwards onto the ground.

  Di Yu's eyes were quick, and with one swift motion, he scooped her up from behind, holding her firmly in his arms as they both tumbled onto the sofa. Bai He sat in Di Yu's embrace, gazing at him in terror, but after a night of anxiety and fear, she suddenly fell silent when their eyes met, feeling an inexplicable sense of calm wash over her as she looked into his eyes.

  "Sorry!"

  Bai He and Di Yu almost spoke at the same time, Bai He got up from Di Yu's body, her face slightly red, she smoothed out her somewhat disheveled hair, and sat back down in front of Di Yu, only now their positions were swapped.

  "Don't worry, Miss Bai, I won't let anything happen to Ma Hao, trust me." Di Yu was surprisingly calm at this moment. Earlier, he saw how worried White Lotus was and instinctively reached out to comfort her, a completely natural gesture.

  Bai He felt more at ease after hearing Di Yu's words, it was this stranger who made her feel calm. However, thinking of the unexpected event earlier, Bai He's face flushed, just as she was about to speak, Di Yu's phone rang.