"Hello?" Yan Wu Jing answered without looking at the caller ID. He was preoccupied with trying to read every word written on the paper submitted by his subordinates.
As he continued to read, he noticed that the person who called him didn't say a thing after getting connected and it caught his attention. He tried to say hello again, but the other side still didn't answer.
With pursed lips, Yan Wu Jing wanted to hang up and continue reading the reports in front of him, however, he stopped mid-action as he heard a woman's voice speaking from the other side of the phone.
"Dad?" Said the soft yet quivering voice of a woman.
Yan Wu Jing frowned and looked at the caller ID, but found out that it was an unknown number.
"Sorry, miss. But I think you called the wrong number." Yan Wu Jing said as he was about to hang up."
"No! Don't hang up!"
Yan Wu Jing paused as he subconsciously did as she told him to.
Hearing his voice again but this time not the single word 'hello', Yan Xiaoran tried to hold back her tears, but she could feel them slowly trickling down her face.
Who would have thought that the moment she heard his voice, Yan Xiaoran's response would be like this?
"Dad, it's me, Xiaoran." Yan Xiaoran said without noticing that her voice broke a little as she tried to hold her emotions down.
Her hands were held into a tiny fist and was shaking from excitement and anxiety. This was the first time she heard her father's voice after a long time.
Her father's voice was still the same as what she could still remember when she was young. And yet, it was like a beautiful song that evoked a wave of emotions inside her.
Yan Wu Jing didn't speak after hearing her words. It was not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
Hearing his daughter's voice, Yan Wu Jing dreamed of this day for years.
"Is… Is that really you, Xiaoran?" Yan Wu Jing abruptly stood up from his chair, making it fall over the ground.
With a fist on his mouth, Yan Wu Jing couldn't believe what was happening.
He had just come back to the country and heard of his daughter's imprisonment. He tried to look for a way to bail her out of jail but before he could even do that, his secretary had told him that she was released a few days ago already and that she was nowhere to be found.
The first time he heard that Yan Xiaoran was in Qinglu prison, Yan Wu Jing planned to drive there the moment he got in the country but he was stopped by his men.
With his identity, Yan Wu Jing's arrival must not be announced and he had to wait for a few hours before he could hear about what happened to his daughter.
Yan Xiaoran nodded and whimpered like a child, "Dad… I… I'm so sorry."
Shaking his head, Yan Wu Jing said, "No, don't be sorry, my child. It was my fault for leaving you under that woman's hand. If I had known she would just let other people mistreat you like this, I would have never agreed to let you leave with her!"
Yan Wu Jing was raging at the memories of that time when he tried to run after Yu Jinyan. He begged her to not leave him and let their daughter stay with him, but who knew that she would flee with his daughter by the time their divorce papers were signed.
He couldn't even see his daughter for one last time when she took her away from him.
All the addresses and phone numbers that Yu Jinyan wrote to him so he could contact his daughter were all made up. Hence, Yan Wu Jing wasn't able to chase after them even if he wanted to.
He even tried to look for the Zhao family's mansion and tried to inquire, however, the Zhao family threw him outside the garbage can after beating him up while accusing he was still stalking his ex-wife.
Because of that, Yan Wu Jing never had his chance to meet his daughter again.
Desiring to meet his daughter, Yan Wu Jing worked hard and flew to Italy to look for an opportunity for him to get his own name and identity that could rival the Zhao family, so he could get his daughter back.
It took him a long time before he could finally stand on his own feet and become his own boss. However, by the time he was prepared to take his daughter back, he found out she was already imprisoned.
Yan Xiaoran could no longer hold her tears back and cried her hearts out. This was the first time, she could finally let go of all her heartaches towards the person who knew what happened to her and knew everything about her.
Listening to her cries that was filled with sadness and helplessness, Yan Wu Jing saw his vision blurring as tears pooled around his eyes.
Both father and daughter have been through a lot, but Yan Wu Jing couldn't imagine how much his little girl has suffered after experiencing such dark times at an early age and without anyone on her side.
Walking around his office desk, Yan Wu Jing didn't bother wearing his suit jacket as he got out of his office.
The employees trying to relax while their boss was inside his office was startled at his appearance.
They didn't expect Yan Wu Jing to come out when it wasn't lunchtime. What's more, they were shocked to see the gleam at the edge of his eyes as he stormed out of the building.
Was their boss crying?
This sight of him caused chaos to the employees who passed by him and became the hot topic in their WeChat.
["I just saw Boss Yan coming out of his office crying!"]
["What?!! Are you sure?!"]
["I saw it too!"]
["Oh my God, what is happening? Is the world finally ending?"]
The employees were scared shitless instead of concerned about why their boss was crying. Knowing what kind of a man Yan Wu Jing was, they would never expect him to be the kind of a man that cries after getting a call from his daughter.
When Yan Wu Jing reached the company's parking lot, he immediately jumped inside his car and started it. His other hand was still on the phone connected to Yan Xiaoran.
He suddenly said after driving out of the building, "Where are you? I'll go there and get you. Daddy's here now, no one will dare to harm you."