2
The call connected, but it wasn't my dad's voice.
The kidnapper clearly realized this too and was instantly furious, threatening to cut off one of my ears as punishment for Li.
Li quickly intervened:
"Don't be impulsive! I am Li Shaojie's superior, and this is the only way we could find you!"
"You kidnapped the wrong person. The whole team knows Li Shaojie has only one son named Li Yuzhe, and the family is currently vacationing abroad."
"You can make demands, but do not involve an innocent child!"
The kidnapper rudely dragged me to kneel in front of the screen.
I was tied to the chair, and during the dragging, my knee slammed hard onto the ground, sending pain rapidly throughout my body.
Yet it was nowhere near the pain in my heart.
The kidnapper sneered, "Look closely at this face; this is Li Shaojie's biological son! Call Li Shaojie now, or I'll kill him!"
The superior had no choice but to dial my father's phone.
What came through first was Li Yuzhe's voice.
"Dad, buying both gaming consoles is really too expensive. Maybe save some money for... Dad, you should take the call first."
My dad's voice came through: "Leader, what's the matter?"
The superior immediately asked how many sons my dad has.
Without hesitation, dad said, "Our family has only one son, Li Yuzhe. Why... Is there a situation?"
The superior explained my situation.
Dad's tone was slightly regretful, "The criminals are just too stupid to not realize they've kidnapped the wrong person."
"Although I feel very sympathetic and sorry for the innocent child suffering because of me, we are abroad now, and even if we return, it would be too late."
"The parents of this child are really irresponsible for not showing up by now!"
The superior asked again, "Just in case, could you come back once? Maybe the kidnapper would release the child?"
Seeing dad hesitating, Li Yuzhe said in a teary voice over the phone:
"It's okay, Dad. My birthday doesn't matter, that boy is really pitiful. Misfortune always occurs when I have my birthday; I won't celebrate my birthday ever again."
"Don't go, Dad, don't go..."
After comforting Li Yuzhe, dad directly refused the superior: "I'm sorry, Leader, after fighting for so many years, my wife and I just want to celebrate our only son's birthday..."
The only son...?
But clearly, I am my parents' only biological son.
Just because I was abducted as a child, grew up in the countryside, am plain-looking, not smart, and don't fit in with the family.
My parents never acknowledged me in public, never registered me as a resident...
My chest heaved violently, burning in pain, my organs convulsing, causing uncontrollable dry heaving.
The superior was still loudly trying to stop it in the call, but the kidnapper ignored it.
He removed my shoes, holding pliers in his hand, said viciously:
"Remember, everything you're suffering now is caused by your parents!"
With those words, he crushed my little toe.
The heart-wrenching pain made me struggle violently.
In the chaos, I kicked over the streaming phone, falling to the ground with the phone.
As I fell, I happened to see a highlighted and enlarged message in the live chat.
"I am Li Yuzhe's classmate. I swear I saw Li Yuzhe celebrating his birthday within the country. What is going on???"