Then Nannan tapped her watch a few times.
Jiang Yumeng soon received the message that fifty thousand had arrived in her account.
She could not help swallowing; this little girl before her was far too rich.
Just casually transferring her fifty thousand like that.
Just what kind of family background could raise a little girl like this?
"All right? Now can you take me in?" Nannan looked at Jiang Yumeng.
Jiang Yumeng nodded blankly.
Then Nannan took Jiang Yumeng's hand.
Jiang Yumeng's body went stiff.
"Don't be so stiff. I'm your little sister now. Looking like that, people will think you're a child trafficker. If someone suspects you and takes you away then, I'm not going to help you," Nannan said, looking at Jiang Yumeng.
Jiang Yumeng adjusted her mood and took a deep breath.
She walked into the airport with this little girl beside her.
Once inside the airport, the first checkpoint was naturally security.
"Hello, little one; please put your backpack on the conveyor belt." The security girl looked at the little girl before her in cool sunglasses, her eyes lit up, and even her tone grew much gentler.
"This machine won't break my teddy-bear backpack, will it?" Nannan said in a sweet little baby voice.
The corner of Jiang Yumeng's mouth could not help twitching.
That tone: outside just now, this little girl had been nothing like this.
She was far too good an actress.
"Of course not. It's only checking whether your teddy-bear backpack is sick. You'll get it back very soon," the security girl said with a smile.
"Okay. Don't get teddy dirty, okay?" Nannan said.
"Mm." The security girl took Nannan's backpack and set it on the conveyor belt very gently.
Then she looked at Jiang Yumeng.
"This is your little sister?"
"Mm, yes. She's my little sister." Jiang Yumeng put on as calm a smile as she could.
"You look like you're only a university student. Bringing your little sister out on your own; don't your parents worry?" The security girl looked Jiang Yumeng up and down.
Because Jiang Yumeng was a girl and a university student besides, there was not much suspicion.
"Daddy and Mommy are both working somewhere else. It's vacation now, and big sister is taking me to see Daddy and Mommy," Nannan said of her own accord, looking very excited too.
On hearing a reason like that, it made perfect sense.
And with no problem in the luggage check besides, the security girl soon let them through.
Once past security, even Jiang Yumeng herself could not help letting out a breath of relief.
She had truly feared those security staff would detain her on the spot.
Then her future would be finished.
Fortunately this little girl truly was a fine actress; her expression did not look put on at all.
It made her truly wonder whether this little girl before her was really, as she looked, only five or six.
"Let's go buy the plane tickets now," Nannan said, holding Jiang Yumeng's hand, in a voice for the two of them alone.
"Mm."
Jiang Yumeng led Nannan by the hand toward the ticket hall; rather than say she was leading this little girl,
it would be truer to say this little girl was leading her.
This ticket hall the girl seemed to know well already; she went straight to the line in front of the ticket hall like someone who knew the way.
Because they had come rather early,
there was hardly anyone in line.
Very soon it was Jiang Yumeng and Nannan's turn.
"Hello, I'd like two plane tickets to the Fierce Dragon Continent. Here are our ID cards." Jiang Yumeng handed over her ID card and Nannan's.
On seeing the details on it,
Jiang Yumeng was taken aback; the ID card actually read Jiang Yu'er.
This name?
At first glance, one would really think this person might be her own little sister.
Could her father have an illegitimate daughter out there?
The instant the thought came up, it was gone.
Even if her father did have an illegitimate daughter somewhere, she could never be so rich a one.
In fact this ID card was one Nannan had prepared in advance, a forged ID card.
As for the name, naturally it had been chosen from Jiang Yumeng's details.
That way everything made sense.
"I'm sorry, on the flights to the Fierce Dragon Continent, economy and business class are both fully booked," the ticket agent said.
Economy and business class both sold out?
Hearing this,
Jiang Yumeng looked at Nannan without thinking.
Nannan said in her sweet baby voice, "Big sister, didn't Daddy say? If economy and business class are both sold out, then we should buy first class."
"There are still first-class tickets. But a first-class ticket costs two hundred thousand, and there's no child discount. Do you want them?" the ticket agent said directly.
Two hundred thousand a ticket?
Then two would be four hundred thousand.
That price could buy dozens of economy tickets.
Nannan pointed at the card in Jiang Yumeng's pocket.
Jiang Yumeng took out the card doubtfully.
She was now somewhat worried whether this card really held four hundred thousand.
The card was handed over.
The ticket agent soon swiped it, and four hundred thousand was deducted.
"Here are your first-class tickets; please keep them safe. The first-class lounge is over there; when you board, you can use the dedicated passage." The ticket agent told them some points to note, and the special privileges of first-class passengers.
When Jiang Yumeng took the card back, she felt it had grown much heavier.
No PIN needed; just swipe, and four hundred thousand gone?
Which meant this card could pay four hundred thousand without a PIN?
What level of card would it take to pay four hundred thousand without a PIN?
At the thought of it, Jiang Yumeng felt her heart pounding.
She could not help looking at the harmless-looking little girl beside her.
Just which great family had this little madam run away from, as its young miss?
If her people found out, wouldn't they chop her into mince?
Carrying these nervous feelings, Jiang Yumeng took this little madam into the first-class lounge.
It was her first time ever walking in here.
Everything here was the most luxurious.
The space here was very large, but there were few people.
Of the scant few waiting for flights here,
she glanced over;
she even recognized several of them, for they were all big names who had been in the news.
It should be understood that in this age,
though development was swift, those who could fly first class were still very few.
Besides, at this hour, those going were probably going to the Fierce Dragon Continent.
Flights from everywhere to the Fierce Dragon Continent could be called packed now.
So unless booked in advance, economy and business tickets were usually very hard to get.
"Sit. Stop looking like a child trafficker." Nannan simply found a big sofa and sat down.
Even after sitting down, Jiang Yumeng was still somewhat nervous.
Wild thoughts kept running through her head; she felt as if she would spend the rest of her life in prison.
She seemed already to see a peace officer before her, with big words written behind him:
leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist.
At the thought of these pictures, her heart was in utter collapse.
She was only a step from falling to her knees and shouting, "I've been wronged!"
Just at this moment her handheld terminal rang.
It was a call, a call from the hospital.
She answered at once.
"Hello. This is Jiang Yumeng. What? A kidney's been found for my mother? She can have the operation tomorrow. And the operation fee's covered too. Thank you so much." Jiang Yumeng's earlier panic was utterly gone, and she looked at the little girl beside her with an incredulous expression.
Just who on earth was this little madam?
With the news from the hospital,
Jiang Yumeng's heart settled a good deal.
Anyway, her mother's matter was taken care of; even if she really were locked up over something, she had nothing to worry about.
So long as they did not sentence her to death:
a few years locked up, in exchange for her mother's life.
She was willing.
At the thought of this, her heart eased.
Her eyes began to wander around this lounge, and she saw a great many snacks, pastries and good things to eat.
Her stomach could not help growling at this point.
Setting out first thing in the morning to get here, she had not eaten a thing.
Hearing her stomach growl, Jiang Yumeng's face could not help turning red.
"You haven't had breakfast, have you? If you're hungry, go get something to eat yourself. Everything here is free," Nannan said calmly.
Jiang Yumeng swallowed, and got up to fetch food after all.
Anyway, the future was unknown; best to make the most of every minute and second now.
Having finally come to a first-class lounge, she naturally had to enjoy it properly.
Nannan glanced at Jiang Yumeng, standing before those snacks and pastries not knowing which to choose.
The reason she had chosen Jiang Yumeng was in fact that she had looked into her background.
She had come from an ordinary family.
Her parents were both ordinary people,
but both had jobs; it had been a fairly decent life.
But ever since her mother fell gravely ill, the high hospital fees had crushed their family.
Her father, to earn money, went out early and came back late every day; his hair had gone whiter and his back more bent.
Besides his original job, he had taken on several more part-time jobs.
But all this money, compared with what Jiang Yumeng's mother's operation needed, was still a drop in the bucket.
This child Jiang Yumeng was very sensible too; she had wanted to drop out of school.
But her parents had both firmly opposed it.
Her father said he could earn the money; he would never let Jiang Yumeng drop out at a time like this.
Her mother said that if Jiang Yumeng dropped out, she would rather die.
Because of her parents' insistence,
Jiang Yumeng could only go on studying, but in her free time she did every kind of part-time job.
She could not only earn her own tuition and living expenses, but could even help a little with her mother's hospital fees now and then.
This university student was truly very sensible.
So Nannan had chosen her.
For Nannan, she was perhaps a tool, someone to fly with her.
But for Jiang Yumeng, this was a chance that could change her family's fate.
Jiang Yumeng came back with an armful of food and set it before herself and Nannan.
"You haven't eaten anything either, have you? You're still so little; you must not go hungry. I didn't know what you like, so I picked a little of every kind. If you see something you like, I'll go get more for you." Though Jiang Yumeng was very hungry herself, she still pushed the food before her over to Nannan, letting Nannan choose first.
Seeing this,
Nannan's expression paused; she looked at Jiang Yumeng somewhat surprised.
In the end she chose a piece of cake and a glass of milk.
"I'll just have these."
"You're so little, and you'll only eat this?" Jiang Yumeng looked at the food before Nannan.
"I'm not hungry right now," Nannan said lightly.
Jiang Yumeng said nothing more, and began to tuck into the food before her.
It could be seen that Jiang Yumeng was truly very hungry.
Perhaps too, since her mother fell gravely ill, she had not had a proper meal.
At school she had always eaten the cheapest food.
Her food budget for a month was perhaps not even a hundred.
The her of the past could hardly have imagined how she had survived on a hundred.
Time passed little by little.
Nannan pressed something on her glasses.
Before her eyes the picture of her room in the villa appeared.
It was morning now; Aunt Song would come to bring breakfast next.
Sure enough, footsteps came from outside.
The door was pushed open.
The "person" on the bed was gone.
Pajamas lay scattered on the floor, trailing all the way to the bathroom.
From the bathroom came the sound of running water.
"Aunt Song, is that you?" Nannan's voice sounded from the bathroom.
"It's me; I've brought your breakfast."
"I'm washing up. Just put the food on the table. I'll eat in a bit."
"All right."
Aunt Song did not think much of it; she tidied the clothes on the floor and left the room.
A few minutes later, the sound of running water in the bathroom stopped.
Nannan switched to the view inside the bathroom.
There was no one at all in the bathroom.
Beside the tap was a little contraption; when the time came, it would turn on the tap and let water run, making the sound of running water.
Then after a set time, the tap would turn off.
Beside it was also a device that played a recording on a timer, a recording Nannan had made in advance.
That way, it could create the stir of someone being in the bathroom.
After that, from one side of the bed,
a small robot came out and, along its preset path,
cleared away all the food on the table, then gathered up the plates and slowly moved to the door.
The monitoring device outside the door confirmed no one was outside,
the door was opened, and the plates were set outside.
Under the empty plates lay a sheet of paper too,
on which was written the food she wanted for lunch, along with a note saying plainly that lunch should be left at the door, a knock would do, and no one was to come in and disturb her.
All done, the robot shut the door and went back into the room.
The room was still empty.
The second step was done.
Aunt Song still had not noticed that she had in fact left.
Nannan was secretly delighted.
"Boarding time is almost here. Would you two please get ready and follow me." A staff member came over to Jiang Yumeng and Nannan and said softly.
"Y… yes." Jiang Yumeng sat up hurriedly and made ready to clear the "battlefield" on the table.
She had eaten every kind of food on the table, only it looked rather a mess.
That made Jiang Yumeng's cheeks somewhat red.