Taming the Fierce Hound | Chapter 10 | Taming the Stray | Novela.app

The candlelight flickered, red wax dripping incessantly. Compared to electric lights that could shine indefinitely as long as there was power, the life of a candle was fleeting. Before he could even register the passage of time, Si Jiang discovered with a jolt of terror that the wick had burned to its end. Soon, the only light in the room would vanish. There were no windows here; he had no way of knowing whether it was day or night. This candle was the only proof that he was still alive, that time was still moving. If the candle went out, would Zong Yan come to replace it? What if she didn't come back? *No, she saved me for a reason. She wouldn't have saved me just to let me die here.* At some point, Si Jiang had begun anxiously gnawing on his fingers. The candle grew shorter. It was almost gone. He was about to face absolute darkness once again. He knelt on the floor, staring intensely at the candle as if staring at his own precarious sanity. *Plop.* The final drop of wax hit the floor. His breathing stopped abruptly, then immediately resumed in ragged, frantic gasps like a bellows. Si Jiang pounded on the wall, screaming, "Zong Yan! The candle went out!" "Zong Yan! Are you there? Can you hear me?" "Hey! Is anyone there?" "I can't breathe!" "Zong Yan, you bitch! Let me out, or I'll make you pay!" "Zong Yan? Zong Yan! Zong Yan..." "Is anyone there..." "I want to get out..." The darkness was like a black hole that swallowed everything, only to vomit back infinite nightmares. Si Jiang tugged at the collar around his neck, trying to crawl toward where the candle had been. The tight ring held his neck firmly in place. Connected to the collar was a heavy iron chain. No matter how he struggled, he could not move a single step beyond this small patch of space. He didn't want to stay here. He couldn't. In the dark room, someone began to sob. *** "Hey, Boss, the kid inside is screaming so much it's annoying. Can we deal with him?" "Deal with him how? You better be careful; he’s our cash cow." "Got it. I'll just make him shut up. I won't lay a hand on him." Si Jiang looked in terror at the tall man walking toward him, threats spilling from his mouth. "Who are you? Let me go right now, or my parents will never let you get away with this!" "I've got callouses on my ears from hearing that. Can you little brats blabber about anything else?" He was grabbed by the collar and tossed into a crate. "You'd better shut your mouth, or else—" The fierce-looking man made a cutting motion across his throat. Si Jiang struggled desperately, but the man pinned him down with effortless strength and sealed the crate. "Let me out!" He kicked the crate violently, terrified of being confined in such a small space. "Fuck." The kidnapper lost his patience. He stuffed a foul-smelling rag into the boy's mouth and slammed the lid shut again. Si Jiang curled up inside, his heart pounding with dread. *Dad, Mom, when are you coming to save me?* Because of his "silence," the kidnappers sometimes forgot he even existed. They would chat about random things. For instance, after he had been held for an unknown number of days, he heard the two men talking. "Boss, do you think we can actually sell him? It's been days and there's no word from that side." "Be patient. The employer said they're still in a stalemate." "Stalemate over what? It's just one business deal. A family that rich isn't willing to trade one deal for their own son?" "That deal seems to be very important." "More important than their son?" Even the hardened criminal's voice held a hint of surprise. "Are rich people like this nowadays?" "Who knows? Maybe they figure even if the kid is gone, they can just have another one. But if a major deal falls through, the loss is incalculable." "Tsk, tsk. This kid is annoying, but thinking about it that way, he's actually pretty pitiful." He heard it. And he understood. Si Jiang had been trying to claw his way through the crate until his fingers were raw, but upon hearing those words, he suddenly stopped. *Dad and Mom aren't coming to save me?* *I'm being... discarded?* "Then Boss, this kid is becoming a hot potato. How do we handle him when the time comes? We definitely can't let him go." "If it really comes to that, just throw him into the sea along with the crate." *Throw me into the sea? No!* Si Jiang pounded on the walls of the crate in terror, hoping the people outside would listen to him. His parents wouldn't give up on him; he was an only child! He was Si Jiang, the young master of the Si family! How could they not save him? This had to be fake news. He didn't want to be trapped in a box and die in the ocean. Right, he had money too. He had plenty of allowance. He could give it all to them. Just don't kill him. *Thump, thump, thump, thump.* The crate wouldn't stop rattling. The kidnappers, seeing his value plummeting, had even less patience for him. They dragged the crate to a corner of the warehouse and shut the door. No one could hear him anymore. In the boundless fear, Si Jiang could only tell himself over and over: *It's all fake. This is all a dream. When I wake up, I'll be home. My parents might not pay much attention to me, but they wouldn't abandon me.* But he waited and waited, until he nearly lost consciousness. He waited until the endless darkness turned into demons, whispering in his ear: "Your parents don't want you anymore." "You're a child nobody wants." "You're going to die in this box, rot in the sea, and be torn apart by fish." "By then, your father and mother will have had a second son. They won't treat him like this. They'll care for him, cherish him, watch him grow up, and celebrate every birthday with him. And you... you'll be as if you never existed." "Si Jiang, you are nothing. No one in the world needs you. No one loves you." "You deserve to die alone." *No one wants me. No one loves me. I am nothing.* Si Jiang clutched his head, repeating those words. Before his eyes, he saw every time he had reached for his mother's hand, only to be coldly brushed away. Every time he had looked at his father with expectation, only to be told to be more sensible and stop bothering him while he worked. So he had started to rebel, faking illnesses and causing trouble. But all he received in return were looks that treated him like a nuisance. In that massive villa, only the nanny stayed with him. Every birthday, he sat on a stool by himself, watching gloomily as the nanny lit the candles on his cake. She would coax him, "President Si and Madam Si are busy with work, but they sent a cake and gifts. Let me celebrate your birthday with you, Young Master." He would violently sweep the cake off the table and run back to his room. "Young Master? Young Master, please don't be angry. You haven't eaten all day; you'll make yourself sick." "Young Master, please just eat something." The nanny knocked on the door from outside. He covered his ears, refusing to respond. *Creak.* How did the door open? Hadn't he locked it? "Si Jiang." Someone had opened the crate. Someone had opened the door. Someone had come to his side. Si Jiang looked up blankly. Zong Yan stood before him, holding a bowl. She asked, "Are you going to eat?" It was a bowl of porridge with only a few pathetic scraps of greens and meat. Si Jiang was used to exquisite food. Even though he was already starving, his body instinctively recoiled in disdain. "What kind of peasant food is this? I'm not eating that." The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he had messed up. Sure enough, Zong Yan's expression instantly cooled. Her eyes held a familiar look of loathing. "Raising a dog would be less trouble than you." With that, she turned and left the room with the bowl, without a hint of hesitation. The candlelight in her hand moved away with her. Only then did Si Jiang realize his mistake. He shouted desperately, "Wait!" *Slam.* The door closed. He was plunged into darkness once again. This time, would anyone ever come for him again? Si Jiang shouted frantically in the direction Zong Yan had gone: "I'll eat! I'll eat, okay?" "Zong Yan, come back!" *Come back...* There was no response. Once again, there was no response. Si Jiang clutched his hair in agony. *What am I doing? Someone finally came for me, someone finally saved me, so why did I act like that?* *Si Jiang, you're going to die here. If you don't behave, you're definitely going to die here.* An unknown amount of time passed. A bowl of cold, congealed porridge was placed on the floor. He stared at it and reached out to take it. His hand was coldly slapped away. "Eat it like that." *Like what?* Si Jiang seemed to understand. Hadn't Zong Yan said he was worse than a dog? Then he would— He would eat like a dog. The golden boy crawled on the floor, burying his face in the bowl. Abandoning all dignity, he licked the very last grain of rice clean with his tongue. Then, someone patted his head with satisfaction and said softly, "Good boy." Yes, he had to be good. If he was good, someone would come to open the crate. ***