Jin Shuren's private Airbus chopper descended smoothly onto the family's private airstrip at the edge of Hengzhou.
The sprawling tarmac lay quiet under the paling dawn, no crowds, no cameras, just the soft thrum of rotors cutting into the morning mist.
The landing was seamless, the kind only wealth could buy, effortless, discreet, detached from the city's chaos.
Black sedans waited in perfect alignment along the strip, headlights glowing against the fog.
Jin Shuren carried most of the weight, both her exhaustion and the girl's limp little body, as he guided them into the waiting car.
Fang Lin trailed close behind, her eyes flicking anxiously to Yueyao's still-sleeping face.
The ride from the airstrip to the Jin family mansion was silent. The world outside shifted from empty highways to the gleaming towers of Hengzhou, neon lights flickering out one by one as daylight pressed in.
