Shen Youquan did not have the time to think about who Shen Yurao's biological father was or how his wife had betrayed him. These matters could be investigated at any time, but the situation with his daughter was urgent. He had neglected her for too long and owed her too much. The heavy guilt and regret suffocated him.
Sitting obediently next to her father, Shen Yuling looked up and asked, "Are we not picking up my little brother?"
"No, we're not." Shen Youquan steered the car onto the road.
However, Shen Yuling did not feel happy. Instead, she was a little anxious. "But if we don't pick up my brother, grandpa and grandma and mom will be angry when we get home. They will scold us."
Shen Youquan's heart ached, and he quickly reassured her, "No, with daddy here, no one dares to scold you."
Shen Yuling pursed her lips, clearly not entirely believing her father's assurance. But she soon became happy again because this was the first time she had been alone with her father, and so close at that. The father and daughter wandered around the inner city and found a shopping mall that combined shopping and entertainment.
Shen Youquan had originally planned to take his daughter to the children's playground on the top floor, but he was drawn by a beautiful dress in the store window. He took her inside and had the clerk help in matching a few outfits. The clerk carefully examined the two of them, smiling and saying, "You two really look alike, like you were carved from the same mold. I've never seen a father and daughter who look so similar."
Shen Youquan had always known this. When he heard others mention it in the past, he didn't have any special feelings. But today, his nose inexplicably began to tingle. This was his child, with a strikingly similar face and the same blood running through their veins. How could he have neglected her to this extent?
He ran his hand through the little bun on his daughter's head and suddenly smiled bitterly. His daughter's hair was just like his, coarse and stiff, and those with such hair were said to have a stubborn personality, a clumsy tongue, and difficulty in navigating society. Before, he had suffered many losses because of this, but he had never anticipated that the same fate would also befall his daughter.
If he had never discovered the truth and had let his daughter grow up under their neglect and Shen Yurao's predation, what would she eventually become?
At this thought, Shen Youquan finally understood the cruelty of the idiom "A kite flaps against the window only to be driven away by an orphaned cuckoo." A similar tragedy was playing out in his family. How was he different from the cuckoo, nourishing a thief? He was even more foolish and pitiful than the cuckoo because the cuckoo had no cognitive abilities, could not see the abnormality, while he could clearly see and hear, yet remained ignorant and oblivious.
He abandoned his own daughter, letting her grow up in a dark corner, while he treated other people's children like princes. In the future, he might even send his daughter away with a paltry dowry, leaving everything to Shen Yurao. Thinking of this, Shen Youquan felt a chilling sensation in his heart and then hung his head, kissing his daughter's head with guilt. Shen Yuling just raised her head and looked at him dimly.
The father and daughter bought matching outfits and then went to the toy store. Shen Youquan asked, "Do you like this? Should I get that? If you like something, daddy will buy it for you."
Shen Yuling wrinkled her brows and shook her head repeatedly, tightly pursing her lips, unwilling to voice any opinion.
It was not until Shen Youquan pointed to a set of Barbie dolls that her eyes suddenly lit up. Then, her expression quickly dimmed, and she said sadly, "Daddy, my brother doesn't like this set of toys. Please don't buy it for me."
Shen Youquan's breath was caught, and he squatted down to look at his daughter, asking gently, "Why can't we buy it if your brother doesn't like it? Shouldn't the toys we buy be what you like?"
Shen Yuling shook her head, her voice even lower, "My brother will twist off their heads and arms. He doesn't like Barbie dolls." She was still young and didn't know how to express her feelings. She could only use simple language to describe the things she had witnessed, but Shen Youquan could see some underlying essence from these descriptions.
Why was she afraid to buy toys? Because he took her alone to buy them, didn't ask her brother's opinion, and in this family, her brother's wishes were always given priority, she was often just an afterthought. Shen Yuling clearly liked Barbie dolls, so why did she refuse? Because her brother didn't like Barbie dolls and would destroy them, she couldn't bear to see the dolls suffer, so she would rather not have them.
If Shen Yurao didn't like a toy, he wouldn't let his daughter play with it. And if Shen Yurao liked a toy, he definitely wouldn't let his daughter play with it. He had always been robbing, robbing, robbing, and his daughter had always been conceding, conceding, conceding, until this mode of interaction had become a habit in the family, even a rule.
Seeing the small face of his daughter, clearly wanting something but having to reluctantly refuse, Shen Youquan's heart was in knots. He felt a dull pain in his head, and the air entering his nostrils turned into sharp blades, piercing his internal organs.
He hugged his daughter tightly, almost choking as he said, "I'll buy it. If it's something you like, daddy will buy it for you! Don't worry about whether Shen Yurao is happy or not. Whether he likes it or not, what's yours is yours, and no one can take it away!"
"Really, daddy?" Shen Yuling asked cautiously, and this caution made Shen Youquan's nerves hurt even more. How could he let his daughter become so humble in front of his own eyes? Was he even qualified to be a father?
That day, Shen Youquan almost bought half of the toy store and played with his daughter in the playground. He didn't usually spend much time with his children and did not feel like he was being a responsible father. But now, watching his daughter's extremely radiant smile, he felt a fiery warmth in his chest. This was his child, the continuation of his bloodline, possessing features and the same stubborn temper as him. He could protect her as she grew up, overcome obstacles for her. Was there anything more wonderful and meaningful in the world?
The pain and anger of being betrayed were hidden behind his daughter's smile, and Shen Youquan had completely calmed down. This was when he was ready to take his daughter home. They each had an ice cream cone and walked while eating. Just then, his phone rang, and when he picked up, it was Zhong Huilu, his wife, who asked anxiously, "Is Ling Ling with you?"
"Yes." Shen Youquan's tone was calm.
Zhong Huilu immediately burst into tears, "Why did you suddenly decide to pick up the child, and you didn't even call me to inform beforehand! You can pick her up, but why did you only take Ling Ling and not Yurao? Do you know, Yurao has been taken away by strangers!"
"What are you saying?" Shen Youquan's face turned pale.
"Yurao has been kidnapped! A woman pretending to be my assistant has taken Yurao away!" Zhong Huilu urged, "Where are you now? Come back quickly, hurry! I'm afraid something will happen to Yurao!"
"I'm coming back immediately!" Shen Youquan threw the ice cream cone in the trash, picked up his daughter, and left. He drove back home at full speed, his mood flipping between relief for having taken his daughter first and concern for Shen Yurao's safety. Although Shen Yurao was not his biological child, he had raised him for five years and his affection was genuine. He had cared for him and couldn't just rescind it immediately.
He had resentment, grievances, and anger, but these negative emotions were due to Zhong Huilu's betrayal. Reason told him that he couldn't take it out on an innocent child. Of course, from now on, he would not be able to love this child as his own, especially since he was such a natural predator.
Hurrying into the house with his daughter in his arms, before he could ask about the situation, his father berated him with a series of questions, "Why did you only come back now? Do you know that Yurao has been taken away? What were you thinking, taking only Shen Yuling and not Yurao?"
Before the words of Shen's father had even faded, a stranger's number contacted Shen Youquan, telling him that they had Shen Yurao in their hands. They demanded five million before they would let Shen Yurao go and threatened that if they dared to notify the police, they would tear up the ticket immediately.
Shen Youquan had witnessed enough big scenes. His mind was still clear, so he patiently dealt with the kidnappers.
"My son is really in your hands? Let me hear him say something, or else I won't believe you!" Shen Youquan pressed the speakerphone button, and Shen Yurao's weak and crying voice immediately came through.
Shen Youquan could still maintain composure, but Shen's father, Shen's mother and Zhong Huilu were almost dizzy with anxiety.
The kidnappers had strong counter-surveillance measures; after stating their purpose, they immediately hung up the phone. Shen Youquan immediately called back, only to find that the other party's phone was already turned off.
Shen's mother cried out hoarsely, "Rao Rao has been kidnapped? Is he really kidnapped? Oh my God, why is it my Rao Rao! Shen Youquan, why didn't you take my Rao Rao, why go to pick up Shen Yuling, who is just a money-losing commodity? What were you thinking? Did you hear Rao Rao crying? He's very scared, and he's sick! Will those people tie him up, hit him, scold him, and not give him any food to eat? Can he wait for us to rescue him? Oh my God, why don't you switch my two children? I’d rather it be Shen Yuling who got kidnapped, not my Rao Rao! It was just that close, just that little bit, and my Rao Rao could have escaped calamity. Oh God, you are not fair, you have favored the wrong person! Shen Youquan, you hurry up and raise money for me, hurry up!"
Shen Youquan was still worried about Shen Yurao, but when he heard his mother's irrational words, he suddenly became extremely angry. What did it mean to "exchange the daughter and Shen Yurao"? What did it mean for "God to favor the wrong person"? In his mother's mind, it seemed that it didn't matter how much suffering the daughter endured, even if she lost her life, but Shen Yurao couldn't suffer the slightest grievance? What a malicious and absurd idea! Their minds were simply biased to the extreme!
At that moment, Shen Youquan's remaining sympathy for Shen Yurao was completely consumed by anger. His rise to his current high position was not just based on ability and talent, but also on a ruthless and tenacious attitude. He was extremely reluctant to spend fifty million to save an illegitimate child, and after hearing his mother's suggestion of exchanging lives, he truly wished that Shen Yurao had never been born!
The cuckoo occupies the magpie's nest. The prophecy of Vangara was indeed correct. If he let things continue like this, one day his parents would end up like that ignorant and oblivious magpie, indulging or even helping a robber to deprive his daughter of everything!