It was already late at night, but the Shen family was in chaos. Shen's mother sharply scolded her son, repeatedly questioning why he only took Shen Yuling away, and why only Shen Yuling? Was the dead girl so precious that her son would leave his precious grandson in the nursery?
Shen's father also repeatedly questioned, in his eyes, not only were the kidnappers extremely wicked, but his son was also an accomplice for leaving his grandson alone.
The servants and nannies all hid in their rooms and did not dare to come out. Only Shen Youquan's bodyguard and driver, Long Chengsheng, repeatedly called the kidnappers and analyzed various possibilities and countermeasures for his employer.
At this moment, the deliverymen from the mall brought boxes of toys to the mansion. Seeing that these were all things that only girls could play with, Shen's mother went crazy and shouted, "Throw them away, throw them away, get this rubbish out of here! When we're not around, the dead girl fusses to buy things, and she bought so many in one go, all things that only she can play with, she's naturally selfish, not caring about her brother! If it weren't for her jinxed presence, would Rao Rao have been kidnapped? I said at the time when they were born, this sister is greedy, snatching all the nutrition from her brother, and sure enough, when she grows up, she wants to grab everything from her brother! Why didn't she grab the kidnapping this time? Why didn't she grab it?!"
Shen Youquan, who had been enduring his parents' scolding, finally exploded. Suddenly, he overturned the heavy marble tea table, kicked the cups and saucers flying, and roared, "Have you said enough? Have you had enough? Whose blood runs in Ling Ling's body? Is it mine? Is it the Shen family's? Just because she's a girl, do you hope she can suffer in place of Shen Yurao, are you fit to be her grandparents? No, I asked the wrong question, are you even human? Huh? Are the words you just said those of a human? A tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, are you worse than beasts? She is my child, my own child! Remember that!"
Shen's father and mother were frightened by their son's outburst, they had never seen him lose control like this, as if someone had forcefully taken the softest and tenderest part of his heart, causing him unbearable pain.
The two elderly people who had just been shouting incessantly were now even afraid to breathe under their son's oppression.
But Zhong Huilu, who had been hiding behind Shen's mother, couldn't help but change her expression. She always felt that her husband was holding something back, and his actions today were also very unusual. How could he abandon work to play with the children, and only take Shen Yuling? Normally, she would have thought that her husband had lost his mind. Growing up in a family that favored males over females, he was much more concerned about his son than his daughter, and he wouldn't have just taken his daughter and ignored his son, unless he knew something! Zhong Huilu's heart tightened, and her eyes flickered slightly, then settled on Shen Youquan, as she tried to gauge his mental state through observation.
But she didn't have time to care about these trivial details, because Shen Youquan picked up his phone and was preparing to call the police. At this moment, he had no worries or concerns, only a full, unbridled, uncontrollable anger. If it hadn’t been for Vangara's warning ringing in his mind, he might have immediately told his parents the truth in a fit of impulsion.
"Mr. Shen, if you remain so ignorant, you will soon lose your only child."
"Have you heard the story of a cuckoo occupying a magpie's nest, Mr. Shen? When other birds lay their eggs in your nest, they will later push your chicks out of the nest, and they will die."
With just these two brief sentences, Vangara predicted everything about his daughter -- her past, present, and future were all hidden in this seemingly mundane but actually terrifying story. If Shen Youquan had not immediately done a DNA test and awakened lucky, and then taken his daughter away, now, there might be another daughter among the kidnapped. According to his wife, when the kidnappers picked up the child from the nursery, they had confirmed multiple times whether Shen Yuling was there. If she was, they would have taken her too. Then his daughter would have to endure the suffering of being tied up, threatened, and even abused...
Shen Youquan could no longer think, cold sweat began to cover his body, and Vangara's final warning made him dare not defy it in the slightest. "Today's conversation is only limited to the three of us, please do not disclose it, as the situation will become extremely serious. Even someone as well-connected as Mr. Shen will not be able to contain it."
What could develop to a point where he couldn't contain it? Shen Youquan only briefly thought about the beginning, and then immediately stymied his runaway imagination, not allowing it to run wild. He kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and then suddenly thought that a few days ago, there had been reports on the internet that Vangara was being hyped, and they said he was not a medium, but a charlatan playing tricks.
At that time, he had sneered at that news, shaking his head and saying, "There's no bottom line to hype," but now he realized deeply -- the so-called truth and reality were never in the hands of the public. When you thought you were mocking others with a clear head, fate might have set its sights on your muddled self, ready to play as it pleased with you.
In the face of fate, all mortals were ants, but how many people could break free from the curves and rules of fate? What kind of existence were they? Thinking of Vangara's prescient abilities, Shen Youquan suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and only now did he realize, in hindsight, how foolish, arrogant, and disdainful he had been in meeting Vangara yesterday.
His throat was extremely dry, and he pressed the button on his phone screen several times, but before he could dial "911", his wife gave him a fierce bump on the arm.
With a crackling sound, the phone he had recently bought broke. Zhong Huilu clutched her husband's arm and said anxiously, "We can't report to the police! The kidnappers will tear up the ticket!"
"This is a kidnapping, we must seek help from the police!" Shen Youquan shoved her away forcefully and said sternly. He had truly loved his wife before, and had been willing to show her the greatest respect and care. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in such a high position, facing so many temptations, yet remaining chaste.
But now, that love had already turned into a fire of hatred, incinerating all their past sweet memories. He would feel nauseated even looking at her, let alone being touched by her.
Zhong Huilu stumbled and almost fell, but she didn't have time to think about her husband's sudden indifference. She opened Baidu on her phone and pointed to several alarming cases, saying, "If reporting to the police worked, I would have done it a long time ago! Just recently there was a kidnapping case in our province, do you remember? The family reported to the police, and the kidnappers took the ransom, but killed the child. Now the money is gone, and the child is gone. This family is shattered, even if the kidnappers are eventually arrested, what's the use? Can those losses be recovered? Look at the official statistics, after reporting to the police, there's an 80% chance that the kidnappers will tear up the ticket, while not reporting is 40%. They just want money, we can't provoke them! Can't we quietly ransom the child back? I really can't bear any risk, that's my baby who I carried for ten months! He's already not in good health, if we anger the kidnappers, will they take it out on the child? Can Rao Rao survive, can he come back safely? I dare not even think about it now, it hurts my heart!"
Zhong Huilu slumped on the sofa, crying so much she was about to faint.
Shen's father and mother, who had initially thought it was also okay to report the crime, were now pale and distressed. Report = tear up the ticket, this equation was firmly embedded in their minds, occupying all their thoughts. One clung to her son's left hand, the other to his right, not allowing him to move.
Only the driver and bodyguard, Long Chengsheng, who was constantly calling the kidnappers on the side, spoke up, "I think Mr. Shen should call the police, as long as we keep it a secret, the kidnappers won't know, we can raise the ransom while the police search for clues to rescue him, it's like putting two insurances on the child. Right now, the kidnappers are still not answering. Are we just going to wait?"
"You're not in a position to comment, what right do you have to express your opinion on our family's affairs? If it's not your child, you don't understand what it's like to worry, right? We can't call the police, we absolutely can't call the police, I'll be furious with anyone who calls the police!" Zhong Huilu pounced on Long Chengsheng like a lioness, scratching his face.
Long Chengsheng dodged in embarrassment, then fell silent, and could only look towards Mr. Shen with suggestive eyes, encouraging him to make a decision. The elderly people and the women at home were already panicked, and now, only Mr. Shen's mind remained clear.
Shen Youquan closed his eyes in resignation, and said, "I won't report to the police, let go of me, I'll find a way to raise money."
"The kidnappers are just after money, we can give them money, and the child will come back. We'll definitely not take any risks! As long as Rao Rao can come back, we'll give however much money is needed, we'll sell the house, the car! There's still several million in savings, I'll give it all to you!" Shen's mother said through her tears.
"Mom, that's your and dad's retirement fund, you keep it. Our Shen family hasn't reached that point." Shen Youquan picked up the broken phone, and explained, "I'll call the finance department and have them raise the money for me. I'm going to call them now." As he said this, he went up to the study on the second floor.
Zhong Huilu finally left Long Chengsheng, who had been meddling, and nervously followed upstairs.
Shen Youquan quickly called Bai Mu and asked for Vangara's phone number. He was really regretting now that he had been so rude and hasty yesterday and forgotten to ask Mr. Vangara's contact information, otherwise, he wouldn't be now feeling so anxious.
Bai Mu heard his urgent tone and immediately sent the number.
The call was answered quickly, a crisp voice like a spring rushing from the ground, instantly alleviating Shen Youquan's inner turmoil, "Mr. Shen, is your little cuckoo still safe?"
The little cuckoo undoubtedly referred to his daughter. Thinking of his daughter's smiling face being so happy today, and her saying "Daddy, I love you the most" over and over again, Shen Youquan's gusto was greatly relieved, "Very good, she's very well." He was speaking while looking into his daughter's room through the crack of the door. She had already been calmed back to sleep by her nanny, a plump little foot sticking out from the blanket, with a very cute little dimple on the sole.
Shen Youquan's eyes burned, tears and fire in his eyes, and his throat was so dry he could barely speak. If it hadn't been for Vangara's reminder, his daughter might have been tied up in a dark, dirty, and remote place right now, enduring the intimidation and abuse of a group of thugs, and he didn't even dare to think about such a scene.
"Mr. Vangara, Shen Yurao has been kidnapped, what should I do?" Just as his mother was indifferent to the life and death of his daughter, Shen Youquan was unwilling to use fifty million to save a bastard child. He was not yet to the extent of being a saint; but he couldn't just watch Shen Yurao suffer. He had to save him, but he had to minimize the losses for the Shen family. He was just a rising star in the business world, not a scion of a prominent family with much heritage, and taking out five million at once would really hurt the foundation of it all.
To be honest, he had been struggling extremely hard to repress the evil side of his human nature, constantly driving himself to head in the right direction; otherwise, he wouldn't have cared about Shen Yurao's life or death, and he wouldn't have let Zhong Huilu, that woman, keep dancing in front of him. There was a moment when he was so incensed by the anger that overwhelmed his reason, he almost told the kidnappers: Tear up the ticket, I don't care, after all, Shen Yurao isn't my offspring!
Luckily, he didn't say anything or do anything, otherwise he would definitely have regretted it for a lifetime.