Chapter 598: Regret
Although Old Man Cai’s mind was clear now, his speech was a bit slurred. “Don’t worry about me. Go find Xue Jian.”
Chen Xiaoxiu was in a total panic. “Where am I supposed to find him? He rushed in and rushed out, just grabbed a few clothes and left!”
Old Man Cai replied, “Go to the police station. Xue Jian’s been caught! Kidnapping means jail time!”
Chen Xiaoxiu’s eyes reddened. “Old Cai, you have to save our son! He’s still so young, he’s not even married! If he goes to jail, his life will be ruined!”
Of course Old Man Cai’s heart ached for his son, but right now, he was more furious. “Couldn’t he have done anything else? Why did it have to be kidnapping?!”
Chen Xiaoxiu grew defensive. “Our son is such a good boy. He wouldn’t even get into fights when he was little. How could he possibly kidnap someone?”
Old Man Cai retorted, “But they’ve already found Wennan, and they caught Xue Jian at the scene! You still don’t believe it? Lying to yourself like this won’t help our son at all!”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaoxiu finally couldn’t stop the tears of regret from flowing.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I never would have brought our son here to find Old Man Cai!’
‘At least life was hard, but our son wouldn’t have ended up in jail.’
‘But now, not only has Old Man Cai failed to get any of the family assets, our son is going to jail for kidnapping.’
“It must have been those thugs. They must have threatened Xue Jian and forced him to do it.”
Chen Xiaoxiu tried to make excuses for her son, hoping it might lessen his charges.
But this was just wishful thinking on her part; no one would believe it.
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself in the hospital. After all, there are doctors and nurses here.” Old Man Cai fought back a wave of dizziness and urged Chen Xiaoxiu to hurry up and go sort things out for their son.
Chen Xiaoxiu was usually all talk, but when real trouble hit, she completely froze, having no idea what to do.
“But it’s dark out, and I don’t even have a bicycle. There are no buses running now, so how am I supposed to get there?”
Old Man Cai glanced outside, sighed, and closed his eyes. “Then just wait here. I’m incredibly dizzy and feel awful right now. If I’m better tomorrow, I’m checking out of the hospital!”
‘Relying on Chen Xiaoxiu is probably hopeless.’
After closing his eyes, Old Man Cai compared Chen Xiaoxiu with Zhang Xiaohua and finally realized that having a capable and assertive wife was actually a good thing sometimes.
‘All these years, Zhang Xiaohua had been in charge of everything, both at home and outside, and their life had become more and more prosperous.’
‘Even in the most difficult times, by foraging on the beach, they could eat well on all sorts of small seafood. At least they never went hungry.’
‘Back then, he’d always felt Zhang Xiaohua was too overbearing, that she didn’t let him live his own life. But in reality, it was also very easy for him.’
‘He worked and earned money, and as long as he gave a portion to the family, he didn’t have to worry about anything else.’
‘Sometimes her assertiveness made him lose face, which was why he’d been so captivated by the gentle and dependent Chen Xiaoxiu he met outside.’
‘Chen Xiaoxiu certainly knew how to say sweet, considerate things, but that was only when life was prosperous and stable.’
‘When faced with hardships and storms, a woman like her was completely useless, only capable of crying and whimpering.’
Old Man Cai forced himself to rest, tuning out Chen Xiaoxiu’s incessant muttering beside him.
As for Old Man Cai having a stroke and being hospitalized, even when word reached Granny Cai, she didn’t care.
She had said it before: in her heart, Cai Xingwang was already dead. He wasn’t even a person to her anymore.
When the neighbors found out about Old Man Cai and Chen Xiaoxiu, they didn’t say anything out loud, but they were full of criticism in their hearts.
‘This was karma for his infidelity.’
Right now, all of Granny Cai’s attention was on her unconscious granddaughter.
The next morning, her granddaughter, Cai Wennan, finally woke up.
“Wennan, you were riding your bike just fine. Why did you suddenly stop?” Granny Cai asked curiously. They had seen a distant shot of the incident from a nearby bank’s CCTV.
Cai Wennan was still frightened thinking about it. She answered in a trembling voice, “They pulled up in front of me in a van and asked for directions. I was just about to point the way when two men got out, covered my mouth and nose with a cloth, and then I blacked out.”
Hearing this, a chill ran down Granny Cai’s spine. “From now on, if someone asks you for directions and there’s no one else around, don’t stop. Just leave immediately!”
“I know, Grandma! I’ll be careful from now on!” Cai Wennan replied. ‘A lesson learned the hard way. I can never make a mistake like that again.’
Granny Cai thought for a moment. “No, that’s not enough. From now on, I’ll pick you up after school!”
Hearing this, Cai Wennan smiled through her tears. “Grandma, I’m already so old. How can I still have you picking me up every night?”
“Besides, the roads are so busy with people and cars now. I’d be worried about you riding your tricycle! If something happened to you, I’d be even more upset!”
“Anyway, I’ve learned my lesson this time. I’ll be more vigilant in the future. Besides, after something like this, the police will increase their patrols to prevent it from happening again.”
Granny Cai listened and nodded. “I’m too old to pick you up. I’ll have your dad do it instead! That job of his doesn’t pay much, and he’s always away on business trips!”
“When he gets back, I’m going to make him transfer to a new position. One where he gets off work on time and can come home to pick up his kids. Whether it’s you or Wenjun, he needs to step up and take responsibility as a father.”
“Just like you said, I’m getting old. Your mother is often out at sea, and now she’s Auntie Xiao Rui’s right-hand woman. She’s extremely busy and can’t manage these things.”
Seeing her grandmother’s firm attitude, Cai Wennan didn’t argue. ‘I’ll bring it up again later,’ she thought.
That morning, Han Xiaorui personally brought over some porridge and pan-fried buns that Sister Lian had made.
“Wennan, how are you feeling?” Han Xiaorui asked with concern as she poured some porridge for Cai Wennan.
Cai Wennan smiled and replied, “Auntie Xiao Rui, I’m fine now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me anymore. I want to go home! Can you help me convince Grandma?”
Han Xiaorui laughed. “It’s not my call, and it’s not your grandma’s call either. We have to listen to the doctor!”
“If the doctor says you can be discharged now, I’ll take you home immediately! But if they say no, then you have to stay in the hospital a bit longer.”
“Your mom is out at sea. Now that you’ve been found, I haven’t told her yet. I didn’t want her to be frantic with worry while she’s out on the water and unable to rush back!”
Cai Wennan breathed a sigh of relief. “Auntie Xiao Rui, you were right not to tell my mom! The sea is vast, and the shore is far away. Even if my mom knew, she couldn’t just fly back, and she’d probably worry herself sick.”
Han Xiaorui smiled. “Hurry and eat your porridge! You’ll look much better after you eat, and then I’ll call the doctor over to check on you!”
“Okay!” Cai Wennan nodded. “Grandma, you eat too! Don’t go hungry! Auntie Xiao Rui, have you eaten?”
“I’ve already eaten!” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. “I’m so happy to see you’re okay. I’ve already asked Lawyer Chen to handle the case. We have to make sure those kidnappers face the full force of the law and are punished severely.”