Chapter 22: Supporting a Useless Brother? Not Happening!
Lin Zhifeng was jolted awake by the loud banging on the door. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she saw it was only 3:30 a.m.
She rolled over, utterly indifferent, and went back to sleep. No matter how loudly the voices outside shouted, “Get out and find your brother!” she didn’t even flinch.
When she sensed Xie Laidi was about to get up, she gently pressed down on the small head beside her and whispered in her ear, “Sleep. Don’t worry about it.”
Before drifting off again, Lin Zhifeng silently gave Zhao Jiaoyue a thumbs-up in her mind. Kidnapping or not, that woman was definitely a heroine.
Outside, Xie Yaozu was so furious his vision blurred. But mindful of the neighbors, he dared not kick the door in. Only when his chest pain flared up again did he give up knocking.
He walked into the living room and sat down between the two pale-faced women. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. The unfamiliar ringtone startled him so much he nearly jumped off the couch.
The screen showed an unknown number. At this hour, it could only be the kidnapper calling about Guibao!
Nervously clutching his shirt, he answered and put the call on speakerphone. Li Amei and Wang Tingmei held their breaths, barely daring to breathe.
“Hello?”
“You did well at the police station just now. Now, if you follow our instructions carefully, your son will remain unharmed. Otherwise…”
The voice had been disguised—no clue if it was male or female, old or young. The eerie sound sent chills through the room. Just as the threat ended, faint whimpering came through the line—Xie Guibao’s desperate plea:
“Wuwu… Dad, Grandma, save me… Mom…”
Click. The call ended abruptly.
Xie Yaozu immediately tried to call back, but all he heard was a soft, synthetic female voice:
“We’re sorry. The number you dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.”
Like a balloon losing air, Xie Yaozu slumped into the couch, completely deflated.
They even knew about what happened at the police station. From now on, they’d have to watch their every word—even letting out a fart might cost them.
Li Amei sat beside him, sniffling and wiping away her tears. Wang Tingmei remained standing, her face blank and motionless.
“Tingmei!”
Suddenly, Li Amei’s eyes lit up like she’d just had a revelation. Her attitude toward Wang Tingmei did a complete 180.
“Call that Zhao Xiao! Ask him to help find Guibao. Worst case, maybe he can at least lend us some money!”
“Yes, yes!” Xie Yaozu echoed eagerly. “Isn’t he your brother? His own nephew’s been kidnapped—he can’t just ignore that, can he?”
He had finally found a spark of hope. For whatever reason, he couldn’t risk involving the police. Someone like Zhao Xiao, who had contacts and influence, was their best shot.
Wang Tingmei nodded without hesitation and dialed Zhao Xiao’s number, putting the call on speakerphone. She stared at the screen nervously and swallowed hard.
“We’re sorry. The number you dialed is not in service.”
Wang Tingmei froze. Could it be that just because she had brought up buying a house, the people who once claimed to be her mother and brother had now vanished into thin air? So much for family. Why did they even come looking for her in the first place?
“That little b*stard. Knew he couldn’t be trusted. Just like that old witch who raised him!”
Li Amei’s tone turned ice cold again, and she couldn’t even bring herself to look at Wang Tingmei.
Wang Tingmei’s heart was in a panic, a sense of betrayal burning in her chest. Humiliation and fury mingled together. Then, a thought suddenly sprang to mind.
“Yaozu… that thing you discussed with Brother Qiang…”
Her gaze drifted toward the tightly shut bedroom door, but as if electrocuted, she quickly snapped her eyes away.
“If it goes through, we’d get 120,000 yuan, right? Zhaodi turns eighteen today.”
Xie Yaozu’s face was stern as he gave a reluctant nod. He was increasingly convinced that the people who kidnapped his son were the same thugs he’d dealt with before—and that it was Brother Qiang who tipped them off, trying to pocket all the money for himself.
It was supposed to be a windfall that could change their lives. Now, before the cash was even in his hands, he was being forced to give it all away. The thought made Xie Yaozu’s heart ache.
But he had no choice—these people were holding his biological son. There was no way he could refuse.
“First thing in the morning, have her go get her ID card. Tonight I’ll take her to the Yang family. We bring the money back first and wait for their next call.”
Wang Tingmei finally exhaled a little, some of the tension easing from her chest. Then her eyes flicked with a new idea and she asked hesitantly, “What if we found a match for Laidi too?”
“In this short amount of time, where the hell am I supposed to find someone?” Xie Yaozu snapped, his brow furrowed in frustration. “Besides, the second one’s only fifteen. Anyone willing to take her now would be some dirt-poor bumpkin from the backwoods. How much could we even get for her?”
Wang Tingmei wiped the tears from her swollen cheeks, voice trembling. “Even if it’s not much… money is money.”
Li Amei nodded solemnly. “She’s right, Yaozu. Why not give it a try? I can ask around back in the village, see if anyone’s got relatives looking for a young bride.”
“Fine. First thing after sunrise, I’ll go talk to someone. Mom, when you go back to the village, don’t say anything stupid. We can’t let anyone catch wind of this.”
“I know. I’m not stupid.”
Feeling a bit more useful, Wang Tingmei quickly added, “I’ll head to Hengrui first thing in the morning and see if I can track down Zhao Xiao.”
The three of them came to a grim agreement, but none of them could sleep. They sat silently on the couch, waiting for morning. Every second crawled by.
By the time the door to the small bedroom creaked open, all three of their eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night.
Xie Yaozu looked at his two daughters, full of energy and ready to face the day, and his chest throbbed with fresh anger and pain.
He had stayed up all night and was clearly out of energy. Waving his hand impatiently, he said, “It’s your birthday, right? Hurry up and take the household registration book to get your ID card. You’ll need it for school.”
Lin Zhifeng let out an undisguised laugh. Not even a fool would buy such a half-hearted excuse—he was clearly in a rush to sell her off and scrape together the ransom money.
Seeing Li Amei silent and expressionless, and Wang Tingmei looking at her with hopeful eyes, she immediately understood: the three of them had definitely cooked this up together.
She quickly finished washing up, grabbed the household booklet from the table, and left with Xie Laidi in tow.
At the alley where they usually caught a ride, they spotted the familiar silver sedan. But this time, Scarface didn’t invite them into the car—instead, he motioned them into the alley for a word.
“Chairman Zhao and General Manager Zhao will be out of town for a few days. If either of you need anything, feel free to let me know. Things are a bit tense right now, so I’ll be protecting you from the shadows to avoid drawing attention.”
“Got it. Thanks for your help.”
Lin Zhifeng had no intention of troubling him further. If all had gone according to plan, the Yang family should have already welcomed the so-called immortal into their home. Once Mother Yang was hypnotized, Xie Yaozu’s scheme would fall apart.
The sisters headed straight from the alley to the government office. As soon as the doors opened, they got everything done efficiently—issued the ID, collected the temporary one, and made their way to the bank.
By 11:30 a.m., Lin Zhifeng had one hand holding her new ID and the other clutching her bank card, feeling as though she owned the entire world.
“What do you want to eat today? Hotpot? Seafood?” she asked with sudden enthusiasm. At this moment, she felt like no food in the entire county was worthy of celebrating her victory.
Xie Laidi, who had been told the truth about Xie Guibao’s kidnapping, knew there was no need to worry anymore—but a lingering sense of unease still sat heavy in her chest.
“Sister, we know the truth—but they don’t. What if they come up with some twisted idea to scrape together the money?”
Xie Laidi knew her parents and grandmother all too well. If they couldn’t come up with the ransom, they’d definitely start scheming against the two of them.
“Dad rushed you to get your ID first thing this morning—there’s no way it’s that simple. And I swear, the way Mom and Grandma were looking at me… it didn’t feel right.”
Lin Zhifeng froze for a moment before it clicked.
So those three bloodsuckers weren’t just planning to sell the older one—they were eyeing the younger one too!
