Jian Jing checked the nearby bus stop and found that three bus routes passed through here.
Routes 01, 07, and 18. Since it would be inconvenient to go any further, she decided to expand her search to three stops. She also discovered four or five homestays.
At this point, the value of scallion pancakes didn't seem significant anymore since they could be found anywhere in this bustling area.
She decided to try a more direct approach and started making phone calls one by one.
"Hello, I reserved a room at your place. Yes, the last four digits of my phone number are ****. Oh, you didn't receive a reservation? I must have made a mistake then."
"Hello, hey, yes, that's right. Do you have my number saved? That's good. Well, I forgot the address over there. What's the street number again? The 26th? Okay, thank you."
Jian Jing happily hung up the phone and headed straight to her destination.
She also dialed Ji Feng's number.
He seemed busy and spoke in a hushed tone, "I'm outside. Did you find it? Can't go back? In that case, call the police station... Jian Jing, just give them your name. Don't worry, they know you, but they might not recognize me."
"If that's the case, what use do I have for you?" As soon as she heard his unclear response, Jian Jing ruthlessly hung up and dialed 110 directly.
As Ji Feng predicted, she gave her name, and the police dispatcher took it seriously and immediately promised to send someone to investigate.
Fifteen minutes later, Jian Jing arrived at the homestay and coincidentally encountered a police officer carrying a rescued child.
An ambulance was parked downstairs.
She was startled. "What happened to the child?"
"It seems like the child ate something, possibly poisoned by rice noodles." The police officer was sweating, and together with the medical staff, they placed the child in the ambulance. "Luckily, we discovered it early."
Jian Jing's expression changed abruptly.
"You take the child to the hospital, and I'll notify the parents." She opened the trunk, where the unconscious kidnapper was still tied up. "This is the kidnapper. Please take him to the hospital as well; he's injured."
The police officer gasped, "In that case, you and I should go to the police station..."
"I have something else to do. I'll go later," Jian Jing interrupted and hailed a taxi, providing the address of the villa.
The taxi driver, curious upon seeing the ambulance and police cars, asked, "What happened? Did someone die?" As he spoke, he glanced at the passenger in the back seat.
Jian Jing's face darkened, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
He wisely kept his mouth shut.
Forty minutes later, Jian Jing returned to Cong Cong's house. Si Yingjie anxiously approached her. "The kidnapper still hasn't called. It's been two hours, Jing Jing..."
Jian Jing nodded absentmindedly, ignoring him, and headed straight to the living room, where she fixed her gaze on Sister's husband and Second Sister Si. She spoke directly,
"I caught the kidnapper."
Both of them were startled.
Second Sister Si blurted out, "Where's Cong Cong? Where is he?"
"Is the child okay?" Sister's husband asked.
"I found the child too," Jian Jing surveyed their faces and spoke slowly, "but when I arrived, he had already been taken into the ambulance."
"What?" Second Sister Si exclaimed, suddenly losing her balance and collapsing.
Sister's husband also panicked, "What's going on? Did something go wrong? We already paid the ransom."
Jian Jing looked at him and suddenly laughed as if nothing were wrong. "Don't worry, it's just food poisoning. They took him to the hospital promptly, so there shouldn't be any life-threatening danger."
Sister's husband was taken aback, and then he sat down heavily. "You scared me. I thought..."
"I know," Si Yingjie's face turned pale with fright. "Jing Jing, next time please make yourself clear. My heart almost stopped."
"I was also terrified. How could the kidnappers be so ruthless?" Jian Jing said.
"By the way, where are the kidnappers?" Sister's husband asked.
Jian Jing looked embarrassed. "I think they went too far. They should have been taken to the hospital. I don't know if they'll wake up."
Sister's husband nodded. "Let's not worry about them for now. Which hospital? We'll go there immediately."
Second Sister Si also regained her composure and struggled to get up. "I'll go too."
"I'll drive," Si Yingjie said.
Jian Jing got into his car and lowered her head to send a message on WeChat.
The others were too preoccupied to notice her actions. They rushed to the hospital as soon as they arrived.
Jian Jing held onto Si Yingjie. "I need to tell you something."
"What is it?" Si Yingjie looked confused.
She whispered in his ear, saying this and that for a couple of sentences.
Si Yingjie's expression changed drastically. "Is it true? Don't scare me."
"I'm about seventy percent sure," Jian Jing said. "I can't handle this matter myself, so I can only entrust it to you."
Si Yingjie hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded. "Alright, I'll go right away."
He hurriedly left.
Cong Cong had already had his stomach washed.
The doctor said they arrived in time, and the child hadn't consumed much rice noodles, so the poisoning wasn't severe. After a few days of treatment, he would be fine.
Second Sister Si felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She almost collapsed into a chair, unable to lift a finger.
At this moment, she had forgotten about her younger brother, her husband, and the kidnappers. Her heart and mind were filled with thoughts of her son lying in the hospital bed.
Her little child had endured such a great hardship.
No matter how strong Second Sister Si usually was, she couldn't help but cover her face and shed tears.
"Ying Mei," her husband spoke up with a serious expression. "I've thought about it. We can't let that guy off so easily. If we turn him over to the police, he won't be sentenced to death."
Second Sister Si mustered her spirit. "What do you want to do?"
Sister's husband didn't answer, but stared fixedly at her.
Second Sister Si pondered for a while, then shook her head. "If we get exposed..."
"Are you willing to let it go then?" Sister's husband asked in return.
Second Sister Si fell silent.
"If you can't do it, I'll do it. Just don't reveal anything when the time comes," Sister's husband said in a low voice.
Second Sister Si struggled with difficulty. She didn't want to do this, but when she looked at her son's weak and pale face, she couldn't find the words to refuse.
She could only acquiesce, silently and reluctantly.
Sister's husband understood her very well. He knew that her attitude was already a form of support. He left without saying a word.
He inquired about the kidnapper's hospital room from a nurse and patiently waited until there was no one around before quickly and stealthily entering.
The kidnapper's head was wrapped in bandages, still under the influence of anesthesia, sleeping soundly.
Sister's husband clenched his fist, turned around, and locked the door. Then, he picked up the pillow nearby, about to press it down with force. However, he was too nervous and completely failed to notice that there was another person hiding under the bed.
"I advise you not to do this," Jian Jing calmly got up as if she had just crawled down to pick up something, holding a pen in her hand.
Sister's husband was momentarily panicked but quickly regained his composure. "I just can't swallow this anger."
"Oh, isn't it a matter of killing someone to silence them?" Jian Jing asked curiously.
Sister's husband was greatly surprised. "What are you talking about?"
Jian Jing twirled the pen in her hand, sat down in a nearby chair, crossed her legs, and assumed a relaxed posture. "I'm saying, you want to kill someone to silence them - kidnapping was your suggestion, right?"
Sister's husband laughed in anger. "Miss Jian, I've been polite to you because you're a friend of Yingjie. But you can't slander me like this, can you?"
"Is it slander?" she retorted. "Are you sure?"
Sister's husband said, "You say I'm the mastermind, where's the evidence?"
Jian Jing pointed to the cabinet across the room. "I recorded all your actions just now. If I show it to him," pointing at the kidnapper, "do you think he will identify you?"
"If I'm going to kill him, what's so surprising about him slandering me?" Sister's husband remained calm.
Having seen many cases, nothing surprised Jian Jing anymore when it came to encountering stubborn suspects. She calmly said, "So, you haven't had any contact with the kidnapper these past few days?"
Sister's husband's tone faltered for a moment, about to say something in rebuttal, but the door behind him was lightly knocked. "Yaoming, it's me," it was the voice of Second Sister Si.
Sister's husband took the opportunity to open the door and let Second Sister Si in.
Seeing Jian Jing here and the kidnapper still breathing, Second Sister Si didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. She asked, "What are you all talking about?"
"Yaoming, you came at the right time," Sister's husband closed the door and whispered, "Miss Jian caught me red-handed. She thinks I came here to kill and silence someone. She wants to call the police."
Second Sister Si froze, unable to hide her embarrassment on her face.
Jian Jing smiled and asked, "So, you two have reached a consensus?"
"Ahem," Second Sister Si struggled with her words, "Miss Jian, I hope you don't misunderstand. It was just a momentary impulse as parents. Cong Cong almost lost his life, and we just couldn't let it go."
Jian Jing replied, "So, you're just seeking revenge?"
"In fact, I regretted it just now," Second Sister Si sincerely said, "We were confused for a moment. Pretend you didn't see anything, nothing really happened, let's just leave it at that."
Her attitude was undeniably sincere, her remorse genuine. However, Jian Jing still said, "I don't think that's possible."
Second Sister Si was surprised. "Why? Shouldn't we consider this a suspended crime?"
"No, the crime has already occurred, or rather, it's coming to an end," Jian Jing looked past her, toward her husband.
Sister's husband frowned. "Yingmei, Yingjie doesn't know what kind of friends he's made. He actually said that I orchestrated the kidnapping, that I kidnapped our own son?"
Second Sister Si was momentarily stunned. She was about to defend her husband when someone burst into the room.
"Kidnapping our own son would certainly be strange, but it wouldn't be strange if he's not our own son, right?" Si Yingjie barged in, refuting loudly as he threw a stack of documents onto the hospital bed.
Raising her head, Second Sister Si saw the sign of the XX Medical Laboratory, with the title "DNA Test Report."
She glanced at her husband with a complicated expression.
"I'm sorry, Brother-in-law. I went to your office," calmly said Si Yingjie, "Please explain."
Sister's husband remained silent.
Second Sister Si took a deep breath. "When did you find out?"
"Last year, when he fell ill and was hospitalized. You hid the report, so I became suspicious," Sister's husband sighed. "Yes, I admit I was petty. I needed to investigate to put my mind at ease. But I truly don't blame you, and I intended to always treat Cong Cong as my own son."
He sincerely said, "Just because I know he's not my biological child, I shouldn't reject him. What does that accomplish? Did I not provide financial support? Did I not lose a batch of diamonds? Won't my company be unaffected?"
Second Sister Si's expression flickered, and she didn't know how to respond at that moment.
She always harbored guilt towards her husband. Despite resorting to this desperate measure, it was truly unavoidable. The process of in vitro fertilization was agonizing. Over the years, she had consumed countless medications, endured countless injections, and suffered excruciating pain. And even then, success wasn't guaranteed with just one attempt.
After the third egg retrieval, lying on the hospital bed, she felt her body gradually weakening, as if she could die at any moment. But her husband only cared about the outcome, reassuring her that this time it would work, it had to work.
But she had had enough.
The process was too painful, too unbearable.
It wasn't her fault. Why should she endure so much suffering?
She had done everything she could, and she didn't want to go through the hellish torment again. So, after yet another failed attempt, she asked the doctor to seal her records and found someone else to conceive the child, that child being Cong Cong.
This child liberated her from endless torment and fulfilled her wish to become a mother.
Occasionally, Si Yingjie felt a bit guilty towards her husband.
If he wanted a divorce, she wouldn't object.
However, she never expected that her husband would want to kill their own child.
The author has something to say: The news didn't create any ripples in this case... an indifferent face.
