124: Chapter 124: With a Dragging Encumbrance 124: Chapter 124: With a Dragging Encumbrance Villa area.
An Xiao’s house.
On the balcony of the master bedroom, An Xiao is on the phone.
“I asked you to look into something, how’s that going?”.
The voice of a young man came from the phone: “I’ve investigated, and there’s no connection between them whatsoever.”
“How can there be no relation?” An Xiao suddenly raised her voice.
That day at Taoyao Inn, Yang Shuyi was so protective over Su He, as if Su He were her own daughter.
Saying they don’t know each other, she wouldn’t believe it even if she died!
The man said helplessly: “They really don’t have any interaction, I’ve checked everywhere, and couldn’t find a single clue.”
An Xiao asked: “What about the video from the meal at Taoyao Inn that day?”
The man answered: “I checked the surveillance footage from that day, and that woman was only followed by a kid and a tall boy, no one else.
You weren’t seeing things, were you?”
“…” An Xiao was so angry she was practically heaving.
She was slapped that day; how could she possibly recognize the wrong person.
The one who slapped her was Yang Shuyi, and she couldn’t have been mistaken.
She gritted her teeth: “Keep investigating this matter for me, I refuse to believe they really don’t know each other.”
The man didn’t argue, as long as he was getting paid it was fine by him.
After hanging up the phone, An Xiao sat down on the chaise longue on the balcony.
She was determined to figure out why Su He knew Yang Shuyi.
–
This Friday.
Si Qianqian’s sickroom.
She blinked her eyes, looking warily at Su He and cautiously asked: “Ms.
He, I’m going to be discharged, can I hug you?”
Su He slightly lifted her eyelids to look at her, her personality had indeed changed a lot.
When they first met, she treated her like an enemy, fierce and hostile, but now she was as docile as a little rabbit.
“Sure.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Si Qianqian immediately threw her arms around her.
“Ms.
He, can I come back to visit you at the hospital later?”
Without a second thought, Su He refused: “Better not, you shouldn’t come looking for me at the hospital.
If you do, it’s bound to be bad news.”
Upon hearing this, Si Qianqian’s face fell immediately.
She pursed her lips: “I knew it, you still don’t like being friends with me.”
Su He explained helplessly: “If you want to find me, contact me on WeChat, we can meet outside.
Since you’re being discharged and have recovered, you’d best never have to return to the hospital in your lifetime.”
Si Qianqian understood upon hearing this, and the smile returned to her face rapidly, “Oh, I get it now, I see.”
Su He saw her mood swinging like a child’s, constantly changing.
“Alright, get ready to be discharged.
Also, remember to take your medicine, don’t forget.
Besides that, make sure to control your emotions, don’t get agitated, don’t do any strenuous exercise, and don’t overexert yourself…”
After giving a few instructions, Su He left to attend to her busy work schedule.
At six o’clock in the afternoon, as usual, she finished work on time.
She drove for about forty minutes and arrived in the area of Deyu Road.
After finding a place to park, she followed a cobbled lane deep into the area.
She arrived at an antiques shop, with one of the main doors ajar.
She walked in, and the first things she saw were rows of display cabinets filled with various items.
Su He glanced around and noticed there was nobody there.
She frowned.
Then, she confidently went up to the second floor.
Gu Yu was just about to go downstairs when he unexpectedly saw Su He coming up.
He grinned at Su He and called out: “Su He, you’re here.”
Su He reached out and rapped him on the head.
Gu Yu winced in pain, looking at her with a confused face.
“There’s no one downstairs, aren’t you afraid of someone coming in to steal stuff?”
As soon as he heard it was about that matter, he immediately responded with a beaming smile, “No need to worry, Ms.
He.
No one dares to steal from us because they’re all afraid of the old master.”
“Where is the old gentleman?” Su He asked.
Pointing upwards, Gu Yu indicated with his finger, “On the third floor.”
Ascending to the third floor, Su He found it cluttered with various carving tools.
An elderly man with grizzled hair sat at the large mahogany desk at the center, working intently on a piece in his hands with his tools.
Without even raising his head, Ouyang Jiuzhang said, “What you wanted is ready.
It’s in the cabinet on your right.”
His voice was deep and resonant, bearing the marks of many years, yet imbued with strength.
Upon hearing this, Su He went to retrieve the item herself.
She took it out for a look, then sat down at the mahogany desk, closely examining the seal in her hand.
“Your craftsmanship hasn’t waned over the years.
The piece you’ve made is still so vivid and lifelike.”
Her praise was generous.
However, she was met with the old man’s sarcastic retort.
Snorting dismissively, Ouyang Jiuzhang retorted, “What’s the use of good craftsmanship if there’s no one to inherit it?
It’s still going to end up buried in the dirt.”
Su He was speechless.
She gently rubbed her nose and cleared her throat.
“Haven’t you already taken Gu Yu as an apprentice?” she inquired.
Ouyang Jiuzhang grunted again, “Him?
He’s just someone who knows nothing but eating, drinking, and sleeping.
He can’t even recognize all the tools – what use is he?
Hopelessly inept.”
Facing Ouyang Jiuzhang, Su He still felt a bit awkward.
After a moment, he finally paused his work to look at her.
At sixty-one years old, aside from graying hair, Ouyang Jiuzhang exuded a bright spirit and a stern, imposing dignity.
Of all the elderly she knew, he was by far the most formidable.
His sharp gaze swept over the seal in her hand, his tone grave, “If you’re capable of making it yourself, why bother asking me to do it?”
Su He explained with a smile, “Your skill is hundreds of times superior to mine.
I’d have to call upon your expertise for such an important task; I’m afraid I’d ruin it myself.”
“Humph!” The old man snorted, “You think I would believe such flattery?”
“Why wouldn’t you believe it?
My sculpting skills were taught by you, so of course, the master is more skilled than the apprentice.”
Ouyang Jiuzhang couldn’t be bothered to respond to her words.
Su He was the most talented sculptor he had ever seen, adept in the ten major sculpting techniques.
While it would be impressive for most people to master four, she excelled at all of them.
But frustratingly, this girl’s ambition lay elsewhere.
He didn’t force her; his only request was that she didn’t lose the craft.
As Su He rarely visited, she stayed a bit longer and had dinner.
By the time she left the antique shop, it was past eight o’clock.
On the way back to Moon Gift Villa, the phone on her car’s dashboard rang.
Glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was from Sang Luo.
She answered, “Hello.”
Following that, she heard the crying of a little girl, “Wuu~ Aunt Su.”
Su He’s brows furrowed, “Xuanxuan, what happened?
Where’s your mom?”
Through her sobs, Sang Yuxuan on the other end said, “Aunt Su, can you help save my mom, please?
There are lots of scary uncles who came to our house, and mom is in the living room.
She told me to hide in my room and not to come out.”
“Xuanxuan, be good, don’t cry.
Auntie will be there soon.”
Steering the wheel at the upcoming intersection, Su He changed the car’s direction, driving fast.
Thankfully, as it was night, the roads were not busy.
At this moment.
Inside the rented house where Sang Luo lived, a bald man with a golden chain necklace sat on the sofa, donning a black vest, his arms covered in dense, intricate tattoos.
Behind him stood four men with similarly intimidating looks.
Sang Luo stood calmly in front of the coffee table facing them.
“I’ve told you before, if she owes you money, take it up with her.
Don’t come to me.
She and I are no longer related,” she stated.
Twirling a cigarette in his mouth and letting out whiffs of smoke, the bald man squinted his small eyes and chuckled eerily.
“You’re playing games with me, you and your daughter, huh?” the bald man said, “She sends me to you, and you send me back to her?
What, do I look like a fool to you?”
Sang Luo still repeated the same sentence: “The one who owes you money is Chen Jinmeng, not me, and I no longer have money to help her pay off the debt.”
“Slap!”
A loud noise erupted in the living room.
The bald man forcefully slapped the coffee table.
Sang Luo frowned, bit her lip, and said nothing.
The bald man looked at her with violent eyes, like a thuggish gangster, and said, “Sang Luo, debts must be repaid, it’s only natural.
You know what we’re capable of, don’t force us to take action.”
“Your mother is in our hands right now.
If you can’t cough up five hundred thousand, then prepare to collect her corpse!”
In the past, Sang Luo might have been a bit soft-hearted.
But now she was utterly disappointed with Chen Jinmeng.
She never changed her ways.
She wouldn’t help her again, because she no longer had extra money to fill the endless pit of her emptying debts.
She said with composure, “Do as you please, notify me when she’s truly dead.
Now please leave my home, or else I’ll have to call the police.”
Suddenly, the bald man said, “Did you hear that?
Your daughter doesn’t care about your life or death, Chen Jinmeng.
Either pay up or go die.”
Sang Luo was briefly stunned, then saw one of the bald man’s underlings hand him a mobile phone.
The bald man took it and turned on the speakerphone.
She then heard Chen Jinmeng’s wailing voice: “No, don’t, Mr.
Wu, I can’t die, and besides, murder is illegal…”
“Then just damn pay the money, and I’ll pretend nothing happened!”
Suddenly, Chen Jinmeng said, “Mr.
Wu, I’ll marry off my daughter to you, she’s so pretty, she’s surely worth five hundred thousand.
Besides, didn’t you tell me before that you liked my daughter’s type?”
Sang Luo heard Chen Jinmeng’s words and her head buzzed with shock.
She stared in disbelief.
She couldn’t hold back and cursed at the person on the phone: “Chen Jinmeng, are you even human?”
After a moment of shock, Chen Jinmeng spoke sharply: “Sang Luo, I raised you all these years, you can’t repay me, will you die?
Without me, where would you be, you ungrateful wretch!
Do you have the heart to just watch me die?
Eh?
Aren’t you afraid people will point at your spine and curse you as heartless and unfeeling?
You can ignore even the life and death of your own mother, if I’m not human, are you?”
Chen Jinmeng continued: “I tell you, Sang Luo, if I die, I’ll bring that millstone down with me!”
Sang Luo’s face turned pale, she clenched her teeth, her hand tight: “Being your daughter makes me sick.
You should have strangled me when I was born!”
Chen Jinmeng didn’t argue with her and instead continued speaking with the bald man: “Mr.
Wu, although my daughter has a millstone, it won’t hinder your affairs because the millstone won’t live much longer.
Please show mercy, I’ll use my daughter to pay off the debt, spare my life, okay?”
Mr.
Wu chuckled at Chen Jinmeng’s words, “Chen Jinmeng, you’re really not human.”
Chen Jinmeng would say anything to save her life.
She echoed: “Right, right, I’m not human.”
“Mr.
Wu, rest assured, my daughter hasn’t been with a man these past years, she’s actually quite clean.
The kid was just an accident.”
Mr.
Wu’s sharp gaze turned towards Sang Luo, with a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth.
Sang Luo, who wasn’t afraid before, shivered inexplicably.
Mr.
Wu naturally knew Sang Luo was beautiful, as they had known each other for three years due to Chen Jinmeng’s debts.
She always seemed gentle and refreshing, pure like clear water.
But she had a resilient quality to her, seemingly fragile but stronger than anyone.
To repay Chen Jinmeng’s debts, she had to work multiple jobs while taking care of a child.
His fierce gaze settled on Sang Luo, but what he said was, “Chen Jinmeng, even if you use your daughter to wipe out the five hundred thousand, what about the remaining two hundred thousand in interest?
How do you plan to repay that?”
Chen Jinmeng panicked: “Mr.
Wu…
Mr.
Wu, my daughter…
she’s very valuable.
If you get tired of playing with her, you can make her do sex work.
Look at her, fair skin, beautiful, soft, she’s sure to be popular, many men like her type.”
Sang Luo felt a chill in her heart.
A touch of mockery flashed in her eyes, her mouth curling into a cold smile.
Every time she said these things, she couldn’t help but doubt if Chen Jinmeng was her real mother.
After all, what kind of mother treats her daughter like this?
But biology told her that she was indeed Chen Jinmeng’s daughter, how cruel and ironic.
Chen Jinmeng once again shattered the worldviews of Mr.
Wu and the others since they had yet to encounter someone who would sell their daughter to repay debts.
Although they came to collect debts, they never thought of harming anyone.
After all, repaying debts is a natural obligation.
He hung up on Chen Jinmeng’s call.
Then he looked at Sang Luo and said, “I’ll give her another week.
If she doesn’t pay up by then, then don’t blame us.”
Upon finishing, he stood up and left with his men.
Su He had just arrived when the men had just left.
And when Sang Luo opened the door and saw her, she was also taken aback.
“Su He?
How did you come?”
Su He ran up the stairs, missing the elevator and thus missing Wu Xiong and the others.
“Are you alright?” Su He asked, noticing her slightly reddened eyes.
Sang Luo probably guessed it; it must have been her daughter who called Su He.
Yet, Su He’s presence was quite a surprise to her.
After all, they hadn’t known each other for long, so seeing her appear was a mix of astonishment and emotion.
She mustered a smile and said, “I’m fine, sorry to disturb you so late at night.”
She stepped aside and added, “Please, come in and have a seat.”
Sang Luo poured her a glass of water.
Su He looked at her and asked, “Who were those people?”
Sang Luo had never spoken to anyone about Chen Jinmeng’s affairs.
She clenched her teeth and said, “They were debt collectors.
My mother racked up debt with them due to her gambling habits.”
Su He had vaguely guessed something, but she hadn’t expected this.
—
Elsewhere.
At the airport’s VIP exit.
A group of people hurried out and then got into a Rolls-Royce that had been waiting for a long while.
“Master, the task you assigned has been taken care of.
Chairman Jiang will only think you’re still abroad,” someone reported.
The man in the back seat leaned his head back, eyes closed, and responded with a “hmm.”
Jiang Feng, seeing his exhaustion, did not say anything more.
These past few days involved work well past their normal capacity.
International issues proved more troublesome than they had anticipated.
Originally, they planned to return tomorrow and avoid the rush, but as soon as Master’s meeting ended, he immediately rushed to the airport to return.
It seemed that Master wanted to give the Young Madam a surprise.
An hour later.
The black Rolls-Royce entered Moon Gift Villa.
Upon hearing the car’s arrival, Uncle Zhong stepped outside.
He saw Jiang Yan, who had been on a business trip for a week, returning.
Uncle Zhong beamed warmly, “Master, you’re back.
Have you eaten dinner?
I can cook something for you.”
Jiang Yan, however, inquired, “Where is the Young Madam?”
Uncle Zhong’s smile deepened, thinking to himself that Master couldn’t even step through the door before asking about the Young Madam.
“The Young Madam hasn’t returned yet; she said she had some things to take care of tonight and might be back late.
However, the young master is here.”
Upon hearing this, the man’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, his expression darkening.
He ignored Uncle Zhong’s last sentence.
“Not back yet?”
“Did she mention what she was going to do?”
The man asked in a deep voice.
Uncle Zhong could sense his mood shift; it’s rare to see someone who could affect their Master’s emotions this much, which he thought was a good thing.
“No.”
Back at Sang Luo’s home.
Su He was shocked after hearing her story.
At the same time, she gained a new understanding of Sang Luo, who appeared gentle on the outside but had a heart as strong as a diamond.
“Who is Xuanxuan’s father?” Su He ventured to ask, but seeing Sang Luo’s distressed look, she immediately added, “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Sang Luo shook her head and said, “Xuanxuan is the child of my first love.”
“However, he doesn’t know because by the time I found out I was pregnant, we had already broken up.
Our statuses were too disparate; we were not suited for each other, but I couldn’t bear to give up this child, so I secretly had her.”
After speaking, Sang Luo felt much lighter.
“Susu, thank you for listening to so much tonight.
Over these years, I haven’t talked about these things with anyone.
Now that I have shared them with you, I feel much more relieved.”
Being a single mother, many people looked at her strangely.
Coupled with her outstanding looks, many talked behind her back and made harsh comments, so aside from work, she rarely interacted with others.
By the time Su He left Sang Luo’s home, it was already eleven o’clock.
And by the time she got back to Moon Gift Villa, it was past midnight.