Sasha had waited for so long, finally receiving news from Daniel.
Daniel had found the woman who had taken Xiao Anjing's adopted daughter, but unfortunately, he hadn't found the little girl.
According to Daniel, the little girl had already been sold by their group and her whereabouts were now unknown.
The blonde, blue-eyed woman had also been apprehended by Daniel and taken to the police station. She was a member of a fraud ring and had confessed to claiming the girl as her own daughter to extort her.
She had accidentally discovered a little girl who had fainted on the road, with no adults around.
She took the little girl back, gave her some water and food, and the girl recovered. She had likely fainted from hunger and thirst.
As soon as the little girl woke up, she cried to go home. The people in the group noticed that the girl resembled her greatly and decided to keep her.
Everyone in their group believed that having a child would make it easier to succeed when they went out to scam people.
However, at first, the girl cried every day, wanting to go home and find her parents, and she always tried to escape.
They tied her up like a dog, and whenever she cried or disobeyed, they beat her severely.
After being tamed for a period, the little girl became obedient. Perhaps out of fear of being beaten, she became very well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss.
She would say whatever they taught her to say. Therefore, when the police looked for them, the girl obediently claimed to be the woman's daughter, without arousing the police's suspicion.
Because the woman had a daughter, several police officers often helped her, treating the girl a little better.
But overnight, news media reported everywhere about a little girl who had been kidnapped and gone missing. The photos closely resembled the girl they had kept. They were all very nervous.
They immediately took the little girl and left their original residence. However, no matter where they hid, they feared being discovered.
At this time, the blonde, blue-eyed woman wanted to scam an old man. This old man unintentionally revealed to her that he wanted to adopt a girl.
She thought she could get rid of her troubles and sold the little girl to the old man. Now, she didn't know where the old man had taken the little girl.
At the time, judging by what the old man said, he intended to take the little girl away from here and go to another country. She assumed they had likely already gone somewhere else.
Daniel told Sasha that it could now be confirmed that the child with the blonde, blue-eyed woman was not her biological daughter, but it was still impossible to be completely certain if it was the kidnapped and missing child.
This was because only by finding the child herself could definitive conclusions be drawn.
Sasha hadn't expected that after waiting for so long, it would all be for nothing. Without finding Xiao Anjing's adopted daughter, she couldn't retaliate against Gu Susu.
This Gu Susu was constantly ruining her affairs, and even meddling in matters and people unrelated to her.
She could no longer continue the research and production of the medicine, and now her son's inheritance rights in the Xie family were also threatened.
If she lost everything in the end, what would happen to her and her child in the future?
Although Daniel promised her that he would continue to search for the little girl, she no longer held any hope.
What purpose could an old man have in buying a little girl as an adopted daughter? Thinking about the little girl made her feel so pathetic and pitiful.
Not every little girl abandoned on the streets could be as lucky as her, encountering such a good adoptive parent like Yang Sijie, who provided her with a superior life and had no ill intentions towards her.
However, she still casually told Daniel to notify her if he had any news.
Now, she could only wait for Xie Qining's second trial to conclude, and then return to Lancheng to find a way to deal with that woman named Zhan Jiayi. Her son's inheritance rights absolutely could not be snatched away by someone else.
...
Just as Tianyi and Susu had hoped, Xiao Xingxing's surgery was very successful.
The expert said that after the surgery, six weeks of anti-infective medication treatment would be administered, and if there were no complications, he could be discharged from the hospital after recovery.
Susu's long-held anxiety could finally be somewhat relieved.
The Aoxiang Group had major projects underway, and there were many things to do. Tianyi was worried that Anjing would not be able to handle it alone. Seeing that Xiao Xingxing's surgery was successful, he told Susu that he wanted to return to Lancheng first.
Susu also agreed to his return, as she alone would be sufficient to take care of him during his post-operative recovery.
Tianyi was still a little uneasy and hired a caregiver to help Susu look after Xiao Xingxing.
Three days after the surgery, Xiao Xingxing's complexion had regained a healthy rosy color, and he was no longer drowsy, appearing quite energetic.
Only then did Tianyi confidently book his flight back to Lancheng.
Susu stayed behind, meticulously caring for Xiao Xingxing every day. Seeing him get better each day, she couldn't express how happy she was.
Every night, she would send videos to Tianyi, allowing him to rest assured in Lancheng.
One day, Susu returned to the ward from the expert's office, preparing to call Tianyi to share some good news.
The expert said that Xiao Xingxing's post-operative anti-infection treatment was effective, and he should be able to be discharged from the hospital in about a week.
However, when she entered the ward, she didn't see Xiao Xingxing lying on the hospital bed. The IV drip was still hanging on the side, with medicine dripping, clearly indicating that the needle had been removed before the infusion was finished.
Her heart sank, and she loudly called out Xiao Xingxing's name.
The caregiver came out of the small kitchen in the ward with a cup of hot milk and was also surprised to see no one on the hospital bed.
She quickly told Susu, "Xingxing said he wanted to drink milk, so I went to heat him a cup. He was clearly lying on the hospital bed just now."
Susu hurried to search the bathroom and other places but couldn't find Xiao Xingxing.
When she returned to the bedside, she found a note by the hospital bed, left by Xiao Xingxing for her. It read, "Mom, I'm going to find Xiaoxiao."
Susu was immediately stunned.
A couple of days ago, while bored in the ward, the child had been watching television and accidentally saw news about a float parade. He insisted that he had seen Xiaoxiao on one of the floats.
At the time, she hadn't paid much attention to the camera shots on the television and had told him that he must have misseen it, not taking it seriously.
The child had told her for two consecutive days that he was sure he hadn't misseen it and wanted to go find Xiaoxiao.
She had also told him that she would accompany him to find Xiaoxiao after he recovered and was discharged from the hospital, and he hadn't said anything more.
Susu thought he would no longer dwell on the possibly misseen figure, but she didn't expect him to leave the ward on his own when they weren't paying attention.
Moreover, he was still recovering from surgery, and running out of the hospital and getting infected with bacteria would be very dangerous.
Susu tightly clutched the note and ran out of the ward to look for Xiao Xingxing.
The caregiver also put down the milk in her hands and followed her, searching the hospital with her.
However, after searching every corner of the hospital, they couldn't find him. Susu had to retrieve the surveillance footage from the hospital's main entrance.
In the surveillance footage, she saw Xiao Xingxing following an adult, evading the security guards at the entrance, and walking out the gate, quickly disappearing from the monitoring range of the hospital entrance.
Susu first called the police, then contacted Tianyi.
"Xiao Xingxing secretly left the hospital. Do you know where he went?"
Tianyi was surprised that such a thing had happened and asked, "Why would this child sneak out of the hospital like that?"
"He should be looking for Xiaoxiao," Susu said, already searching for Xiao Xingxing on the streets.