NOVPUB
Chapter 432: Chapter 432: Is this matter related to the younger uncle?
They had originally planned to buy some steamed buns for Niu Airong and her husband on the way, but unfortunately many breakfast shops were closed on New Year’s Eve.
It was not until they were about to reach the police station that they came across a bun shop. The shop only had ten buns left and Si Chen bought them all.
When Niu Airong and her husband received the buns, tears welled up in their eyes. They kept saying that Si Chen and Tong Yao were good people. They regretted not bringing more buns from their hometown.
Tong Yao felt a bit embarrassed when she saw these two middle-aged people almost in tears. Fortunately, Si Chen changed the subject to divert their attention.
The police station was not far away, but the heavy snow slowed their pace. When they dropped the couple off at the door, Si Chen stopped and said,
"We’ll drop you off here. Just go in and explain the situation to the police. After you’ve reported the case, go to the guest house from yesterday. Just give your names and you’ll be able to check in. I’ve paid for three days of lodging."
After a pause, he added, "If you can’t find the place, just ask the police or ask for the hospital’s address first. Then ask for the guest house near the hospital. It’s not far from the hospital and it should be easy to find."
"No, no, how can we let you pay for our lodging? No, no," Song Wenhua waved his hands in refusal, as he was a simple and honest farmer who’s not very good at socializing and dislikes taking advantage of others.
Earning money is never easy for anyone, and one should stay true to their conscience, not inclined to taking small gains dishonestly.
Niu Airong also said, "Yes! Don’t trouble yourselves with booking a room for us. It’s expensive there and I guess we wouldn’t be used to staying there anyway. You needn’t waste your money."
Tong Yao intervened, "Aunt Niu, Uncle Song, no matter what, you’ve come all the way from your hometown. Even though we don’t have much interaction with Xiaohui or Song Yu, we should help each other out as we are all from Li City. You can’t still be staying on the streets during the New Year, can you? It’s so cold. You could easily get sick."
Upon hearing this, Niu Airong and Song Wenhua’s eyes immediately turned red. They wanted to refuse again, but were too choked up to utter a word of refusal. They were deeply moved to meet such kind people in a foreign land.
Thinking about it, their family was really not blessed. If they were, they would have had a talk with Lin Fengying and brought Song Yu and Si Xiaohui back to hold a wedding. This could have prevented so many issues.
Sigh!
It’s a pity that his mother was too confused. She always felt that Song Yu, a highly educated man, was degraded by marrying Si Xiaohui, a woman without much education.
Now look, can they even compare Song Yu with the Si Family?
But on second thought, Si Xiaohui is not as sensible as Tong Yao and Si Chen. No wonder they ended up on the brink of divorce. It’s simply too late for regrets now.
"Uncle Song, Aunt Niu, you should go in now! After reporting the case, you can have some rest sooner. We also need to go back."
Fearing to see their emotional expressions, Tong Yao felt somewhat compelled to turn tail and run.
After leaving the guest house, Tong Yao felt something wrong. "The more I think about it, the more I feel something strange about Song Yu’s disappearance. Do you think it has anything to do with Xiaohui?"
Si Chen asked, "Tell me about your thoughts."
"Now when I think back, Xiaohui’s reaction when I asked about Song Yu seemed a bit strange, as if she overreacted." This reaction wasn’t like repulsion, more like a guilty fear. Previously Tong Yao hadn’t thought much about it, but now knowing about Song Yu’s disappearance, she felt something was not right.
A cool look flashed across Si Chen’s deep, black eyes as he analyzed: "Xiaohui doesn’t have that much courage. If Song Yu’s incident really has something to do with her, she might just be an informant."
He had watched Si Xiaohui grow up and understood her character to some extent.
Tong Yao was surprised: "Are you saying that this incident might have something to do with your uncle?"
Si Chen shook his head, "Not sure yet. We’ll wait for the investigation."
Talking for a while, they soon reached the residential building. As they walked into the staircase, an object on the ground caught their attention. To their surprise, dumplings were strewn all over the floor, along with several pieces of red paper, which seemed like New Year’s couplets, but they were too dirty and some even torn apart from being stepped on.
Si Chen bent to pick up a piece of the red paper. Tong Yao took a glance and was shocked. "Aren’t these the couplets you wrote yesterday with Dad?"
Si Chen nodded with a furrowed brow.
"I’ll go up and see what happened," Tong Yao had a bad feeling and rushed upstairs, with Si Chen closely following.
Upon reaching the second floor, they coincidentally saw Wang Xia coming down. Before Tong Yao could ask, Wang Xia rushed to say, "Yaoyao, Doctor Si, why are you still here? Your father has passed out and been sent to the hospital."
"My dad is in the hospital?" Tong Yao’s heart ’thumped’. This was even more urgent than when she heard that Lin Fengying had ’passed away’.
"It’s a long story. Let’s walk and talk!" Fearing to delay Tong Yao and Si Chen, Wang Xia quickly moved towards the exit.
"I’ll go to the hospital first."
As the two women could not walk as fast as a man, Si Chen, not feeling comfortable, went straight to the hospital.
While leading Tong Yao to the hospital in quick steps, Wang Xia explained, "Your parents came over to help you with the couplets and just happened to run into your mother-in-law and your sister-in-law bringing dumplings to Doctor Si. They came accompanied with a woman named Lin Man, who seems to have been a nurse in our hospital before..."
Wang Xia had never seen Lin Man, and she assumed that Tong Yao did not know Lin Man, so she added more details.
The story seemed to be that when Tong Yaohui and Wen Yun came here, they happened to hear Si Xiaohui telling others that Lin Man was about to become her sister-in-law, and that Si Chen and Tong Yao were soon to get a divorce.
Tong Yaohui and Wen Yun have been tolerating this mother-daughter pair for a long time. Hearing these words, they were furious. Their daughter and son-in-law hadn’t gotten divorced yet, and Si Xiaohui and Lin Fengying were already spreading this news in the residential building, tarnishing their daughter’s reputation.
Furthermore, Lin Man got involved in this matter. The two cousins were fighting over one man. What a mess this had become!
Even the usually pleasant Wen Yun couldn’t bear it. She asked Lin Fengying what she meant, but then Si Xiaohui came up and said a bunch of harsh words, such as saying Tong Yao was shamelessly clinging to Si Chen and so on.
Lin Fengying, upon learning that Tong Yao hadn’t left Si Chen yet, cried and threatened to jump off the residential building. Si Xiaohui even started to make a big scene, employing every vulgar word she could think of.
She spat out every bit of nasty language she knew. Tong Yaohui and Wen Yun, in all their years, had never suffered such humiliation. Moreover, Si Xiaohui kept saying that Lin Man was her sister-in-law, disregarding YaoYao’s feelings.
Tong Yaohui, being a man, could not engage in a street fight with two women, particularly Si Xiaohui, being his younger generation. Moreover, with Wen Yun alone, they were powerless against Si Xiaohui.
In the end, Tong Yaohui was so enraged that he fainted.
