Chapter 27: I won’t cooperate with rats!

“Chairman Wang, you call this kidnapping in broad daylight ‘honesty’?”

Lin Moran sneered, her tone laced with undeniable contempt.

“In my opinion, your actions are those of a thug and bandit. I can call the police.”

Wang Yuanwu hadn’t expected this young woman to be so sharp-tongued.

However, he quickly remembered that this was the kind of temperament one would expect from someone of the Long family lineage.

“Comrade Lin, have you heard the saying, ‘Under the eaves, one must bow one’s head’?”

“If you had accepted the toast, this punishment wouldn’t have befallen you.”

Wang Yuanwu’s voice turned cold, a chilling sound like a venomous snake slithering.

“Chairman Wang, are you threatening me?”

Lin Moran’s eyes narrowed, fixed on him.

“Comrade Lin, are you willing to cooperate?”

“I will not!”

Lin Moran’s eyes were resolute.

“Comrade Lin doesn’t seem to appreciate this old man. In that case, we’ll just have to keep you here for a few days, until you agree to restore the painting.”

Anger burned in Wang Yuanwu’s eyes. He ordered the men in the courtyard, “Lock her up, until she willingly cooperates.”

Several men rushed forward and took Lin Moran away.

“Grandpa, this little girl has a stubborn mouth.”

Wang Yunfeng narrowed his eyes, watching Lin Moran. This woman looked delicate and weak, but she was a tough nut to crack.

“No one can hold out for a week against my grandfather. Let’s see who can outlast whom.”

Wang Yunfeng had intended to use the fact that he had met Lin Moran twice to persuade her, but now he realized it was best if he didn’t appear.

“But if she doesn’t show up for so long, the people around her will suspect something, won’t they?”

“Just tell the association that we’ve asked her to help restore an ancient painting, and that it will take some time.  Once the restoration is complete, she’ll return.”

Wang Yunfeng said calmly.

He didn’t want Lin Moran dead.

Just a few days of disappearance.

The association received a message from Wang Yunfeng, saying that they had asked Lin Moran to help restore an ancient painting, a process that would require considerable time and effort, and that she would be unavailable for a while.

The chairman had known Lin Moran for some time and knew that her relationship with her in-laws was not good, and that she lived alone with her child.

He personally went to find Grandma Chen and told her that Lin Moran was away on business for a few days, asking her to help take care of Gu Quanzhe.

Grandma Chen was suspicious. No matter how busy or tired Lin Moran was, she would never leave Gu Quanzhe behind.

She saw Gu Quanzhe every day.

If she really needed to go out for a few days, she would always let her know in advance.

This had never happened before.

Furthermore, Gu Quanzhe had a serious illness, and she dared not take care of him day and night.

If anything happened to Gu Quanzhe, she couldn’t bear the responsibility.

After dinner, she took Gu Quanzhe home and waited for Gu Jingyao to return.

But she waited and waited, and Gu Jingyao didn’t come back.

Grandma Chen had no choice but to put Gu Quanzhe to bed.

As soon as Gu Quanzhe got home, his mood plummeted. His head drooped, and he lost all interest.

Why had his mother suddenly gone on a business trip?

And his father wasn’t home either.

He was all alone at home.

Was it because he was sick that his parents didn’t want him anymore?

As he thought about it, Gu Quanzhe’s eyes filled with tears. Looking out at the dark night, he blinked, and tears dropped down.

Grandma Chen’s heart broke when she saw the little guy’s expression.

“Quanzhe, don’t cry, Grandma is here. Grandma will ask someone tomorrow where your parents went on a business trip, and we’ll call them, okay?”

Gu Quanzhe nodded obediently, and then fell fast asleep.

In Hebei province, Gu Jingyao, who was assisting the cultural relics department in finding an ancient tomb, looked at the ink-like night sky of Hebei province, and his heart suddenly ached, as if something was tugging at him.

This inexplicable feeling made him somewhat irritable.

“Captain, good news, someone has confessed, and we can track down all the tomb robbers.”

Wu Kairui came over and reported to Gu Jingyao.

“Old Li, the leader of the archaeological team, said that this tomb is of great value for the study of Qing history. We’ve made a contribution this time.”

“The amulet my sister-in-law gave me is really good, it keeps me safe and ensures things go smoothly.”

Wu Kairui held the amulet respectfully, with great reverence.

Gu Jingyao’s eyes suddenly deepened, the clear, smooth amulet caught his eye, casting a shadow over his mood. His voice became low and displeased, “Wu Kairui, is everything over? What do you mean by smoothly? If you’re so free, go help organize the materials!”

Wu Kairui looked at Gu Jingyao in confusion. What had he done to offend his leader?

His tone had suddenly turned cold, but he hadn’t done anything wrong!

After Wu Kairui left, Gu Jingyao went to the cultural relics team and borrowed a communication tool.

“Captain Gu, our phone service is excellent, you should call quickly, it’s very late at night, everyone will be asleep soon.”

The comrade from the cultural relics bureau smiled and said to Gu Jingyao.

Gu Jingyao hesitated for a moment, about to press the phone in the compound’s switchboard, when images of Lin Moran throwing his backpack at him and him losing his temper flashed through his mind. His face fell, and he slammed the phone back down, “We’ll talk later.”

She treated him like that, why should he worry about her?

Gu Aihua had been waiting for a letter from Lin Moran, wanting to ask her about whether their boss was hiring. After waiting for a long time without a reply, she decided to look for Lin Moran again. 

The first time, Lin Moran wasn’t there, and the second time, she was still gone.

She was furious. To avoid telling her about the job, Lin Moran had actually gone into hiding?

She went to find Gu Jingyao, but the people at his unit said he was away on business.

A thought flashed through Gu Aihua’s mind: Lin Moran wasn’t necessarily hiding from her; she must have gone out gallivanting because Gu Jingyao was away on business!

She often hung out with that man surnamed Shen, Shen Haoyang, so Gu Aihua went straight there without saying a word.

As she reached Shen’s street, she bumped into Shen Haoyang.

Gu Aihua sneered, “What a stroke of luck!  Here he is.”

“Shen Haoyang, where’s Lin Moran? Is she hiding at your place?”

“You two are something else! Doing this in broad daylight!  Do you have any shame?”

“Taking advantage of my brother’s absence, you’re sneaking around like this! My brother is easygoing, but our Gu family is not!”

“Make Lin Moran come out, or I’ll call the police.”

Shen Haoyang’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, as if looking at a fool.

He hadn’t met this woman before, but from her aggressive, foolish, and sarcastic demeanor, he immediately judged that she must be Lin Moran’s sister-in-law.

“Comrade Gu, go ahead and call the police. Lin and I are completely above board. You’re spreading rumors and slandering Lin and me, damaging our reputation. If you don’t call the police, I will.”

“And I won’t report this to just any police station; I’ll report it to the police station where your brother works, and let him handle it personally.”

Gu Aihua was taken aback. This guy was so bold!

Daring to go up against Gu Jingyao? Had she wronged him? “Lin Moran really isn’t with you?”

“Sister, are you blind? The one with me now is you, the one looking at me longingly is you! Sister, look at your age, you’ve been married for so many years, your face is full of age spots, and you still want to be with me?”

“I’m young, and I haven’t even dated once. Yet you’re clinging to me, your heart is so dirty!”

Seeing people gathering around to watch the show, Shen Haoyang’s eyes were filled with helplessness and anger.

Gu Aihua’s eyes widened, her finger trembling as she pointed at Shen Haoyang, “Shen Haoyang, are you shameless? When did I ever like you? And how old am I? I’m only twenty-eight, not even thirty!”

Shen Haoyang said unhurriedly, “Sister, twenty-eight, that’s twenty-nine in lunar years, people always add a year, you’re almost forty.  At almost forty, be realistic, know yourself, and don’t dream of a toad eating swan meat. I won’t fulfill your dream.”

Gu Aihua was so angry she almost spat blood. Shen Haoyang called her old, and then called her a toad!

“Shen Haoyang, you…”

“Sister, don’t! Don’t be so angry just because I rejected you! A woman nearing forty should be elegant, otherwise, how can you seduce a young man like me.”

Shen Haoyang said without hesitation, frowning seriously to give her advice.

“You, you’re shameless!”

Seeing more and more onlookers and people pointing and whispering, Gu Aihua’s face turned redder and redder, and she quickly ran away.

Shen Haoyang’s lips curled slightly. With Gu Aihua’s meager skills, she dared to come to him!

When it came to shamelessness, he could be more shameless than anyone.

After Gu Aihua left, Shen Haoyang went straight to the Pingan Lane compound.

Lin Moran wasn’t home, so he had to see the little guy, Gu Quanzhe.

The little guy used to be hostile towards him, but recently he had changed his mind. He had even heard him tell Lin Moran that he wanted him to be his new father.

Such a sensible child, he had to cultivate a good relationship with him in advance.

Sure enough, as soon as Gu Quanzhe saw him, he immediately ran into his arms when he reached out.

“Uncle Shen, Mom has been gone for a long time. Quanzhe misses Mom.”

Gu Quanzhe felt sad and wronged as soon as he thought of Lin Moran.

“Where did Mom go on a business trip? Uncle will take you to find her.”

Shen Haoyang hugged Gu Quanzhe.

“The leaders from the workshop over at the Luli Factory said that Quanzhe’s mother has gone to work. It’s very important work, and she can come back once it’s finished.”

“Quanzhe’s mother has never done this before. No matter how busy or tired she was, she would always come back to take care of the child. I don’t know what kind of work it is this time, it’s so important, and she hasn’t come back once.”

“If she doesn’t come back, those gossipy women will be talking behind her back, saying she’s been arrested. Xiao Shen, why don’t you help me find out?”

Grandma Chen said worriedly.

Quanzhe’s mother had finally waited for Quanzhe’s father to come back, but Quanzhe’s father was so busy that he was never around. She wanted to ask Quanzhe’s father about the situation, but Quanzhe’s father was gone again, so she could only ask Xiao Shen.

“Grandma Chen, leave it to me.”

Shen Haoyang patted his chest. He couldn’t guarantee other things, but he was confident in finding people.

“Quanzhe, let’s go find Mom. If Mom is out of town, we’ll have her call us immediately; if she’s still in Kyoto, we’ll see her today.”

Gu Quanzhe’s eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a happy smile. “Okay! Thank you, Uncle Shen.”

“Xiao Shen, thank goodness you came today. You don’t know, this child hasn’t smiled for several days. As soon as you came, he smiled.”

Shen Haoyang felt relieved. He hugged Gu Quanzhe and hailed a rickshaw, heading straight for the Liuli Factory.

“Yes, Comrade Lin is restoring a scroll.”

“Restoring a scroll, and she doesn’t even go home?”

Hearing the chairman of the association’s reply, Shen Haoyang asked unhappily.

“Chairman Wang said that the painting is very important and requires a lot of time and energy, and that she needs to devote herself fully.”

“Comrade Lin can’t come back, then let’s go find her. She hasn’t been home for several days, and the child misses her and is crying. Comrade Lin, where is she in the Luli Factory?”

“Comrade Lin isn’t here with us, she’s at Chairman Wang’s.”

“Chairman Wang? Wang Yuanwu? When did his house become an antique restoration institution?” Shen Haoyang sneered when he heard the surname Wang. “This is like maggots in the salt, Wang Yuanwu actually became the chairman of your association?”

He had a very bad impression of the Wang family.

If he was unlearned and dissolute, making people dislike him,

then the Wang family was insidious and deceitful, faithless, and a rat everyone cursed, this was the evaluation his grandfather gave him.

When he was a child, as long as he was around his grandfather, whenever his grandfather talked about the Wang family, he would gnash his teeth.

“And even in an antique restoration institution, I’ve never heard of a restorer not being able to go home. Besides, I’ve known Comrade Lin for so long, and I’ve never heard of her restoring ancient paintings.” Shen Haoyang had a bad feeling about this.

“This…”

“Don’t tell me this or that, I’m just asking you, where is Lin Moran now?” Shen Haoyang’s voice suddenly became cold and stern.

The chairman stammered.

“You don’t know?” Shen Haoyang’s voice instantly turned icy, his eyes as cold as ice shards. “Please call Wang Yuanwu now and tell him to send Lin Moran back immediately, otherwise, I’ll settle the score with you!”

Lin Moran was taken to a room, which was pitch black.

She didn’t know how long she had been locked up, when the lights in the room were all turned on, they even brought in spotlights, shining directly on her.

As soon as Lin Moran dozed off, she would be woken up.

They would bring her food, but she wouldn’t eat.

Then several people would come in, pry open her mouth, and force-feed her.

After several days, Lin Moran, who was tormented by the strong light and lack of rest, was mentally exhausted and nearly collapsed.

“Comrade Lin, we heard you have a child, and the child is not well. Why do you have to exhaust yourself like this with us?”

“The child will be very worried if he can’t find his mother.”

“Aren’t you afraid that you won’t see your child again after you go out?”

Wang Yuanwu came in and patiently persuaded her.

Lin Moran’s eyes were red and swollen, her teeth clenched, and she said in a low voice, “Try touching my child!”

“Comrade Lin, you’re already like this, why is your mouth still so hard? What’s the point of being stubborn? It would be so much better if we cooperated well.”

Wang Yuanwu earnestly persuaded her, “I don’t want your life, I don’t want to learn your skills, and I won’t harm your child. I’ll treat you well, I just want to ask you for help. Your stubbornness will only make you suffer.”

A cold light flashed in Lin Moran’s eyes, her eye sockets were red from the spotlights, but her voice was exceptionally firm, “I will not cooperate with rats!”