Li Menghao vividly recalled his parents' drastic change in attitude.
Seeing his parents still slandering Ye Yun's family now, how could the young and impetuous him tolerate it?
Without regard for his fiancée Wang Hui, who was by his side, he retorted.
"What are you two children saying? Wasn't I just thinking about making her life better? And in the end, all the blame is put on me?"
Scolded successively by her children, Wu Lan remained stubborn.
"Are you trying to make my sister's life better, or our family's life better? Mom! I know what your intentions were in the past. You wanted your two elder daughters to marry off early, then heavily subsidize the family to support your sons, and then have me marry and have children early to achieve your goals. But have you ever considered how much harm this would do to your two elder sisters?"
"Or do you think I, Li Menghao, can accept a gift at the cost of sacrificing the happiness of my two elder sisters?"
Li Menghao gritted his teeth.
In the past, he had always been willful, short-tempered, and easily angered.
It wasn't that he didn't understand, but rather that he understood too well.
He understood everyone's thoughts.
His sisters', his parents'...
It was just that he didn't know how to persuade his parents, so he could only act like a child, defying everyone's wishes and acting out.
His son's heartfelt confession made Wu Lan and her husband feel ashamed.
"Mom and Dad, I know you're doing this for my own good. Your kindness in raising me, Li Menghao, will be repaid with unwavering filial piety for the rest of my life."
"But look at how you've treated my two elder sisters. Seeing that Ye Yun had no money, how many times have you urged my eldest sister to divorce, how many times have you urged my second sister to quickly marry someone rich and demand a large betrothal gift? You've gone too far! Others curse my two elder sisters as 'fudi mo' (devoted to younger brothers), do you know if I, Li Menghao, can bear this title?" Li Menghao's voice was choked with emotion.
Some words had been bottled up in his heart for many years, and he truly felt the need to express them.
"Menghao, stop talking! Just stop! We've wronged your eldest and second sisters..." Wu Lan sobbed softly.
Wronged?
Stop talking?
Li Menghao sneered.
If it were anyone else, they might think that their parents were having a change of heart and thoroughly reflecting on their mistakes.
But having lived together for over twenty years, how could he not understand his parents' nature?
In his parents' eyes, there was always a hierarchy of six levels, ordered as follows:
Son, self, dog, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter.
Could ingrained bad habits be changed by a few words?
What a joke!
Their current behavior was just pretense!
In a few days, his parents would surely stir up trouble again, and this matter would definitely affect his sisters and brothers-in-law's lives!
"Brother-in-law, I'm sorry... If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to show off your wealth..."
Looking at the patrol car disappearing down the road, Li Menghao sighed helplessly in his heart.
...
Ye Yun had originally planned for Li Mengyao to go home and sleep, and he would go to the police station alone.
But upon hearing that Zhong Xintong was missing, Li Mengyao insisted on accompanying him to the police station.
There was no other choice but to abandon the Urus there and pick it up the next day.
In the car, Li Mengyao, unable to suppress her anxiety, asked, "Ye Yun, how could this girl Tongtong suddenly go missing? Her mother must be heartbroken and desperate right now!"
As soon as the couple got into the car, Wu Kexin briefly explained the situation.
However, apart from Zhong Xintong's disappearance and Wu Ziqiong reporting it, she couldn't provide any other substantive information.
In fact, Ye Yun didn't know that Li Mengyao and Wu Ziqiong knew each other relatively well.
In the past, because Keke and Zhong Xintong were good friends at Ruitai Kindergarten, and their experiences were very similar – both had scumbag husbands, both had a woman taking care of their daughters, and both were beautiful and often bothered – they naturally had a lot to talk about due to their shared misfortunes.
However, compared to Wu Ziqiong, Li Mengyao's situation was undoubtedly much better.
At least Ye Yun had turned over a new leaf.
Now, knowing that Zhong Xintong was missing, Li Mengyao couldn't help but empathize.
If Ye Yun had remained the scoundrel he was in the past, Keke would have been her only pillar of support.
If Keke were to disappear...
She probably wouldn't want to live anymore!
Therefore, Li Mengyao deeply understood Wu Ziqiong's feelings at the moment.
"We don't know the specific situation yet. Don't panic. We'll talk to Tongtong's mother when we get to the police station," Ye Yun said calmly.
Although Li Mengyao was anxious upon hearing Ye Yun's words, she understood that he had a point.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the police station.
As the couple got out of the car, a woman rushed towards them impatiently.
"Wu Ziqiong?" Ye Yun asked suspiciously, looking at the person outside the car window.
At first glance, Ye Yun almost didn't recognize her.
As winter approached, Wu Ziqiong had only thrown on the simplest down jacket late at night, as if she had just put it on haphazardly before rushing out.
Her hair was messy, and there were faint tear stains at the corners of her eyes, suggesting she had been crying for a long time. She looked utterly disheveled and haggard.
Li Mengyao quickly got out of the car and said, "It really is Tongtong's mother. What happened? Where is Tongtong?"
Wu Ziqiong didn't answer immediately. She glanced nervously at Li Mengyao, then at Ye Yun, and said with a trembling voice, "Mr. Ye, Mrs. Ye, have you seen my daughter?"
"Zhong Xintong? No, Tongtong's mother, what exactly happened?" Li Mengyao shook her head and asked.
Wu Ziqiong remained silent, her eyes immediately reddening.
Ye Yun quickly said, "Tongtong's mother, please don't worry. Tell us what happened."
"I... I took Tongtong with me this morning when I went to teach. She said she wanted to go buy a bottle of water. But... but in the blink of an eye, she was gone. I've been looking for her until now and haven't found her, so I called the police!" She looked at Li Mengyao again, her lips clenched, and said, "I thought she might have gone to your place, to find Ye Xian... to find Keke."
"When I went to your house, I found out that the old house was no longer occupied. In my desperation, I asked the police to find you."
"Let's go inside first," Ye Yun said, pointing towards the duty room of the police station.
The winter wind in Jinling was bone-chilling, and anyone standing for too long would feel the cold.
The air conditioning in the duty room was on. Ye Yun got a cup of water from the dispenser for Wu Ziqiong and carefully inquired about the situation.
It was the weekend, and Wu Ziqiong hadn't taught dance classes for several days due to a leg injury. She thought she would bring Tongtong along to teach the children some theoretical knowledge. After all, as a single mother, if she didn't work, she would quickly run out of money.
Unexpectedly, Tongtong asked her for a few yuan in the middle of it, saying she wanted to buy water.
Who would have thought that after going to buy water, she wouldn't return for half an hour, and Wu Ziqiong couldn't find her anywhere.
Wu Ziqiong was extremely anxious, searching everywhere for her daughter – the dance studio, her home.
However, there was no trace of her daughter in these places!
In her panic, Wu Ziqiong chose to call the police.
Coincidentally, Wu Kexin happened to be handling some business nearby today. When she heard about a child missing, she enthusiastically offered to help.
Wu Kexin asked if the child knew anyone familiar in the area, which led to Ye Yun being found late at night.