The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 871 - 870: Shen Baolan is Rescued

"A farewell gift?" Shen Mingzhu’s face revealed a faint surprise, "Dr. Yan, are you leaving Fengcheng?"

"Yes, I am accompanying An’an and Kangkang to study in M Country, and I probably won’t be returning to our country for a while."

"What about Qingqing? Is she going with you?"

"She wants to stay domestically, but she will also make time to visit M Country and be with the children."

Shen Mingzhu nodded understandingly, "Then I wish you a smooth journey and a safe arrival at your destination."

"Thank you."

Efforts were not in vain, as Xi Shiming successfully administered hypnosis to Gao Hualiang and extracted information concerning Shen Baolan’s whereabouts.

The interrogation concluded at midnight.

Xi Shiming declined Shen Mingzhu’s arrangement for hotel accommodation, only accepting the fee for the service, and then directly headed to the airport to catch a private plane arranged by Yan Yi back to the Capital, to attend a medical summit tomorrow morning.

Considering how tight the schedule was, Xi Shiming would never have made the trip if not for Yan Yi’s personal regard.

"Shen Mingzhu, goodbye."

Before leaving, Yan Yi smiled and bade her farewell.

"Goodbye, and thank you."

She watched him seriously, her throat slightly choked up.

Having known each other for fourteen years, she had received countless favors and help from him, knowing she could never truly repay him in this lifetime.

After looking deeply into her eyes for several seconds, Yan Yi turned and got into the car, joining Xi Shiming to the airport.

After watching the car merge with the night, She Zheming was immediately ready to set off to the Yungui Mountain Area.

"I can’t share much about the specifics of the case, but there’s a possibility that Shen Baolan is still alive, somewhere in the Yungui Mountain Area. Wait for my updates."

"Okay, it has been tough on you, call me any time if you need anything."

She Zheming looked at her, excited and thrilled that the case was finally making progress:

"This time, we owe it to Dr. Yan for getting Professor Xi involved. You might not grasp the stature of Xi Shiming in the field of hypnosis. Even big cases at the provincial hall might not manage to get him involved, let alone our small case here; it feels like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

Upon realizing how eminent Xi Shiming was, Shen Mingzhu turned and couldn’t help dialing Yan Yi to sincerely express her gratitude and appreciation, and asked for Xi Shiming’s address, intending to send some local specialties from Fengcheng as a token of thanks.

It had been such a rush today, with Xi Shiming having to travel back and forth without even a warm meal; she felt truly uneasy.

Yan Yi, on behalf of Xi Shiming, politely declined her generous offer, laughing, "Actually, when we parted, there were some words I hadn’t said, and I really regretted it."

"Shen Mingzhu, I’m glad to have met you, but I also regret not having met you sooner."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to trouble you or affect your current happiness, I just couldn’t hold back."

On her way home, Shen Mingzhu’s thoughts involuntarily drifted back to a few years ago, to that clear morning when she and Zhong Qing were vacationing at the villa.

—From the beginning, our marriage was just for show.

—Once his heart was occupied, none other could catch his eye.

Actually, over the years, she wasn’t completely oblivious to Yan Yi’s subtle feelings.

But she couldn’t reciprocate, and thus never delved into it.

Nor did she feel it was because she was in any way remarkable or excellent that this affection, spanning fifteen years, persisted. It was simply a matter of "the red rose and the white rose."

If you marry a red rose, over time, the red becomes a mosquito blot on the wall, while the white remains "moonlight before the bed"; if you marry a white rose, the white becomes a sticky rice grain on your clothes, and the red turns into a cinnabar mole over your heart.

What you can’t have is always the best.

...

Half a month later, Shen Mingzhu received a call from She Zheming. They had captured the traffickers and pinpointed Shen Baolan’s location, and a rescue operation was about to commence.

Rescuing in words was simple, yet in practice, it was far from easy.

Mountain Village was nestled deep in the Yungui Mountain Area, with steep mountains and rugged paths; it took a whole day and night just to enter the mountains, and without a local guide, She Zheming and his team couldn’t even access it.

Another challenge was obstruction from the locals.

Family planning and economic development were mutually supportive.

However, the region was too impoverished. Many bachelors couldn’t find wives, and with no wives, there were no children, and without children, who would farm the land?

Thus, the local attitude toward human trafficking was to turn a blind eye.

Additionally, the locals did not permit "airing dirty laundry."

As a result, She Zheming and his subordinates had made two attempts that all ended in vain.

Clearly, the Yang Family had received prior notice and had hidden Shen Baolan in advance.

At last, Shen Mingzhu came up with a plan, suggesting that Shen Baolan’s maternal family negotiate with the Yang Family.

After promising not to pursue legal accountability and having paid a "ransom" of five thousand yuan, Shen Baolan, who had been missing for seven long years, was finally able to return to her hometown.

"You didn’t see how miserable Shen Baolan looked, one leg crippled, so thin she was all skin and bones, resembling an old woman, Aunt Cuihua cried almost to the point of passing out," someone recounted.

Hearing about Shen Baolan’s current situation from Shen Hongmei, Shen Mingzhu was unfazed.

She was concerned about another matter, "I heard she had children over there, did she bring them back?"

"No, she returned alone."

Left in such a backward and ignorant family, a boy might manage with a life of poverty, but a girl’s life would likely be ruined.

In reality, Shen Hao wanted to bring back both his nieces, Yindi and Pandi.

But the Yang Family demanded a steep ransom of three thousand yuan each.

Ever since Shen Baolan had disappeared, the Shen Family’s finances had been strained, their income derived from the carpentry work completed by Shen Hao and his father Dashan.

They needed to buy medicine for Liu Cuihua, pay for their grandson Shen Wenwu’s education, and cover the family’s basic needs.

The five thousand yuan for Shen Baolan’s ransom had been scraped together from relatives; affording another six thousand for two nieces was out of the question. freewёbnoνel.com

Moreover, Tian Wenfang firmly opposed bringing the nieces back, threatening divorce otherwise.

Shen Baolan was now disabled and surely incapable of raising two children. The responsibility would fall upon them.

Additionally, Shen Baolan being conned and trafficked had already made them a laughingstock in the village.

Bringing the children home would only lead to endless gossip and judgment.

Unless, the case was resolved, and the money swindled by Gao Hualiang was recovered.

With money, everything else could be negotiated.

From the beginning, this had been Tian Wenfang’s plan, which was why she was eager to help raise the ransom for Shen Baolan.

Upon being rescued, Gao Hualiang and Huang Chunyu ceased their resistance and revealed the details of their crimes, including converting five million through foreign financial institutions into two million in cash.

"According to Gao Hualiang, the smuggling fee to Thailand took five hundred thousand, and buying fake identities once there took another hundred thousand. The remainder was spent on years of living costs and business expenses. We checked their accounts in Thailand, and there’s still one million left, though in Thai Baht," they reported.

Tian Wenfang asked anxiously, "How much is one million Thai Baht worth?"

"By current exchange rates, roughly two hundred thousand," came the reply.

Hearing there was still two hundred thousand left brought mixed feelings of depression and relief to the family.

Compared to five million, two hundred thousand was paltry.

But at least there was something left, not all was lost in vain.

However, the money couldn’t be accessed immediately; it had to wait until the case was adjudicated, involving liaison with Thai authorities through the foreign cooperation department of the police.

Following all the procedures, it could take anywhere from three to eighteen months before that two hundred thousand would reach the Shen Family’s hands.