“Don’t worry about things at home. Second Brother will explain everything to Mom and Dad. Let’s go to the hospital first and get you checked out to make sure you’re not hurt anywhere…”
On the way home, Xu Jianbei went on and on about what had happened that night, as well as the various arrangements he and Xu Jianxi had made beforehand. His incessant chatter clearly showed how troubled he still was by Bai Lan’s kidnapping.
“Mm-hmm, I know. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Bai Lan said as she held Xu Jianbei’s large hand in return. The thin calluses on his fingertips gave her a strong sense of security. It wasn’t that she wasn’t afraid. But because of her confidence in Xu Jianbei and some information he had shared with her earlier, she knew very well that she was not in any real danger.
The only thing the couple had miscalculated was how foolish Su Xiaomei was to let herself be used by the Xu siblings.
“I really am not going to worry about home.”
Regardless, Su Xiaomei was the biological mother of the Xu family’s two grandsons. Now that this had happened, Bai Lan was a bit concerned that her in-laws might not be able to see reason. So, she decided to rest at the screw factory for the next few days.
“By the way, my family doesn’t know what happened tonight. Go over and tell them first thing tomorrow morning.”
Hearing Bai Lan’s words, Xu Jianbei immediately nodded. He was more than happy for Bai Lan to give him a few more tasks to keep her from worrying about other things.
However, news of Su Xiaomei kidnapping Bai Lan spread throughout the compound before dawn even broke.
The main reason was that Su Xiaomei had been taken away by the authorities, and the two children she had with her, who were still running fevers, needed to be sent to the hospital for examination.
Xu Jianxi still had work to deal with, and Xu Jianbei needed to take care of Bai Lan. In the end, they had no choice but to call Miao Daju to the hospital. With that one phone call, people in the compound started to catch wind of what had happened.
—
“You, you… something this big happens, and you don’t say a word to the family?”
At Bai Lan’s home in the screw factory’s apartment building, the small partitioned living room was now packed with the Bai family. Bai Lan’s mother had barely stepped through the door before she started scolding her daughter. Without waiting for Bai Lan to respond, she pulled her daughter close and examined her from head to toe. Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Mom, I’m really fine!”
Xu Jianbei had also taken the day off from work. Seeing his in-laws all here, he quickly invited them to sit down and poured them tea.
But Bai Lan’s father, seeing how solicitous he was, didn’t give him a kind look. Instead, he scowled and demanded, “This time, your family must give us an explanation.”
“That’s right, Brother-in-law. If someone hadn’t run over to the Xu family in the middle of the night to tell us, we’d probably still be in the dark.” Bai Baowei didn’t hold back either.
Who knew how worried they had all been when they learned at two in the morning that something had happened to Bai Lan? If the messenger hadn’t repeatedly assured them that Bai Lan was safe and sound, they would have rushed straight to the screw factory that very night to find her.
Even so, they had still gotten up at five in the morning to come here today. No one in the family could rest easy without seeing Bai Lan’s condition with their own eyes.
Bai Lan’s eldest sister was even more direct. “Su Xiaomei’s matter must be dealt with properly. Otherwise, we won’t feel comfortable letting our little sister keep living with the Xu family anymore.”
Bai Lan’s second sister was thinking even more deeply. She had vaguely heard that the incident involved Xu Meili and Xu Qiang. Bai Li wondered if it was her rejection of Xu Qiang that had brought this disaster upon her younger sister.
Bai Lan had been smiling all along, watching her family’s reactions. The moment she saw her second sister’s expression, she knew she was overthinking things. She quickly explained the entire incident in detail.
She told them about the classified materials Xu Jianbei had been exposed to at the Haicheng Machine Tool Plant, about Xu Jianxi’s deliberate trip back to Beicheng from the south as a bait operation, and about the roundabout espionage methods Xu Qiang had used.
“So, Second Sister, if you hadn’t been so wary of Xu Meili and Xu Qiang—even to the point of breaking ties with Xu Meili—things might have spiraled out of control. So really, you’ve done a good deed!”
After hearing this, everyone realized just how many layers of complexity were involved.
Bai Lan’s father sighed and remarked, “Spies are everywhere. We need to strengthen our security awareness again and again.”
Xu Jianbei and Bai Baowei, the only two people present who had access to such confidential information, both nodded in agreement.
Seeing that the atmosphere had improved, Bai Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
—
The Bai family now understood the whole story. But the people in the compound were still completely in the dark.
All they knew was that something had happened to Bai Lan, and that the person who had harmed her was Su Xiaomei—the woman who had supposedly taken her two sons to visit her family.
So, early that morning, whether waiting in line at the public restroom or washing up by the sinks, everyone was talking about it. Many speculated that Su Xiaomei was jealous of Bai Lan, which was why she had tried to hurt her.
Just as the chatter was reaching its peak, Miao Daju and Xu Laojue walked in from outside, each carrying one of their grandsons on their backs.
“Hey, they’re back! They’re back!”
Widow Hu led the group as they rushed over. Everyone helped take the children, all the while not forgetting to ask what exactly had happened.
At the mention of this, Miao Daju’s face darkened completely.
Having been her neighbors for decades, everyone could tell from her expression that things were certainly very bad. One by one, they tried to console her:
“Daju, even teeth sometimes bite the tongue. Su Xiaomei is foolish, but you can discipline her. We heard that Bai Lan is fine, right?”
“Exactly, exactly! Family harmony brings prosperity!”
These neighbors had only heard that Su Xiaomei had harmed Bai Lan, but that Bai Lan hadn’t been hurt. They assumed it was just a minor squabble. They had no idea that Su Xiaomei had been bold enough to help spies kidnap Bai Lan.
Of course, Miao Daju knew Su Xiaomei very well. She was almost certain that this fool had no idea that the Xu siblings were spies. Otherwise, no matter how many guts she had, she wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing.
But regardless of whether she knew or not, since Su Xiaomei had dared to collude with outsiders to kidnap her sister-in-law, Miao Daju wasn’t going to help cover it up. The family needed to get to the bottom of this.
“Meiling, take the children back and look after them. I’ll explain what happened yesterday to the neighbors first.”
Liu Meiling and Xu Jiannan had been busy with their braised meat business lately. They, too, had only learned about Bai Lan’s kidnapping when someone came to the house in the middle of the night to notify them.
Today, Liu Meiling hadn’t gone out and had stayed home to help.
Hearing her mother-in-law’s words, she immediately stepped forward and took the child from her arms.
She had no complaints about the eldest branch’s two children. Sure, on her wedding day, the younger one had peed on her bed. But he had only been three years old then, and his biological mother had deliberately carried him up there. The poor child hadn’t known any better.
Usually, this child would sweetly greet her when he saw her. Seeing such an adorable kid looking so listless now broke her heart.
Especially since Xu Jianbei, his wife, and Second Brother still hadn’t appeared, Liu Meiling knew this was definitely not a simple matter.
—
Miao Daju handed the child over to Xu Meiling, then turned to face her decades-old neighbors and began telling them about the “good deed” Su Xiaomei had done.
Of course, Miao Daju wasn’t clear on many of the details. But she knew that Su Xiaomei had conspired with the Xu siblings to kidnap Bai Lan, with the goal of forcing her son to steal confidential documents from the screw factory.
Just hearing this left everyone completely stunned.
The neighbors who had been offering words of consolation just moments ago were now gaping in disbelief. The biggest thing any of them had ever done in their entire lives was argue or get into a fight with a neighbor. Yet Su Xiaomei had been bold enough to commit kidnapping.
“The public security comrades are still investigating the details. But as for Su Xiaomei, I truly dare not associate with her anymore.”
This was Miao Daju’s honest feeling. She knew her eldest son wasn’t a good man. He was lazy, incompetent, and had been spoiled rotten by her mother-in-law since childhood. She admitted that as his mother, she bore some responsibility for that. Back when she was a new daughter-in-law and a new mother, she hadn’t known how to handle her mother-in-law taking over her son’s upbringing. In the end, her eldest son had grown into a selfish, cowardly, and useless man.
Because she knew her eldest son’s true nature, when he had proposed marrying Su Xiaomei back then, Miao Daju had worried that he would ruin some good girl. Only after learning what Su Xiaomei was really like did she stop intervening.
After all, two rather unremarkable people getting together could be seen as a form of service to humanity in its own way.
At that time, Miao Daju had resolved to keep a close eye on the two of them to prevent them from going astray. As for their children, she, as their grandmother, would raise them herself. This time, she would nurture them into useful members of society.
Miao Daju had carried out this plan consistently and well up until now. But after what happened last night, she realized she had still been too naive.
Su Xiaomei was both stupid and malicious. She had been tricked into kidnapping Bai Lan and had even drugged her own sons to make them run fevers.
Yes, at the hospital in the middle of the night, she had learned that her grandsons’ fevers had been induced by Su Xiaomei.
How could such a person deserve to be a mother?
Just as the compound was reeling from the shock of Su Xiaomei’s actions, Xu Jiandong returned from his two-day business trip.
The moment he entered the compound, neighbors pulled him aside and told him all about what Su Xiaomei had done. Before Xu Jiandong could even process the news, the public security officers arrived right behind him and took him away.
Now the neighbors were even more shocked! They began discussing whether Xu Jiandong was also an accomplice, and whether he and his wife would be executed for what they had done.
—
Bai Lan learned what had happened at the compound by noon. The ones who brought her the news were her good friends Qin Yan and Da Tou.
“I heard that several people were also arrested at the steel plant. A few purchasing agents from various large state-owned factories who had dealings with the pig farm since last year were also taken in for questioning.”
After learning about Bai Lan’s kidnapping early that morning, Da Tou had gone to find Xu Jianbei to get the full story. Then he had run around gathering updates on the case.
Qin Yan nodded. “We’ve heard about it at the recycling station too. Everyone in the alleyways now knows that Su Xiaomei is both stupid and malicious. Her younger brother, who was an apprentice at the screw factory, was driven out today.”
At this, Qin Yan couldn’t help but gloat.
Bai Lan knew that all of these people would face consequences. Especially the suburban pig farm. She had been held captive there, and with so many pigs on-site and frequent dealings with various major state-owned enterprises in Beicheng, everyone who had come into contact with the place would be brought in for questioning. The authorities would determine whether they had been compromised or corrupted by pork.
Fortunately, her cousin’s dealings with that pig farm had been minimal. And because of Xu Meili, Liu Meiling’s braised meat business had already stopped sourcing meat from there.
“Anyway, I won’t be going back to the compound anytime soon. I’m counting on you two to keep me updated on any new developments there.”
“Absolutely no problem,” Da Tou said, thumping his chest in assurance. Qin Yan chimed in, “When Da Tou is out on his runs, I’ll take care of it.”
Over the next half-month, Beicheng was exceptionally lively.
Every day, someone from some unit would be invited by the authorities for tea and questioning.
And every day, someone would be arrested on suspicion of leaking classified materials.
In short, during that first month of the new year, the entire city of Beicheng was turned upside down by this case. Not to mention how many people were arrested, quite a few were either disciplined or fired by their units.
Take Xu Jiandong, for example. He had been promoted thanks to a large piece of fatty pork. But after Su Xiaomei’s confession, he was stripped of his position and transferred from a cushy job to the most demanding dyeing position. A demerit was also entered into his file.
It could be said that unless he performed exceptionally well at work or rendered outstanding service, his career would likely go nowhere from here.
The reason the punishment wasn’t more severe was that the investigation had cleared him of knowing that Xu Meili and her brother were spies, or that Su Xiaomei had been so bold.
As for why Su Xiaomei had followed Xu Meili’s orders to kidnap Bai Lan?
The reason, later revealed by Xu Jianxi, left Bai Lan speechless.
It turned out that when Su Xiaomei and Xu Jiandong had secretly gone to the suburban pig farm to buy meat, Xu Qiang had taken photos of them. Cameras were quite valuable in those days, but spies certainly had no shortage of such things.
With those photos, Xu Qiang had proof of their speculative reselling. And when Xu Jiandong had used the pork to curry favor for a promotion, that gave Xu Qiang another hold over them.
Armed with two pieces of leverage, Xu Meili threatened Su Xiaomei: if she didn’t help, the truth would be exposed, and Xu Jiandong would lose everything.
It was because of this threat that Su Xiaomei had agreed to help kidnap Bai Lan.
After hearing the reason, Bai Lan was utterly dumbfounded.
After all that, weren’t those very same secrets still exposed in the end? She truly couldn’t fathom what had been going through Su Xiaomei’s mind.
As for Su Xiaomei’s fate, she wasn’t executed—her offenses didn’t warrant that. And she genuinely hadn’t known the true identities of the Xu siblings, only thinking they were retaliating against Bai Li for rejecting them. In the end, Su Xiaomei was sent to the far northwest to reclaim wasteland. Barring special circumstances, she would likely never return.
When this outcome was delivered to the family, Xu Jiandong immediately demanded a divorce from Su Xiaomei.
Miao Daju and Xu Laojue didn’t care whether he divorced her or not. The couple packed up Xu Jiandong’s belongings and sent him, bags and all, to the factory’s group dormitory.
Since he was going to be a bachelor anyway, he might as well live at the factory. Staying in the compound would only irritate the neighbors—and the family.
As for Xu Qiang and Xu Meili, they had implicated quite a few parties. After the investigation, both were executed. But that’s getting ahead of the story.
On the night Bai Lan heard that Xu Jiandong had been packed off to the factory dormitory, she had another dream.
This dream, as expected, was about her second sister and Xu Qiang.
In this dream, Xu Qiang’s identity as a spy was never exposed. Instead, he used Xu Meili to set a trap, first making everyone at the textile factory believe he was dating Bai Li.
He would occasionally show up at the factory gate to wait for Bai Li. Finally, he arranged for a group of hooligans to harass Bai Li, then swooped in to rescue her—playing the hero. Only then did Bai Li agree to date him.
Watching this in her dream, Bai Lan finally understood what had really happened when her second sister encountered those street thugs and was “rescued” by Xu Qiang.
And yet, this scumbag later raped Bai Li and used that to force her into marriage. After the wedding, he treated her like a beast of burden, making her raise the daughters he had from previous relationships and pressuring her to bear him a son.
Bai Li worked herself to exhaustion, had a miscarriage, and could no longer have children. Then Xu Qiang openly had a son with another woman. Throughout it all, Bai Li dared not resist. She thought about telling her eldest sister, but the eldest sister was already dealing with her own marital troubles over having children. Bai Li didn’t want to add to her burden.
And so, Bai Li didn’t even live to see fifty. She died of overwork.
Meanwhile, Xu Qiang used the capital he had accumulated as a spy to launder his reputation after the economic reforms, transforming himself into a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong.
Xu Meili, riding on her brother’s coattails, became a celebrated figure in Hong Kong high society.
Seeing this trajectory unfold, Bai Lan was so furious that she started throwing punches and kicks in her dream.
Xu Jianbei quickly pulled her into his arms. When she woke up, he asked if she’d had a nightmare.
“Dreams are always the opposite.”
Bai Lan nodded. And wasn’t that the truth?
In this life, her eldest sister had divorced her husband and found a good partner. Her second sister had escaped that scumbag. Nothing could be better than this.
As for those villains and scoundrels, each and every one of them had met with misfortune. They would never enjoy the glory they had in the original storyline.
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