How could Xia Dajun disappear when he was in the hospital?
His disappearing act not only threw the Xia family into disarray but also puzzled Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong.
The county hospital was also bewildered!
Usually, patients who secretly pulled out their IVs and ran away did so because they couldn’t pay their medical bills. Xia Dajun only needed disinfection and stitches, was given two bottles of nutritional fluids, and had already paid – why would he run?
Wang Jianhua was watching the patient at the hospital but managed to lose him.
Wang Jianhua had the hospital staff help search everywhere without success, so he could only hurry back to tell Xia Ziyu.
Now Chief Liang had to investigate. The police officers were more methodical than Wang Jianhua. A grown man like Xia Dajun couldn’t just vanish into thin air. They questioned everyone in the neighboring wards, patients and family members alike – someone must have seen him.
Xia Dajun was quite recognizable, and someone said they saw him leave the hospital alone.
Further investigation revealed that Xia Dajun had taken a bus out of Anqing – a bus headed to Shangdu Railway Station!
The trail ended there. Grandmother Xia insisted that Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen had hidden Xia Dajun away, but truthfully even Xia Xiaolan couldn’t guess what game Xia Dajun was playing. No matter how much Grandmother Xia made a fuss, there was nothing to be done. Chief Liang said:
“He can walk, jump, and take transportation by himself, so he’s not seriously injured. If the involved party won’t file a report, this is a civil dispute – not under our jurisdiction!”
“I’m his mother, I’m filing a report!”
Even if his birth father came back to life it wouldn’t matter – the man was perfectly fine and able to take buses. He hadn’t been kidnapped, so the police station wasn’t about to waste manpower. Xia Dajun’s situation wasn’t even a missing person case – he was a grown man traveling somewhere, how could the police station track him down?
Why did Xia Dajun leave the hospital by himself?
Wang Jianhua was the last person to see him, and the Xia family bombarded him with questions about what happened.
Wang Jianhua vaguely guessed it had to do with the question Xia Dajun had asked him. It had seemed like such a casual question at the time, and Wang Jianhua had been afraid he would ask more, but Xia Dajun hadn’t said anything else. When Wang Jianhua went outside the hospital to buy food and returned to the ward, Xia Dajun had already disappeared.
The question Xia Dajun had asked was too embarrassing for Wang Jianhua to mention in front of everyone.
The reason for Xia Dajun’s “escape” remained a mystery. Grandmother Xia was worried about both Xia Dajun’s health and, more pressingly, Xia Ziyu’s university expenses. Among her three sons, even Xia Ziyu’s father had selfish motives, after all, Xia Ziyu still had a younger brother. As for Third Son Xia Hongbing, he was even worse, always hoping Grandmother Xia would give him some of her private savings! Only Xia Dajun listened to Grandmother Xia completely – if he earned 100 yuan, he would turn in all 100 yuan, not just 99. Grandmother Xia also felt that since he had no sons to support him in his old age, using his money to fund Xia Ziyu’s education was perfect!
Now, the most obedient laborer in the family had run away – how could Grandmother Xia accept this?
Zhang Cui suggested that Xia Dajun might have been severely upset by Liu Fen, causing him to run away from home.
“If he comes back in a few days that’s fine, but what if he’s so angry he never comes home? I think we need to demand his return from Liu Fen and her daughter. Maybe Liu Fen said something to Dajun, and they tricked him.”
Grandmother Xia found this very reasonable. “You’re right, we should demand his return from them!”
Grandmother Xia was now deeply distressed, suspecting that Xia Dajun had been deceived by Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan’s words, planning to abandon the Xia family and run off to start a new life with the mother and daughter. What would happen to the Xia family? What about Ziyu’s tuition?
Grandmother Xia saw herself as the Xia family’s helmsman, with the final say in all family matters. Liu Fen’s divorce had already upset her enough, and now even Xia Dajun had run away… Grandmother Xia absolutely couldn’t accept this.
So what if Xia Xiaolan got into university?
An ungrateful white-eyed wolf – Grandmother Xia didn’t care for her at all!
The police wouldn’t take the case, so who could stop Xia Xiaolan from leaving? Only Grandmother Xia!
This old woman wasn’t just difficult – she was shameless. She immediately grabbed onto Xia Xiaolan’s legs and wouldn’t let go. From Xia Xiaolan rolling in the hay with village hooligans to seducing her future brother-in-law to being unfilial to elders, to instigating her parents’ divorce – she recounted each incident with dramatic flair, making anyone who heard want to spit on Xia Xiaolan as an unfilial, loose woman.
And this was on the street outside First County High!
How many teachers and students could witness this spectacle? The police had spent all this time only to discover that Xia Dajun had left on his own. It was already past 6 PM, and First County High’s students were getting out of class for dinner. Although only the third-year students had returned to school, and most teachers and students ate in the cafeteria, some still needed to go out for dinner.
This drama made all these students and teachers stop and stare.
Seeing she had an audience, Grandmother Xia became even more energetic, holding onto Xia Xiaolan’s feet with both hands, not letting her move an inch.
How could Xia Xiaolan continue studying at First County High after this?!
Liu Yong’s eyes were bloodshot, ready to follow his younger sister Liu Fen’s example and attack someone impulsively. If Li Fengmei and Sister Huang hadn’t desperately held him back, Liu Yong would have already pounced on Grandmother Xia. Unreasonable old people were always the hardest to deal with. Principal Sun was dumbfounded, finally deeply understanding Xia Xiaolan’s words: all the Xia family members bore grudges against her.
Absolutely grudges, deep hatred even!
Why else would they try to destroy Xia Xiaolan’s reputation so thoroughly?
How would First County High’s teachers and students view Xia Xiaolan from now on? This was her grandmother – even a step-grandmother probably wouldn’t do something like this.
“Old Zhao, quickly help the elderly lady up.”
Principal Sun found the situation very troublesome.
Xia Ziyu seemed frightened, tightly holding Wang Jianhua’s hand without making a sound.
Principal Sun was thoroughly disappointed in her.
Gatekeeper Old Zhao tried to help Grandmother Xia up several times, but whenever he got close, she would wail and scream that he was hitting her! Old Zhao was furious enough to spit blood.
Xia Ziyu hid behind Wang Jianhua, observing Xia Xiaolan’s expression. Xia Xiaolan had a bad temper – being provoked by Grandmother Xia in public, she would likely lose her temper. Whether she cursed back at Grandmother Xia or pushed her, it would be clear evidence of being “unfilial.”
It would be even better if she endured it.
That would be admitting to Grandmother Xia’s accusations. Xia Ziyu rather wanted to salvage her image in Principal Sun’s eyes. The more disgraceful Xia Xiaolan appeared, the more obviously false would be all the bad things said about herself.
Ah, Xia Xiaolan, Xia Xiaolan, how will you escape this impossible situation?
Wang Jianhua felt somewhat uncomfortable… Xia Xiaolan had never seduced him; rather, it was his getting together with Xia Ziyu that had made Xia Xiaolan the betrayed one. But with so many onlookers, Wang Jianhua couldn’t say it out loud!
The crowd was whispering, and Principal Sun didn’t know why Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t defend herself. Should he, a principal, personally argue with a rural old woman? With the old lady refusing to get up from the ground, he was already in enough trouble.
“Mr. Xia, quickly help your mother up. If the elderly won’t be reasonable, will you be unreasonable too?”
Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui made a few half-hearted attempts to help, mumbling incoherently.
Xia Xiaolan finally showed a disgusted expression because Grandmother Xia had just wiped her snot and tears on her pant leg. She had quite liked these pants, but now they couldn’t be worn anymore!
She was just thinking about where to begin, whether she should compete with Grandmother Xia in acting skills, tearfully recounting all the outrageous things the Xia family had done… Xia Xiaolan wasn’t afraid of losing face – after all, it was the Xia family’s face to lose. She just feared leaving First County High’s teachers and students with an image of her as extremely pitiful. She didn’t want to be the pitiful little white flower, didn’t want to be seen as a helpless victim!
A young female teacher stepped forward from the crowd, her round face showing anger.
“How can you call yourself Student Xia’s grandmother? You’re nothing but a shameless ruffian, an unreasonable shrew! And the rest of you, can you not help an old woman up? You’re letting her use her age to bully Student Xia… If Student Xia won’t defend herself, I can’t stand watching this anymore!”