Chapter 483: Chapter 483

"Alright, the three of us will split up and start looking for Mom and Dad. There are only a few places they frequent. Let’s also ask around with the neighbors again. Although I already asked everyone just now, I might have been too flustered and didn’t get clear answers.

Maybe I didn’t look carefully. Perhaps Mom and Dad went to the market late to buy groceries and got held up there, and maybe this letter is just the kids fooling around, playing a prank."

Fan Jianguo was in a panic; something happened to his parents!

He had never even heard of such a thing happening.

"Huihui, stay at home. In case Mom and Dad come back, it’s good to have someone there."

Fan Jianguo instructed Huihui.

The three of them went out.

They didn’t dare alarm anyone else. If it turned out to be a false alarm, it would be too embarrassing. Even if it wasn’t a false alarm, if they spread the news and the kidnappers found out, it wouldn’t do their parents any good.

The three of them contemplated over and over, and quietly and secretly set out to search.

But when it got dark, the three of them returned to the courtyard, looked at each other, and shook their heads.

They hadn’t found the old couple at all; it was as if they had vanished into thin air.

The neighbors around hadn’t seen them either. Two living people had actually disappeared, and now the three of them had a premonition that the old lady and the old man might really have been kidnapped.

Otherwise, how could it be explained that they had searched for so long without finding them? The old man and old lady had never been ones to wander far.

For them, their social circle was just that large.

Fan Jianguo squatted on the steps, silently wiping his tears.

Jiang Lao Shi and Fan Xiuying simply sat on the concrete steps. Fan Xiuying couldn’t cry; all she felt now was fear.

Her heart was pounding wildly, worried that something really had happened to her parents. This was a kidnapping, something they had no experience with and didn’t know how to handle.

"Maybe we should call the police after all, the police are better than us. We have no idea what to do. The kidnappers only said they wanted 100,000 yuan, but how to hand over the money? How to get the people back? They said nothing about it."

Jiang Lao Shi was rather calm, considering that nobody had experience with such a situation and they had to think of what to do.

Fan Jianguo shook his head, "We can’t call the police. Brother-in-law, didn’t you see the letter? It said not to call the police, or else we might as well prepare for the worst for the old couple."

"That’s right! We can’t call the police!"

Fan Xiuying also shook her head! Those were her parents; she couldn’t, under any circumstances, let anything happen to the old couple.

"What nonsense are you two spouting? Just because they said not to call the police, we won’t call the police? Without calling the police, where would we find them? We don’t even know the whereabouts of the old couple. If we report it sooner, maybe the police can help us find them. Keeping this hidden only aids the kidnappers. When the police want to find them later, it will be even harder."

Jiang Lao Shi didn’t agree.

Fan Jianguo shook his head, "Brother-in-law, that’s exactly why we can’t call the police. Think about it, we don’t know who they are. They didn’t tell us how to hand over the ransom or even how to release them or contact us.

This only indicates one thing: they’re hiding in the shadows around us. They’re watching us; if we report it and they find out, they might panic and refuse the ransom, and getting caught by the police means the death penalty.

If they just tear up the ticket for the old lady and the old man, we’ll have nowhere to regret later."

Fan Xiuying was at a loss, looking at her brother and husband, "The problem is, we don’t even have 100,000 yuan. Why did these people target our family? We’re just an ordinary, poor family, yet they asked us for 100,000 yuan. Isn’t this a joke?"

Fan Jianguo slapped his head, filled with regret.

"This is all my fault. I recently took over a store. Everyone knows I’ve taken over all six stores on the street. The rent alone is several thousand, almost 10,000 a year, plus the cost of goods. Someone did the math and figured out I must have around 100,000 yuan on hand.

It gave them bad intentions, wanting to force me to give them money by taking my parents. It’s all my fault. I was too showy and never thought that I’d implicate the old man and old lady."

Fan Jianguo figured out the reason, and it really was related. However, it wasn’t an external thief; an insider had their eyes on them.

"So what do we do now? We can’t just sit here and wait."

Jiang Lao Shi also had no idea.

Her brother and wife disagreed, and they had no clues or solutions.

Huihui returned home alone and discussed it with her mother.

She hadn’t expected that Fan Jianguo was so rich, with no less than 100,000 yuan.

This wasn’t just ordinarily rich.

If they had to give this money because of the old couple, what would they do in the future?

Huihui and her family didn’t sleep all night.

The night passed in agony.

No one closed their eyes.

In the morning, Fan Xiuying saw a letter lying quietly in the courtyard.

The three of them gathered around the table.

Fan Xiuying looked at the envelope, reached out, but still couldn’t muster the courage to pick it up.

Fan Jianguo grabbed it and opened it.

"Very good, you didn’t call the police, so go prepare the money. At 8 a.m. the day after tomorrow, one person will take the money to the broken bridge in the outskirts at Luofeng Slope to deliver the ransom."

All three of them felt a chill strike their hearts.

There was indeed someone watching them, otherwise how would they know they hadn’t called the police?

They felt cold inside.

Fan Jianguo stood up, "Where are you going?"

Jiang Lao Shi saw that his wife was already panicking and knew that she was at a loss for what to do now.

His brother-in-law’s face showed he was anxious too.

Once people get anxious, they easily lose their heads, and impulsivity often leads to mistakes.

Put together, the three of them had no ideas and were prone to making mistakes.

Fan Jianguo said in a deep voice, "I’m going to raise the money! It was a disaster I caused, so I’ll bear it."

"Hold on, of course, we need to raise the money! But we can’t just blindly hand over the money without ensuring anything. Aren’t you worried about handing over the money and not getting the people back?"

Jiang Lao Shi pressed Fan Jianguo down.

Fan Jianguo grabbed his hair with both hands, "Then what do we do? Brother-in-law, I can’t just do nothing! Those are my parents, and it’s because of me! If something happens to the two old folks, I’ll..."

Jiang Lao Shi slammed the table. The household was already in chaos; blaming themselves served no purpose.

"Now call Moting and have him come over."

Jiang Lao Shi felt that his son-in-law was more resourceful than any of them.

At a time , the more help, the better.

Maybe Song Moting had a way to make sense of what they couldn’t.

Fan Jianguo’s eyes brightened.

An hour later, Song Moting arrived by car.

He Aiguo also came along.

When he arrived, Jiang Xiaoxiao was peacefully doing her postpartum rest.

The old lady couldn’t let go of Tang Yuan; Jiang Xiaoxiao had no chance to leave the bed.

Jia Shu and He Aiguo came to visit her and the baby.

Upon hearing about the situation at the Jiang family, He Aiguo wanted to meet Jiang Lei, so he came along.