Fan Qingqing's emotions collapsed instantly, and she couldn't help but cover her face and burst into tears.
She regretted it, she really regretted it, "I shouldn't have given her the child in the first place..."
Ren Baiyang sat down beside her and sighed, "We're doing this for the child's own good. What future can the child have if he stays with us? But it's different with Xueni. Xueni knows so many important people; she's far more knowledgeable than us!"
He said, seemingly to comfort his wife and also to encourage himself, "Look, he's already a minor celebrity now, following Xueni around. When he's older, maybe he'll become a big star like Xueni!"
Fan Qingqing understood everything her husband said, but... how could a mother's longing for her child be suppressed so easily?
"I miss Yangyang, I miss our child! I wonder if he's eating well, if he's dressed warmly, if he's suffered any mistreatment while filming..." Fan Qingqing leaned against her husband, choking back tears.
After crying, she suppressed her urge to see and hold her child. Fan Qingqing knew that it was for his own good for him to stay with his aunt. He had a brighter future with his aunt than with his parents. They didn't want their child to end up like them, confined to a small town for the rest of his life.
However, this idea changed after the couple received a text message and a video in the middle of the night.
[... You thought that entrusting your child to his aunt's care would give him a better future, but you don't know that your child hasn't been treated well at all by his aunt. His aunt only sees him as a cash cow! If you don't believe me, you can look up this child's schedule online; it's so packed that even adults can't handle it!]
He had a fever of 4 degrees Celsius while filming today.
The child's temperature was 10 degrees Celsius, yet neither Ren Xueni her husband noticed! The doctor said it was due to overwork, and that if they had brought the child any later, the fever would have damaged his brain.
A mechanical voice came from the phone, telling them about the unfair treatment the child had received from his aunt. At the same time, the couple also received a video from the other party on their phones.
The video started playing, and Ren Xueni's harsh and cold voice came through. In front of her, the child being scolded had his head down, looking awkward and scared.
In a corner where no one could see, Ren Xueni even reached out and pinched the child, her blows heavy and cruel.
Upon witnessing this scene, Fan Qingqing, the biological mother, went completely blank. When she came to her senses, her expression gradually became ferocious.
" Ren Xueni! How could she scold Yangyang like that? Didn't she see how scared the child was? No, I have to go to City B!" She couldn't sit still any longer and immediately got out of bed. "I have to go see the child!"
Ren Baiyang grabbed her arm. "Don't be impulsive!"
Fan Qingqing turned and glared at him, angrily saying, "Where did I act impulsively? Didn't you see how your 'good sister' treated your son in the video? She disciplined Yangyang like he was her grandson. Is this what she meant by being good to Yangyang?"
Ren Baiyang said helplessly, "I'm not trying to speak up for Xueni, it's just that we don't know who posted the video, and we don't know if it's been photoshopped... We can't just believe whatever he says!"
[You can rest assured!] The still-connected phone rang again, this time with a clearly distorted, mechanical voice saying, [The video was definitely not digitally manipulated. I have no ill intentions towards you. You know, I could have just stood by and done nothing. I just saw how much that child was suffering, with a fever and his parents not by his side...]
In short, I can assure you that everything I've said is true. Your child is currently in ward XX of XX Hospital. Go and see for yourselves whether I'm lying or not.
After saying this, the person on the other end of the phone stopped talking and hung up immediately, giving Ren Baiyang and his wife no chance to ask any further questions.
Seeing that the call had ended, Fan Qingqing hurriedly picked up her phone, but the call was already permanently disconnected.
When they tried to call back using the call log, they found the number was disconnected. The couple looked at each other in dismay.
"I don't care," Fan Qingqing said, her eyes red-rimmed, "I have to go see Yangyang!"
She already missed her child terribly, and now that she knew he had been wronged and wasn't living well with his aunt, even knowing it was probably a lie, she still couldn't sit still.
She glared at her husband and said, "I'm telling you, don't even think about stopping me anymore! Even if you forbid me from going, I'm going to bring the child back! My Yangyang, he's such a good child, how could Ren Xueni treat him like that?"
As she spoke, Fan Qingqing choked up.
Seeing his wife like this, Ren Baiyang felt bad too. He said, "I didn't say I was stopping you or forbidding you from going. If you want to go, then let's go together!"
Fan Qingqing looked at him in surprise, Ren Baiyang said with a wry smile, " Yangyang is not only your child, but also my child."
He felt sorry for him too.
Upon hearing this, Fan Qingqing burst into tears again and couldn't help but cry out once more.
***
That very night, Fan Qingqing and her husband packed their things and headed to City B.
Worried about their child, the couple bought tickets for the nearest flight to City B. When the plane landed, it was around 8 or 9 a. m. They had eaten the airplane meal on the plane and weren't hungry, so after getting off the plane, they took a taxi straight to the hospital.
Following the address given by the mysterious person who made the phone call, the couple easily found the ward where their child was hospitalized.
Standing at the door of the ward, the two felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation, hesitant to reach out and open it. Fortunately, their hesitation didn't last long, because while they were hesitating, the door was opened from the inside.
"... Who are you people?" Zhou Xiaoyu asked warily as she opened the door, looking at the two people in front of her.
"Is Ding Shuyang in this ward?" Fan Qingqing asked nervously, "I'm his... aunt!"
Fan Qingqing wanted to say that she was Ding Shuyang's mother, but when the words reached her lips, she felt it was difficult to explain, so she changed her story and said she was her aunt. Ren Baiyang nodded repeatedly when he heard her say this.
"Yes, she is Ding Shuyang's aunt, and I am his uncle..."
Zhou Xiaoyu looked at them with suspicion and surprise, "Really...?"
She opened the ward door wide. "Then come in quickly."
Upon hearing this, Fan Qingqing and her husband hurried into the room. Fan Qingqing couldn't wait to inquire about the child's condition, "... Is Yangyang alright? I heard he had a fever yesterday? What did the doctor say? Is it serious?"
Zhou Xiaoyu had initially been somewhat suspicious of the two people's identities, but hearing Fan Qingqing's concern for the child, most of her doubts disappeared.
"The child is fine, but he had a fever again in the middle of the night last night. The doctor gave him an IV and some medicine, and the fever subsided in the latter half of the night..." Zhou Xiaoyu said, describing the child's condition, which made Fan Qingqing's heart clench with worry.
When the two entered the ward and saw the child on the bed, there was no one else in sight, only that tiny figure.
" Yangyang..." Fan Qingqing walked quickly to the bedside, bent down to check on the child's condition, and reached out to feel the temperature of his forehead.
Ren Baiyang calmed down. Seeing that the child was still asleep, he looked up at Ye Mo and Zhou Xiaoyu with a puzzled expression before remembering to ask who they were.
"I haven't asked you two who you are yet..." he asked.
Could it be a caregiver hired by my sister to look after the child? But isn't this caregiver a bit too beautiful?