A Thunderclap at New Year

The festive atmosphere of the New Year hadn't quite dissipated when the sound of firecrackers outside the window changed from a dense bombardment on New Year's Eve to sporadic, lazy crackling sounds on the fifth and sixth days of the New Year, like the lingering burps after a grand feast.

Sunlight streamed through the condensation-covered glass windows, casting warm, slightly distorted patches of light on the concrete floor of the living room. The air still held the lingering aroma of stewed meat, the smoky scent of sunflower seeds and peanuts, and a lazy, stagnant atmosphere unique to the holidays.

Lin Feng, dressed in his pajamas and slippers, emerged from his room around ten in the morning. Lü Yi was nowhere to be seen; perhaps he was in his small room "studying" his new discovery, or maybe he'd wandered downstairs. His father, Lin Jianguo, sat on the old sofa, several cigarette butts already stubbed out in the ashtray in front of him, the smoke obscuring his silent face. He wasn't watching TV or checking his phone; he just sat there, staring at the bare branches of the trees outside the window, puffing on his cigarette. The frown lines between his brows were much deeper than usual, as if carved with a knife.

Mother Zhang Fen was in the kitchen. There was none of the usual cheerful clattering of pots and pans; only the faucet was running, the soft sound of water flowing continuously.

Lin Feng walked over to get a glass of water, only to see his mother standing by the sink with her back to the door, holding a bunch of green vegetables in her hand, but she didn't move for a long time, just kept her head down and her shoulders slightly slumped. The winter sun slanted in through the small kitchen window, illuminating her graying temples and her slightly red and swollen eyes.

Lin Feng paused for a moment as he was filling the container with water.

He put down his cup and walked to his mother's side. "Mom?" he called out.

Zhang Fen seemed startled, her shoulders trembled, and she hurriedly raised her hand to quickly rub her eyes with the back of her hand before turning around and forcing a smile, "Hey, Xiao Feng's awake? Are you hungry? Mom will heat up some porridge for you?"

Her voice was thick with nasal tone, her smile was forced and barely held together, and the redness and swelling around her eyes were clearly visible in the light, indicating that she had been crying, and had been crying for quite some time.

"I'm not hungry." Lin Feng looked at her calmly. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing... it's nothing." Zhang Fen denied instinctively, looking down at the vegetables in her hands, her fingers fidgeting with the leaves. "What could be wrong? It's just... I didn't sleep well last night, and my eyes are a little uncomfortable."

Lin Feng didn't speak, he just looked at her.

The kitchen fell silent, save for the dripping sound of a tap that wasn't turned off completely, tap, tap, tapping in the still air.

Under his calm gaze, Zhang Fen's facade quickly crumbled. She put down the vegetables, wiped her eyes again, and this time, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She hurriedly turned away, turned off the tap, and hastily wiped her face with her apron, her voice choked with sobs. "It's really nothing... don't worry about it..."

Lin Feng turned around and looked at his father on the living room sofa. Lin Jianguo remained in the same position, only his smoking motion was more forceful, the smoke enveloping his entire face, obscuring his expression, but the silence itself was a heavy answer.

"Dad." Lin Feng walked into the living room.

Lin Jianguo slowly turned his head, glanced at his son, then at his wife who was suppressing her sobs at the kitchen door, and sighed heavily. He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray, sparks flying everywhere.

"Your mother..." he began, his voice hoarse and dry, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, "... told your second aunt."

Lin Feng's eyes flickered slightly. He remembered that on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after the relatives left, his mother had indeed mentioned privately reminding his second aunt about the possibility of problems with Sun Penghui's job. Judging from the current situation, the reminder was clearly ineffective and might even have led to worse consequences.

"Second Aunt doesn't believe me?" Lin Feng asked, his tone unsurprised. Given Second Aunt Wang Guifang's personality and her enthusiasm for her "get-rich-quick dream" at the time, the possibility of her listening to advice was extremely slim.

"Believe it or not..." Lin Jianguo pulled out another cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled smoke from his nostrils. "Your mother secretly called your second aunt the night before last, the third day of the Lunar New Year. She didn't dare to be too explicit, but she said there are a lot of scammers out there, and you should be especially careful if strangers ask you to invest money. She also asked about Penghui's situation abroad and told him to be careful..."

He paused, seemingly recalling the fear his wife had conveyed. "Your second aunt wasn't happy on the phone. She thought your mother was jealous of Penghui's wealth and was cursing them. She said a few unpleasant things and then hung up."

This was entirely within Lin Feng's expectations.

"And then?" Lin Feng pressed. If that were all, his mother wouldn't have cried so much, and his father wouldn't be so distressed.

Lin Jianguo's fingers, holding the cigarette, trembled almost imperceptibly, and ash fell in a flurry. He raised his bloodshot eyes, looked at Lin Feng, and spoke each word clearly, his voice dry and laced with coldness:

"Yesterday, yesterday afternoon, your second aunt... called your mother's cell phone directly, crying uncontrollably, saying... saying that Penghui had been kidnapped."

Tied up?

Even with Lin Feng's calm and collected nature, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly upon hearing this word. This development... was faster and more extreme than he had anticipated.

"Tethered?" he repeated, confirming.

"Hmm." Lin Jianguo nodded heavily, his wrinkles seeming to deepen. "They said it was someone from Penghui's 'company,' who contacted your second aunt directly, using Penghui's phone to make the call. They said Penghui... embezzled company money, or broke company rules, they didn't say anything specific, but anyway, he's been detained. They're demanding 500,000 RMB. If the money goes to the designated account, they'll release him. If the money doesn't come... they'll kill him."

Five hundred thousand. The ransom was killed.

The cold numbers and even colder words, like two hammers, slammed into this ordinary family that had just been enveloped in the warmth of the New Year.

Zhang Fen then came out of the kitchen, her eyes red and swollen, wiping them repeatedly with the corner of her apron. Her voice was trembling with sobs and regret. "It's all my fault... it's all my fault... If I hadn't made that call, if I hadn't said that one word, would everything have been alright? Would Penghui have been alright? Did they hear something? Did I ruin Penghui's life...?" She became more and more upset as she spoke, and started crying again.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Lin Jianguo rarely raised his voice, scolding his wife, but his tone was also full of helplessness. "What does this have to do with you? That's Penghui's own fault! That place... it wasn't a good place to begin with!"

He turned to Lin Feng and continued, "You know your second aunt's situation. She and your second aunt's husband are just ordinary workers. The factory wasn't doing well a few years ago, so it wasn't easy for them to save any money. Penghui probably didn't bring much money home when he went out, yet he bragged that he would lead them to riches... 500,000 yuan, where are they going to get that? Even selling their house might not be enough, and they'd have to be quick."

"So," Lin Jianguo exhaled a puff of smoke, "Your second aunt cried and begged on the phone to have your mother, and all of us relatives, go to her house this afternoon. Let's all... discuss it together... and see if we can... think of a solution."

The solution we discussed boiled down to two words: raising money.

In this small county town, 500,000 yuan is an astronomical figure for an ordinary working-class family. Each family might contribute a little, and relatives and friends might lend a hand, perhaps managing to scrape together about 70-80 percent. But these days, no one is well-off, especially right after the New Year. Moreover, even if that money is thrown out, will it actually redeem the person? Will it be a whole person, or...? These are all unknowns.

Zhang Fen's crying, besides her worry for her nephew, clearly also contained the fear that this huge "debt" might weigh on her family, and a deeper sense of self-blame—she felt that her phone call had alerted the enemy, leading to this disaster.

Lin Feng looked at his parents, who were lost in grief and sorrow, and remained silent for a moment.

He walked to his mother's side and gently patted her back, which was trembling slightly from crying. The movement was a little awkward, but it carried an undeniable sense of stability.

"Mom, don't cry." His voice wasn't loud, and it remained calm, yet strangely it possessed a quality that could soothe people. "Crying won't help."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over his parents' anxious faces, and slowly said:

"This afternoon, I'll go to your aunt's house with you. We can all sit together and discuss it."

He walked to the coffee table, picked up the cigarette case his father had placed there, took out a cigarette, but didn't light it. He simply held it in his hand, slowly turning it around. His tone was flat, as if he were talking about something as mundane as household chores.

"If all else fails, let's pool our resources. Let each family chip in a little, and we'll pay the money first."

He looked up at his mother. "Ranking them back is the most important thing."

As for what happens after the ransom is paid, what that money means, what Sun Penghui is actually involved in, and whether the kidnappers will really keep their word after taking the money... he didn't address these more complex and darker questions now.

Right now, for the parents, for the second aunt's family, and even for most relatives, the most important thing is to "raise money to save lives." This is the simplest and most direct logic.

As for what kind of sinister trap lies hidden behind this logic, and how to deal with it... that requires him to think calmly, and perhaps he will need to use some of the resources at hand to handle it.

But now, all he needs to do is give the panicked parents the clearest direction for action.

"Yes, yes! Xiao Feng is right!" Zhang Fen nodded repeatedly as if grasping at a straw, but her tears flowed even more fiercely, this time mixed with tears of hope. "Let's raise the money first! Let's get him back first! It's good that he's back! The money... President Qian can pay it back slowly..."

Lin Jianguo gave a heavy "hmm," his worried expression still lingering, but at least the suffocating bewilderment had been dispelled. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and said in a low voice, "I'll go check it out this afternoon. Our family... we'll try to scrape together some money."

Lin Feng gently placed the unlit cigarette back into the cigarette case.

Outside the window, the sunlight seemed to have shifted, the light spots moving from the ground to the walls. The festive and peaceful atmosphere of the New Year was completely shattered by this sudden clap of thunder, revealing the cold and cruel reality of life.