Chapter 24: Brother, Were You Kidnapped and Sold by Human Traffickers, or Did You Kidnap and Sell Them?
The key turned in the lock.
Jiang Xinyue returned home, carrying a cute backpack.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Having just finished her evening self-study session, she rushed into the living room, asking the question she had asked every day for the past year.
"Any news about Brother?"
In the living room, her father was on the phone.
He seemed to be asking for a favor; despite being exhausted from a long day out, he forced a smile as he spoke to the person on the other end.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen behind him...
Mother Jiang was cooking, but she kept glancing back at Father Jiang, clearly concerned about the conversation.
Witnessing this familiar scene,
Jiang Xinyue's hopes were crushed.
In the year since Jiang Jiuguo went missing, their family had called people every single day to inquire and ask for help in finding him.
But they had been searching for almost a year.
In a few days, it would be Jiang Jiuguo's birthday, marking exactly one year since his disappearance, yet there was still no news.
The only lead they had was a letter stuffed into their home two months after he vanished.
They recognized the handwriting; it was indeed written by their brother and son, Jiang Jiuguo.
In the letter, Jiang Jiuguo told them not to worry.
But as his family, how could they rest easy when he had vanished without reason on his own birthday?
"Brother couldn't have been kidnapped and taken to Southeast Asia, could he? Human trafficking is rampant there. He might have been sold as a laborer and forced to write that letter."
Jiang Xinyue had said this when they first received the letter.
However, receiving the letter at least gave the family some peace of mind; it proved Jiang Jiuguo was still alive, which made them even more determined to find him.
Soon,
the phone call ended.
Father Jiang put down his phone. "Xinyue, you're back."
Seeing his daughter, Father Jiang quickly forced a smile onto his weary face, trying to hide his exhaustion from her.
Mother Jiang also came to the rescue at the right moment, poking her head out from the kitchen.
"Xinyue, go wash your hands. I've made your favorite Braised Pig's Trotters for dinner."
"Okay." As Jiang Xinyue passed through the living room, she asked, "Dad, who were you just calling?"
She added almost immediately,
"Dad, don't overwork yourself. How about you go to sleep right after dinner?"
In the span of a year, Father Jiang's face had grown haggard and his hair had turned quite gray from running around every day to look for news of Jiang Jiuguo.
Jiang Xinyue's concern eased Father Jiang's weary expression significantly.
A daughter truly is a parent's little comfort.
"I was calling my cousin. I heard his son is heading to Southeast Asia soon, so I was wondering if he could help me look around over there."
Jiang Xinyue walked over and began massaging Father Jiang's shoulders.
People often only learn to cherish things once they are lost, and Jiang Xinyue was no exception.
Since Jiang Jiuguo's disappearance, she seemed to have grown up overnight, massaging her parents' shoulders whenever she saw them tired after coming home.
Her once mischievous and lively nature had been tempered into maturity.
"So what did Paternal First Cousin Once Removed say?" Jiang Xinyue asked.
Father Jiang replied, "Your Paternal First Cousin Once Removed promised to speak with his son. He said his son knows someone over there who can dig into the underground trade, it's just..."
Father Jiang hesitated, wondering if he should tell Jiang Xinyue.
Thinking about how she was just as worried about Jiang Jiuguo and hadn't slept well in a year,
he said, "It's just that there might be some inquiry fees, about ten thousand yuan. Xinyue, can you help me transfer the money? You can do it on a phone now, but I'm not quite sure how to operate it."
"Dad, could it be a scam? Paternal First Cousin Once Removed is reliable, but I'm afraid he might have run into a con artist out there."
Jiang Xinyue wanted to stop her father from sending the money.
"Dad, I know you're worried about Brother, but we can't just throw money at any desperate lead..."
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as Jiang Xinyue was massaging his shoulders and trying to persuade him, she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I'll get it."
Jiang Xinyue couldn't help but feel puzzled. Who would be coming over at dinner time?
Then,
she walked out of the living room toward the front door. With a creak, the door opened.
"Xinyue, who is it?" Father Jiang heard the door open but didn't hear Xinyue respond. "Xinyue? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Seeing this, he prepared to go check for himself.
But just as he stood up from the sofa, the next second, a piercing feminine scream erupted.
"Ahhhhhhhhh—!"
Jiang Xinyue's uncontrollable scream terrified Father and Mother Jiang. Before the couple could drop everything and rush to the door to see what was happening,
another scream from Jiang Xinyue rang out.
This scream was just as sharp, but even from a distance, one could hear the pure excitement contained within it.
"BROTHER!!!!!"
She made no attempt to restrain her voice.
Father and Mother Jiang heard it clearly, and the sound echoed through the entire hallway.
Then, the couple saw Jiang Xinyue at the doorway, screaming as she lunged at a figure standing outside.
Following her movement, they looked at the person's face.
The couple froze instantly, their bodies jolting as if they had been turned to stone.
Immediately after,
their eyes turned red, and tears began to well up.
"Jiuguo!"
"Son!!"
At the door, Jiang Jiuguo caught the lunging Jiang Xinyue. Hearing the voices, he met his parents' eyes, and for the first time in a year, a warm smile spread across his face.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
After stepping forward and confirming repeatedly that they weren't dreaming or hallucinating, they saw that Jiang Jiuguo was truly standing there in the flesh.
Father and Mother Jiang were overcome with emotion.
Jiang Xinyue clung to Jiang Jiuguo even more tightly, hanging onto him like a monkey with her arms and legs, refusing to let go.
Even when Jiang Jiuguo sat down on the sofa, she wouldn't get off, afraid that he would vanish the moment she did.
Ten minutes passed
before the family's excitement finally began to subside.
"Dad, Mom, Sis, I'm fine. Didn't I write to you? I just had some urgent business and had to leave suddenly."
Jiang Jiuguo placed a bag of money on the table.
For the first fifteen minutes after his return, he had been bombarded with questions by his family.
Well-prepared, Jiang Jiuguo answered them one by one. He didn't tell them he had been imprisoned, instead lying that a friend had urgently taken him abroad for work.
"I don't believe you. Brother, this is way too much money. Is it millions?"
Jiang Xinyue's cute face wore a fierce expression as she stared into Jiang Jiuguo's eyes like a police officer conducting an interrogation.
Then,
she pointed at the small mountain of cash.
"It's only been a year. How did you make so much, Brother? You must have been kidnapped by human traffickers—no, wait, you became a human trafficker yourself, didn't you?"
Even if one were dragged into a pyramid scheme by traffickers, they couldn't possibly earn this much in a year.
Could they have been wrong?
Was it possible that Jiang Jiuguo hadn't been kidnapped and sold, but rather the opposite—he went and kidnapped traffickers to sell them?
"No, a buddy of mine was traveling abroad and accidentally discovered a small gold mine. He asked me to go and dig it out with him in secret."
"I don't believe it."
Jiang Xinyue still wasn't buying it, her eyes fixed intently on Jiang Jiuguo's face.
"Brother, why has your face become so pale? And it's so soft. My god, were you really mining? Or did you get a beauty treatment?"
She noticed that Jiang Jiuguo's skin was several shades paler than before he went missing.
It wasn't just pale,
but also incredibly smooth and flawless, looking just like... the surface of a piece of paper.
"Being pale is good. It'll make you more attractive to girls."
Mother Jiang didn't mind him being pale, as long as it wasn't a sickly pallor.
Rather than worrying about his fair skin,
she was more concerned about something else.
"Son, was it very exhausting abroad? You look so haggard," Mother Jiang said with heartache.
"Jiuguo, I did say a man should earn money to support his family," Father Jiang added, "but there's no need to ruin your health just for money."
The couple noticed that while his skin was pale, his facial features looked weary.
To the outside world, parents might talk about their children's success and careers.
But deep down, all parents are the same; all they truly care about is their child's health.
As long as they are healthy and happy, it is more important than any wealth or status.
Having not seen Jiang Jiuguo for a year,
they found that he had become haggard. Even though he tried to hide it, he couldn't mask that underlying sense of fatigue and despondency.
"Mining means digging underground, so I didn't get much sun. That's why I'm pale."
Jiang Jiuguo laughed it off as he explained.
"It was only a year of hard work, it's fine. See, I've earned so much. From now on, you and Mom and Sis won't have to worry about struggling anymore."
With 15.35 million yuan in the bank,
it was enough for an average person to live on for a lifetime.
"Brother, you've worked so hard." Jiang Xinyue gave Jiang Jiuguo a hug.
She didn't know what he had actually been through.
But hearing his story and imagining him mining in the dark made her nose sting with tears.
"It wasn't that hard, and besides, I'm back now, aren't I?"
Jiang Jiuguo understood the principle that the more one speaks, the more likely they are to slip up.
Afraid of being interrogated further and making his parents and sister suspicious, he immediately changed the subject.
"By the way, Mom, are you making Braised Pig's Trotters today? It smells amazing."
Mother Jiang slapped her forehead. "Oh, I almost forgot! Dear, stop chatting, let's go eat."
Her son had returned after being missing for nearly a year,
and he looked so haggard.
She regretted not making more food and wished she could cook even more.
After a whole year,
Jiang Jiuguo's family was together again. The meal was harmonious, and smiles once again filled the faces of Father Jiang, Mother Jiang, and Jiang Xinyue.
"In a bit, Dad, I'll transfer the money to you. Put ten million in the bank for wealth management; that'll bring in tens of thousands a month in interest. You and Mom shouldn't work anymore."
"Then I'll take five million to start something of my own. As for the remaining 350,000, you, Mom, and Sis can each take a third to buy some clothes or whatever you like."
Jiang Jiuguo laid out the plans he had made before returning.
"Wow!!" Jiang Xinyue's eyes lit up. "Brother, you're the best! I get some too?"
When she received Jiang Jiuguo's confirmation,
Jiang Xinyue hugged him happily, wishing she could show off to her friends right now about what a great brother she had.
She was currently in her senior year of high school and about to enter university; over a hundred thousand yuan was a significant amount of money for her.
And the next moment,
speak of the devil.
Buzz~
Jiang Xinyue's phone vibrated.
The caller ID showed that it was a classmate calling...