Once they had arrived at the police station, the cops took Shu Yan to point out the two kidnappers through a glass door, then made a simple report and she was free to go.
As luck would have it, it started pouring all of a sudden. Shu Yan, not having an umbrella with her and with the bus stop being a bit of a distance from where she was, had no choice but to wait around at the police station.
"If you like, I can give you a ride back when I am done over here." They were not part of City Nan but there was a street that led straight to City Nan University and it'd only take half an hour to get there.
"No need. No need." Shu Yan declined immediately. If she let the cop car take her back, she'd become very well known around her area within ten minutes. If she didn't explain, people would think that she had committed some sort of a crime. If she did explain, what if the two kidnappers had other have others that they work with and wanted to retaliate? She has two children. What if they got dragged into this? She'd regret so much that she could die.
She waited for about an hour and the rain came down heavier and heavier. While Shu Yan was worrying about how she could get back, a group of people arrived and a comely woman was the first to come barging inside. Her hair was messy and she looked disheveled. Her eyes were swollen and she was crying, "The child. Where is my child?"
She grabbed a copy and asked, "I lost my child. I've heard that a kidnapped was arrested and there was a child with them. Is he my child? My child is a little boy, about this tall. He had on a blue set of sports outfits. Oh yes, he has a mole on his nose, right here." The woman rambled on and gestured.
"Calm down and talk slowly. Take a deep breath." The cop tried to comfort the woman.
"I a clam. I just miss my son. My Doudou is missing. I was cooking at home and he was playing outside the door. I turned around and he was gone. He's... about this height." She reached out her hand and gestured a height. "He had on a blue set of sport outfits and he has a mole on his nose. How was I so careless? Why did I bother cooking? So what if I skip a meal?" The woman suddenly slapped herself across her face.
The individuals following behind her started also started to cry. A couple who looked like the child's grandparents looked very feeble, as though they could pass out at any time.
Suddenly, a man walked over with a cop and said, "Sister-in-law, I've just asked. It very likely can be Doudou."
The voice sound very familiar. Shu Yan looked up and it was Feng Zeyu.
Feng Zeyu, too, noticed Shu Yan and was a bit surprised to see her there.
"The child is your nephew?" Shu Yan couldn't help but asked when she saw that his face was covered in sweat.
"He's the son of my comrade-in-arm. Why are you here?" asked Feng Zeyu.
"She's the comrade who noticed something out of the ordinary and alerted the cops to save the child," said a cop next to them.
The child's mother recovered some and said, "Where's the child? I want to see the child."
"The child is running a fever so we took him to the hospital. We will take you to the hospital now to see if he is your son." The cops were about to take them to the hospital.
Feng Zeyu took a few steps with them before he turned around and looked over at Shu Yan. "How you are getting back to City Nan?"
"I am fine." Shu Yan waved her hand. "I'll take a ride after the rain stops."
"I am heading back to City Nan as well. Let me head to the hospital to check on the child first. Then you can ride back with me," said Feng Zeyu in a very sincere voice.
Shu Yan took a look at the rain, hesitated for a little bit and said, "Okay then. Thank you."
On their way to the hospital, the woman cried and said, "Duoduo is my life. His dad died in the war and he's the only child we have. If Duoduo was gone, I'd have wronged the Wu's. I'd have wronged his father..."
They hadn't expected the child to be the son of a patriot. The two cops and Shu Yan were very touched.
When they arrived at the hospital, the child was still asleep. The family began to bawl as soon as they saw the child. The child's mother covered up her mouth, not wanting to wake the child up.
The doctor said it was lucky that the child got to the hospital early enough. Had the high fever continued, it could be fatal. Or that even if he had recovered, there might be other permanent damage to the brain or he could become deaf. Everybody turned pale upon hearing that.
After the child's mother confirmed that the child was alright, she finally slowly regained her rationality. She walked over to Shu Yan and dropped to her knees in front of her.
"Oh mi! What are you doing?" Shu Yan wanted to help her up, but she wasn't able to move her.
"You didn't just save Duoduo's life. You have also saved mine. If you didn't discover it soon enough, we'd have lost Duoduo and I would not be able to live. You have saved the lives of Duoduo, me, and my family." She wanted to kowtow right then and there and Shu Yan looked to the cops to help.
Hearing the ruckus, the child's grandparents wanted to drop to their knees as well. Shu Yan quickly had the cops and Feng Zeyu came over to stop them.
"Please. That will not be necessary. Besides, it was the cops on the train and these cops here who saved the child. I only said a few things was all. You don't need to do this." Shu Yan was startled by them.
"But you were the one who noticed that they were kidnappers. Either way, thank you so much." The child's mother was about to drop down on her knees again but she was stopped by the cops.
The drama went on for a while until Shu Yan finally said goodbye to them and took off. Feng Zeyu exchanged a few words with the child's family and came up behind her.
"Thank you," said Feng Zeyu. "Thank you for saving Duoduo. This child is very important to me."
The child's father was his late comrade in arms and he was a casualty of war. The kid was not born yet and his mother ignored her family's objection and gave birth to him. She never remarried all these years because she worried that the stepfather would not be nice to the child and she also worried that she would not be able to pool all her attention in taking care of Duoduo.
When their other comrades in arms found out about it, they talked amongst themselves and agreed that Duoduo was the responsibility for all of them. That they'd take turns visiting the child in City Han every year to see what additional help the mother and son might need in addition to aiding them financially.
Feng Zeyu, being in City Nan, was the one who lived closest to City Han. Last time both the mother and son were running high fever and she had no choice but to call up Feng Zeyu. The night that he split a ride with Shu Yan, he went over there overnight.
This time it was another comrade turn to visit but he was held up by some other matters and Feng Zeyu to check them out. That was when they ran into the kidnapping incident.
Shu Yan paused for a second and said, "Every child is precious to their parents. I have kids too and I can only imagine how sad and desperate I'd feel if I lose them. That's why when I noticed that something was off, I thought I'd report it regardless of whether I was right or not. Great if I was wrong. But what if I was right? How sad would the child's parents be? I didn't know that the child's father was a patriot. I am very glad that I was able to help."
Feng Zeyu nodded and opened the car door for Shu Yan. "Where are you going back to?"
"Fujian Road. I didn't return yesterday. I wonder if my two children have lunch yet." Shu Yan took a look at the time. It was already 2 PM. She had planned to go home and make lunch for her kids.
"You are raising two children alone?" Feng Zeyu never looked into Shu Yan and did not know about her situation.
"Yes." Shu Yan looked up and smiled but did not elaborate.
His pager beeped and Feng Zeyu took a look at him before he said to Shu Yan apologetically, "Pardon me. Let me go and return this call." He returned five minutes later and did not look too happy. "One of my comrades in arms works in the police station. He said those two kidnappers have others working with them and you've been spotted by them. You shouldn't ride on the train recently and preferably not even traveling."
Shu Yan frowned, "I am in the clothing business and I need to go merchandizing at City Han weekly. It's not practical for me to not travel. I will be fine. I can take the car to merchandizing. They might not be able to find me. But I worry that they will find my place. What about my two children? Do you thin they will be dragged into this?"
For a brief second there, Shu Yan regretted standing up. Or that she should not have stood up again once she had alerted the cops.
Feng Zeyu went silent for a little bit before he said, "If you don't mind, I can protect you for this period of time. Until we arrest their partners."
"That's not going to work. Never mind about wasting your time. We have no idea how long it'd take before their partners will be arrested. This is not sustainable." Shu Yan felt very worried. Feng Zeyu could protect her for a limited period of time, but not the rest of her life. She couldn't live her life with this hanging over her head.
"Kidnappers are all heartless. You've ruined their business so they very well might retaliate. They have many ways and are very vicious. But you don't have to be too overly worried. They are not omnipotent and I'm sure they won't be able to locate you. But you will need to be careful when you go to City Han. Why don't we do this? I will take you to and from work in the next few days and see if there are anyone suspicious around. Let me know when you go merchandizing in City Han and I'll go with you." Feng Zeyu wasn't going to put the person who saved Duoduo at risk.
Truth be told, Shu Yan was a little bit worried. She hesitated for a while and said, "Okay. Thank you then."
"No problem. Don't worry too much. These are the worse case scenarios. I trust that the cops will be able to arrest them soon," said Feng Zeyu with a stiff tone.
Shu Yan tightened her lips a bit and said, "I hope so too."
Before Shu Yan got out of the car, Feng Zeyu handed her a piece of paper with his phone and pager number on it.
"Let me go back and take care of some things. I will take you to your shop tomorrow." He had the driver took off immediately after he said that, not allowing Shu Yan a chance to decline him.
Domineering? Yes. But Shu Yan felt much safer after his words.
Her two children were napping at home and there were milk and biscuits left over from them. Feeling sorry for her two children, she kissed them both on their foreheads.
She was a bit impulsive this time. She was no longer all alone. She has two children to raise. She needed to consider how much she could take on next time she stepped up. Just like this time. She still should have reported to the cops. She couldn't just pretend that she didn't notice anything. But then she should have let the cops take care of it afterward. She should not have stepped up after that. Her kids were still young and had no abilities to take care of themselves. What happened if she had got them involved in something dangerous?
It was never easy to do the right thing. Now Shu Yan finally understood what that meant.
Shu Yan had been gone for two days. JingJing was very mature and kept the house clean. Shu Yan cleaned it again anyway and pre-treated the dirty laundry with soap. It'd make it easier to wash out later on.