I am chasing a rough man in the 80s
Chapter 388: Three Strategies, Making You Release the Captives Voluntarily

Chapter 388: Chapter 388: Three Strategies, Making You Release the Captives Voluntarily

"Suizi, Tiegen’s gone back with those people, it won’t get messy, will it?"

Wang Cuihua anxiously asked Suizi.

Yu Jingting left by night with those three people to take a train to the Border, only leaving a message for Suizi to deliver to Wang Cuihua: He would bring Father back unscathed.

Suizi gave a slight smile.

"He won’t be in trouble, nor will Father."

"Oh dear, you two are going to kill me with worry. Running off into the lion’s den like that, what if something happens to the both of you? Then we’d be all out of men in our family!"

In response to Granny’s worries, Bobo, who was playing with his toes on the bed, timely let out a loud fart.

"You are also a man, but you are a little man and that doesn’t count!"

Wang Cuihua turned back to talk seriously to her grandson as if the chubby toddler could understand her.

"Haha," Luoluo at the side laughed, seemingly playing along with Granny’s joke.

Her laughter resulted in Bobo letting out an even louder fart.

"Oh dear, you two little naughties, ganging up to make fun of Granny, are you?" Wang Cuihua was both angry and amused.

Suizi had to hold back her laughter.

"Mother, they are too young to know what’s going on."

The older generation of the Yu family all loved comedy, and Granny could conjure an entire silent film with these two nonverbal children.

"I’m worried about our Tiegen," Wang Cuihua grumbled.

When Suizi and Yu Jingting left home, they didn’t tell her their plans. She assumed they were going to confront the thugs who kidnapped Luoluo with Tiegen. Little did she know only Suizi, holding the child, would return.

Of course, Wang Cuihua can’t help but worry about her son’s safety.

"Mother, Jingting is not going alone this time, he’s got two mates with him."

The man in gray who had rented the house had left, leaving three strong men behind.

The journey was long and would take a day and a night by train. To prevent these three from causing any trouble, Suizi had purposely asked two of Yu Jingting’s friends from the construction site to accompany him.

She would provide per diem to those people according to a rate of twenty taels per day. Although Suizi guessed they might not accept it, it was an expression of good faith and gratitude.

Even if they didn’t accept the money, she would give back something of equal value. In the world of Jianghu, one must always uphold justice. Since these brothers had helped Yu Jingting, she ought to do right by them, too.

"What’s the point of bringing help? They will be on their territory. The mightiest dragon can’t crush a snake in its lair, and they are more than just a snake."

Father Hu was a genuine dragon - it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a local emperor over there.

"Mother, rest assured, I’ve arranged everything."

Seeing how worried her mother-in-law was, Suizi thoroughly explained her plans to Wang Cuihua, to alleviate her concerns.

"Mother, you study I Ching, so you should understand the hexagram of ’Shi He’, right?"

Wang Cuihua: ...She had no idea!

She hadn’t learned that part yet.

But in front of her daughter-in-law, she didn’t want to reveal her ignorance, so she could only show an awkward yet polite smile and nod.

"That...what...you may explain it in detail."

"Explained in detail, it boils down to one phrase: combining power and benevolence, balancing firmness and gentleness."

Wang Cuihua: ...

She knew each word when they were separate, but what did they mean together!

Her daughter-in-law, if she didn’t go on to fool people as a deity, it would be a waste of her talent!

"Simply put, we have leverage over them and can also offer them something enticing. They will realize that it will do them no good to oppose us. If they want to end well, they must let my father come back safely."

"I understand the leverage part – the tape you recorded – but what is the ’enticing part’?" Wang Cuihua asked confusedly.

"The enticement lies in three secret letters."

"???"

"I wrote three secret letters myself, symbolizing wealth, longevity, and life. He is to open one every five years, and if he follows the instructions in the letters, he will receive the corresponding benefits. If not, he will lose everything."

Wang Cuihua now understood.

"Aren’t you just playing shaman and deceiving people?"

Deceiving people remotely, no less!

Wang Cuihua felt extremely confident in her ability to deceive after having played a shaman for several years.

But even with her skills, she could only deceive about immediate matters.

Now Suizi started talking about events that would unfold over the next fifteen years.

"Do you take him for a fool? If he had any brains at all, he wouldn’t believe your nonsense."

To deceive someone into believing her for three or five days would already be quite a feat.

To deceive someone for fifteen years long-distance, Wang Cuihua just couldn’t believe that was possible.

"Or we could..."

Suizi originally wanted to propose a bet. This was a little tradition between her and Yu Jingting.

Seeing her mother-in-law’s amiable face, she found it difficult to make the suggestion — After all, her mother-in-law had been genuinely kind to her. The thought of deceiving her made Suizi uncomfortable.

A glimmer of inspiration crossed Suizi’s mind as she glanced at the flower-patterned cloth on the bed.

"Mother, if my dad returns with Jingting in a few days, let’s consider that as my victory. Then this pair of flower cloths, don’t use them for making clothes for Luoluo and Bobo, alright?"

The two pieces of flower cloth could be considered a "Dongbei specialty."

Green peonies on red background, red peonies on green background.

Cluster after cluster, densely packed.

One look could cause anyone with a fear of tight clusters to break out in a cold sweat.

Wang Cuihua had her eyes set on these.

Insisting on the belief in "boys should wear red and girls should wear green", she envisioned making climbing clothes for each of the two children.

"Don’t you like this material?!" Wang Cuihua seemed a little offended.

"I actually do like it, but I think... my father-in-law might like it more."

Suizi answered with high emotional intelligence.

She wouldn’t dare offend her mother-in-law.

Sorry, father-in-law. Ahem.

"Your father-in-law?! A grown man wearing a big green padded jacket doesn’t seem appropriate, does it?"

"We don’t have to make a jacket. We can make a quilt cover. Mother, think about it. This cloth represents our northern culture, represents the smell of home. My father-in-law has been away for many years, he’s been immersed in foreign culture. Shouldn’t we use the power of our hometown to win back his heart?"

Wang Cuihua looked serious. She found her daughter-in-law’s argument compelling.

Two children, one prone, the other reclining, watched silently as their mom sweet-talked grandma.

All the emotional intelligence, apart from genetic factors, surely came from daily influence. Parents with high emotional intelligence are more likely to raise children the same way, since, after all, they’ve been "marinated" in Suizi’s high emotional intelligence since they were little.

"Alright, we can use one piece to make a mat for your father-in-law, and the other to make a quilt cover."

As long as they weren’t for her two children, Suizi was happy with any outcome, and her smiling face was brightly blooming.

"Let’s not talk about the cloth for now. What did you write in your confidential letter? How do you know he won’t open it in advance?"

"I know he won’t trust my confidential letter, so I set the time for the first letter to be opened in advance. That means, as long as I win the bet on the first letter, he won’t dare to open the other two early."

The first letter symbolizes wealth.

What Suizi was referring to was making Mr. Hu strike it rich, really, really rich.

As long as that comes true, he wouldn’t dare open the others in advance.

Because the second one is about longevity, and the third one is about life.

With the potent threats of reduced lifespan and early death, even if Mr. Hu were a dragon, he would have to coil submissively in Suizi’s hands. That’s how ruthless she was.

"It sounds like you’re talking about a sure thing, but how can you be so sure that he will strike it rich by listening to you?" Wang Cuihua felt like she had grasped something.

But not fully!

Did she just fool herself?