The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 702 - 701 Liu Cuihua Reports a Case

Chapter 702: Chapter 701 Liu Cuihua Reports a Case

Seeing Liu Cuihua was not taking Shen Baolan’s disappearance seriously, Pei Yang bothered to say no more and went straight to the police to explain the situation.

The police questioned Liu Cuihua and, upon confirming that Shen Baolan had not contacted her family since she left, they filed a report but didn’t take it too seriously.

After all, disappearances like this happen by the hundreds every year, and there are just too many factors that lead to people going missing; it’s simply too much to manage.

Perhaps she’ll return after some time, the precinct had seen plenty of such cases.

...

After leaving the station, Pei Yang dropped Ma Sufen and Liu Cuihua off at their respective residences.

Along the way, the two continued to argue incessantly about Zhou Fu’s whereabouts.

Learning that Shen Baolan had gone off to enjoy herself leaving behind her little grandson, Ma Sufen was livid and wanted to take Zhou Fu home to care for him personally.

Liu Cuihua refused to agree under any circumstances, as the custody of her grandson was granted to her daughter.

The argument lasted all the way to the entrance of Ruifeng Garden.

Liu Cuihua forcefully tried to pull Zhou Fu out of the car, but he refused to leave, crying and howling for his grandmother and even kicked Liu Cuihua in the face, giving her a nosebleed.

With no other options, Liu Cuihua could only watch helplessly as Ma Sufen took the child away.

After sending Ma Sufen and her grandchild home, Pei Yang made a call to Zhou Shuhuan, emphasizing the matter of Shen Baolan’s disappearance.

Zhou Shuhuan’s only response was a curt acknowledgment, showing no concern for Shen Baolan’s whereabouts, clearly still harboring resentment from their unpleasant divorce.

With both the Shen Family and the Zhou family indifferent to Shen Baolan’s disappearance, there was nothing an outsider like him could do.

Pei Yang sighed and started the car to head home.

It was already ten o’clock when he got home, and Demu wagged its tail as always to welcome his return.

After locking the door and giving Demu a couple of pats on the head, he stepped into the living room.

The spacious living room was lit with only one table lamp, under which Shen Mingzhu sat on the sofa, her features clear and elegant, her demeanor gentle and compliant.

Pei Yang’s heart settled, "Is there anything to eat?"

"Didn’t you have dinner?"

Even as she asked, she was already standing up and heading towards the kitchen.

Pei Yang changed his shoes and picked up Shen Mingzhu’s water cup from the coffee table to take a few big gulps before turning toward the kitchen.

The food was ready; it just needed to be reheated in the microwave.

While waiting for the meal to heat, Shen Mingzhu fetched some eggs and tomatoes from the fridge, planning to make a tomato and egg soup.

While Shen Mingzhu was busy, Pei Yang was not idle either; he helped wash the tomatoes and sliced them thin.

As he sliced, he related the precinct visit to Shen Mingzhu.

Upon hearing Shen Baolan had been missing for a week, Shen Mingzhu immediately sensed that Shen Baolan was in dire straits.

"Tomorrow you should go back to the precinct and inquire again; it’s best if they can check Shen Baolan’s bank account, as well as that young gigolo who was with her."

Pei Yang nodded, "What’s his name again?"

"I don’t know, I didn’t ask; Zhou Shuhuan should know, right?"

"Then I’ll call him tomorrow and ask."

Pei Yang looked at her, his tone teasing, "You’ve always been annoyed by her, I thought you wouldn’t care about her well-being."

To say Shen Baolan was miserable would be an understatement; even her own mother didn’t care about her safety, it was they, outsiders, who were breaking their hearts over her.

"My annoyance with her is real, but it doesn’t mean I’ll lose my morality and justice and turn a blind eye to crime. If today I stand aside as a cold observer, when disaster strikes me tomorrow, there will be no one to rally for me."

Pei Yang gazed at her deeply, admiration and love nearly brimming from his eyes.

In his heart, there could be no woman more beautiful than his wife in this world; her looks, her talent, her character, and the kindness inherent in her bones, all made him fall head over heels in respect and admiration.

...

Late at night.

Qiao Ya woke up thirsty, wanting to call for Zhou Shuhuan to get her some water, but when she turned her head, she noticed the empty space beside her in bed.

She opened the door and saw Zhou Shuhuan sitting alone in the living room, smoking; she walked over, supporting her waist.

"Shuhuan, why aren’t you sleeping?"

Seeing her, Zhou Shuhuan immediately put out the cigarette in his hand and stood up with concern, "Are you feeling unwell again?"

"No, I’m just a bit thirsty."

Zhou Shuhuan asked her to sit down and went to the kitchen to pour her a glass of warm water.

After she finished drinking the water, Zhou Shuhuan briefly told her about Shen Baolan’s disappearance.

Qiao Ya didn’t take it seriously, "It’s only been a few days; it might not be a disappearance, right? Could she have gone abroad for fun, or encountered some accident?"

At this point, Qiao Ya seemed to have thought of something, "If something really happened to her, wouldn’t you have to bring Yuanbao over here?"

"I’ll follow your wishes on this. If you’re willing to accept him, I’ll ask my parents to bring him over. If you don’t want to be a stepmother, then let the Shen Family take care of him; after all, the custody of Yuanbao belongs to Shen Baolan."

Indeed, Qiao Ya wasn’t keen on being a stepmother, but Zhou Shuhuan had given her respect and the choice, so she wasn’t as averse to the idea in her heart.

"We’ll talk about it when the time comes. If we really have to take him in, we can simply hire an additional nanny to look after him."

Implicitly, she was willing to tolerate Zhou Fu entering their home, but she would not take part in raising him.

Zhou Shuhuan, touched, pulled her into his embrace, "Xiaoya, I’ll never let you or the child suffer at any time."

"Mm, I know."

Immersed in love and happiness, Qiao Ya did not see the somewhat sinister and chilling smile on Zhou Shuhuan’s face.

He hated Shen Baolan to death.

On the day of the divorce, reminding Shen Baolan to be wary of Gao Hualiang was not really out of goodwill for her, but because he knew that someone like Gao Hualiang, who lived by deceit, would certainly resort to any means to get money from her.

But Gao Hualiang turned out to be even more ruthless than he had imagined.

He even suspected that Shen Baolan might have been killed by Gao Hualiang by now.

If Shen Baolan were truly dead, then he would definitely bring Zhou Fu back to his side to raise.

At the same time, he was aware of Qiao Ya’s personality: persuadable but not by force. Therefore, when talking about his son Zhou Fu, he deliberately lowered his stance.

And as he had expected, Qiao Ya softened and agreed to accept Zhou Fu as her stepson.

Everything was developing in the direction he desired.

...

Early the next morning, Pei Yang drove to the police station and shared his suspicion that Shen Baolan might have been kidnapped by Gao Hualiang, asking the officers to check her bank accounts.

The police station did not have the authority to investigate citizens’ bank accounts unless it involved economic or criminal offenses; then the case would need to be transferred to the criminal police for investigation.

But to classify a disappearance as a criminal case, evidence and clues were needed.

Pei Yang had to go find Liu Cuihua and ask her to report the case, suspecting that Shen Baolan had been kidnapped by Gao Hualiang.

At this point, Liu Cuihua finally felt anxious and nervous about her daughter’s lack of contact.

She initially did not think the worst because Huang Chunyu was there.

Huang Chunyu was Gao Hualiang’s cousin, and she was still working in their house; where could Gao Hualiang run off to?

But now Huang Chunyu was gone as well!

The criminal police did their duty and, upon receiving Liu Cuihua’s report, immediately arranged for two detectives to go to the bank to check Shen Baolan’s account transactions.

After visiting all the banks in Fengcheng, the money in all of Shen Baolan’s accounts together amounted to less than one hundred yuan.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My daughter got five million from the divorce, how could she have no money? You must have made a mistake, check again!"

This result was clearly unacceptable to Liu Cuihua, who insisted that the detectives check again.

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