Chapter Twenty-Four: The Stepmother’s “Prank”

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Stepmother’s "Prank"

After hearing this from Teacher Chen, Qin Ruonan immediately recalled what Zhuang Quan had mentioned while describing the robbery of Fang Wan: Fang Wan had had a handful of loose change in his pocket, including one-yuan and fifty-cent coins, but Zhuang Quan found it troublesome and did not take them, leaving them all with Fang Wan.

Now that Teacher Chen had casually brought up the source of that loose change, the matter had suddenly become clear. Yet the question remained, just as Teacher Chen had said: what exactly did Fang Wan need that money for?

Was it because his stepmother, Xia Ying, had withheld his allowance, leaving him short? Or was there some other purpose?

Fang Da clearly was not the sort of father who would stand by while his son’s allowance was being docked. Otherwise, he would not have reacted with such surprise and displeasure when Xia Ying had said the allowance had been cut by a full half. If Fang Wan’s borrowing of small sums was meant to make up for his allowance, then why not explain it to his father? Was there something he was borrowing money for that he could not even tell Fang Da?

Qin Ruonan could not yet make sense of this, and Teacher Chen could not answer it either. What they did know for certain was that, after confirming those pieces of evidence, it was necessary to speak with the boy’s father, Fang Da.

Before arranging to meet Fang Da, An Changpu and Qin Ruonan spent some time looking into related background material, and only then did they call his mobile number.

It was not easy to get Fang Da to agree to meet. The man was still smarting from the rebuff he had received from An Changpu. When he answered the phone, his tone was hard and sharp; he asked whether there was news of his child, and when he got a negative answer, he immediately hung up.

Helpless, the two of them kept calling back. After several rude hang-ups, Fang Da finally snapped over the phone, "Since you haven’t found any clue about my son at all, why are you pestering me like this? What is it you want?!"

"I’m afraid this matter isn’t suitable for discussion over the phone, so we hope Mr. Fang can find a convenient place to meet us. We’d like to speak face to face," An Changpu said calmly, as though he had not noticed the strong resistance in Fang Da’s voice.

Fang Da fell silent for a moment, as if hesitating, and then agreed. An Changpu and Qin Ruonan had both assumed he would suggest meeting at home or somewhere else, but to their surprise, Fang Da asked them to come to his office.

Although Fang Da claimed he did not wield much authority, as a middle-level manager he did have a private office. That was probably why he suggested they come to his workplace. When An Changpu and Qin Ruonan, dressed in plain clothes, arrived at Fang Da’s office, even the colleagues in the room discussing work did not seem to find anything unusual.

Seeing them standing in the open doorway, Fang Da gave a somewhat cool nod and told them to sit on the sofa for a while. Then he continued discussing work arrangements with the others. A few minutes later, the rest left one by one, and the last person out thoughtfully closed the office door for him.

"All right, say it. What is it?" Fang Da’s tone was still impatient. He lifted the cup in front of him, removed the lid, and slowly blew on the steam, making no move to pour water for An Changpu or Qin Ruonan.

Of course, Qin Ruonan and the others had not come to Fang Da for a cup of tea, so they paid little mind to his attitude.

"You know that Fang Wan suffered a moderate case of dehydration at the beginning of summer, don’t you?" An Changpu asked directly.

"Yes, what about it? That was ages ago! What does it have to do with my son’s disappearance?" Fang Da was taken aback by the question.

"Did the doctor tell you what caused Fang Wan’s dehydration that time?"

"No. By the time I got the call from the school and rushed over, my son was already on an IV and asleep. The teacher only told me he’d had severe diarrhea. I thought he must have eaten something bad outside. That child is always buying all sorts of junk snacks outside to eat. I’ve told him countless times, but it never helps. Why? Is there some issue here?"

"We have already checked with the hospital and the school. The reason Fang Wan had such severe diarrhea, which led to moderate dehydration, was that he had taken a large amount of laxatives."

At this, Fang Da’s mouth fell open in surprise. Realizing his失态, he quickly closed it again, frowned, and asked, "What are you getting at?"

An Changpu paused before saying, "We also found out that your wife, Xia Ying, works at a large pharmacy, and there was once an incident in which laxatives went missing during her shift."

The moment Fang Da heard this, anger surged across his face. He jabbed an accusatory finger at An Changpu and snapped, "What do you mean by that? What connection could there possibly be between those two things? Don’t talk nonsense without evidence!"

"We also want to understand what connection there might be between those two matters, and we do have evidence in hand, which is why we came to speak with you. We hope you’ll allow us to discuss this face to face with Xia Ying. After all, she is pregnant now."

"And if I don’t agree? You know perfectly well that Xiaoying is pregnant! The last time you went to question her, it already caused her a great deal of emotional stress. Ever since then she hasn’t been feeling well. I’ve asked for sick leave so she can rest at home and take care of the baby. I don’t want any more inexplicable trouble!" Though phrased as a question, Fang Da’s refusal sounded less like a request for their opinion and more like a threat.

Qin Ruonan took out the hospital certificate issued to the school, along with the school’s retained medical record, and set them on Fang Da’s desk. "You don’t need to be so sensitive about this. First, we never said we suspected Xia Ying had done anything to Fang Wan. We merely told you that Xia Ying may once have brought laxatives home. Second, as Fang Wan’s father, since you know you’re busy with work, now that you’ve learned your son’s narrow escape from moderate dehydration was caused by taking a large amount of laxatives, wouldn’t you want to ask Xia Ying, who spent more time with the child, about the circumstances? Third, we never said Xia Ying had any direct connection to what happened to Fang Wan that time. If you have faith in your wife, why resist our investigation into the facts? Your obstruction only leads me to two possible conclusions: either your concern over Fang Wan’s disappearance is false, or you trust Xia Ying even less than we do."

"Rubbish! How could I have no faith in Xiaoying? From the moment I decided to marry her, I knew she was a kind and innocent girl! I don’t know what kind of poison that Qian Yuling has filled your heads with, to make you harbor such deep prejudice against Xiaoying. I’m telling you, no matter what you say, the facts will prove that you’re wrong!" Fang Da was rendered somewhat speechless by Qin Ruonan’s words, but he still could not suppress his resentment, and in passing he also suspected that all of this was bad blood stirred up by his ex-wife.

An Changpu sighed and shook his head. "Mr. Fang, we’re both men. Although I’m younger than you, and by rights you’ve been married twice while I’ve never married at all, I shouldn’t really be saying anything in front of you that might seem presumptuous. But I believe a failed marriage is not a matter of righteousness, and when a marriage fails it more or less causes harm to a woman. As a man, shouldn’t you be a little broader in your heart toward your ex-wife? Fang Wan is missing now. Shouldn’t you and Qian Yuling set aside your mutual slander for the moment and turn your thoughts to the son you raised together?"

Fang Da lowered his eyelids, sighed, and then, suddenly agitated, scratched at his own hair. With an air of throwing caution to the wind, he stood up and said to them, "Wait here a moment. I’ll go say a few words and then take you home to ask Xia Ying for the truth! Since it has come to this, if I don’t take you to ask her myself, I won’t be able to get past it in my own heart!"

And so, driven on by An Changpu and Qin Ruonan’s goading, Fang Da, his face dark and sullen, got into their car and headed straight for the pleasant residential compound where he lived.

After visiting Qian Yuling’s home the night before, seeing Fang Da’s household now made the difference in life after their divorce painfully obvious. No wonder Fang Wan had grown increasingly unwilling to stay at his mother’s place. Children are sometimes more pragmatic than adults, not out of self-interest, but because what they perceive is immediate and concrete.

Fang Da walked in front, leading the way. When they reached the door, he took out his keys, unlocked it, and without a word went inside to fetch slippers for An Changpu and Qin Ruonan to change into.

"Fang Da, are you back?" Xia Ying’s voice came from inside at the sound of the door.

"Mm," Fang Da answered in a low, subdued tone, clearly in poor spirits.

Apparently hearing that something was off in her husband’s mood, Xia Ying’s footsteps hurried toward the door, and she emerged from the room.

"Why are you home so early today..." she began, but then looked up and saw that behind Fang Da stood the same two uninvited guests from before. She froze at once. "Darling, what are they here for?"

"You ask them yourselves. I’m not in the mood to talk!" Fang Da said to Qin Ruonan, who was standing behind him.

At first Qin Ruonan said nothing. She took the two pieces of evidence she had shown Fang Da earlier and handed them to Xia Ying. Xia Ying accepted them in confusion, scanned them a few times, and her face grew increasingly grim, though she still said nothing.

After a long while, Xia Ying’s hands, which held the pages, began to tremble. Seeing this, Fang Da panicked as well and hurried over to support her. "Xiaoying, don’t get agitated. What is it? Say something!"

"I... I was just playing a prank! I never meant to hurt him!" Just when An Changpu and Qin Ruonan expected Xia Ying to deny it or argue, she said something entirely unexpected.