WBSGVS Chapter 76 V2

The captain shot him a cold look and replied, “Don’t ask. I don’t know either. You’ll find out for yourselves in a minute.”

Moments later, the dialing ended, and a voice answered on the other end. “Hello, this is the Shenzhen XX Street Police Station.”

So it was the police, and from Shenzhen, no less!

Du Chuan’s legs felt weak, nearly causing him to collapse. He was almost saved from falling by Du Qing, who was in just as bad shape.

It wasn’t even the hottest part of the day yet, but both were already drenched in sweat, their clothes clinging to them. Zhang Shuangshuang’s eyes brimmed with tears as she murmured in a tiny voice filled with sorrow, “They kept saying not to do it, not to do it. How did this happen…?”

The captain looked at the three members of the Du family, saw they were silent, and finally spoke up. “Hello, the family of He Dan. They want to know the specifics of the situation…”

Once the captain spoke, the other side understood immediately, switching to a stern tone. “Oh, so it’s the family of Comrade He Dan…”

The voice on the phone spoke clearly in Mandarin, explaining that when He Dan arrived in Shenzhen, she had bought goods worth several hundred yuan to take back.

However, while heading to the train station, she was targeted and robbed. During the struggle, He Dan was stabbed, and He Zhen was unharmed but terrified and at a loss in an unfamiliar place.

Luckily, a kind passerby witnessed the situation and helped get them to the hospital, but because of the stab wound, the bystander felt something was off and called the police.

Once the police investigated, both He Dan and He Zhen spoke to them and ended up revealing everything. This turned the robbery into a case of illegal speculation.

Now, they needed family members to come to Shenzhen to help He Dan with medical expenses and fines, or else the punishment would be more severe.

The three members of the Du family listened, feeling darkness wash over them, wishing they could just collapse to escape this crisis.

“Quickly, tell me, who’s going to go?” the captain urged.

They needed to pay fines, get treatment, and face education penalties; someone had to go to bring them back!

Du Qing looked awkwardly at his father.

Du Chuan was barely holding it together. He was old and no longer had the energy he used to have. He had always been cautious, and when the matter of his daughter-in-law came up, he disagreed but chose to ignore it at the time. Who would have thought things would escalate to this point, requiring him to deal with the fallout?

Seeing his son still looking at him, he slapped him in frustration, wanting to yell, but mindful of the situation, he lowered his voice and said, “What are you staring at? Am I going to go pick up your wife? Of course, you’re the one who should go!”

Du Qing nodded vigorously, murmuring, “I’ll go, I’ll go.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” said the police officer on the other end of the line.

The brigade captain quickly interjected, “It’s He Dan’s husband who’s going over.”

“Okay, please hurry,” the officer replied, noticing the tense and anxious atmosphere on this side. He added reassuringly, “This situation isn’t particularly serious; after all, this is her first offense and nothing major happened. There’s no need to worry too much. If you pay the fine and give her a couple of days of education, she’ll be back.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Du Chuan mustered up his courage to say repeatedly.

Once the call ended, Du Chuan weakly found a chair to sit down. A cadre poured him a glass of water, worried about his wellbeing.

After taking a sip, the cool water eased his anxiety a bit, and he managed a bitter smile, saying, “What a mess this is! I said not to get involved in these kinds of things, and now look what’s happened…”

Du Qing hung his head. “I didn’t participate!”

“But you didn’t stop her either!” Du Chuan glared. “That’s your wife!”

Du Qing forced a laugh and fell silent. Yes, he hadn’t opposed it. Although he didn’t agree with He Dan’s actions, hearing her talk about the profits had stirred him.

He was just too timid to get involved himself; he thought that since they were married if He Dan made money, it would be like he was making money too.

So he let her go off on her own, only voicing a few careless remarks out of worry, and nothing more.

Now that things had reached this point, he knew he had to take responsibility.

At the very least, he couldn’t bear to just leave He Dan behind.

But…

There was a fine to pay!

They had previously faced hefty fines for speculation, and Du Qing ran his hand over his balding head, saying, “Dad, the police just mentioned a fine—what do we do? She took all my money…”

Just then, Zhang Shuangshuang suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! The second son’s money was taken too! Did she borrow money from anyone? Now it’s all gone; do we have to pay it back?”

“Hiss!!!”

Both father and son gasped, feeling their limbs grow cold and numb.

The trouble He Dan had caused was not just about speculation; more importantly, she had borrowed a large sum of money from others!

The brigade captain watched them coldly and, seeing how useless they were yet still getting themselves into such a big mess, he snapped, “Are you both idiots? The He family is involved with you; you don’t need to pay them back! Besides, how much could they have borrowed? If both families chip in, it should be enough! It’s better than really leaving someone in trouble!”

Du Chuan said nothing, silently cursing the captain for speaking so easily.

Du Qing had lost all his money to He Dan, and now that it was gone, they’d have to come up with the money themselves. He only had a few hundred yuan of retirement savings!

It would be better to have Qingli in this situation; at least she hadn’t caused such trouble!

Suddenly thinking of Qingli, Du Chuan’s eyes lit up. He glanced at the captain, then took his son outside to discuss the matter with the He family.

This discussion took all afternoon, even missing the time they were supposed to be working.

Both families were stressed over the situation, pooling their resources along with borrowed funds, estimating they needed around five hundred yuan.

It wasn’t an unmanageable amount, but it was still significant enough to factor in with the fines they had to pay, which would also add up.

When it came to splitting responsibilities, neither family was willing to give in, both feeling it was the other’s fault. Ultimately, He Dan came from the He family, and He Zhen was a part of it too.

Under Du Chuan’s firm insistence, it became clear that the only son of the He family was more important. The He family agreed to take on seventy percent of the responsibility, leaving the rest to the Du family.

Once they had an agreement, both families went together to buy tickets. Just for the tickets, it was over thirty yuan per person, and bringing He Dan back would cost another sixty or more, totaling a hundred.

Du Chuan paid for the tickets, and when they returned, both families were dejected. After walking a short distance together, they parted ways. Instead of heading straight home, Du Chuan took the two of them to Qingli’s house.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Du Qing asked, reluctant to go.

Du Chuan glared at him in frustration. “You’re useless; you’re not as helpful as your niece! Do you expect me to pay the fine? That’s your parents’ retirement money; are you really okay with that? Go ask Aliri to lend you some; she’s made good money in business. Once you pay her back, you can help her with her business in exchange for your wages…”

Zhang Shuangshuang quickly nodded in agreement. “Yes, your dad is right!”

If it were her son, she might grit her teeth and pay up, but this was her daughter-in-law. She was reluctant to part with that money, so it was better for the couple to borrow it and pay it back slowly.

Du Qing’s face flushed red with embarrassment, hesitating to make a move.

Du Chuan didn’t care about that. No matter how much trouble Du Qingli was causing, she was still his granddaughter. He couldn’t just stand by and watch his daughter-in-law suffer without lending a hand; how would that reflect on the family’s reputation?

Although these two weren’t exactly helpful, they weren’t incapable of repaying money either. If they worked for a few more years and if Qingli could support them, a year or two should be enough to cover it.

He was thinking positively, but seeing his son’s reluctance, he gave him a push.