The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Didn’t Take the Bait

Han Dayong panted with rage at her words. ”All you do is cry and second-guess! What’s the use of saying that now? We need to be thinking about how we can get something out of those two wretched girls!”

”Shencheng is so advanced, way better than our hometown! Now that we’re here, there’s no way we’re going back! We have to make a good life for ourselves here! I’m their father, so they damn well should support me.”

Han Xiaoyuan thought for a moment, then said, ”Let’s go to the police station and file a report. We’ll just say we’re here looking for someone! We brought the letters Eldest Sister wrote, and the money order receipts. If we go to the police, someone should be willing to help us.”

”Fine! Let’s get a bite to eat, then we’ll go to the police. I refuse to believe there’s no justice in this world! What kind of daughters don’t support their parents? After working my fingers to the bone to raise them, I can’t just let them fly the coop. They have to provide for my retirement!”

Wang Cuilan nodded in agreement. ”Exactly! All the pain of carrying them, the blood, sweat, and tears I shed to raise them and put them through university... if they think they can just kick us to the curb, I won’t stand for it!”

Just as the three of them were about to head to the police station, Liu Yunyun stopped them.

”Judging by Han Xiaoqing’s attitude, we can guess how your eldest sister feels. They clearly don’t want to see us, much less help us.”

Worried that the woman he had managed to win over would leave him, Han Xiaoyuan quickly put on a placating smile. ”Even if they don’t want to, my parents are still *their* parents, and I’m their blood brother!”

”Even if they don’t want to help me, they still have to honor their parents! That’s required by law; it’s not like I’m just trying to leech off them. Abandoning your parents is illegal!”

Wang Cuilan quickly chimed in to persuade Liu Yunyun. ”That’s right, it’s illegal to abandon your parents! Han Xiaorui and Han Xiaoqing have reputations to protect. If they’re not afraid of public embarrassment, we’ll raise hell. We’ll see who cracks first.”

Worry flickered in Liu Yunyun’s eyes. She had taken a huge gamble by eloping with Han Xiaoyuan.

She had five younger brothers and was long past the age for marriage, but her parents never brought it up.

One night, she got up and overheard her parents talking in their room. It turned out they had no intention of ever letting her marry.

Their twisted logic was that she would just be working for someone else’s family if she got married. So, instead of working for others, she might as well work for her own.

She could handle all the farm chores and raise her five younger brothers.

Then, when her brothers married and had kids, she would have to help raise their children and keep working, becoming a tireless workhorse to lighten her parents’ load.

’From that moment on,’ Liu Yunyun knew, ’I can’t stay in this family anymore.’

That was why, when Han Xiaoyuan was being chased by people trying to beat him up, she had secretly hidden him.

Over time, she and Han Xiaoyuan became an item.

With her encouragement, Han Xiaoyuan got a divorce, and his whole family fled to Shencheng.

After seeing the vibrant metropolis of Shencheng, Liu Yunyun knew she could never go back.

Han Dayong pulled out the money they’d brought from home and, with a pained look on his face, ordered four bowls of noodles. ”Eat up. We’ll just rough it at the nearby police station for the night.”

As they waited for their noodles, a group at a nearby table started eating, drinking, and talking loudly.

”Don’t you worry. We’re a legitimate operation, contracts and all. We guarantee we can get you to the United States. We’re talking about America! You can make ten, even twenty thousand US dollars a year just washing dishes.”

”And listen close—that’s in US dollars! Convert that to RMB, and you’re talking tens of thousands! One year of work over there is like ten years of work back home!”

One of the men at the table was skeptical. ”Brother Long, if it’s that easy to make money abroad, wouldn’t everyone be going? You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

”Why would I lie to you? We’ve been thick as thieves since we were kids. Would I scam you? My operation is completely above-board. We sign contracts, get you a visa, all for official overseas work. The only thing is, it costs a fair bit of money.”

The man asked, ”How much?”

”At least five thousand,” Brother Long replied.

”That much?” a short man exclaimed. ”I don’t even have fifty on me, where would I get five thousand? Besides, if I had five thousand, I could live just fine here. Why would I go abroad? No, thanks for the offer, Brother Long, but we’re not interested.”

Brother Long didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”You think I’d screw you over? Five thousand is a lot, sure. But over there, you can make three to four thousand, maybe even five or six thousand RMB a month. You’ll make it all back in a month or two. You can just pay me back then.”

”Aren’t you worried we’ll get over there and not pay you?” the short man asked.

Brother Long smiled. ”Not at all. I hold onto your passports and documents. It’s a simple exchange: cash for papers. Besides, we’re from the same village. My parents are still there. I can run, but my family can’t hide, and neither can yours. Why would I be worried about you not paying me?”

The other three men heard this and thought it made sense. ”Brother Long, thanks for giving us such a great opportunity to make money abroad. Once we’re rich, we’ll definitely pay you back.”

Han Xiaoyuan was tempted and about to get up to ask for more details, but Han Dayong stopped him.

”Dad, why don’t we go abroad to make money, too?” Han Xiaoyuan’s eyes gleamed. ”It’s hard to find a job here, the pay is low, and we have to pay rent. Most importantly, my sisters won’t take care of us.”

Han Dayong snapped at him. ”What nonsense are you spouting? You think going abroad is some magic solution? Aren’t you afraid they’ll sell us off? We’d be in a foreign land where we don’t know a soul. You could scream for help and no one would answer. By the time you regret it, it’ll be too late.”

You had to admit, the old were still the wisest.

”But that guy just said it’s all done through proper channels. It should be fine,” Han Xiaoyuan argued, unwilling to let it go. ’Foreign countries are even more advanced than Shencheng,’ he thought. ’I want to see it for myself.’

Han Dayong was resolute. ”By the time you find out there’s a problem, it’s too late. Here in Hua Country, at least we can go to the police if something happens. A person loses their worth when they leave their hometown; leave the country and you’re worth even less. Don’t say another word about it. I know what I’m doing. Now hurry up and eat so we can go file that report.”

Seeing this, Wang Cuilan quickly added, ”Xiao Yuan, listen to your father. We have to be careful when we’re so far from home.”

Liu Yunyun also chimed in, ”He’s right, Xiao Yuan. Let’s focus on getting settled in Shencheng first.”

After each of them had finished a bowl of noodles, Han Dayong went to the nearby police station to file a report. He claimed they had come to Shencheng to rely on their two daughters, but he had forgotten his elder daughter’s address. His younger daughter, Han Xiaoqing, was a student at the local normal university.

Late that night, the police investigation led them to Han Xiaoqing.

With a pained expression, Han Xiaoqing explained the whole situation. ”Officers, you should probably just detain them. My sister and I officially cut ties with our parents last year. I don’t want them bothering my sister.”

”And another thing—I really suggest you hold them. They’re in trouble back home. Han Xiaoyuan ran off with a woman named Liu Yunyun, and her family filed a police report. The police from our hometown are already on their way to Shencheng now that they know where they are.”

The officer was taken aback. ”The woman, Liu Yunyun, didn’t seem like she was abducted.”

Han Xiaoqing handed over a phone number. ”Why don’t you call the police back home and ask? You should hold them for now so they don’t run off. It would be a shame for the officers coming all this way to have made a wasted trip.”