Chapter 3: Don’t Act Recklessly

Chen Shaojie laughed triumphantly. As he watched Youyou kicking and punching him in his arms, he spoke with extreme indulgence, "My little treasure, you are worth ten million! Little girl, stop fussing, or else I will make your grandmother, your mother..."

Youyou was terrified. She pouted, her eyes welling up with tears, and said, "No! Youyou will be good. Please, Uncle, let Grandma and Mommy go, okay?"

Chen Shaojie nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Uncle is not a bad person, as long as Youyou listens and behaves."

"By the way, how can Youyou call me Uncle? I am your father!"

Youyou shook her head desperately. "You are not my father!"

After saying this, she looked at her mother, Jiang Li. Jiang Li reached out to hold Youyou but was held back by Chen Shaojie’s men.

Chen Shaojie looked at Youyou with a half-smile. "Being disobedient is not good. If Youyou won't call me Father, then I will punish the mother who taught you to be so defiant."

After saying this, Chen Shaojie signaled to two of his men. Two men in black suits and sunglasses gestured to a group of psychiatric patients behind them.

In an instant, the patients surrounded Jiang Li and began to manhandle her. They pulled her hair, yanked her nose, tore at her clothes, and grabbed her legs and arms. Madmen are madmen, and one by one, they revealed their vile natures.

Youyou screamed in terror, "Don't hit Mommy, don't! You bad man, you are a bad person!"

Youyou hit Chen Shaojie’s chest with her tiny fists, but he only laughed, unangered. "Call me Father, or your mother will be beaten to death!"

"Wuwu! Wuwu, don't hit Mommy, Fa... Father. Youyou is calling you Father, please, I want Mommy."

Jiang Li cried in fury, "No! Get away, get lost! Youyou, don't call him that. Don't call him Father. Your father is a man of integrity; he would never be a scoundrel like this."

The smile on Chen Shaojie’s face was replaced by a dark gloom. He sneered at Jiang Li. "It seems that if I don't give you a taste of reality, you won't give up hope. You lot—yes, throw them in with that old hag Xie Yun. I don't believe that men, even mentally ill ones, wouldn't like a fair-skinned woman."

As Chen Shaojie spoke, his men shoved several disheveled patients into Xie Yun’s room.

From inside the room came Xie Yun’s wailing, "Get lost! Chen Shaojie, you bastard! If I don't die today, I will surely kill you!"

Hearing the cursing, Chen Shaojie laughed. "Jiang Li, did you hear that? Your mother has likely been beaten into a pulp, hasn't she?"

Jiang Li pushed aside the men on either side, trying to reach Youyou, but Chen Shaojie would not let her succeed.

Jiang Li was held down again by Chen Shaojie’s men. The crying and screaming pushed her to the brink of a breakdown. The pain, like a dull knife cutting into her flesh, forced Jiang Li to compromise. "Chen Shaojie, let my mother go. I will do anything you want!"

Chen Shaojie laughed heartily. "Is that so? Did I hear that right? Just a moment ago, you were determined to die rather than submit."

Then, Youyou cried out, "Youyou is willing to donate a kidney. Youyou isn't afraid of dying. Bad man, I called you Father, yet you still hit Grandma and Mommy. You are a bad person."

Chen Shaojie snapped coldly, "Shut up, you little brat! Being willing to donate a kidney is the right thing to do."

Youyou cried in fear. Chen Shaojie looked at Jiang Li with a sense of accomplishment.

"Jiang Li, didn't you say you would do anything? Very well, as long as you agree to let Youyou donate a kidney to the young master of a wealthy family, I will let your mother go. How about that?"

Jiang Li bit her lip until it bled. "You... you must let my mother and Youyou go first. At worst, when it comes time for the donation, I will go. I will donate. If I am not a match, then you can use Youyou’s, okay?"

Jiang Li wanted to stall for time, hoping to rescue her mother and Youyou first.

Chen Shaojie was satisfied with her answer. "It would have been better if you had been like this from the start. You all, get that old woman a new... psychiatric uniform. And clear out the unnecessary people. Jiang Li, you and this little brat go in there together. You will wait obediently. If you dare to play any tricks, I will show no mercy!"

After saying this, Chen Shaojie waved Jiang Li’s phone in his hand, pushed Youyou toward Jiang Li, and shoved them both into Xie Yun’s room.

The mother, daughter, and grandmother were finally together. Xie Yun shook her head, holding Jiang Li in a humiliating embrace. "Xiao Li, it’s Mom’s fault. I’m sorry. If I hadn't been foolish and taken the wrong path when I was young, I wouldn't have let you live this kind of life with me."

Xie Yun sobbed uncontrollably. Jiang Li draped her coat over her mother and wept with her, filled with profound grievances.

"Mom, I’m sorry. It’s me who dragged you into this. It’s me who failed to give Youyou a healthy body, letting you and Youyou suffer because of me."

Thinking of how her mother had suffered a myocardial infarction and almost lost her life because of Chen Shaojie selling their house, Jiang Li was overwhelmed with regret. And her mother, just because she couldn't stand Chen Shaojie’s actions, had struck him—and this man had actually sent her to a psychiatric hospital and used her as a threat? The thought made Jiang Li sick with misery.

But now they were in a desperate situation. How could they escape?

Seeing her grandmother and mother crying, little Youyou handed over a tissue. "Grandma, don't cry. Mommy, don't cry!"

Taking the tissue, Jiang Li held her daughter tightly, her heart aching. She was still sick!

"Youyou, be good. Mommy will definitely save you and Grandma. Mommy will find a chance to call the police and have these bad people arrested, and then the three of us can be happy together."

"Mm, Youyou believes in Mommy, and I believe in the police officers, too."

Jiang Li nodded. She looked up; apart from two hospital beds and a nightstand, there was nothing in the room. They were on the fourth floor, and the windows were tiny and barred with steel.

Xie Yun analyzed, "Xiao Li, calling the police is the best option. For now, we can only rely on the law to protect ourselves."

Jiang Li nodded. "But my phone is with Chen Shaojie, and it's impossible for any of the patients here to have one, so..."

As if something occurred to her, Jiang Li said, "Dr. Ji Han saw Chen Shaojie take Youyou and me away. I wonder if he could save us?"

Hearing the name Ji Han, Xie Yun sighed. "I regret it. Ji Han pursued you for so long in college, and even now, as a doctor, he continues to help you and Youyou. I was truly blind to let you get involved with Qin Mu and then marry Chen Shaojie."

"Mom, stop! I don't deserve it!" Jiang Li thought of her terrible experiences, and her heart felt as if it were being cut by a dull blade again, aching incessantly.

Xie Yun knew that her daughter’s "don't deserve it" referred to the man who made her tremble with fear: Qin Mu. But now, they had encountered a difficulty even more terrifying than Qin Mu.

How could they get out?

Two hours passed, then five, until eight in the evening. The restless Jiang Li was startled awake by the sound of the door opening.

It was Chen Shaojie.

He threw several boxed meals at Xie Yun. "Don't say I’m ungrateful. I just know one truth: men die for wealth, just as birds die for food! So, Jiang Li, to show that you are being obedient, come with me now."

Jiang Li was worried. "What for? Chen Shaojie, don't mess around. I, Jiang Li, am not a pushover. If you push me too far, I'll take us both down together!"

Chen Shaojie smiled slightly. "You have no choice. It is your honor to accompany me to the annual meeting of the Jinchen Group as my wife. After all, meeting our President, Qin Mu, is the dream of many female celebrities. So, Jiang Li, be a good girl."

Jiang Li froze. "Jinchen Group, Qin Mu? Do you mean the company whose president is Qin Mu, the former Qin Corporation?"