The second daughter was seventeen this year, and the youngest son was sixteen.
Which meant that after sending his second daughter away, that simple and honest middle-aged man, filled with remorse and longing, immediately had another child with his wife.
So, all that talk about violating the one-child policy and fines was a lie.
He just wanted a son. The first child was a daughter, and the second was also a daughter, so he simply gave one away and immediately started working on a new life.
Even after giving her away, he didn't even know her address or have any contact information, making it clear that he didn't intend to bother with her in the future.
Luckily, the next child was a son, otherwise, he would have given away a third daughter, a fourth daughter...
Now, because his son had leukemia and they needed to find a match, they finally thought:
Oh, we seem to have a girl we gave away.
And so, to save their son, they started searching.
They mobilized the media and posted missing person ads.
If you want to move others, you must first move yourself. People are just such emotional and complex beings.
In the more than ten years since their daughter was given away, they may have felt some guilt, but they didn't regret it. If they had regretted it, they would have started looking for her sooner. Besides, it would have been easier to find her in the first few years after giving her away than it was now, more than ten years later.
If you do something wrong that causes you pain, you will constantly use mental suggestion in the days that follow to alleviate or even erase that pain.
That middle-aged man had done it very successfully. He had woven many reasons, and after telling the lie a hundred times, he believed it himself.
He felt that he still loved and cared about his second daughter, that he had no choice but to give her away back then. It was a moving and unavoidable situation, like the "Orphan of Zhao."
They wouldn't think about the daughter they gave away, who was now seventeen years old;
She should be in high school, with her own social circle, with a life no different from her peers;
Maybe her adoptive parents hadn't even told her that she was adopted, and she thought her adoptive parents were her biological parents.
Her life should be very peaceful,
But soon, she would be struck by a bolt from the blue!
Child, let me tell you something happy, your biological parents have been found!
Child, let me tell you something exciting, your previous parents weren't your real parents!
Child, let me tell you something joyous, you have an older sister and a younger brother!
Child, let me tell you something great, you can save your sick brother!
Unexpected?
Surprising?
Touching?
"Boss, what's wrong?" Bai Yingying asked, seeing Zhou Ze standing in the doorway, lost in thought.
"There's one thing that always makes my hair stand on end when I think about it," Zhou Ze said.
"Is it that exaggerated, Boss? You've even been to hell, what else could scare you like this?" Bai Yingying looked at Zhou Ze curiously.
"It's that many jobs, many industries, and many positions require certification, require passing a test, just like getting a driver's license. You have to be confirmed to have passed the technical test, be familiar with traffic laws, and even be allowed to drive on the road to see if you can withstand the test.
Otherwise, letting someone with unqualified driving skills and mentality get a driver's license is irresponsible to other pedestrians and car owners on the road."
"And then?" Bai Yingying pressed.
"But being a parent doesn't require certification."
………………
Nothing was said overnight. When Zhou Ze woke up the next morning, he originally intended to go to the restaurant next door as usual, but the door was closed.
This made Zhou Ze worry that Xu Qinglang might have been too devastated last night and lost all motivation?
He didn't care if Xu Qinglang was discouraged, but he couldn't live without his juices.
He called Xu Qinglang, who answered quickly, saying that he had gone to collect his lottery winnings and would buy everyone a gift later as a token of his appreciation.
Helpless, Zhou Ze could only order takeout and gobble it down with the sour plum juice he had at home.
The store door was still closed, although it wasn't locked, it was obvious that he was too lazy to do business. Zhou Ze had long since learned to take things as they came.
However, when he sat back in the chair behind the counter and opened the drawer, Zhou Ze was surprised to find a thick stack of ghost money inside.
At first, Zhou Ze thought that Bai Yingying had deliberately bought some ghost money to give him a surprise, but on second thought, Bai Yingying shouldn't be so childish.
He flicked the ghost money in his hand, and it was real.
Wasn't it ridiculous...
Now, with the convenience of mobile payments, the situation where both parties in a store or vegetable market hold a large bill up to the sun to identify its authenticity has become increasingly rare.
But this was real ghost money.
Zhou Ze thought for a while. It should be the commission he got yesterday for sending that censor down. That man, who would later become a high official in the Qing Dynasty, came from a wealthy family, and his descendants would naturally give a lot of filial piety and incense.
Zhou Ze estimated that if he burned this ghost money, someone would probably drop several wallets at his door, at least five thousand or more.
This time, it didn't seem like a loss. He earned more than five thousand in the middle of the night, and the only cost was the taxi fare back and forth, which was less than a hundred yuan.
Zhou Ze wasn't in a hurry to burn paper money now. Keeping this ghost money would be useful in critical moments. It could help you eliminate some small disasters and avoid some troubles and interference in things. Sometimes, it was more effective than several thousand yuan.
"Xu Le!"
Before the person entered the room, the voice had already called out.
Zhou Ze looked up and saw his sister-in-law walking in.
"Here, for you."
His sister-in-law was carrying a shoulder bag today and took out a stack of money from it and placed it on Zhou Ze's counter.
"Returning your money."
Zhou Ze smiled. "You could have just transferred it to me via mobile payment."
"No way, it feels better to take out a stack of cash to pay back the money." The sister-in-law curled her lips.
After the last incident, his sister-in-law had a better impression of Zhou Ze. Of course, it was also because the previous Xu Le was too cowardly and couldn't even control his own wife, so his sister-in-law looked down on him even more.
Now, Zhou Ze was a little aloof with her, putting on the airs of an elder, and she actually took him seriously.
"Xu Le, your business is really bad." The sister-in-law said with her hands in her pockets.
"Don't you have class today?"
"It's the weekend." The sister-in-law curled her lips unhappily. "But I'm going to the bar later. I told my sister that I came here to read and do homework, so don't you let it slip."
Your sister hasn't contacted me in half a month.
Zhou Ze felt a little lost. He originally thought that Lin the Doctor's initiative to hug him after that confession was a good start, but perhaps that was just Lin the Doctor's courage at the time.
Once people calm down, they start to think more. Lin the Doctor might not have gotten out of that vicious circle and problem.
Her legal husband, whom she didn't like, was dead,
Then the person she liked was resurrected in the body of her legal husband,
A seemingly happy ending,
But with an insurmountable moral gap.
Fortunately, after the incident with the Faceless Woman last time, Zhou Ze wasn't in a hurry about this aspect.
At least the thought of "she's not sleeping with me anyway" hadn't appeared in his mind for a long time.
It might also be because Bai Yingying had been sleeping with him every night recently,
Although Bai Yingying could only be looked at and not touched,
It was good to be able to look at her.
"Go to bars less often," Zhou Ze reminded. "It's not too late to relax and do what you like after you go to college."
"Okay, you're just like my parents and my sister. You're a college student too, how did you end up like this?"
His sister-in-law's way of speaking,
In a good way, it's straightforward,
In a bad way, it's thoughtless.
Zhou Ze believed that the reason why Xu Le, that coward, decided to spend money to hire someone to buy his life in the first place was because his sister-in-law was constantly giving him "rage points" next to him, which definitely had an assisting effect.
It seemed that his sister-in-law didn't know about that female classmate, probably because of the consideration of protecting a minor.
"I'm back!"
Xu Qinglang came back with a bunch of things.
"I'm exhausted. It's also a strange day today. I couldn't get a taxi. I don't know if I'm just unlucky today or if the taxi drivers are at their annual meeting."
Xu Qinglang put down the things and wiped his sweat.
Bai Yingying came over at this time, and her eyes lit up when she saw the things on the ground.
These were computer host accessories.
"Install it in my store, come and play whenever you want." Xu Qinglang said to Bai Yingying.
"Okay."
Then, Xu Qinglang took out a bag and gave it to Bai Yingying, and threw a delicate lighter to Zhou Ze.
"Here, for everyone!"
"What's this?"
His sister-in-law wasn't interested in these gifts. What she was interested in was the plastic fan stuck behind Xu Qinglang's neck.
Winter hasn't passed yet, bringing a fan, interesting.
"Someone was doing an event when I passed by the mall and stuffed it to me." Xu Qinglang replied.
His sister-in-law took the fan in her hand. It was a very ordinary plastic fan with advertisements printed on it. After reading it, his sister-in-law couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhou Ze asked.
"It says 'Where are we going, Dad?'" His sister-in-law replied.
"What's so funny about that, is your laughing point so low?" Xu Qinglang reached out to take the fan, and then his eyes widened.
"Perfect, you and my brother-in-law should go together." His sister-in-law glanced at Xu Qinglang and Zhou Ze with a teasing look.
"An advertisement for 'Where are we going, Dad?'" Zhou Ze asked.
Xu Qinglang's expression was a little uncertain, but he still threw the fan to Zhou Ze, "Look at it yourself."
Zhou Ze picked up the fan and glanced at it.
He saw that the background was a hospital building.
At the top was a line of big words: "Where are we going, Dad?"
Then there were two lines of cartoon words below:
"Bring your son to do it together!
Half price!"