Chapter 15

It's another weekend, another four-person card game at Cheng's house, and the same topics as always.

This time, the four of them were playing cards as usual, drinking Mongolian liquor brought by Su Ningna, and eating snacks prepared by Huang Ruoyu. With strong liquor and delicious food, and the cheerful Su Ningna present, it should have been a joyful weekend. But for some reason, the entire villa was filled with a chilling atmosphere, making everyone feel uneasy and uneasy.

For some unknown reason, Chengshi and Huang Ruoyu had another big fight a couple of days ago, and they haven't made up yet, still in a cold war. If Sun Pengfei and Su Ningna hadn't arrived as planned, the couple would have ignored each other again tonight. Then, when it was time for bed, Huang Ruoyu would set up her makeshift sleeping spot on the living room sofa—even though there was a guest room, she wouldn't sleep there. Chengshi thought she was deliberately causing trouble and trying to portray herself as a victim in front of the children. Thinking this, Chengshi's anger flared even more.

Surrounded by this awkward atmosphere, Su Ningna forced herself to cheer up and complained that Central Park didn't even have a small, decent patch of grass. The bottle of Hetao King beer she brought reminded her of the vast grasslands of her hometown. She said she hoped Central Park could have a grassy area where children could run around freely, just like in her hometown. But right now, the only public green spaces in the entire community were covered in uncleaned dog poop. The property management only knew how to collect money but didn't do any work, and the nominal owners' committee was completely inactive.

Almost ten minutes had passed, but the only sound in the entire villa was Suningna's voice. At this moment, Suningna knew helplessly that she had to continue talking, because if even she stopped, silence would flood Napa Valley No. 5 like a flood, turning it into a bottomless stagnant pool, and she would eventually drown there. To avoid drowning, Suningna had no choice but to keep talking and talking, until even she herself found it tedious.

Thankfully, the male head of the household, Cheng Shi, finally cheered up and stepped in to save the day. He asked Suningna, "By the way, Nana, do you know about bowl lotus?"

"Elegy?" Su Ningna's forced smile vanished as she stared blankly at Cheng Shi and asked, "Has anyone...has anyone passed away?"

"Oh no!" Cheng Shi laughed. "It's a kind of flower. I think it was brought by Grandma Xie last month."

"You mean Xie Yiling who lives at 1 Beverly Hills?" Su Ningna asked, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about their family! Pengfei, haven't I told you about her son too? It's absolutely horrible!"

With the wine in hand, Suningna truly began to speak passionately and eloquently. At the same time, the atmosphere in the room changed completely, as everyone was listening intently.

"Do you know that the Xie family has a son?" Su Ningna asked the three people.

"Ah... I think I heard they have a son, but we've been here for almost three years and haven't seen him." Huang Ruoyu said, frowning as she thought. "I heard the Hu family only has one child, who is studying in the United States, is doing exceptionally well, and is pursuing a PhD at an Ivy League school or something. Is that the child you're talking about?"

Suningna nodded.

Everyone in Central Park—whether homeowners, property management staff, or even prospective buyers—had seen the photo of that family of three on Xie Yiling's desk. The photo showed a tall, thin boy who resembled neither Xie Yiling nor her husband, Hu Yu. In short, the boy possessed an air of detachment that seemed incongruous with his parents. However, Xie Yiling seemed oblivious to this detachment. She would proudly tell everyone who came to her office that her son, Hu Zhizhi, was studying mathematics at MIT, and that he was an outstanding student, receiving a full scholarship every year, and was a future mathematician—sounding even more accomplished than Hua Luogeng and Chen Jingrun.

However, Suningna knew something different; she had already updated Beverly No. 1's latest situation.

So the other three people then heard her say mysteriously, "That Hu Zhizhi isn't in school anymore, and he's not in the US anymore. He quietly returned to China during the Spring Festival this year, and he's in Beijing now."

Seeing everyone's blank expressions, Su Ningna added with a hint of pride, "But he doesn't live here; he lives in the Sixth Hospital."

"The Sixth Hospital? Peking University Sixth Hospital?" Sun Pengfei asked, frowning. "Isn't that a hospital for treating mental illnesses?"

"Yes, it's a hospital for treating mental illnesses, and he didn't go there by himself; a police car took him there."

During the entire Spring Festival holiday this year, neither the Sun family nor the Cheng family were in Central Park. The Cheng family went on vacation to Thailand, while the Sun family returned to the Inner Mongolian grasslands. Therefore, neither family personally witnessed the "heart-stirring" scene at Beverly No. 1. Moreover, there weren't many residents remaining in Central Park during the Spring Festival. A resident did ask in the residents' group why police cars were in the community, but the property manager replied that it was a routine security check during the Spring Festival, and the matter was dropped. The Sun family and the Cheng family completely missed this information and thus missed this spectacular scene.

However, the fact that none of these four people had heard of this story doesn't prove it's false. The information came from a reliable source—Aunt Wang, the part-time worker for the Sun family. And Aunt Wang is also a part-time worker at Beverly No. 1.

“Aunt Wang thought everyone already knew, so she didn’t mention it for so long. She only brought it up casually yesterday when she came to clean our house,” Su Ningna explained. “Anyway, Hu Zhizhi’s mental problems have been going on for a while now. I heard he’s been receiving psychological treatment in the US, and it’s incredibly expensive. Aunt Wang also said that the Hu couple has almost spent all their money on their only son’s treatment, and now they don’t even buy imported organic vegetables anymore. Just think how much money Grandma Xie makes! Aunt Wang said that before the Spring Festival this year, Old Hu called to ask if his son was coming home for the New Year. We heard he hadn’t been back for five or six years. Not only have you not seen him in almost three years since you moved here, but we’ve never seen him either. But Hu Zhizhi said he wouldn’t be coming back this year either, but who would have thought he would suddenly return on the third day of the Lunar New Year? You can’t imagine what he did after he got home! He actually kidnapped Old Hu and his wife for three days! From the third day to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year!”

"Hijacking?!" Huang Ruoyu covered her mouth in shock.

Suningna's words are too exaggerated and seem too unbelievable.

Seeing Huang Ruoyu cover her mouth, Su Ningna chuckled awkwardly, realizing that "kidnapping parents" sounded too alarmist. She quickly added, "That's what Aunt Wang told me. I guess he didn't bring any weapons or anything, just... house arrest? But it must have terrified his parents, especially Lao Hu. He's so old, and Aunt Wang said his heart isn't very good and his blood pressure is abnormal. I heard Hu Zhizhi locked them in the house, took away their phones, and even cut off the power, saying he wouldn't leave unless they gave him what he wanted. But the problem is, he didn't tell Lao Hu and his wife what he actually wanted."

"Heh." Cheng Shi sneered. "Another person who doesn't know what they want!"

"Later he finally said that what he wanted was his birth certificate, so the old couple quickly searched through their drawers and cabinets to find it for him. Sure enough, they found it, but he tore it up as soon as he took it."

"Huh? Why?"

"Who knows? Then he kept pacing around the house, muttering something, and smashing whatever he saw—the TV, the refrigerator, the furniture, the paintings on the wall, plates, bowls, and whatever else he could find. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Aunt Wang went to the Hu family's house to clean as agreed, but he locked her up too. That's how she found out so much about what happened."

"This Aunt Wang has seen a lot of the world, hasn't she?" Sun Pengfei joked.

"I must say, Aunt Wang is quite calm. Hu Zhizhi forgot to take her phone, and after she was locked in the storage room, she secretly called the police, which is how the old couple was rescued."

"My God!" Huang Ruoyu exclaimed, "It actually got to the police! How embarrassing!"

Only Sun Pengfei, who had been joking earlier, expressed skepticism about what Aunt Wang had said and what Su Ningna had relayed: "I always feel that these are just hearsay..."

However, it is clear that the other three people firmly believe in this story and bluntly say that Sun Pengfei is a naturally suspicious person who will doubt whatever anyone says.

"I knew it! Now I finally understand! I always felt that Grandma Xie was coming to our house every few days because she had something on her mind. Do you think she might want to tell us about this but just couldn't bring herself to do it?"

As she spoke, Huang Ruoyu turned to Cheng Shi, but she did not make eye contact with him, nor did she call him "Shitou" as usual, or "Cheng Sir" with a hint of sarcasm—if she had, she could have given Cheng Shi some hope that they could get back together. He was fed up with Huang Ruoyu's constant cold wars with him.

However, Cheng Shi was quite perceptive. He followed Huang Ruoyu's hint and gave the answer he should: "Yes, now that you mention it, she probably wanted to talk to us. Come to think of it, Old Lady Xie is quite pitiful."

So Huang Ruoyu said with certainty, "She must really want to tell us about this, or she wants to find out how much we know. Old Mrs. Xie is quite shrewd."

After listening to Huang Ruoyu's words, Su Ningna analyzed the matter from a woman's perspective, posing the following question: How would a woman feel if she knew that her only son had mental problems?

At this moment, Sun Pengfei leaned towards Chengshi, as if intentionally avoiding the two women who had suddenly "exploded with maternal instincts." Sun Pengfei genuinely wanted to discuss the matter with Chengshi from a more practical perspective, one that men are more concerned with: What are the facts? Do the police have the right to forcibly send someone to a mental hospital? If a normal person is sent to a mental hospital, how can they prove they are normal?

Chengshi quickly realized that if the topic continued to develop in its current direction, the novelty of this exciting topic would soon dissipate, and the gathering on Sunday would become another boring time.

He can't let things continue like this!