Chapter 26: Important Supporting Characters

Grandma's words aroused Chu Ci's curiosity, but he didn't ask any further questions.

About a week later, she heard news of Cheng Zhenzhen again.

Grandma was chopping vegetables when she brought this up.

It was as if that pretty boy was lying on the chopping board, as she chopped away with loud thuds.

"I thought it would be a year or two before I heard anything from them, but I didn't expect that pretty boy to be so restless! He actually eloped with Zhenzhen again!"

"They eloped?" Chu Ci leaned against the kitchen doorframe, a pineapple bun in her mouth, puzzled. "Didn't the landlady and her husband already agree to let them get married? Why did they still elope?"

"What else could it be? It was all that pretty boy's doing!"

Grandma threw the kitchen knife onto the cutting board and began to tell Chu-Tzu about what had happened over the past week.

Since they had agreed to let the two of them get married, Cheng Yingkang and his wife certainly couldn't let their future son-in-law stay in prison indefinitely, so they used some connections to get the young man out of prison.

The young man was extremely grateful for this, and wished he could kneel down to thank his parents-in-law for their life-saving grace.

But this gratitude only lasted for two or three days before the seemingly harmonious family began to descend into chaos.

The gigolo often mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally, that Cheng Yingkang and his wife looked down on him, complained to Cheng Zhenzhen, and acted as a good guy when Cheng Zhenzhen argued with her parents.

After a while, Cheng Zhenzhen felt that the person she liked had been wronged, and she also felt that her parents didn't seem to want her to get married so easily.

Fearing her parents might change their minds, and with the secret encouragement of her gigolo, she ran off with him again, this time with the money.

However, having learned from past mistakes, Cheng Yingkang and his wife hid the money in a place unknown to Cheng Zhenzhen, so they did not lose too much money this time.

Grandma sighed deeply, "I really don't know what Zhenzhen is thinking! Her parents love her so much, and her family is well-off, so why does she always fall for men!"

"She's beautiful and a returnee from overseas. She could easily get a high salary at any company, but she insists on keeping an eye on a man who's neither good enough for high-paying jobs nor good enough for low-paying ones... I really don't know what she's thinking."

Chu Ci shrugged, chewing on the pineapple bun in his mouth without saying a word.

Grandma changed the subject, "Aci, don't let yourself be easily fooled by a sleazy man. You're capable of earning your own money, supporting yourself and your family. Never trust a man's smooth talk."

"That person's mouth is a liar's mouth! When he likes you, he'll do anything for you, but when he doesn't like you anymore, you're not even a person in his eyes!"

Chu Ci: "..."

She sensed something was off about those words.

"Grandma, is this something you felt personally, or just something you heard from others?"

Grandma rolled her eyes at her. "Go away, get out of the way. You're eating a pineapple bun before dinner. Let's see if you can eat anything else later!"

Chu Ci, with the unfinished pineapple bun still in her mouth, went to the side, a little curious about what method the landlady and her husband had come up with to make Cheng Zhenzhen change her mind.

However, now that Cheng Zhenzhen has run away from home, their plans will probably have to be postponed.

She had just settled down next to the psychic table when she saw someone peeking in from the doorway.

"Chen Xinxin?"

Chen Xinxin, wearing her school uniform, smiled when she saw Chu Ci.

"Sister, you really are here!"

She handed over what she was holding, saying, "I bought these on my way home. I thought they were delicious, so I wanted to bring you some. I thought I had come to the wrong place."

"You've come to the right place, this is it."

Chu Ci pulled Chen Xinxin in. Grandma peeked out from the kitchen and saw that the little girl was still wearing her school uniform. She looked at Chu Ci with a puzzled expression.

Chu Ci introduced, "Grandma, this is my friend Chen Xinxin. Chen Xinxin, this is my grandma."

Chen Xinxin was a little reserved. "Hello, Grandma."

"Okay, okay!"

Grandma smiled so broadly her eyes disappeared, as if she had just seen her granddaughter-in-law, and quickly turned around to get Chen Xinxin a drink.

“My daughter Aci has never had many friends since she was little. This is the first time I’ve ever seen her friends come to visit.”

With that, she plunged into the kitchen.

"Xinxin, stay for dinner! The food will be ready soon!"

Chen Xinxin quickly refused, "No need, Grandma, I have class this afternoon and I have to go back soon."

"Time is so tight!" Grandma took a box of pastries out of the refrigerator and handed it to Chen Xinxin. "These were given to her by someone Aci helped before. They taste really good. Take them home and share them with your parents!"

Chen Xinxin's expression froze for a moment, but she still smiled and nodded, "Okay, thank you, Grandma."

As soon as she left, A-Ci began explaining to her grandmother.

"Chen Xinxin's parents aren't around, Grandma, please don't mention her parents again!"

"Huh?" Grandma belatedly covered her mouth, "She's so young, and her parents aren't around anymore? They're both gone?"

"Her father murdered his wife for insurance money and is in jail. As for her mother..."

Chu Ci looked around at his own home.

"He died in the house we live in now."

Grandma: "..."

Grandma lost her appetite immediately upon seeing the cooked food.

She tried to hold back, but couldn't.

"One of the two people who died in our house before was Xin Xin's mother?"

"Yes, one is Xin Xin's mother, and the other is Xin Xin's father's mistress."

Chu Ci gave a brief account of Chen Xinxin's family situation, which made Grandma so angry that she slapped her thigh.

"What a despicable man! He has a wife and children, but instead of living a good life, he insists on following the example of rich men and keeping mistresses! What a disgrace!"

Chu Ci nodded repeatedly as he ate, "That's right!"

Now, when she thinks about Chen Xinxin's fate in the original story, she wants to kick her beastly father a couple of times.

but……

She chewed more slowly.

Speaking of the original plot... she's been here for so long, and it seems she's only encountered one character from the book, Chen Xinxin.

So far, she hasn't even met the male and female leads in the story.

People shouldn't keep talking about things. If they do, things that are meant to come and things that aren't meant to come will come.

No customers came in the afternoon, so Chu Ci was taken by her grandmother early to help find Cheng Zhenzhen.

When she went to the landlady's place, she found out that the couple had gone too far.

Ever since the landlady learned from Chu Ci that the gigolo was a scoundrel who sold Cheng Zhenzhen to the red-light district, she had been discussing with her husband how to get their silly daughter to turn over a new leaf.

After much deliberation, the couple agreed that they needed to let their daughter suffer a lot so that she could grow up smarter.

So even though the two knew that the gigolo was instigating their daughter to elope, they turned a blind eye and created an opportunity for the two to elope smoothly.

Worried about their daughter's safety, the couple had been having someone keep an eye on them ever since they eloped.

Knowing that her daughter would be sold to the red-light district, she had already used her connections to find someone there, just waiting for Cheng Zhenzhen to be sold to that young man.

But to their utter surprise, the pretty boy noticed the people following them.

Not only did he discover it, he also managed to shake it off.

The landlady kept wiping away tears, "Aci, even if you didn't come, I would still have come to find you. Can you help me figure out where that pretty boy took Zhenzhen?"

Cheng Yingkang was puffing on his cigarette beside her, and he also looked up at her with his bloodshot eyes.

"We've already sent people to keep an eye on the red-light district. Once that pretty boy is caught in the trap, we'll be able to arrest him!"

However, their daughter's whereabouts were uncertain, and they, as parents, were still worried.

Chu Ci shook her head. "Last time at the hospital, Cheng Zhenzhen overheard my conversation with the landlady. She found out that she was going to be sold into the red-light district. Do you think, given her personality, she'll tell that pretty boy about it as a joke?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Yingkang was stunned, and only snapped back to his senses when his hand was burned by a cigarette butt.

His hand holding the cigarette trembled uncontrollably as fear welled up inside him.

If that's the case, then...

Chu Ci: "That pretty boy seems pretty clever. He probably figured out that someone in the red-light district is lying in wait. If that's the case..."

"Then go to the countryside and villages to look for him. He might just sell him to an old bachelor in the village who can't find a wife."

An unfamiliar male voice came from behind.

Chu Ci turned her head and saw a tall, handsome man with regular features striding over.

Behind him followed Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe, both looking dejected.

“Hello,” the stranger extended his hand. “My name is Lin Ming, Lin as in double wood, and Ming as in making a name for myself. I’m in charge of this missing persons case.”

It's not really a case, since it was just a young couple who fell in love and eloped.

However, Cheng Yingkang had connections with senior officers in the police station, so he was assigned to find Cheng Zhenzhen.

Chu Ci looked at the slender hand in front of her, then at Lin Ming, and shook it. "My name is Chu Ci, and I am a spiritual medium."

She saw Lin Ming frown, but out of politeness, she didn't say anything.

Their eyes met, and Chu Ci's mind was filled with long clips from the original plot, causing him to lean back.

Grandma was horrified, "Ah Ci!"

The landlady rushed over to help, and the scene immediately became chaotic.

Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe had just made a great contribution with Chu Ci's help, and couldn't help but pat Lin Ming on the shoulder.

"I told you to stop wearing that deadpan face, but you wouldn't listen!"

"Satisfied now? You scared him to death!"

Lin Ming: "..."

Amidst the accusations from his two colleagues, Lin Ming guiltily touched his face.

He doesn't look... that scary, right?