Chapter 4 Baby

◎It's all my fault◎

Hearing the noise outside, a thin man hurried out from the inner room. When he saw Zhou Qiaoxiu, his eyes were blazing with anger. He thought she was a plainclothes police officer. He was so scared that his legs were shaking. He wanted to kneel on the ground to show his loyalty: "Comrade Public Security, we are not kidnappers, we are good people~"

Seeing the skinny man's guilty look, Zhou Qiaoxiu kicked him down and rushed into the bedroom at the back of the store.

Small business owners are thrifty and reluctant to use electricity. The incandescent lamps are low wattage, and the light in the room is very dim. There are messy items placed around, and there is no place to step. The bed legs are made of bricks on the north wall, and a wooden board is placed on top to form a bed.

In the corner, there was a little baby wrapped in a floral quilt, with a puffy braid on her head and a bright red strawberry hairband that was particularly eye-catching.

Tears welled up in Zhou Qiaoxiu's eyes. She felt sad and happy at the same time. She rushed over and hugged him: "Baby, my baby!"

After searching for a whole day, Zhou Qiaoxiu was surrounded by panic, fear, suspicion, anger...all kinds of negative emotions. She hated Meimei for her greed and deliberately losing the baby, and she regretted letting the baby out of her sight. What she felt most was a deep worry that the baby would suffer from hunger and be abused.

Now that she finally holds her child in her arms, Zhou Qiaoxiu feels like she owns the whole world. She doesn't care about waking the child up, so she presses her hand against the child's smooth face, muttering to herself, "Don't be afraid, baby, mommy is here, mommy is here."

As her excited emotions gradually calmed down, Zhou Qiaoxiu suddenly felt something was wrong. She looked down and saw that the baby's cheeks were flushed, his breathing was heavy, and he was sleeping soundly with his eyes closed.

Even if the child is sleepy, it is impossible to wake her up with such a loud noise? Zhou Qiaoxiu hurriedly put his forehead against hers. She didn't seem to have a fever. Then he put a finger under her nose. The air she exhaled was very hot.

Out of mother's intuition, she moved closer and sniffed hard. A smell of alcohol hit her nose. Zhou Qiaoxiu turned her head to look at the thin man lying on the ground, her voice became unusually high-pitched because of anger: "You gave the baby alcohol?"

The child is only three years old, and she smells so strongly of alcohol. How much alcohol did she drink?!

The man shook his head in panic and explained hastily: "The baby cries too much, disturbing the neighbors, and I can't do business... only a little bit."

Zhao Xiangwan clasped the shop hostess's hands behind her back, found a hemp rope and tied them up, then quickly walked to the bedroom: "Teacher Zhou, they mixed alcohol into the milk, let's take the baby to the hospital quickly."

Zhou Qiaoxiu was so angry that she was shaking all over. How could a three-year-old child withstand the stimulation of alcohol? The child was unconscious, obviously suffering from alcohol poisoning. The child she cherished was actually abused by two businessmen!

"Pah!" She spat on the man's face, and Zhou Qiaoxiu's eyes flashed coldly, "Zhao Xiangwan, tie him up too, and ask the neighbors to call the police. We'll go to the hospital."

Zhao Xiangwan nodded, tied up the man neatly, walked out and said to the crowd watching the excitement: "Can anyone help call the police? The owner of the snack shop is suspected of kidnapping and child abuse."

This one sentence defined the incident and drew angry condemnation from the surrounding neighbors.

"This is outrageous. I never thought that Mr. and Mrs. Wu were such people."

"The couple always said that they had three sons in their hometown and wanted a daughter. I never thought they would actually kidnap a child."

"Abuse? No wonder the child stopped crying. He's a bad guy who chopped off his brain..."

Immediately, a kind-hearted person knocked on the door of a small shop and called the police using a public phone, angrily assuring, "Don't worry, these two people won't get away."

After arranging everything, Zhao Xiangwan pushed out the bicycle, stepped on it with his long legs and said, "Teacher Zhou, let's go!"

Zhou Qiaoxiu pulled a thin blanket over the child, held the child tightly against her chest, and sat on the back seat of the bicycle. The two of them quickly left the snack shop and headed straight for the nearest Xingshi Third Hospital.

After sending the child to the emergency room, Zhou Qiaoxiu sat on a bench in the corridor. Only then did she realize that she had no strength left in her body and her hands were shaking like sieves.

Zhao Xiangwan stood aside, looking at her profile.

[Fortunately, the couple has not taken the baby away. As long as the baby is fine, it's fine. I am willing to lose my life even if the baby has a brain injury. As long as she is alive, I will raise her for the rest of her life.]

So, true maternal love is to be willing to sacrifice one's life for one's child? Even if the child becomes stupid or disabled, one will never give up? Hearing Zhou Qiaoxiu's inner thoughts, Zhao Xiangwan felt a ray of sunshine shining into his heart.

Zhao Xiangwan's eyes were filled with childlike longing. Zhou Qiaoxiu, who had gradually calmed down, turned her head and looked at her with a smile on her lips: "Zhao Xiangwan, thank you."

Zhao Xiangwan shook his head lightly, pursed his lips and said nothing. His narrow eyes looked even deeper under the light.

Zhou Qiaoxiu reached out her hand, gently held Zhao Xiangwan's wrist, and brought her to her side. After a long sigh, Zhou Qiaoxiu leaned her head against her, wrapped her other hand around her arm, and closed her eyes slightly: "Zhao Xiangwan, I'm lucky to have you..."

Feeling the warmth on his wrists and arms and sensing Zhou Qiaoxiu's still trembling body, Zhao Xiangwan stood there passively, feeling a little overwhelmed.

She dared to confront bad people and bad things, but she didn't know how to deal with the praise and trust of others.

Mind reading made her realize the hypocrisy of human beings too early, and Zhao Xiangwan had always been very reluctant to have physical contact with people. But now Zhou Qiaoxiu had just experienced a great psychological shock, and her whole body was shaking. Zhao Xiangwan couldn't bear to push her away, so he could only stand stiffly and passively look at the top of the teacher's head.

The fluorescent lights in the hospital emergency room corridor flashed a cold white light. The blue-gray terrazzo floor, dark brown benches, and snow-white walls were quiet and lonely.

"Zhou Qiaoxiu!" A voice suddenly broke the silence.

Zhao Xiangwan took a half step back and put some distance between him and Zhou Qiaoxiu. Zhou Qiaoxiu raised her head blankly and looked at her lover who looked unhappy.

Xu Songling lowered his voice and tried to control his emotions: "Why did you come just now? Meimei fainted, and you, as a mother, came so late. It must be so sad for the child."

Zhou Qiaoxiu took a long time to come back to her senses: "Meimei... fainted?"

Xu Songling heard that she didn't seem to care about Meimei at all, so he gritted his teeth and said, "I am also very worried about the baby being lost, but you have to believe in the power of the police, we will definitely find the baby. Don't get angry with Meimei, stay calm."

Zhou Qiaoxiu sneered and turned away without saying anything.

Facing Zhou Qiaoxiu's indifference, Xu Songling was helpless. He turned his gaze to Zhao Xiangwan who had been standing beside Zhou Qiaoxiu, and frowned: "Who are you?"

The captain of the criminal police brigade had a fierce aura. Before Zhao Xiangwan could even open her mouth, Zhou Qiaoxiu had already blocked her way and said, "This is my student. She has been accompanying me to look for the baby. What's wrong? Is it not allowed? Captain Xu, please don't show off here!"

Zhao Xiangwan didn't want to see the couple quarreling, so he took the initiative to explain: "Officer Xu, the baby has been found and is being treated urgently in the emergency room."

Xu Songling's eyes lit up, then dimmed again in an instant, and he took a step forward: "The baby was found? What happened to her?"

Thinking of how Xu Songling had always defended Meimei and didn't believe in herself at all, Zhou Qiaoxiu didn't want to talk to him. She rolled her eyes at him and snorted.

Xu Songling was so anxious that he jumped up and down: "Zhou Qiaoxiu, Teacher Zhou, please tell me quickly."

Zhao Xiangwan explained the process clearly and calmly: "Meimei deliberately left the baby at the door of the snack shop, and the shop owner took her in. But they were afraid that the baby would cry, so they mixed alcohol into her milk to make her sleepy. She suffered from severe alcohol poisoning, and the doctor is treating her."

Zhou Qiaoxiu said unhappily: "Zhao Xiangwan, don't tell him, he doesn't care about the baby's life or death at all!"

Xu Songling stood there in a daze, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

[Meimei did it on purpose? How is this possible? She is only ten years old, still a child. Qiaoxiu and I adopted her from an orphanage and have always treated her like our own daughter. How could she do that? How dare she!]

Thinking of his trust and doting on Meimei, Xu Songling stared at Zhou Qiaoxiu blankly: "Qiaoxiu, are you guys mistaken? It's a good thing that the baby is found. Maybe, maybe it wasn't Meimei's intention. She's still young... This crime is too serious."

Before the baby was found, Zhou Qiaoxiu said she suspected that she had adopted an ungrateful ungrateful person, but she had no actual evidence and she had a glimmer of hope in her heart. Now the baby was indeed found in the snack shop, and all the information came from the conversation between Zhao Xiangwan and Meimei. She was no longer lucky and was sure that the baby was deliberately abandoned by Meimei. Her child was in the hospital for alcohol poisoning, but her lover was still defending Meimei. She could not help but get angry and stood up suddenly.

"You're still making excuses for her! Do you know how nervous I was when I rushed into the snack shop late at night to look for my child? Do you know how scared I was when the doctor just told me that my baby might have sequelae from alcohol poisoning? You don't know! You only know how to protect that ungrateful wolf!"

Her voice grew louder and louder, echoing in the quiet hospital corridor.

The door of the emergency room suddenly opened, and a doctor in a white coat came out, frowning and obviously unhappy: "This is a hospital, not a place for you to quarrel."

Zhou Qiaoxiu hurriedly shut up, ran to the doctor and asked anxiously: "How is it? How is the child?"

The doctor frowned and lectured: "Why did you adults let such a young child drink alcohol? It's so irresponsible! When the child wakes up, remember to give her plenty of water to promote alcohol excretion and metabolism, and keep her in the hospital for another two days for observation."

Zhou Qiaoxiu made assurances hurriedly, and after the doctor made way for her, she strode into the emergency room and cried as she watched the baby lying on the bed receiving an IV drip.

Xu Songling was concerned about his little daughter, so he followed her in and stood behind Zhou Qiaoxiu, looking at the child silently.

The usually crying and noisy baby now lay quietly on the bed, with an unnatural blush on her round face, and the snow-white bed sheet made her look weak and pitiful. This was his own flesh and blood, although she was a little spoiled and not as well-behaved and sensible as Meimei, she was still his beloved child.

Turning around, he saw Zhou Qiaoxiu crying silently, tears sliding quietly across her haggard cheeks. Xu Songling felt a complex emotion in his heart, including guilt, pity, and more anger towards the criminals.

"Was it done by human traffickers? Damn it! Have you called the police? I will personally investigate this matter and I will definitely bring these human traffickers to justice and give them severe sentences!"

Zhou Qiaoxiu was extremely disappointed when she heard that her lover was still unwilling to blame Meimei at this time.

[Since he is so protective of that ungrateful bastard, don't blame me for being rude. Divorce! Let him take Meimei and live alone. I am busy with my work as a criminal police officer, and I raised both children by myself. The family can't count on him anyway.]

The baby was found, and Zhou Qiaoxiu and her husband were both waiting in the hospital. Zhao Xiangwan saw that there was nothing for him to do, so he originally planned to leave. But when he heard that Zhou Qiaoxiu was secretly planning to divorce Xu Songling, Zhao Xiangwan stopped and looked up at the tall and majestic figure standing next to the teacher, wanting to hear what Officer Xu thought.

[It's my fault, it's all my fault. If it weren't for the temporary notice from the city bureau that there was a mission, I should have taken the three of them to the park, and I wouldn't have lost the baby and caused the child to suffer in the hospital. Qiaoxiu was right to scold me. I should have understood her feelings and shouldn't have argued with her in the hospital...

Damn human traffickers, tomorrow I will file a report to request the city to rectify the case of abducting women and children. As for Meimei, if she really did it on purpose, she must be severely criticized. She was abandoned by her parents when she was young. Since we adopted her, we must take responsibility. It is my fault that I did not educate her well. 】

As a student at the Public Security University, Zhao Xiangwan is well aware of the duties of police officers and has a strong empathy for them. Although Xu Songling is stubborn, partial to his adopted daughter, and lacks trust in his wife, he has a strong sense of responsibility, is responsible and conscientious in his work, and has no prejudice against his adopted daughter.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xiangwan, who had originally planned to retire, stopped and looked at Meimei who was standing barefoot at the other end of the corridor.