Chapter 207: Not Yet at a Dead End

He called again and again, each time the phone was off.

Xia Xi closed her eyes, took the phone away from her ear, threw it into her waist bag, and gave up all hope in this father. Something this big happened, he didn't come out to face it, nor did he inform the family beforehand; instead he hid, leaving his wife and daughter to clean up after him, and he never considered that there was still an elderly person at home.

He truly lacks any sense of responsibility as a man.

When Su Jinru got married, the family's conditions weren't especially wealthy, but they were much better than those of the neighbors. When Xia Xi was little, she asked her mother why she had chosen to marry her father.

Xia Xi had heard from her grandmother that when Su Jinru reached marriageable age, many outstanding young men took a liking to her and actively pursued her, and many matchmakers came to the door to propose matches, all introducing young, capable men.

She ended up choosing Xia Chenggang, who seemed unpromising and merely honest; before marrying her, he didn't even have a decent job, making a living from odd jobs.

At that time, Su Jinru put her arm around her shoulders, waving a fan to drive away mosquitoes while speaking gently.

A very ordinary first encounter.

On her way home one evening, Su Jinru was followed and harassed by two petty thugs; flustered, Xia Chenggang appeared, standing in front of her, got beaten black and blue by the two thugs, yet he stubbornly shielded Su Jinru, not letting her suffer even a scratch.

Su Jinru was deeply moved; from then on, her heart belonged to him, and she could no longer tolerate those young men who pursued her. The grandmother initially opposed their union, looking down on Xia Chenggang, but Su Jinru kept speaking well of him to her mother day after day, and eventually she got her wish, marrying him and bearing him three daughters.

Su Jinru's exact words were: 'Your father could take a beating to protect a stranger, showing he is kind and reliable at heart—a rare and precious quality, worthy of her lifelong trust.'

I don't know whether Xia Chenggang changed later or had concealed his true nature too well from the start, but now it seems laughable and ironic.

Where is he reliable now?

He runs away at the first sign of trouble.

Xia Xi couldn't sleep on the high-speed train, had nothing to do, and could only wait anxiously for news; the two-plus hours were especially hard to endure. She crossed her arms, leaned her head against the seat, her brows furrowed tightly, never relaxing.

The street scenery kept receding outside the window; Xia Xi had already gotten off the high-speed train and was sitting in a taxi, staring blankly out the window, her fingertips pinching out several marks, yet the anxiety in her heart found no relief.

The phone rang; she hurriedly answered, her voice barely concealing her urgency: 'Sis, how is it?'

The caller was Xia Yue, who first asked: 'Where are you?'

Xia Xi looked at the familiar stretch of road and said: 'About ten minutes left to get home.'

Xia Yue fell silent for a few seconds, seeming not to know how to speak; the situation was far worse than she had imagined, and just voicing it took effort: 'The machine in the food-processing plant your father runs has a problem, it doesn't pass quality inspection, and when started it malfunctioned, causing three workers to lose limbs. Father can't be reached, and his business partner Yao Guangliang is also missing. The police and the workers' families who came to demand an explanation have already left; I'm now preparing to go to the hospital to front the medical expenses, and later consult a lawyer about compensation.'

After a pause, Xia Yue's breathing grew heavy: 'The incident is still under further investigation; I asked the police, and Father… should bear corresponding criminal liability. If it were an accident, that would be easier to say, but the key is that the machinery quality is substandard. The purchase contract was signed by Father, so the chance he was unaware is very low.'

Xia Xi roughly guessed that Xia Chenggang, seeking a bargain, had bought secondhand equipment others had discarded, only thinking of making money without considering the consequences, and thus the accident happened.

'Is Mom okay?' Xia Xi asked.

'Her emotions are terrible, her face has no color at all.' Xia Yue didn't hide it, sighing, 'There's also Grandma; she found out too, and when she just walked in she happened to hear the police's words and almost fainted. I've had Xuanxuan watch over Grandma and Mom; when you get home, comfort them well. Since things have already happened, we must resolve them one by one.'

Xia Xi: 'Mm.'

Ten minutes later, the taxi pulled up at her home's gate; Xia Xi opened the door, and the driver called out to her—she had forgotten to pay.

'Sorry,' Xia Xi apologized to the driver, pinched the card printed with the payment code, scanned it to pay the fare, and hurried away.

The house was filled with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, like continuous rain for ten and a half days, with dark clouds pressing down on the head, making it hard to breathe.

The living room was utterly silent; the sound of the door opening stood out especially loud, and the three people sitting on the sofa lifted their heads. Su Jinru's face was panicked; seeing Xia Xi hurry over, tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over.

Xia Xi embraced her shoulders and gently patted them: 'I'm back, don't be upset, everything will be fine.'

Grandma sat beside her; having weathered many storms, she initially found the news hard to bear and almost fainted, but now she had calmed and instead comforted Su Jinru: 'We haven't reached a dead end yet—don't ruin your own health first. We should compensate what we owe; when the police find Chenggang, let him bear whatever responsibility he owes—it's not the end of the world.'

Xia Xuan clung to a pillow in her arms, her little face still deathly pale, biting her lip as she looked at them, her heart more anxious than anyone's, wondering if things would really be all right—yet she already felt the sky had fallen.

A crisp phone ring rang out, breaking the oppressive atmosphere in the living room and startling the fragile-nerved Su Jinru.

Xia Xuan glanced at the phone on the coffee table: 'It's Mom's phone; Aunt Lin is calling.'

In her current state, Su Jinru couldn't possibly answer the phone; even the slightest rustle made her panic.

Xia Xi reached out her hand: 'Give me the phone.'

Xia Xuan leaned forward, picked up the ringing phone, and handed it to Xia Xi, suddenly feeling a bad premonition as she pressed her hand to her chest. Aunt Lin is a staff member at the hotel; it should be lunchtime, when she's busy, so why would she call now?

Seeing Xia Xuan's movement, Xia Xi asked anxiously: 'Is your heart uncomfortable?'

Xia Xuan lowered her hand, gripping a corner of the pillow. Her heart had long been uncomfortable, but she didn't want to add chaos to the family at this critical moment; she shook her head and forced herself to say: 'I'm fine.'

'If you're uncomfortable, you must say so.' Xia Xi reminded her, then answered the call: 'Aunt Lin, this is Xia Xi; what do you need from my mother?'

Aunt Lin didn't ask how Su Jinru's phone ended up with her; she should be studying in Nancheng, but she spoke in a flustered hurry: 'Some people have come to the hotel, the leading man saying Peishan Grand Hotel has changed owners and is now under his charge. Xi Xi, what's going on?'

'How could that be?' Xia Xi felt it was absurd, 'Are they here to cause trouble? Have you called the police?'

Grandma, Su Jinru, and Xia Xuan all looked at Xia Xi simultaneously, judging from her expression and tone that something bad had happened at the hotel.

Aunt Lin said on the phone: 'It doesn't seem like they're causing trouble; that man spoke politely and even ordered a table of dishes. Besides, the hotel has so many customers—calling the police would hurt business. If you don't have your mother come over to see, maybe there's just a misunderstanding.'

Xia Xi lowered her gaze to look at Su Jinru, then agreed: 'Okay, I know; I'll head over right away.'

After hanging up, Su Jinru gripped Xia Xi's hand, her red eyes full of unease: 'What's happened?'

Xia Xi was thinking about how to conceal it, fearing further stimulation, when Grandma said: 'Just tell her directly.'

'Aunt Lin said a man brought a group of people to the hotel, proclaiming that Peishan Grand Hotel had changed owners and now belonged to him.' Xia Xi repeated it, still finding it unbelievable—how could such a thing happen? It was too outrageous, bordering on ridiculous, yet Aunt Lin spoke with such seriousness that it couldn't be ignored: 'You stay at home; I'll go over and see what's really going on.'

Grandma stared blankly.

Peishan Grand Hotel was her life's painstaking work, her lifeblood; she could persuade herself to accept, digest, and forget other matters, but anything related to the hotel she would not overlook in the slightest.

Grandma pushed herself up from the sofa's armrest, her body still somewhat trembling: 'I'll go with you.'