Chapter 1012: Uncovering a Secret Sealed for Many Years 1

His wife is still in her postpartum confinement; if he makes her angry and she gets sick from it, it will be a lifelong issue.

"Thank you, husband."

The color of the green rice balls is good; opening the box, a fresh fragrance fills the room. She reaches out two fingers to pinch one, puts it in her mouth, and takes a bite—delicious.

Soon the box of green rice balls is finished; she ate too quickly and is a bit choked.

"Wife, drink some water."

Shi Yucheng eagerly pours a glass of water and feeds it to her.

He thought that if he went to sweep his late wife's grave, Ji Yingjie would definitely make a scene, and he had even prepared himself mentally, but in the end, nothing happened.

At this moment, Shi Yuke enters from outside; seeing this, she acts as if she didn't see anything and calmly goes upstairs.

But Ji Yingjie calls out to stop her: "Yuke, don't be in such a rush to go back; come over and chat for a while."

"No time, I'm going to see the child." She doesn't want to chat with her.

But she cannot make her father feel awkward, so Shi Yuke explains further: "I've been out for three or four hours; I don't know if the child has been fussing."

Ji Yingjie: "Your son is asleep, he just fell asleep. Your husband is sleeping with the child in the room; he seems not to have slept well last night, he's been yawning all morning. You'd better not go back now, so as not to disturb them."

That is indeed true; if she goes back, her husband will definitely wake up. Since he didn't rest well last night, she should let him rest a little longer.

Although she doesn't want to chat with Ji Yingjie, there is nothing worth chatting about.

But there is nowhere else to go, and her father keeps urging her to come over and chat, so she goes over.

Ji Yingjie reveals a motherly smile and makes small talk: "Yuke, was your mother very fond of playing cards when she was alive?"

"Yes."

"She had a card-playing friend nicknamed Daobalian, right?"

Shi Yuke's heart sinks.

This woman truly has no good intentions.

Of course she remembers Daobalian; he was sentenced to over ten years for kidnapping Shi Youxuan back then!

Actually, he didn't need to be locked up for that long, but Sheng Hanyu interfered, which is why he was sentenced for so many years.

That man was not just Jiang Yadan's card-playing friend; their relationship was also very intimate, otherwise he wouldn't have taken such a risk for Jiang Yadan.

"I don't remember." She denies it.

"Oh, it's fine if you don't remember. That person is just a swindler. You weren't home this morning, and that man found his way to the house, saying he was an old acquaintance of your mother and wanted an old item of hers from when she was alive as a souvenir..."

"Did you give it to him?" Shi Yuke is a bit nervous.

And Shi Yucheng's expression is already very ugly.

"Of course I didn't give it to him. I'm not stupid; how could I just give away your mother's things from when she was alive?"

Before she can heave a sigh of relief, Ji Yingjie continues: "I said I had to wait for my husband to come back to discuss it, and told him to come again tomorrow."

"Husband, did I do the right thing this time?"

"Yes."

Shi Yucheng is also feeling uneasy inside; this Daobalian, his eldest daughter says she doesn't remember him.

But he remembers.

Not only does he remember, but the impression is also very deep.

The person who kidnapped his second daughter back then was him!

At the time, the police investigated and found that Daobalian was his wife's card-playing friend, and asked if Jiang Yadan had instigated it.

He flatly denied it.

He insisted that he was the mastermind, claiming he had lost a lot of money playing cards and that was why he did it.

But his wife's card-playing friends said that Daobalian won more often than he lost when playing cards, and there were rumors about the two of them at the time. It wasn't that Shi Yucheng hadn't had doubts, but in the end, he chose to believe his wife.

Many years have passed since then, and Jiang Yadan has also been dead for many years.

That matter had long been sealed in his memory, yet now Daobalian suddenly pops up and wants a relic of his late wife as a souvenir?

Her father has a look of confusion, which Shi Yuke sees and feels anxious about.

She does not want her father to meet with Daobalian.

"Dad, you can't go to see that person."

"Why?"

She thinks quickly: "He was just released from Prison; it's too dangerous for you to go see him. What if he wants to kidnap you? Don't forget that the reason he went to Prison back then was because he kidnapped Xuanxuan."

Ji Yingjie: "Don't worry, Yuke, I won't let your father be in danger; there will be bodyguards following to protect him."

Shi Yuke:...

"It's still better not to go; it's better to be safe than sorry."

Shi Yucheng decides: "I will go; I'll go see what kind of tricks he wants to play."

She blurts out: "Dad, I'll go with you!"

"Alright."

The next day.

Shi Yuke appears in the living room early, wearing sunglasses.

When Shi Yucheng comes over, he almost doesn't recognize her; looking closely again, he realizes who it is.

"Yuke, can you not scare people early in the morning? Why are you wearing sunglasses at home?"

Shi Yuke takes off her glasses; there are dark bruises under her eyes that even thick concealer couldn't cover.

"Didn't you rest well last night? Don't go; I'll take the bodyguards and go. You stay home and get some good rest. Don't worry, they will protect me well."

"No, I want to go."

Shi Yuke originally wanted to say that she didn't sleep well because she was worried about her father, and then stop him from going too, but since she can't stop him now, she has no choice but to go together.

The meeting place was arranged at a mahjong parlor.

"Ahem, ahem..."

Pushing open the door to the mahjong parlor, the room was filled with swirling smoke; the smell of cigarettes was so thick it stung the nose and burned the eyes.

In the small room, four mahjong tables were set up.

Amidst the "clatter-clatter" sound of shuffling mahjong tiles, profanities from the people were mixed in.

The person cursing was likely losing money; his brow was furrowed so tightly it could crush a fly.

Shi Yucheng did not smoke, and he never came to such a foul, smoke-filled place; seeing this, he frowned.

Scanning the room, Daobalian was not inside.

He asked, "Where is Daobalian?"

No one paid him any mind; there was only the continuous "clatter-clatter" sound of shuffling mahjong tiles.

In the corner was a small tea table, and sitting by the tea table were two fierce-looking men.

Their bodies were covered in tattoos, and their expressions were unfriendly.

The two men looked Shi Yucheng and his daughter up and down until Shi Yucheng asked for the third time.

The man on the left finally asked, "What business do you have looking for Brother Dao?"

Shi Yucheng said, "He is the one who asked me to come here; if he isn't here, we are leaving." This place disgusted him, and he felt an instinctive resistance.

"Come back."

The man stood up and walked over to them, pointing at the bodyguards behind Shi Yucheng: "They stay here, you come with me."

Shi Yuke said, "I want to be with my father."

The man said, "No, this is what Brother Dao ordered; only he can go alone."

Shi Yucheng said, "You stay here, do not separate from the bodyguards; with them protecting you, I am at ease. I won't be in any danger going in. If I don't come out after an hour, call the police."

She wanted to say more, but her father had already walked away with the man.

She and the bodyguards tried to follow, but were stopped by the other man: "Miss Shi, stay where you are. This is my territory, so listen to me."

Half an hour passed.

Shi Yucheng still hadn't come out.

She couldn't sit still and dialed her father's phone number.

The call was answered quickly, and it was her father's voice: "You take the people and go back. I'm fine, I'll go back by myself in a while."

Shi Yuke breathed a sigh of relief: "No, I'll wait for you here. We came together, we leave together."

"Suit yourself."

"Beep, beep, beep—"

Her father hung up the phone first, which left Shi Yuke very confused.

Her father's attitude toward her was so poor.

His tone was icy and particularly strange; this had never happened before. From childhood to adulthood, her father had never spoken to her in such a tone.