Volume One, Chapter Eight: Keep It Discreet
Bai Ruoyun looked at Bai Ruoxi, her deep brown eyes swirling with a complex mix of emotions. Her crimson lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Bai Ruoxi wiped away a tear with the back of her hand and said, “Why don’t you tell me? You haven’t told me why you returned to the country.”
The runaway marriage incident had been carefully planned by Bai Ruoyun and Bai Ruoxi together.
Before returning to the Bai family, Bai Ruoyun had a childhood sweetheart.
He was Bai Ruoyun’s middle school classmate, and the two had shared a deep bond in their youth.
But the Bai family’s purpose in raising daughters was to arrange marriages with the Jiang family. How could they allow Bai Ruoyun to marry according to her own wishes?
So Bai Ruoyun and Bai Ruoxi hatched the plan to elope...
Bai Ruoyun sold all the handbags and jewelry she could, then went abroad with her first love.
A year after moving overseas, Bai Ruoyun gave birth to an adorable daughter in country K.
Now, the child was only two years old, so Bai Ruoyun shouldn’t have returned lightly.
Bai Ruoxi’s gaze fell on the cuff of Bai Ruoyun’s sleeve.
Beneath the dark red printed chiffon fabric, mottled skin was faintly visible.
Bruises.
Bai Ruoxi’s brows knitted slightly, her heart beginning to piece things together.
A fleeting unnatural expression crossed Bai Ruoyun’s face. Instinctively, she hid her hand behind a cup and mumbled, “I came to see Madam Du.”
“Is that so?” Bai Ruoxi said coolly. “How come I didn’t know you had such a close relationship with my foster mother?”
She paused, then fixed Bai Ruoyun with a stern look.
“Did he hit you?”
Bai Ruoyun said nothing, avoiding Bai Ruoxi’s eyes and pretended to fiddle with the crystal beads on her wrist.
Bai Ruoxi crossed her arms and stared intently at the woman opposite her, waiting for an answer.
The glass beads clicked crisply against each other.
The silence weighed heavily between them.
Finally, Bai Ruoyun sighed. “You crazy girl, you’re scary when you get serious.”
“Zhou Ran is a shameless bastard!”
“He pretends to be a big shot abroad, deceived a few girls into bed, and by the time I found out, he had drained all our savings and even racked up debts.”
“When I asked him about the money, he tried to hit me.”
“With rent money gone and Shan Shan’s formula running low, I had no choice but to find a job that could take care of the child.”
Bai Ruoxi pressed her lips together, her tone tinged with shock.
---
“Six million dollars all gone?”
When they moved abroad, Bai Ruoyun had brought six million US dollars.
Though Zhou Ran came from a poor background, he was considered fairly decent—finding a simple job abroad to make ends meet shouldn’t have been a problem.
Bai Ruoyun had experienced hard times without money in her youth and was not one to squander wealth.
Before leaving the country, neither had extravagant spending habits.
Even with Bai Ruoyun unable to work due to childbirth, the money should have sustained them for a long time.
How could so much money be used up so easily?
Bai Ruoyun nodded, her eyes reddening slightly.
“He said I couldn’t share a room with him while pregnant, and after the child was born, it wasn’t the same anymore, so he went out looking for other women.”
“He even got addicted to gambling...”
At this point, Bai Ruoyun seemed to be suppressing something fiercely, clenching her fists tightly.
“He said... it was all my fault. If he hadn’t wanted to protect me from illness, he wouldn’t have spent so much finding ‘clean’ women...”
“We had a huge fight, and he actually laid hands on me.”
“After the first time, he cried, knelt on the floor begging for forgiveness, but not long after, he would hit me again over something else.”
Hearing this, Bai Ruoxi gasped softly and murmured, “No wonder Shan Shan was crying for help back then...”
Two months ago, Bai Ruoxi had a video call with Bai Ruoyun.
The nearly two-year-old Shan Shan could already say simple words.
She wore a pink baby dress Bai Ruoxi had sent and waved her arms at the camera.
While swinging her arms, she intermittently uttered words like “auntie” and “help.”
At the time, Bai Ruoxi thought Zhou Zishan had learned these words from TV dramas, but now it seemed she learned them from witnessing Bai Ruoyun being abused.
Bai Ruoxi’s pupils contracted slightly. As if suddenly recalling something, she asked urgently, “What about Zhou Zishan? You’re back now—what will happen to her?”
“I came back to find Shan Shan...” Bai Ruoyun’s voice was hoarse. “Some mysterious woman gave Zhou Ran the idea to use the child to force me to pay his debts.”
“Last night, while I was showering, he took Shan Shan back home and hid her.”
“He said if I didn’t help him pay, I wouldn’t be allowed to see the child.”
To threaten one’s wife with their own child—Zhou Ran was no human...
Bai Ruoxi stared at Bai Ruoyun, her eyes growing darker.
She said in a low voice, “How much does he owe? I’ll give you the money—first get the child back.”
“This isn’t about money.”
---
Bai Ruoyun gave a bitter smile. “Zhou Ran is a bottomless pit—I can’t fill it. I just have to find the child and take her away from him forever.”
“Zhou Ran is a ghoul, a parasite, a leech. If you help me, he’ll latch onto you and blackmail you too...”
At her lowest point, Bai Ruoyun had thought about asking Bai Ruoxi for help.
But over the years, Zhou Ran had shattered her understanding.
That model student had become a complete monster. She couldn’t selfishly drag Bai Ruoxi into this mess.
Besides, Bai Ruoxi’s own life was difficult enough...
“Tap, tap, tap...”
Bai Ruoxi’s slender fingers tapped the table—a habitual unconscious gesture when deep in thought.
After a moment, Bai Ruoxi said, “If you need anything, tell me.”
Bai Ruoyun composed herself and forced a bitter smile. “You’re struggling enough as it is. Don’t get involved in other people’s affairs.”
“Come on, since I’m so miserable, buy me dinner.”
Bai Ruoxi nodded.
“Alright. Wait by the door. I’ll talk to Lu Ming for a moment, then I’ll come out.”
After Bai Ruoyun left, Bai Ruoxi grabbed her bag and headed to the deepest office in Jin Zhi.
The door opened, and Lu Ming, wearing thick glasses, frowned as he stared at messages on his phone.
“Miss Xiao Qiao, you’re here.”
Lu Ming stood, lowering his voice. “I was just heading to the hospital to investigate Chen Chunrong’s people. We’ll have results soon. Do you want to wait here?”
“I have another appointment soon. Just send me the results,” Bai Ruoxi said with a cold breath.
“Check on Zhou Ran for me.”
“Zhou Ran? Bai’s husband?”
Bai Ruoxi said calmly, “Ex-husband... He’s hiding Zhou Zishan and won’t let Bai Ruoyun see her.”
“Send a detective to track his movements recently—quietly, don’t alert him.”
Lu Ming nodded. “Understood.”
“Wait...”
Bai Ruoxi pursed her lips, her eyes darkening.
After a moment, she lowered her voice. “Once you find Zhou Ran, act as a creditor—bribe some thugs to rough him up.”
“Keep it discreet. Don’t kill him—if he dies, we lose Zhou Zishan.”