Chapter 282 - 172: What a Coincidence

Chapter 282: Chapter 172: What a Coincidence

"Who are you people? What are you doing crowded around here?"

Su Chen had just stepped out the door when he heard a questioning voice from the side. Following the sound, he saw a woman in her forties holding a bowl, looking at them with a puzzled expression.

"We’re..." Su Chen didn’t get to finish before Su Zhuyun, who was right behind him, cut him off.

"Oh, Furong, you’re here! This is my son and his friends!" He then turned to Su Chen and explained, "This is your Auntie Furong, the owner of this guesthouse."

Hearing this, Du Furong glanced at Su Chen and the people with him, her eyes lingering on the burly men in suits. She could tell they were bodyguards.

’What kind of ordinary person travels with bodyguards?’

She never would have thought that the couple, Chen Shufen and her husband, whom she had assumed were just a well-off, middle-class family, would have such an impressive background.

"I’ve made some lotus seed and pork heart soup for Shufen to help calm her nerves. I’ll take it in to her now!" With that, she walked into Chen Shufen’s room under everyone’s watchful gaze.

Su Chen was getting curious. His father and the others had only arrived on the island yesterday, so how had they gotten on such good terms with the guesthouse owner so quickly? ’Could it be... that this Auntie Furong has some history with my old man?’

For a moment, his gaze toward Su Zhuyun was filled with playful teasing.

They say no one knows a son better than his father. Seeing the peculiar look Su Chen shot him, Su Zhuyun knew exactly what he was thinking.

He gave Su Chen a light slap on the back of the head. "You little brat, what kind of nonsense is going through your head?"

"Your Auntie Furong is also from Fuzhou, from the same village as your mom. Over a decade ago, during the Three Gorges relocation, her family lived by the Yangtze River. They moved to the coast after being displaced."

"Back then, she and your mom were incredibly close. To think that after more than ten years apart, they’d run into each other again here... It really is fate!" Su Zhuyun remarked with a sigh.

After arriving at West Island yesterday, they came to this guesthouse they had booked in advance. As soon as they walked in the door, Chen Shufen ran right into Du Furong. It was a true reunion of old friends from the same hometown, their eyes welling up with tears!

The two of them held hands and chatted for two or three hours, as if they had an endless supply of things to talk about.

Su Chen was surprised to hear this. To think that two people who hadn’t seen each other in over a decade would meet again in a place like this—fate truly works in mysterious ways.

It really proved the saying: if two people are fated to be, they can meet even at the ends of the earth. If not, they could live in the same apartment complex and never cross paths.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Su Chen led Su Zhuyun, Sicong, and the others downstairs. Fortunately, the guesthouse had a courtyard with plenty of tables, chairs, and benches for resting.

"Dad, tell me about Mom’s situation. What exactly happened?" Su Chen asked as soon as they sat down.

Su Zhuyun had only given him a rough summary over the phone, so Su Chen wasn’t clear on the full story.

At the mention of this, Su Zhuyun’s guilt resurfaced. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself, and only then began to slowly explain.

Initially, Su Zhuyun hadn’t known exactly what Chen Shufen had gone through underwater. When he had asked before, Chen Shufang had been evasive. It was only later, when she saw how genuinely angry Su Zhuyun was, that she told him everything.

When Su Chen heard that someone had pulled off Chen Shufen’s mask underwater and deliberately dragged her into deeper water, the grim expression on his face made it obvious to anyone that he was furious.

"Dad, do you know the name of that diving club? And what about the instructor?"

Su Zhuyun frowned in thought before replying, "I’m not sure about the name of the diving club, but I know the instructor was called Ah Bu!"

"Ah Bu... got it. Dad, you stay here at the guesthouse and take care of Mom. Leave the rest to me." With that, Su Chen prepared to get up and head to the diving club to find this Ah Bu.

Seeing this, Su Zhuyun wanted to stop him, but the thought of how much his wife had suffered made him swallow his words. He just took two harsh drags from his cigarette.

"Xiaochen, be careful. Don’t blow things out of proportion!" Su Zhuyun couldn’t help but add.

"I know," Su Chen nodded, then led Sicong and the others toward the exit.

"Wait!"

Su Chen had just opened the guesthouse door when he heard a voice from behind. He turned to see the owner, Du Furong.

"Auntie Furong? What is it?" Su Chen asked, puzzled, as she jogged over to him.

Du Furong looked like she wanted to say something but was holding back. After a long moment of silence, she finally bit the bullet and said, "You can’t afford to mess with that diving club!"

"Can’t afford to mess with them?"

Su Chen’s expression didn’t change at her words. He knew this was a well-intentioned warning, given out of friendship for Chen Shufen. Anyone else wouldn’t have cared whether he lived or died.

But beside him, the masked Sicong and Qin Fen exchanged a look, and a hint of amusement flashed in their eyes.

They, too, were curious about what kind of background this diving club had to make the guesthouse owner speak so gravely.

"What happened to your mother... something similar has happened countless times over the past two years. But every time, the matter is resolved quickly, and few people ever talk about it."

"It’s because that diving club is backed by the Qingshan Tourism Group. And Qingshan Group is the largest tourism company on the southeastern coast, with subsidiaries in all the major tourist spots along the coast."

Du Furong paused here, as if steeling herself. After about five or six seconds, she continued, "And behind Qingshan Group... I’ve heard it’s the Ye Group!"