Chapter 269: Making a Phone Call

At that moment, she noticed a crowd of neighbors gathered at her door, staring at her house.

She immediately burst into tears, wailing pitifully, "My child is missing! Don’t you think I’m sad and heartbroken? How can she slander me like this? I’m the mother! I—"

Just then, someone in the crowd couldn’t take it anymore. "We can’t really see you being so sad and heartbroken. I heard you laughing in your house just yesterday! Oh, right, the smell of chicken from your place last night was so strong you could probably smell it a mile away. You were even fighting with your nephew over a chicken leg. I heard the whole thing loud and clear—"

The moment she said this, the eyes of the watching neighbors went wide.

"Is that for real?"

"It’s true. I smelled it too; that chicken was delicious. The Lan family’s kid was even crying that his aunt ate his chicken leg."

With a second person backing up the story, everyone now believed it.

"Tsk, her daughter is missing, and she can still stomach food."

"Exactly. If this were anyone else, wouldn’t the mother be frantic with worry by now?"

"Look at her, just staying at home, not even going out to search."

"Could it be she intentionally lost her daughter just to get revenge on the Qin family?"

...

The crowd’s back-and-forth criticisms made Lan Qingman furious.

"She’s my child! How could I possibly lose her on purpose? Are you trying to watch me die? Fine, then I’ll just die right here in front of all of you—"

The crowd: ...?

’Forget this. We can’t get tangled up in her meltdown.’

’Let’s get out of here—’

In an instant, the crowd scattered and was gone.

Lan Qingman’s face was dark as she slammed the door shut.

She gritted her teeth. "Sheng Shulan, that old bitch. She’s going to die a miserable death—"

She truly hated her ex-mother-in-law to the bone. ’Why can’t she just drop dead already?’

...

"Auntie, where are you going now?"

"I’m going to the police station first to ask about the situation. When I get back, I’m calling Qin Wenhao. He might not be in Beijing City, but he has a lot of connections. He’ll know what to do."

Mrs. Qin had more faith in her younger son.

At that moment, she couldn’t help but resent her husband and older son.

’A missing child is a huge deal—and they didn’t even bother to explain it clearly over the phone.’

’If they had, she could have told her younger son right away.’

’Then the child wouldn’t have been missing for so many days.’

’She was certain the child was no longer in Beijing City—’

Qin Wenshu also thought it was best to notify Brother Wenhao.

"Auntie, I’ll go with you to the police station."

Mr. Qin and Qin Wenze were already home by this time.

When they learned that Mrs. Qin had gone to the Lan family’s home to cause a scene, they couldn’t help but worry.

"Dad, I’m going to go check on her," Qin Wenze said, turning to leave.

Mr. Qin stopped him. "Don’t go right now. Wenshu is with her, so your mom won’t get into any trouble. She should be back soon."

Just as the words left his mouth, Mrs. Qin and Qin Wenshu walked in.

Qin Wenze stepped forward. "Mom—"

Mrs. Qin spat out a single word, "Get lost."

Qin Wenze didn’t dare say another word.

Qin Wenshu shot his older cousin a sympathetic look.

’Now is not the time to get in her way. Auntie’s so angry right now, she’d probably kick a random rock on the street.’

Mrs. Qin ignored Mr. Qin as well.

This wasn’t the time to settle scores with the father and son. Instead, she went straight to the phone and dialed the number for the military base.

The moment the call was picked up, Mrs. Qin said bluntly:

"Hello, could you please give a message to Qin Wenhao? Just tell him there’s a family emergency and that he needs to call home."

As it happened, Director Xie and Fu Mingxue were right there.

Fu Mingxue had just delivered something to the base.