Xin Pengchi had just opened his mouth when he said, "Big Brother—"
"Third brother!" Xin Boliang interrupted him, "Have you never told Hailan the truth about what happened back then all these years?"
"Big brother—"
"How have you educated Xin Hailan all these years? Have you taught her to be scheming and to frame others?"
"Big brother, Hailan is still young, why do you say that—"
"Yes, she's just a child. Because she's young, she asked her younger sister to take her to the airport today, and her sister agreed. Then, she secretly ran away from the airport! What do you think she meant by that? She's so young and she's already learned these tricks. What is she trying to do? Is she trying to sow discord in the family?! Or is it that you, as her father, taught her all these things because she's so young?"
"I didn't, brother!" Xin Pengchi's voice suddenly turned shrill, then he quickly softened his tone, his voice pleading, "Brother, let's find Hailan first. What if she runs into an accident while she's out alone?"
Xin Boliang took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and said, "Once we find her, have her return to Australia immediately. I won't interfere in your and my little sister's affairs anymore!"
After saying that, Xin Boliang abruptly hung up the phone.
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Author's Note:
Second update. Writing went so smoothly today! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 18:37:38 and 20:46:08 on April 14, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: 55157345 (1 grenade);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Shuiliu (10 bottles); Beiq7 (5 bottles); 58123721 and Laobai (1 bottle each);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 86
Xin Hailan disappeared as if she had vanished into thin air. The Xin family mobilized all their resources to investigate the incident, but after three days they still hadn't found her whereabouts.
Xin Pengchi and Meng Lan couldn't stay in Australia any longer and were anxious to return, but Xin Boliang's angry roar stopped them from coming back.
Xin Boliang was determined this time. After learning that Xin Hailan had deliberately asked Xin Ying to take her to the airport and then secretly left and had not shown up since, Xin Boliang completely gave up the idea of helping his third brother's family.
After Xin Pengchi mentioned wanting to come back to find Xin Hailan, Xin Boliang immediately replied, "Even the old man couldn't find her despite using all his power. What use do you think your return would be?"
Xin Pengchi was anxious to return to China because he was worried about Xin Hailan's situation and blurted out those words in a moment of panic. However, he was always weak-willed and prone to overthinking. Unlike Meng Lan, he would not dare to appear at the cemetery to pay respects to Xin Ting'an.
He hasn't left Australia in the more than ten years he's been abroad, and he wouldn't dare come back without his father's permission.
Although we haven't been able to find Xin Hailan in the past few days, we have obtained some useful information.
It can be confirmed that Xin Hailan is not in any danger, and she may even be doing very well now.
This news brought a sigh of relief to everyone.
Xin Hailan's disappearance threw the two elderly people in the Xin family home, Xin Bolang, and her parents in Australia into chaos.
On the night Xin Hailan disappeared, Xin Ying went into the bedroom from the balcony after hanging up Xin Boliang's phone.
Inside the house, Lin Leyao noticed something was off about Xin Ying's tone on the phone. Looking at her with concern, she asked, "What's wrong?"
Xin Hailan has disappeared.
"What?" Lin Leyao suddenly sat up in bed.
Xin Ying then explained the whole story.
Lin Leyao's expression changed several times after hearing this, and she said, "So she deliberately asked you to take her to the airport today?"
"Probably." Xin Ying smiled nonchalantly, threw back the covers, and sat on the bed.
Xin Ying spoke casually, but she herself hadn't expected Xin Hailan to do such a thing.
Why? Xin Ying was very curious.
Did Xin Hailan do this simply to get her or her parents to return to China?
Xin Ying pondered various possibilities, while Lin Leyao, who was standing beside her, remained silent for a long time after hearing Xin Ying's answer.
Because of the hurt Xin Hailan's father caused Xin Ying years ago, she found it difficult to get close to Xin Hailan. However, through this short period of contact, she learned that Xin Hailan was usually quiet and well-behaved and hadn't done anything wrong.
Lin Leyao wasn't close to her, but it was also hard for her to dislike the child.
But unexpectedly, on the day she was about to leave, Xin Hailan would run away and disappear.
Lin Leyao didn't know how to react to this, so she looked at Xin Ying and asked, "Are you going to go find her?"
Xin Ying said calmly, "My dad will look for it; we don't need to worry about it."
Lin Leyao hummed in agreement.
She sensed that Xin Ying was harboring anger because of Xin Hailan's actions.
At this moment, in a high-end apartment in downtown N City.
After sneaking out of S City Airport, Xin Hailan got into a car that had been arranged in advance. The driver drove from afternoon until late at night, and they finally arrived here.
Inside the room, Xin Hailan put her luggage in the bedroom, and the girl in front of her showed her around the apartment.
"Hailan, just let me know if you need anything. I've never lived in this apartment before. I hurriedly arranged for someone to prepare it when you contacted me yesterday at noon, so there might not be some things I didn't prepare."
Xin Hailan looked exhausted. She didn't know what had happened at home after she secretly left the airport, and she didn't want to know.
Hearing the girl's words, she forced herself to stay awake and grinned, saying, "Thank you, Sister Xiao Ai. I'm so grateful to you, otherwise I wouldn't know where to go today."
"Don't be so polite, we're friends!"
After Liu Ai finished speaking, she looked at Xin Hailan, hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "Hailan, is it okay for you to run away from home like this? You are still young, your family will worry."
Xin Hailan smiled and said, "Little Ai, didn't you also run away from home and hide in the park when you were little?"
Liu Ai exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly said, "I only hid for an hour before I was found. Besides, I was just a kid back then!"
As she spoke, Liu Ai suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at Xin Hailan, asking, "You didn't run away from home because I mentioned last time that I ran away from home when I was a child, did you?"
"No, no," Xin Hailan quickly shook her head in denial.
Liu Ai breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "Did you run away from home because you didn't want to go back to Australia?"
Xin Hailan paused for a moment, then did not answer immediately.
Liu Ai, being very perceptive, changed the subject: "Let's not talk about these unhappy things anymore. I ordered takeout for you, and we'll have a good meal together in a bit. After you eat, you can get some rest."
Xin Hailan quickly smiled again and said, "Thank you."
While waiting for her takeout, Xin Hailan put her clothes from her suitcase into the closet one by one, while Liu Ai sat next to her playing on her phone.
Xin Hailan suddenly asked, "Sister Xiao Ai, my family won't find this place, will they?"
Liu Ai immediately replied, "No, I asked my sister for help. She promised me she wouldn't let anyone find you, and she definitely won't."
Xin Hailan nodded.
Liu Ai seemed to remember something, so she looked up from her phone screen and said to Xin Hailan, "But after you stay here for a few days, you should contact your family. Don't let them think something has happened to you."
Xin Hailan nodded and said, "I will."
Xin Hailan contacted her family a week later.
She made a phone call to Xin Pengchi, who was in Australia, to let him know she was safe, and then said nothing more.
Xin Pengchi asked her where she was, but she refused to say. The two didn't talk for long before Xin Hailan hung up the phone.
Xin Pengchi told Xin Bolang about Xin Hailan's phone call, and Xin Bolang quickly told Old Master Xin. Soon, everyone in the Xin family knew that Xin Hailan was alright and doing well, but they just didn't want to show up.
Xin Residence.
The old lady had cried uncontrollably once after Xin Hailan disappeared that day, and today, after learning that Xin Hailan had called Xin Pengchi, she couldn't help but sob again.
In the study, the old lady kept complaining to Mr. Xin.
"Hai Lan has been missing for seven days! Seven days and we still can't find her! Aren't you worried at all?!"
"Find your granddaughter quickly and don't let her go to that Australia anymore. She should stay with me!"
"Does anyone in this family treat Hailan like a human being? Not a single one of them cares about what she's doing!"
Inside the study, Xin Sinan sat on a solid wood armchair, listening to the old lady's words, his eyes half-closed, half-asleep.
Today, after learning that Xin Hailan had made a phone call to Australia, the old man told him to come home.
Xin Boliang will not be returning from Hong Kong. Xin Ying had already said he wouldn't get involved in the matter, and now he's the only one left among his siblings in the study.
Grandpa Xin leaned back in his armchair behind his desk, his eyes closed and his expression completely unchanged, listening to the old lady's accusations one after another.
After a long while, the old man slowly opened his eyes and said, "Don't worry about Hailan's matter. Si Nan, don't let anyone look for her."
Xin Sinan, who had been dozing off, instantly woke up upon hearing the old man's words.
The old man said slowly, "Since she is safe and free, it means she doesn't want us to find her. Let her be. She'll show up when she's had enough. Stop looking for her, and stop looking for anyone."
The old lady was stunned when she heard the old man's words.
What do you mean by that?
The old man patiently explained, "She can go back to Australia whenever she wants. That's her business. She can do whatever she wants. She'll naturally go back to Australia when she's had enough."
Upon hearing the old man's words, the stunned old lady reacted quickly and finally understood what he meant.
The old woman trembled and hurriedly stammered, "This, this—"
Grandpa Xin no longer wanted to care about Xin Hailan.
The old lady understood what the old man meant by those words; he was prepared to give up on the child completely.
Before the old man said those words, the old lady had been arguing with him about Xin Hailan because she knew that the old man cared about this granddaughter.
The old lady was reluctant to let Xin Hailan return to Australia, and he also longed for his third son to come back. She knew this would be difficult to accomplish, but the old man was getting old and becoming more and more soft-hearted towards the younger generation, so given time, her hopes might not be impossible to fulfill.
As Hailan spent more time with the old man, he naturally became reluctant to let her leave.
Even if Xin Hailan returned to Australia this time, the old lady knew she would come back soon. Because the old man had already softened his heart and opened a door, if Xin Hailan could come back once, she would come back a second time, and if she did, she would naturally stay permanently.
She just didn't expect that Xin Hailan would be so bold as to run away from the airport and disappear, and even outsmart her aunt.
Xin Guangjin is quite old and doesn't respond well to force. These past few days, because he didn't know anything about Xin Hailan and was worried that something might have happened to her, the old man hadn't expressed his opinion.
Now that he knows Xin Hailan is safe and sound, the old man's worries have dissipated, leaving only anger.
He would not tolerate the younger generation in his family doing something that would fool their elders or use them as leverage to threaten them.