Li Yuanhua was still being stubborn. "I don't care what others think of me."
"You may not care about others, but what about Xiaoyu? In the eyes of those who are a bit calculating, it would seem like you're deliberately trying to hide the Qiu family's consortium and swallow the fortune all by yourself. Think about it. If Xiaoyu finds out about this from someone else, how will she see you?"
"I..." Li Yuanhua opened his mouth and realized that Ming Yuezhu was absolutely right. Not to mention others, even he didn't know how to explain this.
Back then, their grandma seemed to have left a huge inheritance for the siblings. But it wasn't that easy to get the money. Grandma probably left a lot of rules and restrictions to prevent Li Xiangping from gobbling up the inheritance. These rules not only restricted Li Xichi but also Li Xiangping and Li Xiyu.
This was the reason why Li Yuanhua had never told Li Xiyu about this over the years. He himself had been forced to take over the department store he didn't want to manage. He had been trapped in the Li family all his life, being fake with his own father, scheming and calculating. He didn't want his sister to go through the same thing.
"For you, the Qiu family's consortium is a burden and a responsibility. But it may not be the same for Xiaoyu. She's capable, and she has Song Yian to help her. She can definitely handle it well. You should trust her," Ming Yuezhu comforted him.
She sat beside Li Yuanhua and said seriously, word by word, "Yuanhua, I like you. More than you can imagine. I wanted a divorce from you just to make you cheer up and pursue your own life. Since you don't want to do business, why force yourself? I feel so bad seeing you doing things you don't like every day, struggling to hold on to the department store."
Li Yuanhua looked at Ming Yuezhu. Every word she said hit him right in the heart and broke down the defenses he had been holding on to so hard.
"You're right. I couldn't even protect my wife and child. How can I talk about protecting others?"
Li Yuanhua sighed and shook his head helplessly.
"I don't want to care about these things anymore. Really." After this scare, Li Yuanhua had thought things through. He just wanted to live a secluded life with Ming Yuezhu and Li Tong, away from all the worldly disputes.
He could be just Yuanhua, without any psychological burdens, instead of Li Yuanhua or Qiu Yuanhua.
Li Yuanhua hugged Ming Yuezhu and said, "Once we find Xiaotong, let's leave, okay? I'm tired."
Ming Yuezhu hugged his head and replied, "Okay."
After returning to the room, Li Qiyu had been studying the card in her hand. Song Yian asked her who the person on the card was, but Li Qiyu remembered Ming Yuezhu's instructions and refused to say.
Song Yian didn't press further. He had planned to bandage Li Qiyu's wound after getting back to the room, but then the phone rang. He had asked someone to help find the child, and he couldn't miss this call. So he had to answer it. When he turned around after answering the call, he saw that Li Qiyu was already lying on her side, fast asleep.
Li Qiyu must have been exhausted.
After such a long day, not to mention running back and forth between the kindergarten, the police station, and home, just dealing with such a big thing and being so stressed all day would have made anyone tired.
She probably didn't dare to lie on the injured hand because of the pain. It was just stretched out on the edge of the bed, looking quite shocking.
Song Yian picked up the ointment Li Qiyu had left on the bedside table. He got a wet towel from the bathroom and sat on the carpet beside Li Qiyu's bed. He first carefully wiped away the bloodstains around the wound with the wet towel, and then applied the ointment bit by bit.
Song Yian was very careful. His expression was so focused that if someone didn't know, they might think he was a cultural relic restoration master, carefully restoring a priceless treasure.
After taking care of Li Qiyu's wound and tucking her in, Song Yian left the room.
The golden time to find a missing child was within twelve hours. He had to keep a close eye on it all the time.
In the morning, an envelope was slipped through the crack of the door of the Li family mansion.
The content in the envelope was typed. It was impossible to tell the handwriting. It said, "If you want the child back, transfer three million to the account xx. If we don't see the money today, we'll kill the child."
Three million! That was quite a big appetite!
Even though the Li family and the Mingyue family were wealthy, it was still difficult to come up with that much cash all at once.
At this time, Li Xiangping thought of Song Yian and asked Li Qiyu, "Where's Xiaonian? Can we ask him to borrow the money first?"
Li Qiyu shook her head and said, "He seemed to have left last night. He might be busy with things in the capital."
Hearing this, Li Xiangping got a bit angry. "Such a big thing has happened, and he still... Does he even consider us his family?"
Ming Yuezhu stood up to defend Li Qiyu and Song Yian. "It's okay. I can ask my grandma to lend us the money. She will."
Ming Yuezhu knew that Li Xiangping didn't want to use the Li family's money.
Li Yuanhua, of course, also knew. He said angrily, "Since the child's name is Li Tong, it's the Li family's business. How can we let you trouble your grandma? Don't worry. There's money in the company's account. Let's get through this first."
"You..." Hearing this, Li Xiangping was extremely angry. The money Li Yuanhua was spending was also part of his daily expenses. That was why he had initially wanted the wealthiest Song Yian in the family to shoulder the three - million - yuan burden.
"Don't be impulsive." After all, Li Tong was his grandson, and Li Xiangping couldn't just not save him. He could only stand up and say, "Let the police analyze that account first and see if they can intercept the money. And what if they don't release the child after we transfer the money?"
"Right, right." Jiang Yongfeng echoed. Since she found out that Li Xiangping didn't actually have much money, she had also started to be more frugal. If that three million was at home, she could get a lot of benefits from it.
"I'm not stupid. The police aren't stupid, and the kidnappers are even less stupid. Since they dared to give this account number, they're not afraid of being investigated. And I've already sent someone to check. It's a foreign account. The police station has already applied for a cross - border freeze for us, but that's just a temporary solution. The kidnappers can take the money or transfer it away at any time. We don't know where they'll take it or how they'll transfer it."
Moreover, Li Yuanhua was even more worried that in cases like this, the probability of the kidnappers killing the hostage was usually quite high. Li Yuanhua wasn't afraid of spending money. He'd be willing to pay thirty million, let alone three million.
He was just afraid that he'd spend the money but the child wouldn't come back.
Li Qiyu watched as the family was in a complete mess. She also wanted to help. She remembered that Song Yian had given her a card before. He said it was a bank card with money in it. She didn't know how much money was in it. She took out the card directly and handed it to Li Yuanhua.