Free Web NovelChapter 2140: Chapter 2043: Worldview Shattered
Sure, here is the translation:
Zhang Jing spoke while fantasizing about making some profit from it, not feeling ashamed at all, but rather showing an expression of entitlement, not even considering their mistreatment of Tongtong as wrong.
After waking up, the couple did not call the police; leisurely, they had breakfast before heading out to search casually for a while.
Because they planned to keep this from the neighbors, Zhang Jing and Tong Jian were also afraid to openly inquire at their neighbors’ homes. However, they still used the opportunity to chat and speak with the neighbors to subtly probe around.
This probing did not yield any information about where Tongtong might be playing, and it seemed that the neighbors weren’t aware that Tongtong was missing.
Convinced that the neighbors weren’t pretending ignorance, Tong Jian and Zhang Jing finally came to a conclusion that Tongtong, that wretched girl, had indeed been abducted.
Tong Jian and Zhang Jing exchanged a glance, and after returning home, began to plan. If they kept this hidden, it would certainly be impossible to maintain the secret. The only option now was for Zhang Jing to call her sister’s home, bring over her niece, and have Jing Jing impersonate Tongtong to see how it goes.
Zhang Jing’s sister, Zhang Ying, agreed immediately to let her daughter visit without asking anything.
Tong Jian quickly drove to his sister-in-law’s house, brought Jing Jing back, and started teaching the little girl how to act, promising various benefits, agreeing to buy pretty dresses and toys as long as she obeyed and followed their arrangements.
The little girl had just turned five, still naive, pampered at home, far less sensible than Tongtong of the same age. Although she didn’t understand what Tong Jian and Zhang Jing meant by those words, the mention of pretty dresses and toys intrigued her, and she nodded earnestly, doing whatever the couple said.
After the arrangements, they practiced numerous times, teaching Jing Jing about the questions and concerns the lawyer named Huo might ask when visiting. Only then did Tong Jian and Zhang Jing feel at ease.
Although Jing Jing was young, she often played house with other kids, so when asked to impersonate Tongtong, she pulled it off convincingly. Even Tong Jian and Zhang Jing felt she portrayed it well, not to mention the woman named Huo, who had never met Tongtong.
The couple devised a cunning plan, thinking that once the woman named Huo saw Tongtong, she would be very satisfied and pass the message along to Elisa. That foolish woman would surely believe her daughter was well taken care of in Jinling, allowing them to continue receiving substantial monthly support to cover their family’s expenses.
As for where Tongtong might be taken, whether turned into a disfigured beggar on the streets, sold as a child bride in remote areas, or had her organs harvested and already deceased, this was entirely beyond Tong Jian and Zhang Jing’s concern.
The couple had their plans, but little did they know, their scheme would result in nothing achieved.
Elisa was no longer among the living, and Huo Sining could speculate that the one million Elisa sent to Tong Jian’s account was probably her final compensation for the couple, perhaps hoping they would treat Tongtong kindly and raise the child well, considering the amount.
But Elisa overestimated human nature and underestimated the couple’s greed and ambition.
Huo Sining made that phone call intending for the Tong couple to panic and report to the police in haste to find the child. At that point, she could expose the illegal adoption and abuse of Tongtong by the couple.
By then, the couple would be unable to defend themselves, as Tongtong was still undocumented, and they couldn’t provide a birth certificate nor prove Tongtong was their biological child. At that point, the couple would undoubtedly be guilty.
However, Huo Sining never expected the couple’s psychological resilience to be even stronger than she anticipated. After the phone call, instead of thinking about reporting to the police, they were considering finding a child to replace Tongtong.
This left Huo Sining awed, completely changing her worldview.
Huo Sining was utterly speechless; she previously considered giving the couple some leeway, but now realized she was being too lenient. Such shameless people had no boundaries, and if she showed any leniency, she would be doing herself a disservice.
That night, Tong Jian and Zhang Jing slept soundly, but in the middle of the night, Tong Jian woke up due to stinging itching all over his body. He had felt unusual during the day but didn’t pay much attention then, briefly using a scratching tool on his back and taking a bath at night to feel better.
Little did he know, as the night went on, he became increasingly itchy all over. He kept scratching himself until the itch became unbearable, finally waking him from his sleep.
As he touched his back, Tong Jian felt several bumps on his skin. Unable to discern anything precisely, he decided to get up, run to the bathroom, remove his vest, and face the mirror opposite the sink for a closer look.
The sight shocked him immensely.
In the dim bathroom light, he saw his back covered in terrifying red bumps, stacked in multiple layers in some places.
Seeing this, Tong Jian’s face turned pale with fear, and the sight of those red bumps only made them itchier. He couldn’t help but scratch at other parts of his body.
It was fine when he didn’t scratch, but once he did, the skin elsewhere seemed to collapse, with patches of bumps popping up quickly, covering his neck, arms, thighs, abdomen, and even his face.
Moreover, those horrible red bumps emitted a foul smell. As Tong Jian pressed a few of them, he felt they were filled with pus. If accidentally squeezed, yellow liquid would squirt out, and the foul odor became even more pungent.
Seeing this, Tong Jian was petrified. He frantically ran out of the bathroom, scurried to the bedside, and persistently nudged Zhang Jing, trying to wake his wife.
