113: Familiar voice
Chen Kai drove with one hand on the steering wheel. Their county was small, and Yunhai Road wasn't far from the hotel; it was only a ten-minute drive.
He parked the car in a roadside parking space and checked the time. It was ten o'clock, and there was no one in front of the Convenience Store at the intersection yet.
Perhaps the person hadn't arrived yet. He decided to get out of the car, bought a box of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the pharmacy next to the Convenience Store, and then carried the Traditional Chinese Medicine into the Convenience Store to buy a few bottles of chilled electrolyte water.
Only then did he sit on a bench in front of the Convenience Store, scrolling through his phone while quietly waiting for the lost Old Woman to arrive.
...
Meanwhile, in the County Mayor's Office, Li Zhiwei sat at his desk and placed the bezoar he had been carrying in his pocket onto the table, quietly reflecting on the scene that had occurred last night.
No one had contacted him all day yesterday, which left him with the nagging feeling that something remained unfinished.
It was unsettling! It was that feeling of being out in the open while the enemy was in the shadows—an unease caused by not being able to control the overall situation or everything around him!
"If they were asking me for a favor... wouldn't they have called yesterday? Could it really just be good luck? Impossible... absolutely impossible."
Just then, his phone rang abruptly. Li Zhiwei's heart tightened; what was meant to come would come!
"Hmm? Wait?"
Li Zhiwei picked up the phone from his desk and looked at it. Why was it a call from the nursing home?
Had something happened to his mother?
He immediately answered the phone, and the next moment, his expression shifted drastically.
"What??! My mom is missing? How could a seventy or eighty-year-old Old Woman run out of your nursing home?"
"When did she go missing?! You don't even know when she went missing? What use are you people!"
"On such a hot day! If my mom gets heatstroke outside and her life is in danger, what happens then?!"
"Do you know it's thirty-three degrees today! How is an Old Woman with nothing on her supposed to survive out there!"
"What are you still making excuses for? Go find her!"
Li Zhiwei hung up the phone immediately, slammed his fist onto the desk with a "bang," and got up to head downstairs and drive.
...
Meanwhile, Chen Kai went back into the Convenience Store to buy a popsicle. He scrolled through his phone while sucking on the popsicle, waiting for the Old Woman to arrive.
"Hmm? It's already eleven o'clock; why hasn't she come yet?"
Chen Kai paused in confusion and slowly stood up to walk a few steps. As he turned his head, he saw an Old Woman with pale lips leaning in a shaded spot around the corner of the Convenience Store.
Her eyes were closed, her lips were so dry they had cracked, and her eyes looked hazy.
"Damn! How is she here!"
Chen Kai was a bit stunned. When had this Old Woman sat down around the corner? He hadn't even noticed, and he had been leisurely sucking on his popsicle the whole time!
He slapped his forehead suddenly. He had forgotten that the area in front of the Convenience Store was exposed to the scorching sun; if she were going to sit anywhere, it would definitely be in the shade!
He quickly crouched down, praying that the Old Woman was alright. Sometimes, heatstroke could be fatal!
"Water... water..."
Chen Kai paused, then hurriedly took a bottle of electrolyte water from the plastic bag he was carrying, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to the Old Woman.
As long as she could still speak, it wasn't a major problem. Fortunately, he was smart enough to come around here to check? Otherwise, it would have been a disaster!
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
Upon seeing the water, the Old Woman immediately grabbed it and guzzled down more than half the bottle. Water droplets from the corners of her mouth ran down her cheeks onto her clothes before she finally took a slow, deep breath.
"Thank you... thank you... Young Man."
Chen Kai shook his head. "Don't mention it, Ma'am. You've got heatstroke, right? I happened to buy some Traditional Chinese Medicine. Would you like to drink a bottle?"
He observed the Old Woman carefully and realized her mind was still quite clear, which made things easier.
If it had been Alzheimer's, it would have been difficult if she couldn't remember things.
"Thank you... kind soul..."
After the Old Woman drank the Traditional Chinese Medicine in one gulp, she sat in the corner for a long time to recover, and her complexion gradually returned to normal.
Chen Kai cleared his throat and deliberately feigned ignorance. "Ma'am, where is your home? Shall I take you back?"
"On such a hot day, you should go out for fewer walks. What if you get heatstroke again next time?"
The Old Woman's expression paused. She hesitated for a moment before finally opening her mouth.
"Young Man... I ran away from home."
"Ah? Ma'am, at your age, what could be so upsetting that you'd run away from home?"
Chen Kai crouched curiously beside the Old Woman, teasing her while putting on an inquisitive face.
He had to play the part fully; he couldn't just start rummaging through her pockets right away.
The Old Woman's psychological defenses had loosened a bit. She had been ill for so long, and due to her sensitive status, she couldn't complain to anyone, so she could only vent to this strange Young Man.
"Sigh... I won't hide it from you. I've contracted a strange illness. Watching my son running around working himself to the bone for me, and potentially even risking his career—as a mother, how could I drag him down?"
"Forget it... I won't talk to you anymore. I'll continue walking around."
Chen Kai's heart tightened, and he immediately stopped the Old Woman.
"Ma'am. Why are you wandering around on such a hot day? Sit in my car and enjoy the air conditioner for a while. You must be hungry after walking for so long, right? I'll take you to get something to eat later."
"You have to think about your son. Have you considered what he looks like searching for you everywhere? If you just go missing like this, how much trauma will it leave on your son's heart in the future?"
Chen Kai spoke earnestly to persuade her. He supported her arm from her right side, and while doing so, he slipped his hand into his pocket and fished out the ID tag.
He quietly tucked it into his pocket, preparing to get the Old Woman into the car before making the call.
"Sigh... I..."
The Old Woman was supported all the way to the mercedes-benz car. Seeing Chen Kai open the back door, she originally wanted to refuse, but the cool air from inside the car was something she couldn't resist.
After struggling internally for a long time, she sat in the back seat.
"Alright, Ma'am, you just sit there. I'll take you to get something to eat in a bit. You must be starving, right?"
"Mm... thank you, Young Man. You are a good person."
The Old Woman struggled internally for a while. Anyway, Chen Kai didn't know her son's phone number, so she might as well get a full meal before heading back out...
"It's the least I could do."
Chen Kai smiled faintly and closed the car door. He walked to a corner not far away and dialed the family member's phone number on the ID tag.
"Hmm? Rejected?"
The first call was rejected, so Chen Kai dialed a second time.
An impatient voice came from the other end of the line.
"Speak if you have something to say!"
Chen Kai was stunned. What kind of attitude was that?
"I rescued an Old Woman. The phone number in her pocket is yours. Is she not your family member?"
"If she's not your family, I'm hanging up."
There was a pause of a few seconds on the other end, and the voice was noticeably trembling.
"It's... it's my mom... where... where are you? I'm coming to find you right now!"
Listening to the voice on the phone, Chen Kai felt it sounded somewhat familiar.