Rebirth to Save Myself

After the Chinese New Year, the family returned from Sanya just before the start of the school year. Seeing that Chen Chunqi liked Sanya, Chen Jianguo generously bought a seaside villa and transferred the property to Chen Chunqi.

"Why buy a house?" Chen Chunqi asked, puzzled.

“Then we’ll have a place to stay when we come back, no need to rent anymore, isn’t that great!” Chen Jianguo said matter-of-factly.

"How many times can he come? It's a waste of money. He even bought a villa, it's so big, isn't it just burning money if he doesn't live there?" Chen Chunqi was a little angry. Most of the properties Chen Jianguo bought in the provincial capital in the early days were shops, which are now rented out to others for business, and they can collect rent every month. Some other properties have been simply renovated and rented out as well, all of which are managed by Chen Chunqi.

Chen Jianguo didn't care and simply let Chen Chunqi use the rent money as pocket money to buy clothes, jewelry, bags, and other things she liked. In addition, Chen Jianguo would also transfer a sum of money to Chen Chunqi's card every month so that she could spend it as she pleased, and transfer more money if she needed it.

“But you like it here! And it’s not cold here in winter. We can retire here and spend our old age here.” Chen Jianguo said stiffly, and the atmosphere became very tense.

“I think it’s great too. The climate here is pleasant, and there’s the beach that Mom likes. Xiaxia and I can come over to visit you from time to time, which is nice. The villa has many rooms, so there’s plenty of room.” Chen Yuan felt sorry for her father, so she voiced her support.

“That’s true. When you get married and have children, the kids will need their own rooms too.” Chen Chunqi nodded in agreement.

"Mom, I've only just turned 18. What do you mean by having a baby? That's too early." Chen Yuan blushed deeply at Chen Chunqi's words.

“That’s right. Besides, I’m going to be the one to move in with my daughter’s family, not to marry her off.” Chen Jianguo immediately became sensitive when the topic of marriage came up.

"How could your daughter possibly come to your door with that boyfriend she found?" Chen Chunqi said dismissively.

"Mom!" Chen Yuan tried to stop Chen Chunqi, but it was too late.

"What person?" Chen Jianguo asked, turning to Chen Yuan with a look that said, "You're dating someone?"

"No, no. Dad, don't listen to Mom's nonsense." Chen Yuan stammered in her anxiety, then looked at Su Xia and Chen Chunqi for help.

Upon receiving Chen Yuan's pleading look, Chen Chunqi and Su Xia tacitly turned their heads away from her, and the two even started talking about how to decorate the villa.

"Yuanyuan, why does your mother know you're dating but your father doesn't? Is there something wrong with the person you chose? Who is he? What's his name? Where does he live? What's his family's financial situation like? According to your mother, he would never come to your house, so why is that?" Chen Jianguo stared intently at Chen Yuanyuan, as if she wouldn't be able to get through the day without answering these questions.

"Dad, calm down. Take a deep breath with me, inhale, exhale." Chen Yuan put her hands in front of her, trying to calm Chen Jianguo down, afraid that he would get too agitated and hit her.

"Don't change the subject, tell me quickly, who is your girlfriend?" How could Chen Jianguo calm down right now? All he could think about was the fact that his daughter had been taken away by a bastard, a fact he couldn't accept.

"Chen, Chen Wenwei."

"What?! It was that brat!" Chen Jianguo roared, then thought carefully about what had happened before, and asked, "You went all the way to Jinling to study because of him? You two weren't together in high school, were you? I even asked him to take care of you, wasn't that just pushing you towards him? Your mother was right, how could his only son possibly marry into our family!" Chen Jianguo muttered to himself, having just asked Chen Yuan, he then sat down on the sofa as if all his strength had been drained.

"Old Chen, our daughter is just dating, there's no need to act like this!" Chen Chunqi couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up directly.

“How could it be unnecessary? That brat actually stole my daughter away from me! Tell me, if Chen Wenwei and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?” Chen Jianguo said, pulling Chen Yuan along with an agitated expression.

"I'll save you, of course I'll save you," Chen Yuan quickly replied. Su Xia often asked her this question, insisting she choose between her and Chen Wenwei. So, she was also asked this, and naturally, she had to abandon Chen Wenwei. Luckily, Su Xia did this; otherwise, if she had hesitated in front of her father, she would probably have been finished.

Chen Yuan's words relieved Chen Jianguo, at least offering some comfort. However, the fact that his beloved daughter had been taken by a scoundrel still deeply wounded his heart.

Afterwards, everyone set off to return home. Chen Jianguo stared sadly out the window, silent. Chen Yuan knew she was in the wrong and wanted to comfort Chen Jianguo, but he completely ignored her. Chen Chunqi told her to step back and stay with Chen Jianguo until she had calmed him down, then Chen Yuan could come back.

The family originally planned to visit Chen Wenwei's family after returning from Sanya. However, Chen Jianguo threw a tantrum and refused to go. In the end, Su Xia took Chen Chunqi to deliver some souvenirs they had bought in Sanya, which finally convinced them to stop.

"Chunqi, why didn't your husband Chen come today?" Chen Meili asked curiously.

"He's a bit busy." Chen Chunqi's eyes darted away; how could she say that her husband was upset because their daughter was dating?

"That's true, we've been out having fun for so long, there must be a lot of business piling up at the company. So how did you get here? Did you take a taxi?" Chen Meili asked. Before, Chen Chunqi was always escorted by Chen Jianguo, and if he was too busy, there was always a driver. But now it's still a holiday, so the driver probably won't be working.

“I brought Mom here,” Su Xia said.

"You can drive now?" Chen Meili was also surprised. Su Xia was a year younger than Chen Wenwei and Chen Yuan.

"Yes, I took some time out of school to get my driver's license." Su Xia nodded; she had planned to get her license anyway. She had postponed it until she went to university because she wanted to go on vacation after graduating high school.

Fortunately, the driving schools near the school primarily catered to students, offering various incentives to attract them. After researching, Su Xia chose a driving school and obtained her license in her spare time. Knowing that Su Xia had her license, Chen Jianguo would occasionally let her practice driving in Sanya to prevent her from becoming rusty from infrequent driving.

“Kids learn so fast these days, they have time when they’re in school. Once they start working, where will they find the time to learn?” Chen Chunqi added, also urging Chen Yuan to get her driver’s license while she’s still in school.

“That’s true, Wenwei, why don’t you take a course next semester when you have time?” Chen Meili nodded and then said to Chen Wenwei.

Chen Wenwei, having been tipped off by Chen Yuan, roughly understood the current situation. He felt regretful that Chen Yuan couldn't come to his house, but there was nothing he could do. While chatting with Chen Yuan, he heard his mother calling him. He looked up and asked, "What?"

"I'll have you take some time to learn to drive," Su Xia said, glancing at Chen Wenwei.

"Oh, okay. I'll go next semester." Chen Wenwei nodded, then continued chatting with Chen Yuan.

Chen Chunqi was worried about her temperamental old man at home, so she declined Chen Meili's suggestion to stay for dinner and went back with Su Xia. Ever since Chen Jianguo learned that Chen Yuan was in a relationship, he had moved all his work from the company home to keep an eye on Chen Yuan at all times and prevent her from going out to see Chen Wenwei.

Chen Chunqi asked helplessly, "What if she goes to school? Are you going with her?"

When Chen Jianguo heard this, he was heartbroken! In his grief, he seriously considered whether he should buy a house near Nankai University so that Chen Yuan could commute to school.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan was furious and immediately swore to Chen Jianguo, "I will come back to work in the provincial capital as soon as I graduate and will not stay in Nanjing."

"It's a good thing Xiaxia isn't dating yet, otherwise, if both of your daughters were dating at the same time, wouldn't you be devastated, Lao Chen?" Chen Chunqi asked.

Chen Jianguo rushed up to Su Xia and questioned her, "Are you also secretly dating someone, just like Chen Yuan?"

"Not at the moment," Su Xia shook her head, telling the truth.

"Dad, although Xiaxia isn't dating, a lot of people at her school like her." Chen Yuan tried to shift the focus away from Su Xia, so she added fuel to the fire.

"Hmph, those little brats don't know what liking someone means! Xiaxia, don't be fooled by those shady characters." Chen Jianguo said earnestly to Su Xia, the "shady characters" referring to Chen Wenwei.

"Dad, Wenwei is not a disreputable person at all!" Chen Yuan immediately retorted, having also discerned the truth.

"With your condition, you still say you'll save me first?" Chen Jianguo raised an eyebrow, looking at Chen Yuan.

"Of course I'll save you first, no need to ask, haha!" Chen Yuan replied awkwardly, deciding it was best not to make any further conversation.

"Dad, don't worry, I'll definitely tell you if I want to date. If you're not satisfied, I can choose not to date and stay by your and Mom's side to take care of you for the rest of my life," Su Xia said to Chen Jianguo.

Before Chen Jianguo could express his opinion, Chen Chunqi stepped forward and said, "That won't do. We can discuss marriage, but we still need to date. Otherwise, without experience, we can easily be deceived by bad people."

"Yes, your mother is right. It's good to date." Chen Jianguo didn't want his two daughters to be deceived by unscrupulous people.

"I'll do whatever you say." Su Xia nodded.

“Xiaxia is so well-behaved, unlike some people who have been dating behind their parents’ backs for so long.” Chen Jianguo glanced at Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan was truly suffering in silence! She and Su Xia formed a stark contrast: one was obedient and well-behaved, the other was in a relationship early! It was all Chen Wenwei's fault, yes, it was all because of him!

So, with the start of the school year approaching, Chen Jianguo, who was preparing to send Su Xia and Chen Yuan to school, politely declined Chen Wenwei's suggestion to accompany them and instead packed Chen Yuan up and put her on the plane. Chen Yuan figured she could see Chen Wenwei at school anyway, so she decided to reluctantly indulge her father's little whim.

As soon as Su Xia reached her dormitory floor, she saw a group of girls gathered around her room, seemingly peering inside. Upon seeing her, they said, "Su Xia, you're here! Hurry in and help Lu Lu; her parents want her to drop out of school."

Upon hearing this, Su Xia was shocked and quickly dragged her luggage into the dormitory, where she found Lu Lu being protected by Ye Zhenzhen and Chen Wanying. Standing in front of them was a couple who looked plainly dressed, with Ye Zhenzhen still cursing loudly: "What kind of parents are you? Don't think that just because you gave birth to her, she is yours. A child is an individual, not your property."

“That’s right, you can’t treat Lu Lu like this. Xiaxia, come here quickly.” Chen Wanying beckoned.

Mr. and Mrs. Lu looked back, and Mrs. Lu pointed at Su Xia and said, "Old Lu, it's her. She's the woman who said she was going to call the police to arrest us."

Su Xia put her luggage aside, then walked over to Ye Zhenzhen and the other two, all looking at Lu's parents. Su Xia asked, "What, do I need to call the police again?"

“Calling the police won’t do any good. We brought our household registration booklet, which can prove that we are her parents,” Lu’s mother shouted, taking out the household registration booklet from her bag.

"Who knows if what you said is true or not," Ye Zhenzhen said from the side.

"I have the police station's stamp here, you can verify its authenticity as you like." Mother Lu opened the household registration book and showed everyone the red stamp inside.

"Excuse me, everyone, we need to resolve this internally. Could you please close the door and not spread what you saw today around?" Su Xia looked at the crowd gathered at the door.

The others were sensible; it was indeed Lu Lu's family matter, and they couldn't keep watching. So they considerately closed the door and returned to their own dorm rooms.

Su Xia pulled up her chair and sat down, then said to Ye Zhenzhen and Chen Wanying, "I rushed over as soon as I got off the plane, I'm exhausted, you two sit down too!"

Ye Zhenzhen was still confused about what Su Xia was doing. At this moment, she didn't care about whether or not to sit down; Lu Lu was the most important person. She also didn't want Lu Lu's parents to think there was discord within the dormitory, so she pulled up a chair, and Chen Wanying and Lu Lu sat down together.

"By the way, why haven't you guys given up on getting Lu Lu expelled from school yet?" Su Xia asked after the three of them sat down.

“Little ones, this is none of your business. I advise you to mind your own business; meddling won’t do you any good,” Mr. Lu said.

"What if we insist on interfering?" Ye Zhenzhen was quite angry at Lu's father's words. Before Su Xia arrived, Lu's father had already made her blood pressure rise.

"A country has its laws, and a family has its rules. Our family rule is that as long as our daughter is alive, she must be filial to her parents." Mr. Lu disagreed, believing that girls are born to obey their parents' arrangements. The reason Lu Lu was able to finish high school was partly because girls with some education are more sought after these days, and partly because they hadn't yet found a suitable candidate.

“That’s right, but I wonder how human trafficking is judged? I think you should know, since you can say that every country has its laws and every family has its rules, which means you understand Chinese law.” Su Xia nodded and then asked Lu’s father.

"When did I buy and sell people?" Mr. Lu realized what Mrs. Lu meant by the girl being so formidable.

According to Article 240 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, anyone who abducts or traffics women or children shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined; if any of the following circumstances exist, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated; if the circumstances are particularly serious, the offender shall be sentenced to death and have his property confiscated.

(i) The ringleaders of groups trafficking women and children;

(ii) Trafficking three or more women or children;

(iii) Rape of trafficked women;

(iv) Inducing or forcing trafficked women into prostitution or selling trafficked women to others and forcing them into prostitution;

(v) Kidnapping women or children by means of violence, coercion, or drugging for the purpose of selling them;

(vi) Stealing infants or young children with the intent to sell them;

(vii) Causing serious injury, death, or other serious consequences to trafficked women, children, or their relatives;

(viii) Selling women and children abroad.