Chapter 109: The Search
"First, we need to determine the timeline!"
"Has Dodo been taken away by Ronan? How many days has it been?"
After leaving the film studio, Marcus organized his thoughts and casually sat down in a nearby coffee shop, searching on his phone.
"Hey Marcus, what a coincidence, grabbing coffee too?"
Just as Marcus sat down, a lean young man walked out, greeted him, and then said to the shop owner,
"Hey Mike, Marcus's coffee is on me."
"Oh, Adam, heading home?"
Marcus looked up and sized him up. Since the festival had just ended, he recognized Adam, the young man who had played a role in the ceremony. He then waved the payment envelope in his hand:
"Don't worry about it, want some more? Look at this, it's too much to carry, you need to lighten the load!"
"No, no, I've had enough caffeine. I'll be going now, Marcus."
Adam waved and left the coffee shop.
Marcus sat in a wooden chair, leaning back slightly, the chair creaking softly.
He searched for the "Sunshine Foster Care" website on his phone, which contained the agency's contact number.
Although he had the number, he figured they wouldn't readily give information to a stranger—that was basic protocol.
Marcus thought for a moment, then dialed.
"Hello, this is Sunshine Foster Care. How can I help you?"
The call was quickly answered, a gentle female voice coming from the other end.
"Hello, this is Federal Express. When will the care package for little Dodo and her foster parent, Mr. Ronan Chen, be picked up? We need to get a signature for these donations, and it's been sitting here for days."
"Hello, can't packages just be left at the agency?"
"It's marked 'Signature Required,' and it needs to be signed by either little Dodo or Mr. Ronan Chen. We've delivered so many to you; you should know that."
"Excuse me, please hold while I check."
Marcus took a sip of his coffee, casually improvising on the phone. The delivery industry is so chaotic; the other party probably wouldn't know the difference.
A series of keyboard clicks came from the other end, followed by a voice saying,
"Hello, I just checked, little Dodo was taken by her biological mother seven days ago, so we can't process the signature."
Marcus's heart skipped a beat. Seven days already?
So it seems Dodo has been influenced by the Mother Buddha Deity, seeing the evil spirits, and it's estimated that a dark mark has appeared under her left eye, officially marked by the deity.
All of this is because Ronan taught Dodo to write her real name.
"What should we do? This package is large, and I can smell some fresh fruit inside. If we don't handle this well, we might discourage those kind donors, and they might not donate to the agency anymore."
"If all else fails, how about this: I'll give the package to you, you deliver it to Mr. Ronan , and then I'll come by tomorrow to get the signed receipt, okay?"
Marcus first tried to present the other party with a troublesome situation, using the perishable fruit angle to create a sense of minor urgency.
"Sir, I also have my responsibilities, I really don't have time. How about this, I'll give you Mr. Ronan Chen's phone number, you can contact him directly, is that alright?"
A troubled voice came from the other end of the phone, offering a simpler solution.
"Well... whatever, that'll work. One more stop today."
Marcus saved Ronan phone number, provided by the agency, in his contacts.
In the past six years, Ronan had never easily revealed her name or address, leaving very little social trace online or offline.
But as Dodo's foster father, Ronan definitely knew where Li Ronan was.
Marcus dialed Ronan number.
The phone rang for a minute without being answered.
After dialing again, a voice finally came from the other end: "Hello."
"Mr. Ronan Chen, hello. Regarding Dodo's custody, we found some questionable information provided by Ms. Li Ronan. We need to discuss this with you, which is also for the sake of Dodo's welfare."
"Are you currently at work or elsewhere? We must communicate and verify this in person, otherwise, there might be complications."
Ronan , who had just finished meeting with a client, was taken aback upon hearing this.
Questionable information provided by Li Ronan?
He felt a strange sense of hope.
He truly loved Dodo from the bottom of his heart, but he had no right to stop her biological mother from taking her back.
Now, the phone call said there were problems with the information—did that mean he still had a chance to continue raising Dodo?
His hope was quickly followed by concern.
"Complications? What complications?"
Ronan asked hastily, a flurry of thoughts flashing through his mind: human traffickers impersonating the biological mother, Ronan's mental health issues possibly resurfacing, and so on.
"This can't be explained over the phone. It's best to review the information in person. Do you have time now? Let's arrange a place; the situation is rather urgent."
Marcus originally wanted to tell Ronan directly about Li Ronan being involved with evil spirits and wanting to harm Dodo.
However, fearing that Ronan would think he was crazy and hang up, he decided to work with Ronan's assumptions and arrange a meeting for a more detailed discussion.
"I have time now. Name a place, and I'll come right away."
Ronan no longer cared about work at this point. He only felt that things had taken a turn for the better. The house had been empty for the seven days since Dodo left.
The morning before yesterday, he hurriedly got up, made breakfast for two, and planned to wake Dodo up to eat and take her to daycare, only to remember that Dodo had already been picked up by her mother.
At this moment, Ronan completely forgot to ask the identity of the person on the other end of the phone, subconsciously assuming that it must be the caseworker in charge of Dodo's custody.
"I'm still tied up right now. Let me check. I'll wait for you at 'Mountain View Café' on Pine Street."
Ronan Chen seemed to have searched for directions and replied,
"Okay, I'll definitely be there within half an hour. Thank you."
Marcus hung up the phone and waited for Ronan Chen's arrival.
This man truly treated Dodo like a daughter, and was also an abandoned victim killed by Li Ronan.
In the story, on their way to find Master Yuan for help, she encountered supernatural interference. The car repeatedly passed a strange road marker, and frantic sounds came from outside the vehicle. Ronan
took the opportunity to induce Ronan to chant "Hou-ho-xiu-yi, si-sei-wu-ma." She knew it was a cursed incantation that spread the curse, but she still dragged Ronan into it to share the burden.
When blocked by the Mother Buddha Deity, she actually chose to let Ronan Chen bear the curse to solve the problem.
After visiting Master Yuan, Ronan Chen took the camera that Master Yuan had sealed away in order to help Dodo find clues to break the curse.
Li Ronan witnessed all of this. She had already visited the renowned Buddhist monk Master Yuan during her pregnancy to understand the meaning of the hand gestures and incantations.
Knowing full well that viewing the footage would inevitably lead to death, she offered no warnings or advice to Ronan Chen when he contacted her.
She allowed him to investigate step by step, sinking deeper into danger, until he was influenced by the Mother Buddha Deity and died on camera.
In doing so, she shared the burden of the curse upon herself.
(End of Chapter)
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