Chapter 459 - Uncle, Why Are You Here?
Chapter 459: Uncle, Why Are You Here?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
While speaking, Grandfather Ruan also eyed disdainfully on purpose at Little Youjin who was maintaining the right figure and body weight at his age.
“A! Yayayaya! Yiyiyiya!”‘Hey! What’re you saying? I’m very handsome!’
Little Youjin clenched his fist to particularly express his disagreement.
“Well, they’re still children. They can start to lose weight when they’re older.” Grandmother Qi took a slice of watermelon from the table and gave it to Little Youjin. “You can eat more fruits but not candies. Too many candies are not good for your teeth.”
As soon as Little Youjin took hold of the watermelon, he began to gnaw at it.
Qi Youxuan quickly rolled into Grandmother Qi’s embrace and said, “Great-grandma, when dad and mom go on their honeymoon, I’ll be left here alone. I’ll be very lonely!”
“How about we let Youjin stay here as well?” Grandmother Qi understood the look in the little one’s eyes instantly.
The little one felt that his great-grandmother was indeed his best partner in crime!
Qi Youxuan gazed at Grandmother Qi in great satisfaction. “I’ll no longer be lonely with Youjin’s company!”
Thus, Grandmother Qi turned around and looked eagerly at Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu. “I heard that my dear Song is working on a new design recently. You’ll be pretty busy, right?”
Song Yu: “…”
The smile on Grandmother Qi’s face grew warmer. “How about we let Youjin stay here for a few days?”
Qi Chengzhi: “…”
What was that malicious intent that he felt?
Finally, Qi Chengzhi could only give in to Grandmother Qi. He might as well take this opportunity to enjoy Song Yu’s company alone. It was not a bad idea after all.
Little Youjin seemed to know that he could eat without restraint during those few days. So, he was not in the least sad to part with his parents.
When Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu left the mansion, he even waved them goodbye from the carpet where he lied on his stomach.
Such a heartless and shameless attitude broke Song Yu’s heart to pieces.
…
As Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen went on their honeymoon, Chang Zhiyuan and Lao Liang drove over seven hours to a county-level city in J City and spent a night there. The next day, they drove for over another hour before reaching the entrance of a village.
The village was not small neither was it very well-off. At a glance, there were only about two or three families living in three-story houses and two other families living in double-story houses. Those western-styled houses were not beautiful. They looked just like two or three levels of rectangular boxes put together. There was no sense of design. Even the walls were only laid with normal ceramic tiles.
Chang Zhiyuan did not have the mood to study those buildings. He drove into the village along the road and up a small slope. His car tires were covered in yellowish soil. One side of the road laid some single-story houses that came with compounds. On the other side was the hillside. Wild grass and flowers grew by the roadside. There were even some stones stuck firmly inside the muddy soil.
The journey was bumpy. Finally, the Toyota jeep stopped halfway up the hill next to another intersection.
The road after the intersection was too narrow and had many uneven potholes. They could barely drive along the narrow road with a small-sized sedan car. However, their jeep could not make it.
Chang Zhiyuan and Lao Liang got out of the car and continued their journey on foot. Along the road were rows of houses with compounds. The doors of those houses also seemed rather durable.
They could basically determine the financial ability of the families living in those houses from their doors alone. Some houses had their gates opened. They could see a black or brown mutt tied to a leash in the compound. Other houses had a trishaw or tractor parked at the entrance.
They walked until the end of the road and reached a house that looked out of place in that area.
The house had small brick walls. Its gate was run down. The thin wooden door could not block anyone or anything from entering. Those houses that they had come across along the road earlier suddenly seemed especially high-ended in comparison.
Chang Zhiyuan gave the house a cold glance and nodded at Lao Liang. “Let’s enter.”
Lao Liang stepped forward to knock on the door. A woman’s voice could be heard from inside the house asking, “Who’s there?”
The voice was quickly followed by a fierce dog barking.
After a short while, the wooden door cracked open. A woman with a slightly dark face and rough skin stood behind the door.
Wang Lixia was surprised and hesitant to find two men standing in front of her house. Both men were dressed finely and did not seem like any commoner. Why did they appear before her house?
Wang Lixia did not understand why she instinctively thought of Chang Jingqiu just then.
She did not know who those two men were yet she could associate them with Chang Jingqiu. She remembered that Liu Ronghua also turned up in front of her house suddenly last time, catching her off guard.
Perhaps, those two men were similar to Liu Ronghua. They were dressed presentably and their aura was different from the villagers.
“Who are you looking for?” Wang Lixia’s sight swept to and fro their faces.
“What’s wrong?” asked Huang Pinggui as he stepped out of the house, followed by a young man.
Huang Pinggui was wearing a scruffy shirt and dusty black trousers. The young man standing behind him was thin and weak. He had dark circles under his eyes and seemed to not have sufficient sleep.
Wang Lixia turned around to look at them and answered, “Strangers. Not sure what they want from us.”
After that, she quickly said to that young man, “Jincheng, why are you out here? Quick, go back and study. It’s almost time for your university entrance exam. Don’t waste any more time.”
The young man uttered an ‘Okay’ and cast another glance at Chang Zhiyuan and Lao Liang before turning around slowly and headed back in.
“Are you Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia?” asked Chang Zhiyuan.
“What do you want?” Huang Pinggui raised his voice as though it could make him seem more imposing and give him additional courage.
“Please relax.” Lao Liang smiled warmly. “We’re sent here by Ms Chang.”
Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia looked at each other. Then, Wang Lixia asked without thinking too much about it, “Chang Jingqiu sent you over?”
Her response had confirmed Chang Zhiyuan’s probe.
Only uneducated people like Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia, who had some trickery in mind but not really smart, could be easily probed.
Lao Liang nodded his head earnestly. “Can we talk inside?”
As his job required him to deal with people from all walks of life, his acting skills had been so polished that Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia could not rival him.
Furthermore, Lao Liang was born with such a sincere and kind face which made him appear even more honest than the actual villagers in that village. His natural advantage killed any doubt and sense of crisis in both Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia.
Looking at the well-dressed and seemingly well-off Chang Zhiyuan and Lao Liang, Huang Pinggui quickly invited them in without much thought.
He straightened his back and told Wang Lixia in front of his guests, “Didn’t I tell you? Jingqiu will not stand to see us suffer. After all, she’ll be shamed if we suffer, right? No matter what, we’re still her parents. If she is unfilial, she can be struck by lightning!”
“That’s right! That’s right!” Wang Lixia gleamed as she nodded continuously.
Chang Zhiyuan was startled by their conversation and exchanged a glance with Lao Liang. They were only probing Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia earlier and had even prepared themselves to brace the difficulties in eliciting information from them. Who would have known that those two blurted out their relationship with Chang Jingqiu on their own!
During their discussion, Chang Zhiyuan and Lao Liang even presumed that Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia were either not aware of their relationship with Chang Jingqiu or had possessed something against her. They did not expect that those two were, in fact, Chang Jingqiu’s blood-related parents.
That had cleared up the reason why Chang Jingqiu sent them money. However, the woman who brought Chang Jingqiu to the Chang family had informed them that the baby was his sister’s daughter.
The only answer to that was the woman knew Chang Jingqiu’s true identity but had purposely tricked them!
It was detestable!
Chang Zhiyuan’s expression darkened. He almost lost control of his anger. His change of mood intimidated Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia. They had caught on that Chang Zhiyuan did not seem to visit them to send them money.
“You… Who’re you?” stuttered Wang Lixia.
“Uncle, why are you here?” A panicked voice of a woman sounded from the gate. The voice was underlaid with a hint of tremble.
Chang Zhiyuan turned around to find Chang Jingqiu standing at the entrance. Her face paled as she looked at him in fear. Then, she turned her gaze toward Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia, wondering if they had let her secret out.
“Why are you here then?” asked Chang Zhiyuan dully.
In fact, he knew the answer even without Chang Jingqiu’s response.
He had attended the Qi family’s wedding banquet and sat together with the Ruan family. How could Chang Jingqiu feel relieved about that?
Therefore, she went to meet her parents to make sure that her identity would not be leaked.
He would like to know how she intended to conceal her identity.
“I…” Chang Jingqiu’s eyes rolled around in nervousness. Then, she stepped into the compound and said, “Uncle and Auntie are my friend’s parents. I’m helping her to care for them. So, I’ll come here occasionally to visit them.”
Huang Pinggui had instantly decided to get a sum of hush money from Chang Jingqiu after that. Since her uncle had found them at their house, he must have had his suspicion on her identity. Did she really think that they were stupid?
She had only given them eight hundred thousand last time. He wanted more money later and was not afraid that she would refuse.
Hence, Huang Pinggui nodded his head in cooperation with Chang Jingqiu. “That’s right! That’s right!”
“Oh? It is different from what you said earlier,” mocked Chang Zhiyuan.
Wang Lixia paled and shook her head continuously. “We… We did not say anything!”
Lao Liang fished out a voice recorder pen from his pocket. He pressed the button and Huang Pinggui’s voice was played, ‘Didn’t I tell you? Jingqiu will not stand to see us suffer. After all, she’ll be shamed if we suffer, right? No matter what, we’re still her parents. If she is unfilial, she can be struck by lightning!’
“You said nothing?” Chang Zhiyuan curled his lips upward. “I think that you’ve told us everything you know.”
“Uncle, it was nonsense!” Chang Jingqiu took a large step forward and pointed at Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia. She appeared wronged by the accusation. “I take such good care of you. Why did you accuse me?”
“How did they accuse you? Didn’t you give them eight hundred thousand? If you’re not related to them, why did you give them so much money?” Chang Zhiyuan interrogated coldly.
“Uncle, that…. That’s because my friend has faced some troubles but is worried about her parents. She is a really good friend of mine. So, I agreed to help her care for her parents. I know that they are living a difficult life and could not even afford to send their son to a university. Since I had agreed to help, I gave them some money. Eight hundred thousand is sufficient for them to live comfortably in this village, send their son to the university, and renovate their house. As long as they don’t spend their money unnecessarily, the money is enough to last them a long time even without having to work.”
Chang Jingqiu glared at Huang Pinggui and his wife. “Why did you accuse me? I’ve tried so hard to make your life better. What else are you not satisfied with so much that you spouted lies about me? You’re truly a group of ungrateful people!”
Resent flashed past Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia’s faces. Nonetheless, they schooled their expression and kept their silence.
“Uncle, let’s go.” Chang Jingqiu grabbed Chang Zhiyuan’s arms in grief. “Many people are saying that we can’t act kindly anymore in recent years. You may be sold off if you’re being kind to someone. I’ve never thought that helping a friend could result in such an accusation. It’s just like the story of the farmer and the snake!”
Chang Jingqiu only wanted to quickly pull Chang Zhiyhuan away from that place.
“That can’t be. How can we let them accuse you?” Chang Zhiyuan stood unmoving no matter how hard Chang Jingqiu tried. Thus, she could only stand anxiously next to him.
Chang Jingqiu’s heart was lifted up to her throat. She wondered what Chang Zhiyuan intended to do next.
She was not convinced that Chang Zhiyuan did not suspect her identity. Otherwise, he would not be there nor would he found out about the money she gave Huang Pinggui’s family.
With a thumping heart, she heard Chang Zhiyuan saying, “I think we have to resolve this conflict once and for all. Go and perform a DNA test with these two. No one will be able to accuse you when the result is out. Otherwise, your reputation will be affected if they continue to spout nonsense out there.”
Chang Jingqiu’s heart turned cold instantly. Her feet lost their strength and she stumbled backward. She could no longer hold onto the hope that Chang Zhiyuan was not aware of the truth.
He was there because he knew everything.
“Un… Uncle…” called out the pale Chang Jingqiu.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you want to perform the test?” Chang Zhiyuan sneered.
“I…” Chang Jingqiu felt the blood drained out of her body. “Uncle, I…”
“Am I really your uncle?” asked Chang Zhiyuan faintly.
Gazing at her pale face, Chang Zhiyuan’s face sullen. “Do you still refuse to admit it? Do you really want me to slap the evidence in your face?”
“Uncle!” Chang Jingqiu knelt down with a thump.
She pulled on Chang Zhiyuan’s sleeves. “Uncle, I don’t mean to hide this from you. I just don’t know what else I can do! Uncle, I don’t want to do this too! I’ve been a Chang for twenty-seven years. Suddenly, someone appeared and told me that you’re not my family. They are my family instead! I don’t know what to do. Uncle, I really think of you as my family. I don’t know them at all! We’re not familiar with each other! I only know that they sold me off for money in the past. Now, they look for me for money as well. How can I treat such people as my family?”
Chang Jingqiu cried, “In my eyes, only you and the Chang are my family! Even though I’m related to them by blood, I don’t know them at all. They appeared out of nowhere and asked me for money. How can I be close to them? I’m just afraid… Just afraid that you’ll not want me anymore when you found out the truth. After all… After all, I’m not your niece. I remember how well you and Grandma treated me all this time. I can’t bear to leave your side. I really can’t! I treat you as my family with all my heart and can’t bear to leave you. I’m truly afraid that you’ll not want me anymore…”
Chang Jingqiu choked with sobs. She seemed really pitiful.
Chang Zhiyuan shook off her grip coldly. Did she think that he did not know her character after bringing her up for twenty-seven years in the Chang family?
At that moment, did she still take him as an idiot?
“Is it us whom you can’t bear to leave or is it the Chang family’s wealth and the status of Ms Chang?” Chang Zhiyuan questioned. He pointed at Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia who were standing helplessly at a side. “You were afraid to let others know that these are your parents because they may look down on you, isn’t it true? You used to pick on Ruan Danchen’s identity, causing Grandmother Chang to look at her in disdain. Now, you’re the one with an unspeakable identity. So, you’re afraid of retribution.”
“No, I’m not!” Chang Jingqiu shook her head in desperation. “I really think of you as my blood-related uncle! I can’t bear to leave Grandma and you! I know that both of you dote on me the most! I can’t bear to be apart from you!”
“You know that I dote on you the most. Yet how do you treat me? You keep on whispering lies about my wife to Grandmother Chang. Is this how you repay me?” Chang Zhiyuan pushed on.
Chang Jingqiu was stunned. She did not expect Chang Zhiyuan to notice that.
Chang Zhiyuan let out a snicker. “You can’t bear to part from us but are you even concerned about my real niece out there? I treated you well because you were my sister’s daughter. Therefore, even if you did something outrageous, I would stand by your side and cover it up for you. It’s all for my sister, not you! Since you’re not my niece, why should I still dote on you?”
“Uncle, even if we are not blood-related, we’ve lived together for twenty-seven years! Don’t you have the slightest bit of love for me?” Chang Jingqiu grabbed his sleeves again.
“How could I not have any affection for you? Even after raising pets for some time, one would have felt affection for them,” replied Chang Zhiyuan. Before Chang Jingqiu could feel delighted, he continued, “Since you’ve known the truth, why do you hide it from us? We love you and will not abandon you even if you tell us the truth. However, you’ve chosen to conceal it and let my real niece suffer out there while you take her place in the Chang family. What are you up to? We’ve raised you up into such a pampered lady and not done you any wrong. Is this how you repay us? Letting our real family wander outside and planning to keep it away from us forever?”
“You’re selfish! For your own benefit, you can cast aside our feelings. This is what you meant by twenty-seven years of affection for you! This is what you called your family! Even a dog would show his loyalty. How about you?” Chang Zhiyuan trembled in fury. “If you’re sincere with us, I’ll treat you well as an adoptive daughter. To others, you’ll still be our blood-related daughter. Yet what have you done now!”
“Uncle, I know I was wrong!” Chang Jingqiu grabbed his trousers when her hands were once again shaken off by Chang Zhiyuan. “Uncle, I know I was wrong. I really do. Uncle, I’m selfish but who isn’t? We just have different ways to express our selfishness. I was just at a loss when I first found out about the truth.”
“I admit that my choice earlier was not right. I’ve let you down but I was just so scared. I was terrified. Uncle, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Please forgive me. Don’t say that you don’t want me. I beg you,” cried Chang Jingqiu. “Can… Can you bear to push me away to these couples? They can sell off their children for a little money! You’re pushing me off a pit if you send me to them, uncle! When they knew of my identity, they didn’t want to recognize me as their child nor did they try to care for me. They just asked me for money. How can I acknowledge them as my family?”
“Uncle, I was not in my right mind earlier. I didn’t have a clue what to do and made the wrong decision. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” Chang Jingqiu cried shamelessly as she knelt on the floor and tugged on Chang Zhiyuan’s trousers.
She knew that she must not be abandoned by the Chang family. Otherwise, she would lose everything.
She could not stand being stepped on by others.
As long as she could pass the crisis, she could seek her revenge slowly after that!
Of course, Chang Zhiyuan did not believe in her. If what she said was true, what did Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia have against her?