After losing her child, the mute girl could no longer speak and had no idea what had happened. She died of depression a few months later.

Not long after her death, Li Shiwan spent all the money Qiao Lanru had given him and started eyeing her again.

Upon learning that Qiao Lanru was widowed, raising a child alone, and had the help of a wealthy younger brother-in-law, and that he himself was capable, Li Shiwan began to have designs on her.

He found Qiao Lanru and threatened her with the mute girl's affair, forcing her to marry him.

At that time, Chu Zhou was still young, and Qiao Lanru couldn't bear to part with her son, so she had no choice but to agree.

She pretended to be infatuated with Li Shiwan, dated him, and even got married.

Since he was enjoying good times, Li Shiwan was happy to cooperate and obediently kept the matter to himself.

He would only use it occasionally when he was short of money to threaten Qiao Lanru into giving him money.

So many years have passed, and life has gone by just like that.

For the sake of her son, Qiao Lanru endured Li Shiwan for more than 20 years.

If Li Shiwan hadn't been so blinded by greed that he stole the Infant Soul Pearl and sold it, Qiao Lanru would probably have endured it for the rest of her life.

However, the truth will eventually come out.

Qiao Lanru eventually confessed to the crimes she had committed.

After saying everything, Qiao Lanru seemed to have lost all her strength, slumped in the chair, and tears slid down her cheeks.

Lu Qing got up to leave, but Qiao Lanru called her back:

"I have confessed. I don't care how you punish me, but please don't hurt my son!"

Lu Qing didn't look at her, and said coldly:

"Is your son's life precious, but other people's lives aren't?"

Qiao Lanru suddenly became excited and said in a trembling voice:

"All the blame lies with me. Xiao Zhou is innocent. He has a wife and children. His daughter just started high school, and his younger sister is still in his belly!"

"If you destroy the Infant Soul Pearl and kill Xiao Zhou, it will be the same as destroying this family!"

Lu Qing didn't listen to her continue and walked straight out.

She called Wang Yanjun and asked him to notify his colleagues to come and detain Qiao Lanru.

Chu Zhou, who was away from home, rushed back upon receiving the news.

He was unaware of the Infant Soul Pearl and thought his mother had been imprisoned for killing Li Shiwan.

Chu Zhou pleaded with Old Master Chu:

"Second Uncle, please! You have many connections, please find someone to save my mother!"

After Lu Qing returned, she told the old man about Qiao Lanru. Knowing the whole truth, how could the old man possibly help her anymore?

"Xiao Zhou, go back! I can't help you with this!"

"Second Uncle, I beg you! Even if my mother really killed Li Shiwan, it was because he forced her to be too cruel!" Chu Zhou pleaded.

"Xiao Zhou, your mother..."

Old Master Chu wanted to tell the truth, but looking at his pregnant wife and his just-coming-of-age daughter behind him, he could only swallow his words.

"Sigh~" The old man sighed heavily.

"Xiao Zhou, you know me. If I could really help, I would have done it already!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Zhou lowered his head and silently shed tears.

"I'm sorry, Second Uncle! I shouldn't have made things difficult for you!"

"I've been trying to persuade my mom to divorce that bastard for a long time, but she just won't listen. If I'd known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have stayed out of the way of hers for Chinese New Year!"

Chu Zhou had always disliked Li Shiwan since childhood, but he had tolerated it due to Qiao Lanru's persuasion.

But when he grew up, he watched helplessly as Li Shiwan bullied his mother, and several times he couldn't help but retaliate.

Qiao Lanru repeatedly tried to stop him, which made Chu Zhou very angry, so he didn't go home for the New Year.

Who would have thought that just this once, only once, his mother would have an accident?

Chu Zhou left with his family, and Old Master Chu turned and went back into the house without saying a word.

"Qingqing, what do you plan to do with the Infant Soul Pearl? Are you really going to destroy it?" Chu Qianjin asked.

Lu Qing glanced at the Infant Soul Bead in his hand, but did not answer. Instead, he chased after Chu Zhou.

The old man couldn't bear to tell the truth, but she had to.

To others, Qiao Lanru might be a bad person, but to Chu Zhou, she was a good mother.

Everything she did for Chu Zhou should not be hidden.

"Uncle, wait a minute!"

Upon hearing the sound, Chu Zhou stopped in his tracks.

"You're... my second uncle's granddaughter, right? What do you need?"

Just as Lu Qing was about to reveal the truth, her phone rang. It was a message from Wang Yanjun:

Qiao Lanru committed suicide. Before she died, she begged you not to tell Chu Zhou the truth. The Investigation Bureau will definitely keep this a secret. It's up to you whether you tell him or not!

Upon seeing this message, Lu Qing found herself unable to utter the words she was about to say.

"Cousin, what's wrong?" Chu Zhou asked.

Lu Qing sighed silently, then smiled:

"It's nothing! I just came out to apologize to you!"

Chu Zhou smiled sadly: "It's alright! My mother committed a crime and deserves to be punished. It was my fault for making things difficult for my second uncle!"

"Uncle, Grandma may not have been a good person, but she was definitely a good mother!"

Lu Qing looked at his wife and daughter behind him and smiled:

"I hope you will live a good life from now on and make up for the mistakes she made for you!"

Chu Zhou was completely confused by what Lu Qing said, but before he could ask, Lu Qing turned and left.

In the end, she did not destroy the Infant Soul Pearl. Qiao Lanru had already paid the price for her mistake. As for whether Chu Zhou lived or died, she left it to the Infant Soul Pearl to decide.

Lu Qing released the Infant Soul Pearl, letting it fly out of sight.

Meanwhile, Chu Zhou returned home with his wife and daughter and was sorting through Qiao Lanru's belongings.

The Infant Soul Pearl flew into the sky, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then flew straight into the belly of Chu Zhou's wife.

"Ah!" the woman cried out in pain, her face pale as she clutched her stomach.

"Honey, no! I think I'm going into labor!"

Chu Zhou quickly put down what he was holding and rushed to the hospital with his wife and daughter.

The wife gave birth safely, but what was supposed to be a single child turned into twins.

Congratulations! You have a boy and a girl, and both children are safe and sound!

Chu Zhou was completely stunned: "Are...are they twins??"

"That's not right! The doctor didn't say we were having twins during my prenatal checkup!"

"We don't know about that, but your wife gave birth to twins," the doctor said.

Chu Zhou looked at his two children. His daughter looked a lot like him, but his son didn't seem to resemble him much.

He vaguely felt that the boy looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him.

But it's okay, this is a pleasant surprise.

At that moment, Lu Qing did some calculations at home, and smiled suddenly after seeing the result:

"This is probably the best possible outcome!"

As the New Year holiday was drawing to a close, Lu Qing and the others packed up their things and prepared to go home.

Just as Grandpa Chu had composed himself, he was faced with the sadness of parting again, and it seemed that his hair had turned much whiter.

"Grandpa, Grandma, if you can't bear to leave us, come to Kyoto with us! There's plenty of room at home!"

The two elders waved their hands repeatedly:

"No, no! We're too old for that. We'd rather stay here and live our lives in this little corner of the world. We wouldn't be used to living in a big city!"

"What about Grandpa and Grandma?" Lu Qing asked, looking at them.

They also refused with a smile:

"We can just stay in our hometown. Life outside is nothing compared to the comfort of the countryside!"

"Alright then! I'll definitely come back to see you when I have time!" Lu Qing said with a smile.

The car arrived, and the luggage was all packed. Before leaving, Lu Qing's grandparents and maternal grandparents stuffed a lot of food into her hands, afraid that she would go hungry on the way.

"Grandpa and Grandma, Grandpa and Grandma on your mother's side, we're leaving now. You all stay home, eat well, sleep well, and don't fight anymore!"

Lu Qing waved goodbye to them.

"Okay, don't worry!"

The four elderly people stood together, looking very harmonious.

But as soon as the children left, the smiles on their faces turned into blatant disgust.