Chapter 73 Investigation

Perhaps he had already harbored suspicions, upon seeing the portrait Jiang Si handed him.

Mr. and Mrs. Huo were not too upset; on the contrary, they felt a sense of relief.

The portrait was opened, revealing the true face of a 13 or 14-year-old boy.

Looking at this one alone, you might not think much of it, but if you put this portrait next to Yang Zhiqi's, you'll see...

The truth is about to be revealed.

After raising them for so many years, Mr. and Mrs. Huo couldn't help but tear up when they learned the truth.

Especially for Huo's mother, the thought of raising other people's children for more than 20 years while her own child's fate is now unknown makes her heart clench.

"No, I have to go find her!"

"I want to ask her myself, where is my son!"

Jiang Si quickly grabbed the person, even though she had no liking for that cousin from the Huo family, but one thing at a time.

"Mom, calm down. I suspect Aunt Huo might not know about this."

What?

She was unaware of it?

Mrs. Huo was a little dazed at this point: "But she really loves Tingtao. She treats Tingtao even better than her own three daughters."

Seeing this, Jiang Si explained, "Mom, you should know Aunt Huo's temperament better than I do. She's not the kind of person who can keep her temper in check, otherwise she wouldn't have come to our door to make trouble over the division of the family property."

"Also, I already tested her this morning."

“If she knew about this or did it herself, her reaction wouldn’t have been so calm.”

Grandma Huo's idea coincided with Jiang Si's, and she pulled Grandma Huo's mother to her side.

"Si Ya is right. Li Hua doesn't have the brains. I think this is probably the Yang family's doing."

"He's holding a grudge against us!"

Grandma Huo's reminder made Huo's mother realize it.

Yang Zhiqi did indeed ask the Huo family for a favor back then, but he didn't ask for it for himself; he asked it for his younger brother.

But the old man was the type who couldn't tolerate any wrongdoing. He would punish his own children if they made mistakes, let alone the greenhorns under his command.

Because of this incident, Yang Zhiqi's younger brother was punished and apparently discharged from the military.

"If he did this and Lihua was unaware of it, then it can only mean that he secretly switched the two babies during Lihua's postpartum period."

The two children were born only a month and a half apart.

Babies in their first month grow rapidly; they change drastically in just a few days.

Thinking of what the Yang family had done, Huo's mother's eyes turned cold.

"In other words, the child they lost was actually mine."

Seeing her mother-in-law like this, Jiang Si also felt bad.

Before she could say anything to comfort her, Huo's mother suddenly patted her hand.

"Mom's fine, you don't need to comfort me."

"Thanks to your reminder, otherwise we don't know how long our Huo family would have been usurped by them."

"It is the third son's good fortune to marry a wife like you, and it is also the good fortune of our Huo family."

Seeing Huo's mother's slightly red eyes, Jiang Si couldn't help but feel moved.

"Mom, we're family, saying thank you is too formal."

Mrs. Huo nodded.

He turned to look at Huo's father.

After all, they had been husband and wife for many years. Huo's mother didn't need to say anything; Huo's father understood her meaning with just a glance.

"Don't worry, I'll look into this."

If the Yang family really did this, Mr. Huo guessed that his own child might not have been lost.

However, since he didn't have any evidence at the moment, he didn't mention it.

In the following days, Mr. and Mrs. Huo worked from dawn till dusk, busy investigating what happened back then.

Jiang Si, on the other hand, was dragged around the entire city of Beijing by Grandpa Huo and Grandma Huo.

In their words, what's done is done, there's no use thinking about it too much, and we have to keep moving forward.

However, Jiang Si had something on her mind, so she was always a little absent-minded when she went out these past few days.

Grandma Huo was also worried when she saw her looking so sullen.

The old man thought for a moment and then gave an idea, "Xiaozhou's room is almost ready, why don't you take her out to buy some furniture and stuff later?"

"That's true."

Grandma Huo was a very energetic person; as soon as she realized what was happening, she went downstairs to find Jiang Si.

"Si girl, come on, I'll take you shopping!"

"After we're done shopping, let's go to the 'Ethnic Restaurant' for hot pot."

The ethnic restaurant, Donglaishun, is a great place to eat mutton this season for its nourishing properties.

Jiang Si had no objections. During this period, Beijing had been sunny every day with a mild temperature.

If the northwest wind blows for a while, she won't go out even if you offer her money.

Once they left the family compound, Jiang Si realized that it was just the two of them.

"Grandma, isn't Grandpa going?"

It's not that he doesn't want to go, it's that Grandma Huo doesn't want to take him.

Every time we go shopping together, he only replies with two random words no matter what you ask him.

They didn't participate at all and couldn't offer any advice. Besides serving as someone who paid money, they were also incredibly infuriating.

Of course, that's not how you say it, so Grandma Huo kindly said...

“Your grandfather got tired from climbing the Great Wall a few days ago, let him rest for a couple of days.”

"People of this age can't deny they're getting old."

Jiang Si fell silent upon hearing this. The old man was almost eighty years old, and he had been accompanying her on her travels these past few days; he must be exhausted.

When we get back tonight, we'll give them more spiritual spring water.

Having reached an agreement, the grandfather and grandson happily set off.

The poor old man only changed his clothes upstairs, and when he came downstairs, the house was empty.

As soon as they entered Wangfujing Department Store, Grandma Huo led Jiang Si to the fourth floor, where large furniture items were sold, with practiced ease.

Xiaozhou hasn't lived at home in years, and his room doesn't have a single decent piece of furniture. Now that he's finally getting married, of course he has to furnish it properly.

Grandma Huo patted her bulging wallet. "Choose whichever one you like. Don't be afraid to spend the money."

From this, it seems Grandma is going to pay?

"Grandma, I have money on me."

Jiang Si said, "When Mom went to Qiongzhou Island, she gave me the betrothal gifts and the settlement allowance, as well as the savings book that you and Grandpa gave her, which she also took with her."

When Jiang Si received the passbook, she did not open it.

She only found out after returning to Beijing that there was actually 3,000 yuan in the savings account her grandparents had given her.

Grandma Huo disagreed: "Your money is your money. Now we need to renovate your wedding room. How can you pay for it?"

Jiang Si couldn't persuade the old lady otherwise, so she could only focus her attention on the furniture for the time being.

"Okay, I'll take a look first."

The two walked around inside for a long time, but Jiang Si still couldn't find anything she liked.

"What, don't you like any of them?"

Jiang Si nodded and hummed in agreement.

"It's okay. Don't force yourself if you can't find something suitable. We can go look at other places."

As soon as Grandma Huo finished speaking, the salesperson at the furniture counter immediately snorted.

"Our department store has the most complete selection of goods in the entire city of Beijing. If you can't find what you're looking for here, you might as well not go anywhere else."

Although the person's tone was not very pleasant, what they said was true.

However, Jiang Si had her own ideas.

The furniture I bought on Qiongzhou Island before was just for daily life, so I chose simple and practical styles.

But this time, Jiang Si still wants to choose some with better quality.

In fact, she has a lot of furniture in her space, and each piece is priceless!

However, those are not available right now and must be released after reform and opening up.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Si whispered a few words to Grandma Huo, "Grandma, I want to go and take a look at the nearby state-owned trust store."

Grandma Huo frowned upon hearing this, "Those places only sell secondhand furniture."

"It's alright, Grandma." Jiang Si didn't seem to care much about it.

In those days, all timber was allocated by the state through a planned system, and species like rosewood, huanghuali, and golden nanmu were basically not sold to the public.

If you want to buy these, you can only go to state-run trust stores.

This is similar to the "Huaiguo Old" market in Shanghai. Although everything inside is second-hand, the prices are cheap and no tickets are required.

Most importantly, after the movement began, a large portion of the confiscated supplies flowed into this area.

Jiang Si had seen so many wonderful things since she was a child that she developed a keen eye for identifying treasures.

She can tell whether something is real or fake after just a few glances.

Seeing that she insisted, Grandma Huo let her go, saying, "Alright, let's go then, but we'll have to buy a new bed."

Newlyweds sleep in a new bed; this is a tradition that has been passed down for many years.

Even during the campaign to destroy the Four Olds, Grandma Huo was not exempt from the custom.

Jiang Si nodded in agreement.

That morning, the two of them visited several state-owned trust stores in the vicinity.

After having hot pot for lunch, Jiang Si went to the store of a hardwood furniture factory in Beijing in the afternoon.

Before the public-private partnership, this company, named 'Tongxinghe,' was a long-established brand in Beijing specializing in imperial furniture.

After browsing around inside for a whole afternoon, Jiang Si finally found the furniture she wanted.

Although they were not quite as good as the ones in the space, they were still all exquisite. In addition, she also found quite a few cups, bowls and plates.

I left my address and arranged a delivery time.

The two of them happily went home.

As soon as I entered the house, I heard the old man's excited voice.

"Si girl, hurry, hurry, there's a phone call for you—"