The two quickly composed themselves.

They patted each other on the shoulder and then helped each other to sit down on the chairs next to each other.

Xu Tieniu also knew roughly what happened to Song Jingzhou afterward.

They trusted Butler Song a lot back then, which is why they entrusted the young master to him and left him enough money.

Unexpected.

Thinking of the news Xu Sai brought back from Peach Blossom Town, Xu Tieniu felt an intense hatred for Steward Song. He managed to control himself and refrain from rushing to Gaotang Brigade to dig up graves, burn corpses, and scatter ashes.

He could easily understand what Steward Song was thinking.

They treated Song Jingzhou well at first because they were afraid that their own people would come looking for him, and that the people in Kyoto might become suspicious, so they kept a backup plan.

If someone really went looking for him, at least on the surface he hadn't mistreated the child. He could say that he was afraid the child would be in danger if the Wang family took him back to the capital, so he used his own child to shield the young master from disaster.

Later, he even developed the idea of ​​spoiling Song Jingzhou.

Before his death, why did he vaguely reveal a little bit about this relationship?

Because he knew in his heart what his older sisters and the daughter he had exploited for half his life would do.

In addition, Song Jingzhou had been basically spoiled by then, and the chances of him not making it through were very high.

He didn't want to leave any threat to his own son.

If I'm not mistaken, after the incident in the fishing village, the couple probably hid outside for two years with their child, and only returned to the village after things calmed down.

Song Jingzhou felt a little embarrassed when he saw Xu Tieniu staring at him with a loving expression.

"Uncle Hammer, since you're alright, why didn't you come back to find me sooner?"

Xu Tieniu sighed, "After my wife took me in, it took me almost half a year to get out of bed."

"Due to my physical condition and the geographical location, let alone coming back, I was struggling to make ends meet."

"Luckily, I ran into..."

"Sigh, I won't talk about the past."

"This time you asked me to investigate Li Ruide's matter, so I went to Xiangnan Brigade in person. According to the recollections of the village elders, there is no such person at all."

Song Jingzhou then remembered the important matter, "Uncle Iron Hammer, this is exactly what I came for."

"Was there anyone named Song Wenyuan in the Song family back then?"

Xu Tieniu glanced at Song Jingzhou with a puzzled look, then pondered for a while.

The very firm answer was, "No~"

"The Song family is small. Although the general's mansion is large, there are not many direct descendants of the Song family. The general was born from humble origins. At that time, the wife's family was also a powerful warlord in the area. However, the family was reduced to only one daughter, the wife."

"I heard from my parents that the general and his wife met in a battle, and later they fell in love and got married. After they merged their forces, they became the largest warlord in the area."

"When your wife gave birth to your father, she was injured and only had two children in her life: your father and your eldest uncle."

"The general's brother has three sons and one daughter, but there is no one named Song Wenyuan among them."

Song Jingzhou paused for a moment, then told Xu Tieniu about how he had overheard Wang Zhongli angrily cursing Li Ruide a few days ago and had blurted out that Wang Zhongli called him Song Wenyuan.

"He shouted that name when he was angry, and I went inside afterward, but there was no one else in the room."

"I'm sure that the name Song Wenyuan is actually Li Ruide."

"Also, I heard Old Zhang mention something else: Li Ruide calls Wang Zhongli's wife 'Auntie'."

Whether the other person changes their name or not is not very important, because many people have changed their names since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

However, changing one's surname is quite rare.

Moreover, it's the sensitive character "宋" (Song).

This shows that the person disliked the surname.

Does disliking the "Song" dynasty mean disliking the Song family?

Xu Tieniu opened his mouth, then whispered, "Song Wenyuan? Li Ruide? Who exactly is he?"

"His age doesn't match either; he's not a member of the Song family!"

“I must get to the bottom of this. He must be involved in what happened back then. I’ll go to Xiangnan Village again tomorrow.”

After discussing this matter, Xu Tieniu inquired about another matter from Song Jingzhou.

"What are your plans regarding the Wang family?"

"Judging from their attitude towards that fake item, they must genuinely care about it. You..."

"Uncle Hammer".

Song Jingzhou stopped Xu Tieniu from continuing, saying, "I don't plan to acknowledge them. It's fine as it is now."

"To be honest, I don't like those rules and regulations that bind me, and I don't have any great ideals or ambitions. I just want to be an ordinary person, build a small family with the person I love, have two lovely children, watch the children grow up, grow old with my loved one, and live happily together as a family."

"Uncle Hammer, am I really a loser?"

Xu Tieniu sighed, "No, you're very good."

Xu Sai had a very deep impression of this day; his taciturn father was very happy today.

He talked to the young master like a nagging old woman.

He spoke of his glorious youth and his miserable state after his downfall. The usually self-disciplined man even drank himself into a stupor and lost consciousness.

The next day, he returned to his usual self, setting off on another long journey, as if the indulgence of the previous night was just a dream.

Qianfu stood on the deck, watching the cruise ship pass by a deserted island, and his expression changed drastically.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!