Chapter 270, Unforgivable
Huo Zhiju invited the girl he met for the first time to sit upstairs, and Miss Jiang did not refuse... She always felt that Huo Zhiju's behavior was strange, and was worried that there was some conspiracy between the two. Shi Yujiao winked at her brother and found an excuse to leave the living room.
Shi Yuzhi followed out quickly.
"Brother." The woman put away her delicate expression and looked cold. "What do you think of those two people who came to Xiling Base today? And Huo Zhigui, what do she have to talk about with Jiang Ran?" She couldn't be really curious about Xiling Base. Even Guigui wouldn't believe such a perfunctory excuse.
When Huo Zhijue suggested chatting with Jiang Ran alone, Shi Yuji couldn't help but glance at the two of them a few more times. At that moment, a strange thought occurred to the man: "Yujiao, do you think that Si Xu looks a bit like Huo Zhijue?"
"Huh?" The woman recalled the young man's appearance. Apart from being handsome, she seemed to have no other impression of him. "Does he look like him?"
When her sister asked this question, Shi Yuji suddenly became a little uncertain: "Maybe I saw it wrong."
"If so, could it be that Si Xu is also a member of the Huo family, and he deliberately hid his identity to lower our vigilance?"
"Hmm?" He had originally had another idea, but after his sister said that, Shi Yuji was stunned for a moment before accepting her guess, "It's possible."
Huo Lingyin came here, probably because of what Pei Xiao said when he went to Beichen Base. Huo Lingyin came here to support Huo Zhigui.
Since they were supporting the family, the Huo family certainly wouldn't have arranged for Huo Lingyin to be the only girl there. Si Xu must also be a close confidant or relative of the Huo family.
In this case, it makes sense that Huo Zhigui met Jiang Ran alone.
"Brother, we've finally gotten to this point. We can't let those bastards from the Huo family ruin our destiny." Shi Yujiao's face was filled with twisted hatred when she mentioned the Huo family. "If it weren't for Huo Zhijue, how could my Wan'er have been kidnapped? And how could she have died in a shabby place like Xiling!"
I have long forgotten what Pei Wan'er looks like, but my sister hates her so seriously, Shi Yuji can only perfunctorily respond: "I am Wan'er's uncle, and I will naturally not let her die in vain, don't worry."
"Brother, we now have the Zhaoyang Base. We are the master of a city, and we have a geographical advantage over the Beichen Base. There is no reason for Brother Qing not to choose me."
"Well, there's no rush for this matter—let's wait and see how things develop, and then make other plans."
…
Upstairs, Huo Zhiju asked the maid to leave and made a cup of coffee for Jiang Ran.
"Your name is Jiang Ran?" She sat down opposite Jiang Ran, not hiding her scrutiny. "Are you Jiang Yize's daughter?"
"I am." Jiang Ran didn't touch the coffee in front of him.
She sat very upright, with her hands folded on her knees. Although her attitude was not respectful, she maintained proper courtesy.
The person in front of her is Si Xu's mother. No matter what happens in the future, at least in the current unclear situation, she is willing to have basic respect for her.
"You've grown up so much." Huo Zhigui laughed and shook his head. "Back then, before my eldest brother had even won over my sister-in-law, he told us that if he and my sister-in-law had a daughter, he would marry her to Xu'er when she grew up..."
After a pause, Huo Zhigui looked at Jiang Ran and explained, "Big Brother... is your father. Your father and I are sworn siblings."
"Ah." Huo Zhijue and Jiang Yize were once such close companions?
"You are with Si Xu, so he must have told you about your life story, otherwise you wouldn't agree to talk to me alone."
"Yes, I know about your relationship with Si Xu." Jiang Ran pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke directly, "You said that you and my father are sworn siblings. If we are siblings, why do you doubt him?"
"Suspect?"
"Tell Si Xu that you handed Si Xu over to my father, and it was my father who sent him to Xiling Laboratory."
"It's your father." Huo Zhigui didn't avoid Jiang Ran's scrutinizing gaze and said frankly, "Ranran, has your father ever mentioned me to you?"
Jiang Ran shook his head.
Huo Zhigui curled the corners of his mouth downwards, as if expressing sadness, yet also as if mocking himself: "I'm going to tell you now, are you willing to listen?"
"You tell me." She came here to find out the truth about what happened back then, so why would she not want to listen?
"Your father and I met in middle school and were classmates in college. Although we weren't family, we were as close as brothers. Later, I fell in love and had a child against my family's wishes. Si Xu was born in poor health. My eldest brother told me that Sister Mu Xin's father invited him to work in a laboratory in Xiling. The laboratory was researching a new drug that might be able to cure Si Xu's heart disease."
This actually corresponds to what Si Nian said - Jiang Yize brought Si Xu to Xiling Laboratory in order to cure Si Xu's heart disease.
"At that time, Si Xu's father had passed away, and my family forced me into an arranged marriage... If my father knew about Si Xu's existence, I couldn't imagine what he would do to him. I had no choice but to hand Si Xu over to my eldest brother and have him take him to Xiling, hoping that the new medicine from the Xiling laboratory could cure Si Xu's heart disease."
In other words, when Huo Zhijue handed Si Xu over to Jiang Yize, he had no idea about Xiling Laboratory?
"I haven't seen him since I separated from Si Xu. It wasn't until the virus broke out and Pei Wan'er was killed in the Xiling base that I finally had a reason to go to Xiling." Huo Zhigui smiled bitterly, "I went there and saw my son, but..."
But it was not until that moment that she learned from the psychics at the Xiling base what Professor Si in the laboratory had experienced before the disaster broke out.
"Ranran, your father deceived me." The Xiling Laboratory wasn't researching any new drugs, and he didn't bring Si Xu there to cure his heart disease. "He used my son as a test subject and threw him into the lab."
"..." Faced with the woman's sad accusations, Jiang Ran was speechless for a moment.
She could understand, as a mother, how devastated she was when she first heard about what happened to Si Xu - she could totally understand.
However, the words she said next were not gentle words of comfort.
"Mrs. Pei, I have a question," Jiang Ran said. "I heard from my father's assistant that when he was alive, he would come to the East Dynasty base every month to attend seminars. The topics discussed in these seminars were also related to heart disease. He went in and out of the East Dynasty base so frequently. During this time, didn't you ask him about Si Xu's condition?"
"Of course I've asked. After I arrived at the Pei family, my freedom was restricted, and I had to be cautious about everything, fearing that Si Xu's identity would be exposed. The monthly seminars were my only chance to get news about Si Xu. I've asked your father, and every time, he told me that Si Xu was living well with him."
What made her most angry was not Jiang Yize’s initial decision, but every lie he told her afterwards.
He had many opportunities to tell her the truth, but he said nothing.
(End of this chapter)
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