Meng Zhiyao's words made the scene even quieter.
Tang Li, however, hadn't noticed and nodded seriously, "She still bullied you, that's really bad! But don't worry, with me, Tang Li, here, she definitely won't dare to bully you again. If she dares to do anything to you, I'll have a Tyrannosaurus Rex bite her!"
The Tyrannosaurus Rex, engrossed in its meal, roared when Tang Li called it. Tang Li was pleased and tossed it the bones he had left over.
"Bullying Yaoyao?" Qin Yi's voice trembled.
"Yes," Tang Li replied.
This was the first time Meng Wan had encountered such a situation, and she didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Tang Li was a bit dim-witted; after saying his piece, he started eating, and of all the people at the table, he was the only one who ate with the most gusto.
Meng Zhiyao was quite sensitive, and as soon as she spoke, she sensed the change in atmosphere. So she lowered her head and counted the grains of rice with her chopsticks, not daring to speak again.
"Yaoyao, you...you mean..." Qin Yi didn't even know how to put her words into words.
Meng Boqun patted the back of her hand, "Don't worry, maybe it's a misunderstanding."
After saying that, she gave Meng Zhili a look, and the latter understood. He got up and walked to Meng Zhiyao's side, squatted down, and his eyes were full of tenderness and encouragement.
"Yaoyao, who bullied you? How did they bully you?"
Meng Zhiyao shook her head, refusing to speak again. Meng Zhili didn't give up, "Yaoyao, don't be afraid, your brother is here. Can you tell your brother what happened?"
"I can't say it, it hurts." Meng Zhiyao lowered her head, avoiding Meng Zhili's gaze. But it was precisely this obvious avoidance that broke Qin Yi's heart.
Tang Li wanted to speak, but Meng Wan stopped him with a look, so he could only eat while looking at Meng Zhiyao.
"Yaoyao..." Meng Zhili wanted to ask more questions, but Meng Zhiyao stopped talking. Pressed, she put down her chopsticks and ran back to her room.
"Hey? Why did you run away? Coward, you were bullied and you don't even dare to say anything..." Before Tang Li could finish speaking, Meng Wan pressed his head down.
He glanced at Meng Wan with displeasure, who raised an eyebrow, her eyes carrying a hint of warning. Tang Li felt inexplicably guilty, yet unsure of what he had done wrong.
"Let's go in and take a look." Fearing that Tang Li might say something shocking again, and also worried that Meng Zhiyao might have problems if she was alone in the room, Meng Wan decided to send Tang Li away first.
"But I haven't finished eating yet..."
Tang Li felt a little wronged, but Meng Wan showed no intention of letting him continue eating. Helpless, Tang Li could only quickly shovel the last mouthful of rice into his mouth and, with Meng Wan's help, jump off the chair.
"Tyrannosaurus Rex, gone."
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was engrossed in its meal, completely ignoring its young master's words. Tang Li took a few steps, then, seeing the Tyrannosaurus Rex still eating, returned, half-squatted down, put its arm around the Tyrannosaurus Rex's neck, and half-forcefully led it into the room.
Outside, the sun had already set, and the room was pitch black. Tang Li groped along the wall to turn on the light, and then he saw Meng Zhiyao curled up in a ball on the bed.
"What's wrong with you?" Tang Li took off his shoes and got into bed. He tugged at the blanket, but couldn't budge it, so he gave up and sat down next to the little dumpling. The Tyrannosaurus Rex circled the bed once and then lay down.
"Are you crying? A real man fights back when someone bullies him. What are you crying for? You crybaby. I'll take you to settle the score with her and let you fight back too."
As he spoke, Tang Li lay down, forcefully pulled a gap in the blanket, and crawled inside. The two little ones huddled together, unable to see anything in the darkness.
“Meng Zhiyao, tell me quietly, how did that woman bully you? If you don’t dare to retaliate, I’ll help you. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
In the darkness, Tang Li lowered his voice, but it still reached Meng Zhiyao's ears with crystal clarity. He threw back the covers, and the sudden light made both of them squint.
"What are you doing..." Tang Li opened his eyes, but Meng Zhiyao suddenly grabbed his hand, choking him up with the rest of his words.
Meng Zhiyao didn't speak, but simply shook his head. Tang Li understood what he meant; he was telling him not to go looking for Meng Zhiyi.
"Okay, okay." He mimicked how Meng Wan pinched his cheek and pinched Meng Zhiyao's cheek in return. "Then don't be afraid, I will protect you."
Tang Li believes he doesn't need friends, but having a follower wouldn't be bad.
The atmosphere inside had relaxed a bit, but the atmosphere outside remained stiff. Meng Wan silently put down her chopsticks, while Meng Zhili had already returned to his seat.
"Wanwan, do you... know something?" Meng Boqun's lips curled down, his expression slightly helpless and frustrated. He didn't understand where things had gone wrong to become like this.
Qin Yi also looked at Meng Wan, her eyes filled with both expectation and fear. She hoped it was all a misunderstanding, yet feared she hadn't. She still believed Tang Zhiyi was merely a bit vain and wouldn't do such a thing…
But Meng Wan's silence caused the expectation in her eyes to gradually fade. She forced a smile, her eyes filled with disbelief, and tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
"Zhiyi... Why did Zhiyi do this? I've asked myself for 17 years, and I've never wronged her. Even when our family was gradually declining, I tried my best to meet her demands. Why... Why did she become like this!"
Qin Yi pounded her chest, her heartbroken expression making Meng Boqun and Meng Zhili feel bad as well.
Putting everything else aside, Meng Zhili is probably the person in the family who loves Tang Zhiyi the most. After hearing Meng Zhiyao and Tang Li's accusations, although he was determined to break off his relationship with Tang Zhiyi, he still had 17 years of feelings for her, so it would be a lie to say that he wasn't upset.
Tang Zhiyi had been clinging to him since childhood, even attending school together, afraid that her younger sister would be bullied if they weren't in the same grade. The sister he had carefully protected and raised was the culprit who caused her own brother to become like this; anyone would have a heart attack in his shoes.
"It's just speculation at the moment, there's no concrete evidence." Meng Wan touched her nose.
She has little empathy, and besides, no matter how complicated the relationship between the Meng family and Tang Zhiyi is, it has nothing to do with her. Although she can understand their pain, she finds it difficult to react to it.
"More importantly, when did you find out that Tang Zhiyi wasn't your daughter?"
Only by figuring out this problem can we know where to begin our investigation.
Qin Yi shook her head, and Meng Wan casually handed her a tissue.
"She suddenly presented us with the paternity test results; we were unaware of it beforehand."
Meng Wan frowned, seemingly lost in thought.
"Wanwan, do you think Zhiyi already knew about her background?" Meng Zhili frowned.
"Isn't it strange?" Meng Wan raised an eyebrow.
"With neither set of parents suspecting that the children were switched at birth, it was Tang Zhiyi, who had always been pampered and spoiled by you, who was the first to find out. Logically speaking, since there was no abuse and no favoritism, why would she suddenly think of doing a paternity test? And the timing was just right, when the Meng family was declining and the Tang family was rising, she produced the paternity test report."
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