Dong Cui looked at Liu Feiyue with trepidation: "These are all just your speculations. You have no evidence." The only evidence was that Hua Gu was already dead.
"Evidence?" Liu Feiyue scoffed. "Fine, I'll give it to you."
He walked straight up to Dong Cang, looked down at him, and said, "Did your sister sell my son for money?"
Looking up at Liu Feiyue's indifferent face, Dong Cang felt a surge of fear that had been buried deep in his heart for many years. Almost without hesitation, he sold his sister: "Sold her, sold her for 5,000 yuan, paid off the gambling debts, and had 1,000 yuan left. She even bought a gold bracelet to wear, and didn't leave me any."
Liu Feiyue looked disgusted, kicked Dong Cang to the ground, and turned to look coldly at Dong Cui.
Dong Cui was already deathly pale, but she still tried to make a last-ditch effort: "He...he's lying. He's just jealous because I'm doing better than him. Nothing he said is true, and he can't produce any evidence..."
“You still don’t understand the situation? I’m not a policeman, and I don’t insist on evidence.” Liu Feiyue said, then called out, “Sanchang.”
"Understood, brother." Liu Sanchang walked straight over, ready to grab Dong Cui.
"No." Dong Cui tried to struggle, but how could a woman resist someone's strength?
She could only look to Xia Chen for help: "Chen, save me! I'm your own mother! Can you bear to see me fall into his hands and be tortured to death by him?"
Xia Chen hesitated and looked at Liu Feiyue.
Looking at his son who had been lost and found again, Liu Feiyue said kindly, "Don't worry, I don't do anything illegal or criminal."
Xia Chen looked at Dong Cui, pondered for a moment, and said, "I want the truth: did you sell me out back then?"
Dong Cui choked, struggled for a moment, and reluctantly told the truth: "I had no choice. If I don't pay back the money, they'll cut off one of my hands. I can't borrow that much money from my brother. Even if I did, he'd only help Dong Cang first, and he wouldn't care if I lived or died..."
Xia Chen had still held onto a sliver of hope, but now he was utterly disappointed. He looked away, not wanting to see her again.
Dong Cui panicked and grabbed his arm, saying, "You can't do this, Achen. I'm your mother. Even if I sold you, I sold you to a good family. I didn't make you suffer at all. Why are you making such a fuss?"
Xia Chen: "..."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
Everyone present was speechless. Was this something a mother would say? She had no shame at all.
"Sold to a good family? What kind of joke are you talking about? Achen was rescued from human traffickers by the police before being adopted by his adoptive parents. If he had been less lucky and hadn't been rescued by the police, where would he have been sold to? Have you considered the consequences?" Gao Yue was furious, glaring at Dong Cui and accusing her.
Dong Cui was stunned: "Impossible, his adoptive parents must have made this up to deceive him, right? When Aunt Hua took the child away, she said that they were from a well-off family, otherwise how could they have come up with 5,000 yuan all at once?"
"Keep making things up." Xia Chen looked at Dong Cui expressionlessly and said, "Even if what you're saying is true, don't you even consider the possibility of being deceived, or living a life worse than a pig or a dog? All you care about is money. I never want to see you again."
“Sanchang,” Liu Feiyue called out.
Liu Sanchang responded and pulled Dong Cui away.
"No matter what, I'm still your mother, the one who gave birth to you. You can't be so cold-blooded and heartless to me, Xia Chen!" Dong Cui shrieked.
Xia Chen ignored him completely.
Unable to control Xia Chen, Dong Cui could only pull Xia Xiaoyue: "Xiaoyue, help Grandma, help Grandma, didn't you say you liked Grandma the most..."
Xia Xiaoyue was terrified when she saw Dong Cui's distorted face, and quickly hid in her father's arms.
"I'm sorry, Chairman Gao, for causing you trouble. I will take care of the Dong family." Liu Feiyue said apologetically to Gao Hongfei.
"Not at all, I should thank Old Liu for helping me solve this problem," Gao Hongfei said.
Liu Feiyue laughed and said, "Of course, no matter what, Chairman Gao and I will be in-laws from now on."
Gao Hongfei glanced at Xia Chen hesitantly: "This depends on the child's wishes." Whether or not he really wants to acknowledge this father, even if he's a blood relative.
Liu Feiyue then looked at Xia Chen.
Xia Chen pretended not to know and was comforting his daughter who had just been frightened.
"No, he has to acknowledge it whether he wants to or not," Liu Feiyue said firmly. His only son must revert to the Liu surname.
"I'll take my leave now, let's meet again later." Liu Feiyue nodded slightly to Gao Hongfei and prepared to take his men back to sort out the mess from before.
"Can I leave now?" Old Mrs. Liu asked, looking coldly at Liu Feiyue.
Liu Feiyue stared at her expressionlessly for a moment, then suddenly spoke, saying, "It's you, isn't it?"
"What?" Old Mrs. Liu didn't understand.
"The one who got Hua Gu to buy the child from that idiot Dong Cui," Liu Feiyue said.
What?!
Dong Cui looked bewildered.
Inside the private room, everyone from the Gao family couldn't help but prick up their ears.
"Liu Feiyue, are you out of your mind? For your little lover and a son whose paternity we don't even know is yours, you're throwing such mud at my mother?" Liu Xiao roared at Liu Feiyue in a fit of rage.
Xia Chen happened to be looking over.
Liu Xiao glared back fiercely.
Xia Chen: "..."
Xia Chen quickly looked away, feeling incredibly wronged. He absolutely, completely, and not at all wanted to get involved in their family feud, okay? But he was dragged into it and couldn't escape it.
He tilted his head and leaned it against Gao Yue's shoulder beside him. Darling, you need comfort.
Gao Yue gently patted his head. "It's alright, she's here."
Liu Feiyue's face turned ashen as he met Liu Xiao's fiery gaze: "How dare you speak like that? I am your father."
Liu Xiao sneered: "What a joke. I'd rather not have a father like you. You're never home, and at your age, you're still keeping mistresses outside, hoping to have a son. I'm afraid God has seen how many wicked things you've done and hasn't been able to grant your wish."
Liu Xiao paused, then glared at Xia Chen fiercely: "No, maybe God still doesn't have eyes."
Xia Chen: "..." What did he do to deserve this? Can't he even pretend to be dead?
Whether it was because Liu Xiao's words struck a nerve or not, Liu Feiyue's already unpleasant expression darkened even further. He glared at his daughter and roared, "Liu Xiao..."
Liu Xiao glared back defiantly: "What are you yelling about? Do you think you're the only one with a loud voice?"
Seeing that Liu Feiyue's expression was getting worse, a glint of light flashed in Old Mrs. Liu's seemingly cloudy eyes.
She patted Liu Xiao's arm reassuringly: "Alright, Xiao Xiao, no matter what, she's still your dad. Don't be so rude."
Liu Xiao pouted like a child, looking at Old Mrs. Liu with a wronged expression: "He treats you like this, and you still speak up for him."
"I'm not speaking up for him..." said Old Mrs. Liu. I'm speaking up for you. You've toiled your whole life, and the old man is about to die; why are you making a fuss at this crucial moment?
Grandma Liu looked at Liu Feiyue with a calm expression: "Think what you want, I didn't do it."
"Is that so?" Liu Feiyue snorted coldly, his expression clearly showing disbelief. "Back then, even though I wasn't in Lanyuan, I still had quite a few brothers around. 4,000 yuan isn't a small amount, and it's not like I couldn't scrape it together if I really wanted to. Even if I had to force them to give me the money while holding my child, they would have tried to find a way out for my sake. But she didn't go to them..."
Liu Feiyue looked at Dong Cui and asked, "Don't you want to?"
Dong Cui seemed to have found a glimmer of hope, and quickly shook her head, crying with tears and snot streaming down her face, saying, "I've searched, but I haven't found anyone. I was really desperate, and then Hua Gu suddenly came to find me..."
Liu Feiyue turned to look at his old buddies.
The old men looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Is that so? I don't know."
"I don't know either."
"I don't think I was in Lanyuan during that time."
"I wasn't there either. My sister-in-law asked me to help her with some errands."
"Me too!"
"I also……"
The old folks checked each other's statements and sensed something was wrong. None of them were there; they had all been sent away. They turned to look at Old Mrs. Liu in shock.
Grandma Liu appeared calm and composed, but her gradually paling face betrayed her turbulent emotions.
Even Liu Xiao vaguely sensed something was wrong, and looked at the old lady Liu in disbelief: "Mom?"
"It wasn't me, I don't know anything," Old Mrs. Liu insisted, refusing to admit anything.
Dong Cui stared at Old Mrs. Liu with a ferocious expression. She thought that if it weren't for her interference back then, her son would still be by her side. Liu Feiyue would definitely have been generous to her because of their son, and she wouldn't have been struggling to make ends meet all these years, and she wouldn't have ended up with a mountain of debt.
"You old hag, it's all your fault! I'm going to kill you!" Dong Cui said through gritted teeth, and suddenly lunged at Old Mrs. Liu.
Caught off guard, Old Mrs. Liu was tackled to the ground by Dong Cui with a "bang".
Dong Cuiqi sat on Old Mrs. Liu, grabbed her hair and began to tear at it: "I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you..."
Grandma Liu's neatly combed hair was now a mess, making her look extremely disheveled.
Everyone around was stunned. It was the first time they had ever seen Old Mrs. Liu like this. Even when life was tough, Old Mrs. Liu always kept herself clean and tidy. She had never looked like this before.
"Mom..." Liu Xiao was the first to react and rushed forward to help.
But before she could even make a move, Old Mrs. Liu suddenly kicked Dong Cui in the stomach, knocking her over, then straddled her and slapped her hard across the face: "You slut, you shameless hussy, you like to seduce other women's men. I'm ignoring you, do you really think I'm a pushover?"
As the "slap slap" sound rang out, Dong Cui was stunned. It wasn't until the burning pain on her face came back to her senses that she came to her senses. She tried to struggle, but it was no use. She was no match for an old woman who was more than ten years older than her. She could only start crying and begging for mercy: "I was wrong, I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again. Please let me go."
Grandma Liu ignored her completely.
Everyone around was dumbfounded, their mouths agape in disbelief. This woman, who had been a sickly old lady just moments before, had suddenly become so energetic. So, she had been faking it all along? Was this her true nature?
Tired from hitting her, Old Mrs. Liu reluctantly stopped, her body stiffening at the shocked gazes around her. Oh no, she'd been exposed.
However, she quickly came to terms with it. Since things had already come to this, she might as well just give up and go for it.
Grandma Liu slowly stood up, carefully combed her hair, turned her head and resolutely looked at Liu Feiyue, and said, "That's right, I did ask Aunt Hua to buy the child."
"It really was you." Dong Cui covered her stinging face and glared at Old Madam Liu with hatred.
Grandma Liu glanced at her with a cool look in her eyes.
Dong Cui immediately cowered to the side, not daring to utter a sound.
"Why?" Liu Feiyue asked in a deep voice.
"Why?" Old Mrs. Liu chuckled. "Why do you think I should? I married you when I was 18, managed the household, and served my parents-in-law. I don't think I did anything wrong. The only problem is that I couldn't give birth to the son you've always longed for. But whether I have a son or a daughter, is that something I can decide on my own? I can't give birth on my own."
"But you're different. You got rich thanks to Old Master Wei, and you couldn't resist starting to keep mistresses. You've kept one after another. I can't see that you have any perseverance, so I'll just let it go. Anyway, I can't control you. As long as I'm still your wife and can help our daughter protect her share of the family property, I'll accept it. It doesn't matter."
"But I didn't expect that I still underestimated her." Old Mrs. Liu looked down at Dong Cui, a hint of doubt on her face. "I also can't understand it. She's not that alluring, her temper isn't that good, and her character is questionable. How could you be so obsessed with her and raise her for ten years?"
"What surprised me even more is that she hadn't conceived for so many years, how come she's suddenly pregnant at thirty? And with the son you've always longed for." Old Mrs. Liu's face darkened. "How can that be? I've guarded the Liu family my whole life, everything in the Liu family should belong to my daughter, why should it be given to someone else?"
"So, knowing she was drowning in gambling debts, I went to find Aunt Hua." Old Mrs. Liu's face showed an unexpected smile. "You know what? At first, I thought it wouldn't be so easy to succeed. That's her son, the only son you've been longing for all these years. No matter how difficult it is, once you get through it, she'll be able to live a good life because of her son. But I didn't expect that when Aunt Hua went to her, she couldn't wait to ask Aunt Hua for a price as soon as she opened her mouth."
“You schemed against me,” Dong Cui retorted.
Grandma Liu's smile froze: "It was your own choice. I didn't ask Aunt Hua to force you."
“You deliberately lured me into this,” Dong Cui cried. “How could you be so heartless? He was just a child who didn’t understand anything. He was innocent. How could you so heartlessly hand him over to human traffickers?”
Those around her were speechless. How dare she call someone utterly heartless?!
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