Chapter 770: Eighteen Years of Responsibility and Forbearance
Xiao Shiqiu waved to the host, indicating that he should give him the microphone.
This well-known domestic host has seen many storms and waves, and he remained calm in the face of such an emergency.
He smiled at the audience and said, "Let's welcome Mr. Xiao's frankness with applause. Media colleagues, please cherish this rare opportunity. Mr. Xiao's love life has never been exposed to the public."
After he finished speaking, there was applause from the audience, and even Huang Tianyi's parents stared at the stage with gossipy looks on their faces.
Only the Xiao family frowned with serious expressions. Xiao Shiru glared at Xiao Tiantian fiercely, then leaned over and whispered something in Old Man Xiao's ear. Old Man Xiao sighed, nodded, and his expression relaxed.
The Xiao family sat at the main table, which was in the middle of the hall, closest to the stage. The table was larger than the others and could seat sixteen people.
Normally, my parents and grandma should have sat at that table, but my grandma was a person who made my dad and my uncle feel uncomfortable if I let her sit at the main table.
So after hesitating for a long time, my dad decided to take my grandma to sit at a separate table, or a table in the corner, so that if she caused any trouble, it would not be so conspicuous.
My uncle didn't have any objection to this, but I heard that my mother complained to my father for a long time, saying that it was too cheap for the female elders to sit in the corner in such occasions.
My dad was helpless. He knew that this was against the rules, but he felt that the risk of embarrassment was too high if grandma sat with the Xiao family. However, he couldn't stop his mom from attending her granddaughter's engagement party just because grandma might be embarrassed. There was also the wedding to come. My dad's hair almost turned white with worry when he thought about this.
I feel quite sympathetic towards him. Others have their hair turning gray because of worry about their children, but he has his hair turning gray because of worry about his own mother. What a filial son he is!
Since my elders were no longer sitting at the main table, the seats became empty, so Xiao Tiantian and Liang Zicheng had the opportunity to fill the seats. We also found a few elders from the side branches to join us, otherwise the main table would seem too empty.
At this time, Xiao Tiantian was sitting very close to the stage. She was holding a glass of orange juice in her hand and shaking it like red wine, with a smug look on her face.
By the way, she is pregnant now and can't drink alcohol.
When she saw me looking at her, she didn't hide the gloating look on her face at all.
Yes, she relied on the fact that she was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Xiao family. Changing the video was just a child's prank, and she also expressed her dissatisfaction with her father's remarriage. It was not illegal, and she was very sure that Xiao Shiqiu would not do anything to her.
Liang Zicheng, on the other hand, was fidgeting and looked quite uneasy.
At this time, the host had already handed the microphone to Xiao Shiqiu.
After he took the microphone and waited until the noisy discussions in the hall died down, he said in a low but clear voice: "Dear guests, I originally asked you to come and witness my happiness, but I didn't expect that you would also witness my past.
Friends in the media should all know that I don't like to put my private life under the spotlight, but today is different. Someone wants me to reminisce about the past, so I might as well share it with everyone. "
The hall was silent. He held the microphone in his left hand and still held my hand tightly with his right hand, with no intention of letting go.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous facing the gaze of thousands of people like this, but the warmth from his palm miraculously soothed my uneasy heart.
He paused and glanced across the room.
"Xiao Tiantian is not my biological daughter."
"Pah!" There was a sound of glass shattering on the ground, and immediately two staff members quietly took tools to clean Xiao Tiantian's seat.
Xiao Shiqiu's words were like a drop of water dropped into a boiling oil pan, and the whole audience was in an uproar in an instant.
Many people in the audience had already shown expressions of understanding, and some began to whisper. Although I couldn't hear what they were saying, I could guess from their expressions that they must have thought that Xiao Shiqiu divorced because he found out that he was cheated on.
Except for Xiao Tiantian, everyone else at the Xiao family table was silent.
"Impossible!" Xiao Tiantian let out a sharp cry. Liang Zicheng hurriedly grabbed her. Xiao Shiqiu didn't pay attention to her reaction and continued, "Her mother, He Qingrong, was pregnant with Xiao Tiantian when she married me. At that time, everyone in the Xiao family knew that the child was not mine."
The scene was in uproar again.
Xiao Shiqiu didn't take it seriously. When the noise in the room died down a bit, he told everyone everything that happened that year.
"In order to ensure that my cousin would have his only bloodline, I spent eighteen years trying to fulfill my responsibilities as a father.
I let Xiao Tiantian receive the best education and enjoy the most comfortable life. Maybe I am not a perfect father. I was only 20 years old at that time and didn’t know how to be a father. I tried my best to satisfy everything He Qingrong and her daughter wanted, and even planned her life for her.
I originally thought that this secret could be kept forever, and Tiantian could live as the eldest daughter of the Xiao family for the rest of her life.
But today's video suddenly made me realize that continuing to keep this secret would hurt my fiancée and it would be unfair to her.
She didn’t even know me before my divorce.”
This old fox didn't mention at all that he had known me for a long time. He just said that I didn't know him. The concept is different when he said it in a different way. I have to learn some of his sophistry skills.
"I thought Xiao Tiantian was about to get engaged and was an adult, so she should have become mature and be able to rationally view the relatively decent breakup between me and her mother.
I didn't expect her to be so hostile to my fiancée, which made me decide to reveal this secret. People are selfish, and I am no exception. I hope to live for myself in the second half of my life and have my own children. "
As soon as Xiao Shiqiu finished speaking, Xiao Tiantian screamed, "You're talking nonsense! This isn't true."
But soon her voice was drowned out by thunderous applause.
The host took the microphone, quickly organizing his words. He looked deeply moved, tears welling in his eyes as he spoke with great emotion: "Dear guests, today we have not only witnessed a beautiful love story, but also witnessed the eighteen years of responsibility and forbearance of a man who knew how to repay his gratitude."
He turned to Xiao Shiqiu and said sincerely, "Mr. Xiao, your dedication and sense of responsibility, which is difficult for ordinary people to bear, are truly moving."
He then turned to the audience and raised his voice, "Let us once again applaud Mr. Xiao, this honest and responsible entrepreneur!"
There was another small climax in the hall. Almost no one noticed Xiao Tiantian running out of the hall crying. Liang Zicheng hesitated for a moment but still followed her out.
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