Liu Daqiang now had the time to carefully examine the child in front of him.
The child does look somewhat like Qiqi, but in his opinion, the little girl looks most like Liu Zi.
Having followed the child so closely, and seeing one who looked just like his daughter, he already knew the answer in his heart.
"Zizi, calm down, don't scare the child!"
Liu Daqiang comforted his daughter, but was even more worried that her extreme emotional swings would harm her health.
Liu Zi took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and put on a gentle smile.
"Sweetie, how old are you this year? What's your name?"
Although Lingzi was still a bit silly, her heart softened when she was held so gently in someone's arms.
So, instinctively, she answered, "My name is Lingzi, and I'm six years old."
"Where do you live? What are your parents' names?" Liu Zi continued to guide her.
"This is my home. My dad's name is Yu Qingpu, and my mom's name is Shang Meili." The six-year-old girl pointed to her front door to Liu Zi with clear pronunciation.
"Do you know they aren't your biological parents?"
After hesitating for a moment, Lingzi nodded.
"Do you know where they are?" Liu Zi asked, her voice trembling.
"I know. They live in Xiaosi Village, Piandian Town. My maternal grandmother said that my biological parents were too poor to raise me, so they gave me away to them." Lingzi knew about her background.
Liu Zi suddenly covered her face and started crying again. This really was her daughter. She hadn't protected her well and had made her suffer so much.
Lingzi is six years old this year, but she has no flesh on her body. Although her clothes are clean, they are patched one after another.
Captain Shang had wanted to come over as soon as the child answered Liu Zi's question, but he was startled by the sharp look in the eyes of the person standing next to Liu Zi and stopped in his tracks.
He thought to himself that his unlucky niece had really gotten him into trouble today. He was just glad that his niece was unaware of the child-buying and selling, otherwise the Shang family would have been in big trouble today.
The biggest problem now is that my niece doesn't seem to care much about the child and is suspected of abusing him. I need to figure out a way to deal with this, apologize properly, and offer more compensation in the hopes of gaining his forgiveness.
As for the Yu family, they should get a divorce immediately. In order to swindle money from their niece, they actually bought a child from outside to fool her. It's simply outrageous.
Uncle Shang gave his niece a wink, and Shang Meili, not being too stupid after all, rolled her eyes and started sobbing too.
"Oh dear, what a heartless woman! I originally wanted to adopt one of Yu Qinglian's children, but that woman actually went out and bought one for me! I'm completely innocent!"
"Lingzi, you can say something to your mother! I've never skimped on your food and clothing, you can't be ungrateful!"
Lingzi was feeling restless in Liu Zi's arms, glancing at Shang Meili one moment and then at the person standing in another direction the next.
Liu Zi looked up and saw an older woman who smiled and nodded at her.
She wondered, who was this?
"Auntie, that's Grandma Zhang. She's been taking care of me." Lingzi whispered in Liu Zi's ear.
Liu Zi picked up Lingzi and immediately looked back gratefully.
Shang Meili cried for a long time, and when no one paid attention to her, she became unhappy and raised her head to look at Lingzi with resentful eyes.
What a heartless bastard! He didn't even ask her how pitiful she was crying.
Captain Shang, observing the tense expressions on the faces of the group, finally found a way to turn things around: Sister-in-law Zhang was the key figure.
"Sister-in-law, what brings you here?" Captain Shang greeted her with a smile. He had also served in the army and had taken good care of the families of his fallen comrades over the years.
"I heard something happened to Lingzi's family, and I was worried, so I came to check on them. What happened?" Aunt Zhang nodded to Captain Shang.
"The person who came claimed to be Lingzi's biological mother; we are still investigating."
"Let's find a place to talk. With so many people watching, it's not good for Lingzi's reputation in the future." Although Aunt Zhang already had white hair, she stood up straight and made the request in a humble yet assertive manner.
Captain Shang was more than happy to see this happen, so he quickly called several people to go to the security team to resolve the matter, and also sent someone to find Yu Qingpu and his parents.
Liu Zi didn't know who this woman was, but since her intention was for Lingzi's sake, she nodded in agreement and followed the group to the Yangjiao Township Security Team.
The moment Liu Zi let go of her, Lingzi ran to Grandma Zhang's side and took her hand.
This sight nearly made Shang Meili faint.
As Liu Zi watched the old woman and the young girl walking ahead, she couldn't help but feel envious. She wished her daughter could be so close to her someday.
Upon arriving at the security team, Captain Shang arranged for all parties to gather in the same large conference room.
Shang Meili rolled her eyes and sat down alone on one side.
Lingzi's left side was Liu Zi, and her right side was Aunt Zhang.
Captain Shang stepped forward and said, "Given my familial relationship with Shang Meili, I will not participate in the interrogation this time. The man next to me is Liao Chengyong, the deputy captain of the Yangjiao Township Security Team; he will be in charge of this case!"
After nodding to everyone, Liao Chengyong began to arrange the next steps.
Soon after hearing the news, Shang's parents arrived.
Liu Zi looked up and sized him up. Shang's father was burly and thick-waisted, with slicked-back hair, wearing a white shirt, a black leather bag tucked under his arm, black trousers, and shiny black leather shoes. He really looked like a nouveau riche matchmaker.
As for the matriarch, she was adorned with gold jewelry on her ears, neck, wrists, and fingers—wherever she could wear it.
"Dad, Mom, I'm truly innocent!"
When Shang Meili saw her parents arrive, she burst into tears, sounding somewhat genuine this time.
Shang's mother quickly hugged her daughter and gently comforted her.
Mr. Shang quickly took out cigarettes from his bag and offered them to the men present.
However, the atmosphere was a bit tense, and no one accepted Liu Zi's cigarettes; they all waved them away.
Having traveled all over the country over the years, Boss Shang had seen quite a bit of the world. While offering cigarettes, he carefully observed Liu Zi's group.
One of the middle-aged men caught his attention; judging from the man's clothes and demeanor, he must be an official.
I just don't know whether this official is high-ranking or low-ranking, and whether I can afford to offend him.
The fashion team leader peeked in from outside, called his brother out, and gave him some careful instructions.
Hearing that they were from Beijing and even had a note, Boss Shang broke out in a cold sweat.
Luckily, I didn't listen to my wife and throw money at people, otherwise I would be in deep trouble now.
He was sweating profusely outside, while his mother inside started making a scene.
"You ungrateful wretch! Have we ever starved you or left you without food or drink? You heartless wretch! You always try to climb the social ladder, aren't you afraid that people will mistake you for someone else and bring you back to square one?" Shang's mother cursed indirectly.
"Shut up!"
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