the truth
Upon hearing the name "Wen Tingyi," Qi's mother—oh no, Lin Xi—clearly trembled, a look of terror flashing in her eyes.
Wen Xubai remained noncommittal and continued to pull out a few photos from the stack of documents.
The woman in the photo is holding the arm of a tall man, smiling radiantly.
It was Lin Xi and Wen Tingyi in their youth.
These photos were acquired by him at a high price from journalists who had already been fired.
"The chairman of the Wen Group had an affair with a young female college teacher." If this were to be published, it would be explosive news that would shock the world. Although Wen Tingyi tried his best to suppress it and all the photos were forced to be deleted, and the original reporter was even threatened with personal safety, the reporter, whether out of professional instinct or to secretly keep a backup for his own safety, still secretly copied a backup.
And now, this backup is right in front of the two of them.
Upon seeing these photos, Lin Xi instantly collapsed to the spot, clutching her hair in despair. The hair clips that had been holding her hair up fell to the ground, and her long black hair cascaded down, obscuring her terrified expression.
"Did you know he was married at the time?" Wen Xubai asked.
He couldn't believe that someone who would hide in an alley for eighteen years to conceal the truth was a so-called "mistress" who deliberately wanted to destroy someone else's family.
As expected, Lin Xi seemed to recall some extremely unpleasant memory. She suddenly closed her eyes tightly, tearing at her hair, her voice trembling: "He lied to me... He lied to me!"
Wen Xubai grabbed Lin Xi's hands, which were trembling as if she were torturing herself, and just then met her bloodshot, trembling eyes.
The woman, her hair disheveled and her eyes bloodshot and contorted in a grotesque grimace, resembled a vengeful ghost. She grabbed Wen Xubai and screamed, "He lied to me!!!"
"He said he would marry me... said he would buy me a small house, and then we would have a baby together... he said he would give our child the best life... said he loved me... and wanted to grow old with me..." Lin Xi murmured absently.
"Who told you? Who told you the truth?" Wen Xubai asked softly.
"It's...it's a woman..."
Lin Xi's eyes were vacant, and her words were incoherent, causing Wen Xubai's wrist to ache from gripping it so tightly.
woman?
Is it Song Yuxin or Ruan Qing?
Fearing the other party might not know who the two were, Wen Xubai even flipped through the documents on the table and found photos of Song Yuxin and Ruan Qing.
Unexpectedly, Lin Xi shook her head.
Who else?
Just as Wen Xubai was puzzled, he caught a glimpse of a photo hidden under a book, with only a corner showing. He pulled it out and held it up in front of the woman.
Is it her?
Qin Yalin.
The woman stared at the document for a long time, and just as she was about to reach out to touch it, she suddenly seemed to realize something, pushed Wen Xubai away, and fled from the sofa like a startled bird, standing helplessly to the side.
Caught off guard, Wen Tingyi was suddenly thrown to the ground. When he looked up again, a glimmer of clarity seemed to have returned to the woman's eyes.
Lin Xi panicked and reached out as if to help him, but then abruptly pulled her hand back halfway. Her eyes turned sinister again as she pointed at him and demanded, "You...you were sent by Wen Tingyi. He sent you to find me, didn't he? He sent you, didn't he?!"
The woman suddenly grabbed the scissors from the table and looked at Wen Xubai warily.
"He sent you to get revenge on me, didn't he?!"
Seeing the woman's madness, Wen Xubai could only slowly raise his hands in a gesture of surrender and gently comfort her, "He didn't send me here. Wen Tingyi doesn't know I'm here. Calm down."
But the woman hesitated for only a moment before immediately pushing the scissors forward a few inches, angrily saying, "I don't believe it! You're his son, you're definitely on his side, you're definitely on his side! You're all lying to me, you're all lying to me!"
"I'm not lying to you!" Wen Xubai shouted, taking a cautious step forward. "You should recognize me. My name is Wen Xubai, also known as Chen Che. If you've heard my name before, you should know... I'm not Wen Tingyi's biological son, and I won't help him..."
"Chen... Che?"
Upon hearing this, the woman seemed to pause for a moment, staring blankly at him.
"You...you're not Wen Xubai's biological son...?"
"Yes, I am just his adopted son... I am an orphan he adopted after Ruan Qing's car accident."
Hearing Xu Bai's response, his eyes never left the scissors in Lin Xi's hand, he was on guard, ready to snatch them at any moment.
The next second, the woman let go of his hand on her own.
With a clang, the woman suddenly clutched her head and squatted down, weeping bitterly.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't want it to happen, I didn't know it would turn out this way, I'm so sorry..."
Seeing her like this, what else is there to not understand?
Wen Xubai kicked the scissors away and sighed.
"So, Qi Zui really is that child from back then?"
Just then, a photograph on the table was blown away and landed in front of Lin Xi.
The woman's eyes narrowed.
It was the photo of her taking the child away.
The deepest secret in one's heart is exposed to the public; the nightmare that has plagued them for so many years is finally revealed...
The woman, as if all her strength had been drained, collapsed to the ground, covering her face and crying uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I... I'm just angry... I'm just unwilling to accept it... Why... Why can he have his own family, his own children... a house full of children and grandchildren, a happy and fulfilling life... while I have to lose my own child... lose everything... I... I'm just not convinced..."
"You've had children too?" Wen Xubai caught the key point.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xi shuddered, biting her lower lip tightly as she cried out in anguish, "He's dead... my child is dead..."
Dead? Wen Xubai was a little surprised.
He had checked before he came. Lin Xi had attended one of the top universities in the area. After graduation, due to her outstanding academic performance, she was personally invited by a professor to teach at the university. She was truly a prodigy.
But ultimately, due to the scandals of being "kept" and "mistress," she was not only expelled from school, but her parents were also so distressed that they suffered strokes and were hospitalized, both passing away shortly after. Now, she can barely survive on welfare... She's truly a pitiful person...
It goes without saying that the Wen family must have been involved.
Regardless of who did it, if Wen Tingyi truly loved her, he would never have stood idly by. And now, the answer is quite clear.
Wen Xubai sighed softly. He felt that there was no longer any need to produce the paternity test results.
"No matter what, you shouldn't have taken someone else's child. That way, Ruan Qing wouldn't have been in such a hurry to find her and died in a car accident. My parents might have survived too..."
Upon hearing this name, Lin Xi was in even greater pain, biting her lips until they bled, and her voice became trembling and hoarse.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I just wanted to get revenge on Wen Tingyi, to get revenge on that bastard... But I really didn't expect her to go out looking for him... and I didn't expect her to get into a car accident... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Looking at the woman's repentant expression, Wen Xubai didn't know what he felt either; there was hatred, but also a sense of pity.
Lin Xi remained prostrate on the ground, not daring to look him in the eye.
Whether in front of Qi Zui or this person, she was always a heinous sinner.
Qi Zui Qi Zui... He was the one who committed the crime.
Their fingers clenched and then relaxed, and the two, one sitting and one standing, remained silent for a long time. Only the woman's soft sobs could be heard in the small room.
The clock on the wall kept ticking, and I figured it was almost time for everyone to leave work.
After a long silence, Wen Xubai reached out and carefully helped Lin Xi up from the ground. But the moment she regained her balance, he immediately let go.
"You'd better take care of yourself."
He left after uttering his last words.
But just as he turned around, someone grabbed his wrist.
He turned his head in confusion, only to see Lin Xi kneel down in front of him again with a "thud".
"What are you doing?!"
He was surprised and went to help her up, but found that the woman was very stubborn. She just knelt down, her wrinkled face still covered with tears, clutching his clothes, her fingers trembling.
Lin Xi looked at him with pleading eyes, her voice trembling, "I beg you, Xiao Bai, please don't tell Xiao about what happened today, okay? Don't tell him..."
Her voice choked with emotion, and her breathing became unsteady as she spoke.
"Please... that child's life has been miserable enough... if he finds out... even his mother, who he depends on for survival, was lying to him... what will he do... please... don't tell him... don't tell him..."
The woman's breathing grew heavier, and Wen Xubai noticed something was wrong with her at that moment.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Lin Xi's body was already swaying, and she suddenly clutched her chest, sweat pouring down her face. Wen Xubai was startled and quickly caught her as she fell.
Asthma? Or heart disease?
During the exchange, the woman accidentally knocked over the remaining tea on the table. The paper cup fell to the ground, and the brown tea, along with specks of white powder, spread and stained the floor.
Wen Xubai suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed the woman's body, and asked anxiously, "What did you drink?!"
The woman weakly shook her head, murmuring, "Please...don't tell him..."
"This is not the time to talk about these things!" Wen Xubai roared.
He quickly laid the woman flat and then took out his phone to dial for emergency help. But when he heard the shrill, mechanical female voice, his mind suddenly went blank.
Why is there no signal?
He waved his phone around, watching as the woman's breathing grew weaker and weaker, and she kept murmuring, "I'm sorry... really... I'm sorry..."
The voice grew softer and softer, and Wen Xubai truly panicked.
"Hold on, hold on!" he shouted anxiously before bursting out the door.
There was no elevator in the building. By the time he ran out of the door in three sections, he was already covered in sweat and bumped into Qi Zui, who was rushing home from get off work.
The man seemed a little surprised to see him: "Chen Che? Where are you going? Why are you running so fast?"
Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, Wen Xubai grabbed Qi Zui's sleeve and, amidst Qi Zui's bewildered gaze, anxiously shouted, "Quick! Call 120!"
Why call 120?
"Stop asking, just call! Your mom... your mom, she..."
Before he could finish speaking, a loud "BANG!!!" rang out overhead, flames spilled out of the stairwell, and the entire building shook three times!
Qi Zui almost instinctively pulled the person in front of him into his arms and raised his hand to block the flying wood and stone fragments that were flying towards them!
Wen Xubai, however, saw the source of the firelight through the gap in Qi Zui's arm... and was suddenly startled.
That... is Qi Zui's home.
His pupils suddenly contracted, and Wen Xubai felt as if his whole body had been frozen, completely stiff.
At the same time, Qi Zui finally realized something was wrong. He looked up and froze for a few seconds before rushing into the building, only to be immediately grabbed around the waist by the person in his arms!
"Let go! Chen Che, let go! My mom is still inside!"
"It's too late! Going there would be suicide!"
The surrounding neighbors were gradually drawn by the commotion. They were all surprised to see the flames. Some shouted to put out the fire, while others rushed to call the police. For a moment, there was a constant commotion all around.
No matter what was being said around them, the two people in the center of the crowd could no longer hear it.
Qi was so focused on getting inside to save people that he didn't notice the strange expression on the face of the person holding him, or their tightly closed eyes.
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