Chapter 100: The Beloved Little Cousin 17
The cafe outside the school is dedicated to serving students of Mingzhu No. 1 Middle School. It is exquisitely decorated and has special private rooms.
Nan Qiao looked around and followed Wang Man into a small private room. There was no one else in the room, and there was a cup of cold coffee on the table.
Nan Qiao's eyes fell on the coffee that had already gone cold, and her eyebrows moved slightly.
Wang Man smiled brightly and asked the waiter to bring a cup of cappuccino, which girls like. She said eagerly, "Qiao Qiao, try it. I heard that the female students here like it."
Nan Qiao paused slightly, but still took the coffee.
The warm coffee in her hand dispelled the chill. The girl took off her mask, picked up the cup and took a sip. The sweet aroma of milk mixed with the bitterness of coffee was indeed delicious.
After taking a sip, the girl put down the glass. She was in poor health and shouldn't consume too much.
She knew that her third aunt would not look for her for no reason, so she waited quietly until her third aunt told her the purpose of looking for her.
The second hand on the wall was turning little by little, but the third aunt in front of him didn't say anything for a long time. Nan Qiao looked up in confusion, only to see her staring at him blankly.
Wang Man felt a little complicated.
No matter how much she hated her, she had to admit that this was a girl that anyone would like.
But such a child was the culprit who pushed his daughter into the water and caused her to be in such a weak state now.
Every time she saw her, the disgust that had accumulated over the past decade and the hatred she felt every time she saw her daughter sick, these negative emotions overwhelmed her like a tidal wave, making her unable to help but sneer.
But when that face that could outshine the sun and the moon appeared in front of her again at such a close distance, even though Wang Man had tried hard to prepare herself mentally, she couldn't help but feel her heart swell up and was in a daze for a long time.
Meeting the girl's puzzled gaze, Wang Man's racing thoughts slowed down and she stopped thinking about it.
"Qiao Qiao, this time your third aunt came to you to ask for a favor." Wang Man's expression was indifferent. Even though she said she was asking for help, she did not have any attitude of begging.
She briefly recounted what her two brothers had done, and also told her all about how Xu Congnan had treated her two brothers.
Nan Qiao said seriously, "So what does Third Aunt want me to do?"
The black jade eyes stared at Wang Man, causing her to pause. She paused and said, "I'll make up the difference. Just don't let them go to jail."
The girl was puzzled: "Then you should go and talk to your eldest cousin."
What's the point of talking to her?
She can't make the decision.
Wang Man's expression was unclear. She gritted her teeth and finally pleaded, "Congnan has stopped seeing me, so I hope Qiaoqiao can go and plead for me..."
She has nowhere to go now.
Almost everyone in the Xu family already knew about it. Except for her two children, everyone else almost ignored her. Even the husband of the woman next to her was extremely dissatisfied with her.
The status that he had gained through hard work in the Xu family over the past decade was about to be destroyed.
She knew that her eldest nephew held the girl in front of him in his heart. As long as the other party was willing to say a word for her, it meant that there was still hope for a turnaround.
Wang Man paused and continued, "I've been thinking too much these days. I shouldn't be dwelling on the past. It's just that every time I see Meng Ran sick, I feel sad, so I say something without thinking..."
Nan Qiao frowned: "Second cousin looks sick? What does my second cousin's illness have to do with me?"
The girl's eyes widened slightly, filled with disbelief. She looked innocent and naive, a look that everyone would like, but Wang Man couldn't help but think of the scene when her daughter was rescued from the river ten years ago.
It was nearing winter, and the lake hadn't completely frozen over yet. The seven-year-old child was pulled from the lake, dripping wet. The winter dress she had carefully prepared for her daughter was completely soaked and stuck to her young daughter...
Memories surfaced in her mind, and Wang Man's face turned grim. Her forced composure began to fray. "How could it be unrelated? If you hadn't pushed Meng Ran into the lake, how could my Meng Ran, who was once so healthy, become so bad..."
Wang Man's eyes were red, and her voice was filled with hysterical hatred.
Pushed my second cousin into the lake?
Nan Qiao’s eyes widened.
Wang Man seemed oblivious to her expression, continuing to immerse herself in her story: "...So what if you were exiled? But Meng Ran has lost her health and will never be as lively as she once was."
Although she is vain, she treats her two children as dearly as the apple of her eye.
The originally healthy daughter began to become weak because of this fall into the water. She had symptoms of cold and fever every few days. In addition, the hospitals could not find the cause of the frequent fevers, and she felt more and more upset.
Nan Qiao was completely stunned by the other party's words.
For a long time, because her third aunt's dislike for her was too obvious, she had guessed countless times why she hated her and tried hard to find the reason to resolve it.
She thought about a lot.
I thought maybe it was a conflict between the previous generation...
Maybe I'm just not likable...
Maybe I had offended my third aunt before...
But I never thought that the reason why the other party disliked me was because I had hurt my second cousin before?
The girl's lips were pale and her expression was dazed.
Is this true?
When she was little,
Did he really push his second cousin into the lake with his own hands?
The clear eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness. The girl clutched her schoolbag and didn't know what to say for a moment.
She was silent for a moment, then looked directly at Wang Man and asked seriously, "I don't remember anything about my childhood. You said I pushed my second cousin into the lake. Do you have any evidence?"
The little girl, who had been pampered for a whole year, was no longer as timid as she was a year ago. When faced with her third aunt's accusations, she began to raise her own questions.
Wang Man's expression was icy: "This is something everyone in the Xu family knows, or rather, something the entire circle knows."
"I don't have to lie to you."
Nan Qiao: "Did everyone see me push my second cousin down?"
Wang Man: "The nanny who was taking care of Meng Ran saw it. There were only two people by the lake at the time."
Nan Qiao frowned. "Two of us by the lake? Ten years ago, I was only six years old, and Sister Meng Ran was only seven. How could they let us two children stay by the lake in the middle of winter?"
Wang Man was stunned. It had been ten years since this incident, and she couldn't remember many of the details. She didn't want to continue the topic and just said, "Whether you admit it or not, you were indeed exiled from the country because of this incident."
"This matter has passed. Meng Ran is in much better health now, and I don't want to hold on to it. I just ask that you help me for the sake of Meng Ran's uncle."
There was a matter-of-factness in her tone.
This is what Nan Qiao owes Meng Ran, and now it's time to pay it back.
The heating in the cafe was not very strong. Nan Qiao reached out and touched the cup in front of him, absorbing the warmth from the cappuccino.
She still had no memory of what her third aunt had said.
The girl's long eyelashes drooped, casting a shadow in the oblique light. She looked at the foam floating in the white cup, then put the cup down.
The white glass made a crisp sound when it touched the wooden table. The girl's voice was still soft, but it was serious.
"I'm sorry, I can't help my third aunt."
"I don't know whether what you said is true or not. If you want to confirm that it was my fault, please provide evidence."
"Besides, no matter whether it's my fault or not, I can't go and plead with my eldest cousin on their behalf. The ones who made the mistake are your two brothers, not me."
After saying all this, the girl didn't look at the other person, but just stood up with her schoolbag in her hand: "It's getting late, Third Aunt, I'm going home first."
After saying that, he held his schoolbag in one hand and was about to open the door of the box.
Um?
"Cousin?" the girl exclaimed in surprise.
The elegantly decorated coffee shop now had a man who looked out of place. He was dressed in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, and his handsome face was quite stern.
Xu Congnan walked to the door of the private room, took the schoolbag from the girl's hand, and looked inside the room without any emotion.
Wang Man, who was preoccupied with thoughts, was shocked when she noticed Xu Congnan's eyes looking at her as if she was looking at a dead person.
Nan Qiao felt that her entire mind had become a little confused because of her third aunt's words. She stared blankly at her eldest cousin who had always been very kind to her, and kept thinking about what her third aunt had just said.
It was me who pushed my second cousin into the water.
It's my fault that my second cousin is so weak.
Everyone in the Xu family knew about these things.
Are these all true?
She couldn't believe that her little world could do such a thing, but her third aunt's accusation was filled with such real resentment.
The calmness she had just forced herself to maintain disappeared completely after seeing the eldest brother she relied on the most. She felt a little aggrieved, her nose felt sore, and her eyes began to turn red.
Xu Congnan was as gloomy as water. After seeing the girl's slightly red eyes, the cruelty in his eyes could hardly be concealed.
The girl's originally clear and pleasant voice became a little hoarse. She was anxious to find the person closest to her to explain her doubts: "Brother, my third aunt said that I pushed my second cousin into the river, so my second cousin is in such poor health..."
Shui Yingying's eyes were filled with panic. She was actually not that calm. She valued her family very much. When she knew that she might be the culprit for her second cousin's poor health, her heart was already in turmoil.
"Of course not you."
The man's cold voice was like the sound of nature, calming Nan Qiao's restless heart.
Xu Congnan couldn't bear to see this girl, whom he held dear to his heart, cry. He pressed the girl's head into his arms, and his cold voice was filled with a reassuring firmness:
"I didn't lie to you. Xu Mengran fell down by herself. It has nothing to do with us Qiao Qiao."
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