Chapter 276: The Mistakes and Regrets Began with Her...
"Why are you here?" Seeing that it was her nephew's family of three who rarely came together, Old Madam Li asked with some doubt.
Ever since recognizing Li Sishi as her granddaughter, Madam Li gave up the idea of having her son adopt a grandnephew. However, Wu Weisheng, this grandnephew, was not very well-behaved. He would use his status as her cousin to deal with Li Sishi's suitors and then openly and secretly harass her. His intentions were as obvious as could be.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have rushed to let Li Sishi get in touch with Rong Juezhang, another cousin who was more reliable than Pan Yumiao, her distant niece by seniority but more like a close friend in terms of age, when Pan Yumiao returned to China.
Rong Juezhang lived up to expectations, protecting Li Sishi all the way in the entertainment industry. Compared to Wu Weisheng, they were worlds apart.
Afterwards, Madam Li spent some time and effort, together with Li Jinhao, to place Wu Weisheng's family in a company within the family business. Thus, Wu Chengcai and Wu Weisheng worked together in this company, competing and causing trouble with the professionals they had hired to manage it. Only Wu Qianjing was left, under the guise of being her niece-in-law, to come to the Li family mansion from time to time to curry favor with Madam Li...
Just when she thought her nephew's family had quieted down recently, she was surprised when the whole family suddenly came to visit her today—Old Madam Li chuckled to herself.
Having raised them for so many years, how could she not know the nature of her nephew's family?
Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of malice or theft.
Seeing that Madam Li was sitting on the sofa looking at them indifferently, Wu Qianjing immediately went up to her as her niece-in-law and asked her a few words of concern, showing that the family was very concerned about her health.
"The doctor said I'm in good health lately, and Sishi is especially considerate and sensible. Even though she's so busy with work, she still remembers to ask me for a good luck charm..." Madam Li took a sip of tea, slightly raised her eyes, and said, "Just say what's on your mind."
“Since you put it that way, Aunt, then I’ll get straight to the point—” Wu Qianjing winked at Wu Weisheng, who immediately understood and handed over the psychiatric report. “Speaking of which, this matter is related to Sishi…”
"Oh? What happened to Sishi?" Old Madam Li looked at the man suspiciously.
Taking a deep breath, Wu Weisheng carefully opened the paternity test report. "Aunt, it turns out that my cousin Sishi... she's not actually my uncle's biological daughter!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Upon hearing this, Old Madam Li...
A storm raged in my heart.
However, despite her inner shock, Madam Li tried her best to maintain a calm demeanor on the surface, as if she had heard an extremely ridiculous joke, her expression a mixture of surprise and sarcasm.
Seeing Madam Li's appearance, Wu Chengcai quickly picked up where his son, who was too frightened to speak, left off: "Aunt, it's true. Our Wei Sheng always felt something was off, so he secretly got some hair samples from Cousin Hao and Si Shi for testing. This is the report that just came out, and it clearly states that Cousin Hao and Si Shi are not father and daughter..."
Although they didn't know which scoundrel had spread the rumor that Li Sishi was Li Jinhao's illegitimate daughter, they became even more excited after receiving the paternity test report—well, it turns out that Li Sishi is not Li Jinhao's child at all!
In other words, it is highly likely that Li Sishi and her daughter Zhou Jiaxian, in order to climb into the wealthy family, secretly used some method to impersonate Li Jinhao's bloodline, deceiving both Li Jinhao and Madam Li, and thus gaining entry into the family...
So, the wider the false rumor spreads in the market, the more advantageous it might be for them—Madam Li and Li Jinhao have been deceived for a long time by the scheming mother and daughter Li Sishi and Zhou Jiaxian, while their family will take the newly released paternity test report and expose their true colors...
Tsk tsk, I can almost picture the scheming mother and daughter, Li Sishi and Zhou Jiaxian, being kicked out of the house by the furious Old Madam Li, and then the Old Madam Li regretting her decision and taking the whole family back to live together in the mansion.
If Li Jinhao is a person with a conscience and knows that they are the good people, and then agrees to take Wu Weisheng under his name as his heir... that would be perfect.
As Wu Chengcai spoke, he was thinking, and a slight smile almost appeared on the corners of his mouth.
However, to Wu Chengcai's surprise, when he mentioned that Li Sishi's paternity test report determined that she and Li Jinhao were not father and daughter, the old lady Li suddenly threw the teacup in her hand to his feet.
Splashed by the scalding tea, Wu Chengcai almost jumped up: "Aunt?!"
"I can tolerate your son's momentary lapse in judgment, but you're already in your fifties and sixties, and you're just as foolish as him!" Old Madam Li clutched her chest, looking as if she was furious at her mentally challenged descendant. "Sishi is Ahao's stepdaughter. If they do that paternity test—it will definitely only show that they are not father and daughter!"
"Huh? Isn't it because Auntie thought Sishi was Cousin Hao's illegitimate child...?"
Before Wu Qianjing could finish speaking, she was immediately interrupted by Old Madam Li.
Startled by her angry glare, he quickly changed his tune, stammering, "So, so that's why you let Cousin Jiaxian into the family..."
"What nonsense are you two thinking about all day long!" Old Madam Li became increasingly angry. "My Ah Hao has been in love with Ah Xian for so many years, and I, as her mother, was blind to their true feelings and forced them to separate for so long. Now that they have finally reunited, it is a blessing from heaven!"
"Ah Xian and Si Shi are both good girls. If you keep trying to sow discord here, don't blame me for not showing any consideration for your dead father!"
What should have been a good act of betrayal turned into a display of stupidity. Wu Chengcai and his family looked at each other in bewilderment, and when they saw the angry face of Old Madam Li, they knew things were going badly and quickly made an excuse to slip away.
Of course, before they left, Wu Cheng-cai didn't forget to reveal one more piece of information to Madam Li, hoping to salvage a little bit of her image: "Aunt, for some reason, rumors are circulating in the market today that Si-shi is Cousin Hao's illegitimate daughter..."
"If you're worried that this will affect Cousin Hao's reputation, it would be best to have a good talk with him. Whether it's clarifying the situation or suppressing the news, you should act quickly..." After saying this, Wu Cheng-cai hurriedly took his wife and son and made a hasty escape.
As the maid closed the living room door, Madam Li, who had been trying to hide her true feelings, suddenly clutched her chest, her eyes fixed on the psychiatric report on the coffee table, her face deathly pale.
"Miss, the medicine is here. Take it first and then we'll talk!" Sister He, who had secretly gone to make a phone call to Li Jinhao under the pretense of getting the medicine, returned. She first dismissed the other servants, and then quickly helped Madam Li take the medicine with water.
While gently patting the younger generation, they softly coaxed Madam Li, and it took a while for Madam Li to calm down a little.
"What on earth happened?!" Old Madam Li, having recovered her composure, spoke with a voice filled with sorrow.
“Miss, perhaps there’s a problem with this report. Our original report was done overseas. This kind of emerging technology might not be something we can do very well here in Hong Kong yet…” Sister He advised repeatedly. “Or perhaps it’s because Young Master Wei did it secretly and used the wrong hair for testing…”
“We can test it a few more times; we can’t just look at one side…” Sister He thought for a moment and then added.
Madam Li glanced blankly at Sister He, then gradually revealed a bitter smile: "You're right, we can't just look at one side of the story."
"Then who are we?" Sister He quickly asked.
"Perhaps it's not Wei Sheng."
"It's a mistake, we've made a mistake." Old Madam Li shook her head. "However, whatever the truth may be, there's no need to do anything more."
"We were afraid of a leak, so we went to an appraisal agency owned by one of Ah Hao's friends to have it done..." Old Madam Li sighed deeply, already understanding the situation somewhat. "If Ah Hao had reacted 'timely,' it seems he could have had his friend slightly alter the appraisal results, after all, he owns a share in this appraisal agency..."
She didn't even need to doubt that it was Zhou Jiaxian and Li Sishi's problem—in the past few years of contact, Madam Li believed that she could still clearly see the true nature of this mother and daughter.
Moreover, given the circumstances at the time, the only person who could have tampered with the first paternity test report was her biological son, Li Jinhao.
No one knows a child better than their mother. Li Jinhao's actions were most likely intended to create an opportunity for her to have a proper relationship with Zhou Jiaxian and Li Sishi. Ideally, he could keep it a secret until she was on her deathbed, but if it was discovered in the meantime, he could leverage the bond they had developed in their daily interactions to strengthen the bargaining chips left by Zhou Jiaxian and Li Sishi.
"Miss, so what are your plans next?" Sister He asked tentatively.
Madam Li closed her eyes, unwilling to look at the appraisal report on the coffee table any longer: "Keep it safe. Let's pretend nothing happened today..."
Sister He felt relieved and responded softly. Just as she was about to put away the appraisal report on the coffee table, Old Madam Li suddenly called out to her again.
"Miss?" Sister He looked up in confusion.
Madam Li waved her hand: "This appraisal report is too important... I have to keep it safe myself."
Watching Madam Li silently pick up the appraisal report and then drag her seemingly incredibly heavy body upstairs, Sister He followed behind with great concern, her complex emotions no less than Madam Li's.
She was Madam Li's dowry maid and never married, so she had long regarded Li Jinhao as her own son. In the early years, Li Jinhao's melancholy appearance broke her and Madam Li's hearts. It wasn't until Zhou Jiaxian and Li Sishi came that the family began to resemble a "normal family"...
Even if this happiness might be fake, she doesn't want to see this family return to its former broken state.
Madam Li... probably thinks the same way.
"What do I think? Aren't I the same as you?" As she passed the study, Madam Li suddenly said quietly.
Sister He subconsciously followed Madam Li's gaze and saw that she was looking in the direction of the cabinet next to the desk.
Besides a few scattered photos of Madam Li, Zhou Jiaxian, and Li Sishi on the top of the cabinet, there was a family photo taken at their wedding banquet that year in the very center.
There was a time when this desk in my home abroad was so empty and desolate, except for rows of thick, darkly colored books and my son's thin figure buried in his work.
But what I saw before me was such a warm and colorful scene, from the calendar with notes drawn on it to the pink pig-shaped thermos that its owner had forgotten on the coffee table—Sishi must have forgotten to take her thermos with her when she came back to "catch up" with her dad yesterday...
A mountain breeze blew into the study through the half-open window. The wind chimes hanging in the room tinkled and jingled. From the crisp and melodious sound, one could vaguely recall that the gentle voice of the girl, as soft as the wind, had specially gone to the mountain temple to pray for peace for the elderly in her family after a busy and arduous work.
Madam Li gave a bitter smile.
Holding the test report, I walked step by step back to my room.
With trembling hands, Madam Li opened the safe, took out the old appraisal report, glanced at it reluctantly, then pressed the new appraisal report at the bottom of the safe before placing the old one on top.
"A family... comes together because of 'affection,' not 'fate.'" If this is a regretful mistake, then let it begin with her and end with her.
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