Chapter 67: Making the best of a bad situation
February 14, 1976...
Madam Li's gaze lingered on the birth date for a long time before she finally let out a long sigh: It turns out, she had been too fixated on it and overthinking things again.
She arranged for Li Jinhao to study abroad in 1974. At that time, she deliberately made a promise with Li Jinhao, who was still very naive, that if Zhou Jiaxian could wait for him to study abroad for four years without changing her mind, then she would agree to their relationship.
Therefore, it wasn't until the following year that they received a message from Li Jinhuai saying that Zhou Jiaxian, after not receiving a reply from her son, finally couldn't hold back any longer and went to ask him for help to bring him to the United States to find him. So, the two sides put their minds together and changed from secretly intercepting the letters to deliberately sowing discord. And then, as expected, they saw the two lovers, who were once deeply in love, drift apart.
In other words, it was impossible for Zhou Jiaxian to have been pregnant for nearly two years. The child, Li Sishi, who looks like her son, is purely a coincidental resemblance between relatives...
“That’s not right, Miss. Although the young master and that person may not have crossed the line in Hong Kong, if we calculate carefully, when that person deliberately arranged for her to see the young master and the rich heiress together, they were also in the United States…” Sister He was one of the executors of the scheme, so she remembered it more clearly. “I remember, that person went to the United States around mid-May…”
"You mean..." Madam Li's eyes, which had dimmed, suddenly lit up again with these words.
Love and hate between young couples always come and go quickly. No one can guarantee that when they are arguing, they will suddenly have sex one night.
Then, the argument continued until it became irreconcilable.
Moreover, Li Jinhuai was no pushover. With him causing trouble, how could their young and naive son and Zhou Jiaxian possibly stand a chance against such a playboy who liked to toy with emotions?
However, this can be seen as a consequence of his own actions: if Li Sishi is indeed her granddaughter, and not Li Jinhuai's bloodline, then Li Jinhuai's meticulous planning has ultimately failed him...
That must be it. No wonder Zhou Jiaxian eloped with Li Jinhuai and left Hong Kong a few months later. Previously, Madam Li thought that Zhou Jiaxian had revealed her true nature. After losing her brother, she intended to hook up with her younger brother so that she could still marry into a wealthy family and achieve a leap in social class.
Looking back now, if Zhou Jiaxian hadn't found someone to "handle" the child in time, given the social norms at the time, her parents would definitely have taken her, who was pregnant out of wedlock, to have an abortion...
Thinking of this, Madam Li's heart sank even further: although Zhou Jiaxian might have deceived her distant nephew Li Jinhuai, if this deception was to protect her granddaughter... Li Jinhuai himself was one of the root causes of his cousin and future sister-in-law being separated for many years, and he deserved this retribution!
"Do you still have the invitation to the Lixian Club event?" Old Madam Li suddenly woke up and quickly asked Sister He.
"Although you said you didn't want to go to any activities, I still have them on the cabinet downstairs. I'll go get them right away!" Sister He immediately understood that Madam Li wanted to take the opportunity to get closer to Li Sishi. She immediately stood up again, opened the door, went downstairs, and looked for the invitations to the Lixian Club activities.
When Sister He brought up the invitation to the Lixian Club event, Madam Li looked at the front-facing photo and sighed softly, "I've heard that in recent years there's a technology that can determine whether two people are related by blood..."
"That's right, one of the young master's old classmates opened this appraisal center. Miss, what do you want?" Sister He leaned closer and whispered.
“I can take advantage of this event to find an opportunity to get what I want from this child.”
Madam Li's eyes darkened, and she had already made up her mind.
Before the deadline indicated on the invitation arrived, Madam Li secretly took Sister He to a private investigator and paid extra to expedite the process, obtaining a large number of videotapes and reports about Li Sishi.
Then, the more she looked at Li Sishi, the more she felt that she and her son were exactly alike, and the more she looked at them, the more she felt genuinely happy about the upcoming meeting.
She had been hoping for so many years, and although there were some missed opportunities and unexpected events along the way, it was highly likely that her son still had some bloodline in this world!
Amidst Madam Li's eager anticipation, the day of the second day's activities arrived both long and swiftly.
As for Li Sishi, although she heard that the usually reclusive Old Madam Li had actually come to this charity event today, Li Sishi, being a newcomer and a new pork vendor, was very busy. So after hearing the news, she simply nodded calmly, indicating that she already knew that the "rumored future madam" had appeared.
In Hong Kong, the common term for grandparents is "grandpa" and "grandma". If Li Sishi's mother really marries the lawyer Li who returned from the United States, then Madam Li will be her step-grandmother.
Li Xian uses the character "Li" to allude to the members' beautiful appearance and to wish married members a "deeply loving marriage." However, things in life are never as they seem.
As many wealthy women as Li Xian have wished, they are all fascinated by Li Jinhao, a particularly famous divorce lawyer in the United States, and all want to befriend him in case they need him in the future...
Li Sishi's calm demeanor made many of the already biased long-time members start to think to themselves: Li Sishi is such a composed newcomer, no wonder she was able to defeat so many opponents on stage at such a young age and win the beauty pageant title one after another.
Li Sishi silently accepted the subtle approval in everyone's expressions.
Speaking of which, she had quite a bit of contact with Old Madam Li in her past life, but unfortunately, every time they met, it was to find ways to break up her mother and stepfather...
After silently cursing her past self for being stupid and dull, Li Sishi smiled meaningfully and looked in the direction of Old Madam Li: It seems that this time Old Madam Li is trying to win over her, her adopted granddaughter, to cause trouble for her mother and stepfather's relationship.
Seeing that Madam Li would seize any opportunity to come closer to her, and that her attitude was quite kind and amiable, Li Sishi became even more certain of her thoughts.
Li Sishi responded indifferently, while the rumored haughty Old Madam Li smiled kindly at her and even offered to give her an expensive-looking hair accessory. The crowd, who had been waiting to see a good show, were stunned for a while before secretly sighing: It seems that Zhou Jiaxian and Li Sishi, mother and daughter, have really climbed the social ladder again. Looking at Old Madam Li's kind expression, it doesn't seem like she's putting on an act!
So it can be said that Madam Li not only accepted Zhou Jiaxian as her future daughter-in-law, but also accepted Li Sishi as her adopted granddaughter!
Compared to those in the hall who all seemed to understand, Li Sishi, who received the expensive hair ornament, was quite puzzled: If it was true that Old Madam Li had a good intention for her...
Then why deliberately send her a set of hair accessories with minor defects that snagged quite a bit of her hair and almost caused her to lose her composure in front of others? But if we say that Madam Li was just putting on an act, pretending to be friendly but actually giving her a warning, then the attitude she showed throughout and the value of the gift certainly didn't seem fake...
Her recent hectic schedule had taken a heavy toll on her energy, and for the time being, Li Sishi really had no clue what to do.
It wasn't until two days later, one night, when Li Sishi looked at the long hair stuck to her comb and at the tiny white hair follicle wrapped around the base of the hair, that she finally remembered what hair could actually be used for...
Although Madam Li was a feudal and traditional old-fashioned woman, it's unlikely that she would use her hair for superstitious activities like performing rituals or beating villains.
Even if they were to perform a ritual, shouldn't they have focused their main efforts on the mother, Zhou Jiaxian, and tried to use the power of "magic" to defeat the "vixen" who was seducing her son?
What does it mean to come all the way to find your "child"?
Therefore, considering all the factors mentioned above and removing the use of feudal superstition...
Hair has only one use—paternity testing.
Thinking of this, Li Sishi quickly called Li Jinhao and asked him to come over, saying that she had something very important to discuss with him.
Sensing the urgency in Li Sishi's words, Li Jinhao hung up the phone without suspicion and rushed over.
Li Sishi gestured for Zuo Lili to rest early and watched her nod and leave before leading Li Jinhao to her room.
After closing the door and carefully checking to make sure no one was eavesdropping, Li Sishi lowered her voice as much as possible and told Li Jinhao her guess.
"I also read about this new technology that has only been around for a few years in a book and then made the connection. I don't know if I'm right, but if it's not this, then it's hard to explain why Madam Li approached me that day and gave me such an expensive gift..." Li Sishi said worriedly.
“Your guess isn’t unreasonable.” Li Jinhao nodded, but was still puzzled. “But why would she think you might be my and A-Xian’s…”
"If it were you, Mommy and I might not have had such a 'miserable' life," Li Sishi joked casually, then panicked when she saw the sudden dimming in Li Jinhao's eyes. "That's not what I meant. I just felt that if you were my daddy, Mommy and I would have a happy and fulfilling family..."
"Although it's not too late now, I still have to say, even though it's outrageous, if I could, I would like you to be my biological father."
Li Jinhao lowered his eyes, then forced a smile and gently patted Li Sishi's head: "You don't need to think like that—my feelings for you stem not only from my love for your mother but also from my affection for you. Those 'external factors' aren't that important."
Li Sishi gave a nasal "hmm" and then couldn't help but ask, "So what do we do now?"
Given that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, Old Madam Li might unleash another devastating blow on the relationship that the two had so painstakingly rekindled...
Although she sided with her parents this time, Madam Li also raised Li Jinhao alone.
The story revolves around a resilient widowed mother who has achieved success, while Li Jinhao, a "filial son," finds himself caught in the middle, torn between the two.
Then her mother, Zhou Jiaxian, will also be affected, and she will inevitably feel troubled and uneasy about it.
While Li Sishi remained silent, pondering a solution, Li Jinhao spoke softly, "My mother has always had a lingering worry: she hopes I can have a descendant—"
"What if we just go along with this mistake and give her the descendant with my 'bloodline' that she has always been hoping for?"
"I'm sorry, did I scare you? Yes, I was careless and forgot that you're still young. I shouldn't have let you hear about such a plan without being prepared. It's inevitable that it will make you a little uncomfortable..."
"I'll be fine in a bit." Li Sishi leaned back on the sofa and glanced unconsciously at Li Jinhao, whose features still vaguely resembled those of his younger days.
The man before her, who always presented himself as a kind and gentle gentleman, had almost made her forget that he was actually a renowned lawyer who could extract huge sums of divorce alimony from the wealthiest men in the United States for his clients…
The young woman who was once powerless to defy her parents' wishes has now grown into a sharp lawyer who can talk about fabricated "evidence" without batting an eye—Li Jinhao is much darker than she is, a wolf in sheep's clothing!
“I think this is just a white lie,” Li Jinhao said, shaking his head with a smile.
"She has some prejudice against you, but she's not one of those overly stubborn and naive people. On the contrary, she's the kind of person who becomes more soft-hearted towards people she knows well..."
"As the saying goes, 'Time will tell, and a person's true character will be revealed.' If you get along well for a long time, even if the truth is revealed later, do you believe the first person to help cover it up will be herself?"
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