As she spoke, she bent down to pick up the teapot as she went in, and smiled as she poured water for everyone, saying, "Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."
Tianlang stood outside the door, using a pillar in the porch to shield himself, holding Ruan Chen's coat, and silently mourned for the Su family.
The people from the Su family looked Ruan Chen up and down, and exclaimed in admiration, "I must say, Su Ze knows how to enjoy life. This girl is really pretty."
One of the men asked, "Is the little girl an adult yet? She doesn't look like one of those lowly people from the Stray Island; she looks more like one of our Chinese."
Another man nudged his waist. "Hey Su Laoqi, this is Liuli Island, so put away your fancy ideas and get down to business first. After that, you can do whatever you want without anyone bothering you."
Ruan Chen picked up the glass with her clean, slender fingers and slowly poured in the tea, a sight to behold.
A woman next to her noticed Ruan Chen's hands, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Young lady, are you not a servant? Your hands are so clean, like you were pampered."
Ruan Chen looked a little awkward and gave a soft "hmm".
"Still quite shy?" The man called "Seventh Brother Su" looked Ruan Chen up and down again before saying, "Don't you guys think this girl's features look familiar?"
"You're only just realizing it?" Another man glanced at him. "She's here, beautiful and clean-looking. It's obvious Su Ze is protecting her very well."
Almost simultaneously, the group reached a conclusion in their hearts—this was Su Ze's daughter.
Ruan Chen avoided their unabashed scrutiny and asked again in a low voice, "Uncle and Aunt, what's the deal with Cong Rao? Can I ask her?"
Just as Su Laoqi was about to speak, he was stopped by a woman on the side. She was the one who first said that Ruan Chen's identity was not that of a servant. She wore black-rimmed glasses and her temperament was obviously different from the others present. She looked more like a university professor.
She asked, "Little girl, what's your name? Why are you asking that?"
Ruan Chen seemed startled, gripping the water bottle tightly and taking two steps back, whispering, "I've heard... I've heard Su Ze mention this name before. He cries whenever he talks about it, but Su... Su Ze won't tell me why."
The woman noticed something interesting in Ruan Chen's words and asked, "You called him... Su Ze?"
“Yes,” Ruan Chen said, her head almost touching the ground. “He wouldn’t let me use any other name for him, saying it was to protect me.”
The group immediately understood. It was quite normal. A place like Liuli Island was too chaotic, and Su Ze was a target of envy and resentment. There were bound to be many people who hated him and wanted to seize power. So, it was natural for Su Ze to hide his daughter. To avoid any oversights, it was even normal for him to prevent his daughter from calling him "Dad."
"What did he say when he mentioned Cong Rao?"
“He said he regretted it, saying he didn’t protect her well… I don’t know anything else, so I wanted to ask your uncle and aunt so I can comfort Su Ze next time she’s sad.”
She looked incredibly well-behaved; once she suppressed her coldness and roguishness, she was the epitome of a model student. The woman's heart softened, and she thought that this child was indeed filial to Su Ze, but she didn't know whether her father was alive or dead.
Thinking of Su Ze's life or death, the woman felt even more pity for Ruan Chen. She planned to finish dealing with things here and then let Su Laoqi and the others take the little girl back to the Su family to raise her, since she was their child after all.
She reached out and took Ruan Chen's slender wrist with pity, stroking it in her palm. In her heart, she secretly blamed Su Ze for being so inconsiderate. How could such a beautiful and delicate child be raised on a deserted island? If he had just told the Su family, how could they have dared not send someone to take the child back to China to raise?
Sirius stood far away at the door, catching a glimpse of the scene inside through the crack in the door, and was greatly shocked.
He thought a major battle was about to break out inside.
The woman said, "Cong Rao is your father's biological sister. She is the child of their father—your grandfather—and another aunt. This is something that can't be seen by others, so Cong Rao didn't take our Su family surname, but that woman's surname."
The man on the side said sarcastically, "Ah Tan, why are you making it sound so nice? He's just an illegitimate child, kept outside but not dared to bring home."
The woman ignored him and continued, "Actually, Cong Rao also had a hard life. Although she has the blood of our Su family, she has never had a good day. Your grandfather died early, and she relied on your father's frugality to support her studies. Your father sent her to a small town far away and helped her buy a house there, so she settled down there."
"We don't know much about what happened after that. We only know that she seemed to have a fight with your father because of a man, and your father broke off all contact with her in a fit of anger. Later it turned out that the man was indeed a bad person. We heard that Cong Rao was swindled out of all her money by him, and your father was too busy with other matters to deal with him at that time."
"Then, a few years later, we heard that Cong Rao died in an accident..."
Before the woman could finish speaking, Su Laoqi interrupted her again, "Hey Su Tan, why are you babbling on and on with this girl? Cong Rao deserves it, who told her to be blind?"
Another man chimed in, "Luckily she died young, otherwise it would have been troublesome if she had come after our Su family."
Su Tan's eyes were somewhat gloomy, but he didn't argue with the two of them. He simply said to Ruan Chen, "Don't listen to their nonsense. Everyone has their own troubles..."
"Alright, Su Tan," the third man, who hadn't spoken until now, seemed to have had enough of these old stories. He got up and walked over, pulling Ruan Chen directly from Su Tan's arms. "I'm telling you, stop pretending. We all know you're Su Ze's daughter. Where is your father now? Is he dead or alive? You know something, so I advise you to tell us quickly."
The man's aura was very unfriendly.
Su Tan seemed somewhat wary of this man and didn't stop him. He simply said to Ruan Chen, "Little girl, we are all from the Su family and we're here to help you. Just tell us what you know."
Ruan Chen suddenly smiled, her previous timidity and fear vanishing, and asked, "You want the real estate that Su Ze has built up over the years, and his business network, right?"
Even her tone of voice changed, becoming crisp and cold.
"Regardless of the fact that Su Ze will definitely come back, even if he doesn't want the assets here, they still belong to Blood Skull. What does that have to do with your Su family?"
Her aura suddenly became sharp, and the way the others looked at her changed.
Su Laoqi stood up abruptly, raising his arm high, clearly about to lose his temper.
"Also, I am not Su Ze's daughter. My mother's name is Cong Rao."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com