Meng Shaoan took two breaths with difficulty, subconsciously searched the four pockets of his black woolen cadre uniform, found a handkerchief, wiped the sweat off his face, and looked at Meng Zhehan: "Tell Uncle, you went to that place for a trip and heard the rumors, right?"

Meng Zhehan had a blank expression on his face: "Isn't what I said clear enough? I saw the girl with my own eyes, interacted with her, talked with her, a real person! And I sat around the fire with her elders and listened to this tragic story in its entirety.

The girl heard it for the first time. She didn't know her life story at all. She thought she was born an orphan and lived with Grandpa Meng, Meng Shengli. She grew up in a mountain village and was a native village girl. She was simple, kind, and lived in poverty. But her life changed. Meng Shengli died when she was fifteen. In order to give the girl a support, Meng Shengli betrothed her to a cultured young man in the village and found a job for the young man in the city.

Meng Shengli believed that if the girl were to marry a local man in the village, who he knew well and who would be witnessed and supervised by the villagers, it would be safe and accident-free, and she could avoid the lesson of Guan Xiuzhi. However, fate did not let the girl go, and she still followed Guan Xiuzhi's old path!

The young man went to the city to work and found a rich woman, but he deceived the girl and made her stay at home to take care of his parents and family for more than four years, and then he ruthlessly broke off the engagement with her.

Meng Shaoan clenched his hands on the table into fists, his eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth: "This scum! Don't let me see him!"

Meng Zhehan was speechless for a while: Is this the magic of blood relationship? The father and daughter have never met each other, and they don't even know each other's existence, but they use the same words to curse each other.

"In fact, you and that person are birds of a feather. Scolding him is equivalent to scolding yourself." Meng Zhehan said.

"Meng Zhehan, I'm warning you: I'm your second uncle, your elder. You don't understand the situation back then at all. You don't understand anything. You have no right... you are not qualified to treat me like this. Speak nicely!"

Meng Shaoan acted like an elder and glared at his nephew with red eyes.

Meng Zhehan said, "How else do you want to know? Isn't the matter clear enough? You were in a high-profile relationship with Guan Xiuzhi, and you even got her pregnant. Then, for the sake of your morality, to repay her for saving your life, and to preserve Deng Qiuping's bloodline, you heartlessly abandoned Guan Xiuzhi and married Jin Yanyan instead. Am I wrong?"

Meng Shaoan was speechless and closed his eyes in pain: "Xiuzhi is young and beautiful, and many men like her. Even without me, she can still find someone who loves her and be happy..."

"Oh, your lover is young and beautiful, and there are other men who like her, so you feel free to abandon her? Second uncle, can you find a more convincing reason?"

Meng Zhehan ignored Meng Shaoan's reaction and continued, "You only knew to ask Guan Xiuzhi to understand and fulfill your wish without considering her feelings at all? She loved you too much, so she took that step back. But I thought about it for her. If she didn't step back and didn't fulfill your act of gratitude, she would definitely be disliked by you, and the final result might not be much better. So, second uncle, meeting you was Guan Xiuzhi's disaster - you don't love her at all, you played with her!"

"No! It's not like that... I love her! I have never forgotten her and I often dream about her! If she had told me at that time that she was pregnant, I would never have done that and would never have left!"

Meng Shaoan rested his elbows on the table, buried his face in his palms, and whimpered in pain.

Meng Zhehan didn't care about his feelings and continued, "You touched that girl, don't you want to take responsibility? It's normal to dream about someone, but I've never heard you say you want to revisit the old place, and you can't even visit her, which means you don't care about her."

"I care! I just don't dare to go! I've already let her down, I can't disturb her life anymore!"

"Yes, after all, you won't see anything if you go there. Meng Shengli's group gradually dispersed after Guan Xiuzhi and He Lian died. The first to leave was Meng Shengli. He couldn't stand the pain and left with the baby girl. Then the other two families moved away one after another. There must have been people moving away from that courtyard as well.

You just suspected that I heard some rumors, but that doesn't exist. That place has already changed countless people, and no one knows about you and Guan Xiuzhi, so you don't have to worry about your reputation being damaged. Even if you betrayed Guan Xiuzhi and harmed a family, no one has come to you in the past 20 years, right?"

Meng Shaoan put down his hand, tears in the corners of his eyes. He naturally did not accept Meng Zhehan's accusation. What did he mean by "he ruined a family"? It was simply nonsense.

He wanted to reprimand his nephew and defend himself, but he was powerless at the moment. He only asked what he wanted to ask most: "Where is that little baby girl, she is my daughter?"

Meng Zhehan looked at him straight in the eye: "Meng Shengli raised her, so her last name is also Meng, but she is not your daughter. Her grandmother He Lian swore a poisonous oath not to let her recognize you."

Meng Shaoan became excited: "What oath? I don't believe it. I am her biological father! She is my only daughter!"

"Only daughter? Don't forget, you have two precious daughters downstairs. Oh, they are the flesh and blood of your savior Deng Qiuping. You married Jin Yanyan to save Deng Qiuping's flesh and blood, but abandoned your lover and your own flesh and blood. Now you are talking about biological father and only daughter. Don't you think it's ridiculous?

Now that the bloodline of the Deng family has been saved, why don't you let them recognize their ancestors and continue to have the surname Meng? You raised him, so you can't bear to let him go, right? If Deng Qiuping is still alive, how would he feel if he saw you occupying his wife and letting his daughter only recognize you as her biological father? Second uncle, is this what you call repaying a favor?"

Meng Shaoan took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, and returned to his usual elegant and upright image. He looked at Meng Zhehan arrogantly and coldly. He could lose the battle but not the battle, especially in front of his nephew:

"You won't understand our generation, so there's no need for me to explain my behavior to you. You don't need to interfere in my family affairs. I'm your second uncle, so I can ask you: this matter ends here, don't spread it outside, and don't tell my family without my knowledge. Wait until I have sorted out everything, and then we can talk. Take me to see the girl first. I must be responsible for my daughter, and I can't let her wander around outside!"

(End of this chapter)