Chapter 277 We All Believe in Her
"That's how it is. My brother has hidden Chaochao away, and I don't know where she is now."
Zhu Mingyue's voice was weak, and her tone was casual. She had already told everything she knew, and whether Shi Jing and Jiang Jingwen could accept it or have any doubts about Zhu Jinzhao was not up to her.
Anyway, she had already made up her mind that if Shi Jing and Jiang Jingwen disliked Zhu Jinzhao, she would find a way to rescue Zhu Jinzhao herself.
"..."
On the sun-baked rooftop terrace, Shi Jing and Jiang Jingwen stared at each other blankly, their eyes filled with doubt and astonishment.
“Ming…Mingyue…” Jiang Jingwen was stunned for a while before hesitantly speaking, “Are you misunderstanding something? Chaochao was raised by Zhu Xingye. Zhu Xingye has been her older brother for twenty years. How could he like her and even imprison her?”
Shi Jing: "Although Chaochao isn't the Zhu family's biological daughter, she's been Zhu Xingye's sister for twenty years. How could Zhu Xingye fall in love with his own sister? This... this is incest..."
The word "incest" was so offensive that Shi Jing was hesitant to say it.
But Zhu Mingyue was very frank.
"There's no doubt about it, my older brother did commit incest. He admitted to me himself that he had long been in love with Chaochao, and the reason he suddenly hid Chaochao away was because he already knew that Chaochao was with you."
"He couldn't accept that Chaochao liked another man, so he went crazy."
"..." Shi Jing's gaze turned cold, and his eyes gradually turned to fear as he looked at Jiang Jingwen.
Jiang Jingwen pondered for a moment, recalling Zhu Xingye's attitude towards Zhu Jinzhao over the years, and realized that there were indeed many things that were not quite right.
For example, her excessive desire for control, her hostility towards all of Zhu Jinzhao's suitors, and her frequent intimate gestures such as pinching her cheeks, patting her head, and hugging her.
More importantly, Zhu Xingye is already in his thirties, but he not only has no intention of getting married, he has also never had a girlfriend in all these years.
He is handsome and successful, and has a considerable reputation in the capital. Countless girls want to get to know him, but he doesn't accept any of them.
He seemed to be born misogynistic, always maintaining a "keep away" attitude towards all women around him, yet he was the only one who liked to be close to Zhu Jinzhao...
Countless previously overlooked details were brought to the forefront by Zhu Mingyue's words. The more Jiang Jingwen thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and her already unpleasant expression turned even more so.
"Oh my god..." she exclaimed in a daze, breaking out in a cold sweat under the scorching sun.
A chill seeped from her very bones, and she shivered uncontrollably, goosebumps rising all over her body.
Zhu Mingyue: "Chaochao is my sister. I would never deliberately fabricate these nasty rumors to ruin her reputation. This is the situation as I understand it. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, and whether you accept it is also up to you."
"Hoo..." Shi Jing let out a deep breath and rubbed his face vigorously. "So, you called us out alone to take this call because you were afraid this matter would affect Chaochao's reputation?"
"Yes." Zhu Mingyue answered frankly, "Although reputation is not so important these days, Chaochao is still a young girl. If people find out that her older brother has such thoughts about her, even if it is not her fault, she will suffer a lot of criticism."
“I didn’t want her to suffer these things, so I told you secretly, away from outsiders.”
"One of you is Chaochao's boyfriend, and the other is Chaochao's childhood friend. This is the only thing I can tell you."
"...Then what did you mean by saying 'whether we accept it or not is up to us'?" Jiang Jingwen kept thinking about this sentence. "Sister Mingyue, are you afraid that Shijing and I will think that Chaochao is committing incest, like those outsiders do?"
"Yes." Zhu Mingyue didn't like beating around the bush, so she answered directly what she thought. "This kind of thing is too shocking. I can't guarantee that everyone who hears it will be able to rationally stand on Chaochao's side."
Although it wasn't a pleasant thing to say, it was absolutely true. As Zhu Jinzhao's older sister, it was perfectly normal for Zhu Mingyue to have such concerns.
Shi Jing could understand her very well, but she still felt a little uncomfortable.
"Zhu Mingyue, what kind of person do you think I am, Shi Jing?" He put one hand on his hip and said to Zhu Mingyue in a questioning tone, "I am Chaochao's official boyfriend. I know best how well-behaved Chaochao is. No matter what happens to Chaochao, I will always trust her unconditionally."
"So what if her own brother takes a liking to her? It's not her fault, so why can't I accept it?"
“Exactly!” Jiang Jingwen chimed in. “I’ve known Chaochao since we were toddlers, and we’ve been friends for so many years. How could I not know her?”
"What do you mean by accepting or not accepting... The fault lies with Zhu Xingye, not her! She's such a timid person, and now she's being hidden away by her own brother. I can't even imagine how scared she must be."
"Mingyue, now that Zhu Xingye has let you go, can you think of a way to find out Chaochao's whereabouts from him?"
Zhu Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief: "My idea alone might not be very useful; I'll need the two of you to help me."
Shi Jing: "Where are you? We're coming to find you right now."
Zhu Mingyue: "I'm still at home now. Zhu Xingye is going to the company in a little while. I'll come out to find you after he leaves."
Shi Jing nodded: "Okay. I'll drive over and pick you up now."
Zhu Mingyue: "Okay. That's all for now. I'll hang up now. Contact me on WeChat if you need anything."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
"Let's go." Shi Jing helped Jiang Jingwen up from the chair and pulled her towards the door. "Let's go downstairs and get something to eat first, then we'll set off..."
"I want to go too!"
Li Weiwan suddenly darted out from behind the door.
“…Ahhh!!” Jiang Jingwen was so startled that her legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground.
Li Weiwan looked at them and stubbornly said, "I want to go too!"
"..." Shi Jing blinked, feigning ignorance, "Where are you going?"
Li Weiwan: "Go find Zhu Mingyue! Once we find Zhu Mingyue, we'll work together to figure out a way to save Zhu Jinzhao."
"Hmm?" Shi Jing narrowed his eyes warily. "You overheard everything?"
Li Weiwan scratched her head: "I didn't eavesdrop. I just happened to hear you talking about going to find Zhu Mingyue when I came up."
Jiang Jingwen: "Do you know why we went to find Zhu Mingyue?"
Li Weiwan: "Of course I know. If I'm not mistaken, what Zhu Mingyue told you is exactly what I've been thinking about."
"Before I arrived at the Shi family home, I already guessed why Zhu Xingye did this."
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