After hearing what Sheng Yi and Zhu Qinghao had found out, the Zhu family fell silent, except for Wen Chuyi and the two children.
Zhu Huaichuan remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.
"So it was him all along. It's my fault, it's all my fault..."
At this moment, Zhu Qingyun and Zhao Cheng grabbed him from both sides.
"Dad, don't overthink it. How can this be your fault? If anyone is to blame, it's Lin Bin, or at the very least, it's us. How can you be blamed? Don't take all the blame on yourself."
"That's right, Dad. You did nothing wrong back then, so how could it be your fault?"
Zhu Huaichuan didn't respond to their words. After glancing at the people in the room, he slowly began to tell Zhu Qinghao and Sheng Yi about the past of the Zhu and Lin families.
“Our family did have a history with the Lin family, and it wasn’t a pleasant one. The information we’ve gathered is also true; your uncle’s background was indeed of dubious origin…”
Zhu Huaichuan's voice was steady and captivating, gradually transporting everyone back to the Zhu family of more than 30 years ago:
Zhao Cheng's origins are truly unknown, and to this day no one knows where he came from. All that is known is that when he first appeared in everyone's sight, he seemed to be only three or four years old.
Before being noticed by the Zhu family, he was like a puppy, being led around the streets on a leash.
Why is it described as being like a dog on a leash? Because a boy had tied a rope around his neck, and if he disobeyed the boy's orders, he would be pulled hard and thrown to the ground.
Later, the three children of the Zhu family, namely Zhu Yanzhi and Zhu Qingyun, were playing outside when they saw that the child was really pitiful, so they went home and begged their grandfather to save him.
Grandpa Zhu asked Chen Liangcai what had happened, and thinking that it wouldn't be a big problem for the family to have an extra mouth for the time being, he asked him to bring the two children back together.
Thinking of asking about its origin, I wondered if I could send it home.
Sure enough, the little boy was initially unwilling to let them go, but when he heard that Chen Liang was willing to take them both back, he led Xiao Zhaocheng back to the Zhu family with Chen Liang.
When they returned to the Zhu family home, Old Master Zhu could tell from the boy's clothes and appearance that he was not from an ordinary family.
However, he absolutely refused to tell us his origins, only saying that he was a homeless orphan, and wouldn't even reveal his age. He insisted on staying there shamelessly.
Grandpa Zhu would have disagreed at first, but looking at his own children, he was determined to keep the child who was tied up.
In addition, given the chaotic situation outside, Zhu Huaichuan couldn't bear to let the two children wander around outside, so he had no choice but to leave them at home for the time being.
However, he wasn't particularly at ease with a child who looked to be twelve or thirteen years old. Instead, he asked Chen Liang to inquire around to see if they could find the child's family.
It didn't take much effort; the next day, Chen Liang found out that the child belonged to a newly moved-in family next door.
The male head of the household was a soldier who was away from home most of the year, leaving the female head of the household to raise two sons and a daughter alone. The children were all going through a rebellious phase and were difficult to manage.
The boy happened to be their youngest son, named Lin Bin, who was 10 years old. For some unknown reason, he had a big fight with his mother and then "ran away from home".
After hearing about these things, Zhu Huaichuan simply assumed it was the child being rebellious. In addition, he always respected soldiers and thought he could help if he could. So he just asked Chen Liang to inform the boy's mother and tacitly allowed him to stay.
Even after he stayed, he remained as self-centered as ever. No matter how the Zhu family inquired about Xiao Zhaocheng's background, he refused to say, only that his name was Zhaocheng and that he was a "puppy" he had picked up.
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