The two of them walked and talked, and unknowingly arrived at Principal Li's house. Shu Yahan raised her hand and knocked gently on the door.
Not long after, the door opened and a middle-aged man in his fifties wearing black-framed glasses appeared in front of them. This man was Principal Li.
"Oh, Xiao Shu, Xiao Chu, you are here, come in!" Principal Li greeted Shu Yahan and Chu Jingqiu warmly.
Shu Yahan and Chu Jingqiu followed Principal Li into the house. Chu Jingqiu looked around and saw that the house was decorated simply and elegantly. There were several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, exuding a scent of books.
After the two sat down, Principal Li's lover brought them two cups of steaming hot tea. Principal Li carefully took out a few photos from the drawer and handed them to Chu Jingqiu.
"Xiao Chu, take a look at these photos. I think Teacher Shu has already told you everything about my family!"
Chu Jingqiu took the photo with a smile, "Yes, Yahan has just told me the general situation."
After saying that, she glanced at the photo in her hand. The baby in the photo was wrapped in a small blue flower blanket.
With a pair of bright big eyes, a chubby little face, and thick black hair, he looks very cute.
"Is this a photo of your grandson when he was a child?" Chu Jingqiu asked softly.
Principal Li nodded and said, "Yes, it was him. This was taken by my eldest son. He used the newspaper's camera to take the photo when the child was almost one month old."
Recalling the past, Principal Li smiled and said, "Ten years have passed in a flash. Time flies!
Over the years, Zimo has been fostered in the countryside. We were doing labor reform on the farm and had no choice, so we have never seen him.
After the rehabilitation, my daughter-in-law's aunt had passed away. We immediately notified her cousin Qian Erni.
The next day we went to the countryside to pick up the child.
When we saw the child, we were very satisfied to see that Qian Erni had raised the child very well. The child was fair and clean, and not timid at all.
What touched us was that she raised her own son to be dark and thin, but she never treated our children badly in the slightest.
When we took Zimo away, the child had just returned with a large bundle of firewood on his back.
The child was wearing tattered clothes, and the toes of the cloth shoes on his feet were exposed.
The bundle of firewood was so big that I could hardly see the child underneath. I felt really bad about it and quickly ran over to take the firewood.
To be honest, even an adult like me found it difficult to carry the firewood. It is hard to imagine how such a small child managed to carry the firewood back.
I took out a handful of candy from my pocket and gave it to the child. The child had a pale face and dry hair, but his eyes were clear. He looked up at Qian Erni.
Qian Erni said with embarrassment: "Xiao Kui, this is given to you by your great aunt, just take it!"
Xiao Kui stretched out his skinny hands that looked like chicken claws, took the candy, and smiled with satisfaction.
Seeing his expression, I felt so sad.
At that time, I suggested that we take both children with us to go to school in the city.
Qian Erni said she would never let her son trouble us, so we could only give her some more money to make up for our debt to her family."
At this point, Principal Li's smile gradually disappeared. "What we didn't expect was that Zimo was so ignorant, fighting, skipping school, stealing things,
What made us even more angry was that when my wife and I tried to lecture him, he actually cursed at us.
His father beat him, but he was not convinced and threatened to go back to be with Qian Erni, saying that Qian Erni was his biological mother and he didn't want to be beaten here anymore.
After he said that, I had that thought. Qian Erni seemed to have gone a little too far. Kindness does not mean partiality.
Even if you are kind to other people's children, you wouldn't abuse your own son!
What's more, she has a son and a daughter, and I have never seen her abuse her other two biological children.
So, I began to suspect that her child Xiaokui was my grandson.
Xiao Chu, although the hospital's blood test results showed that there was no problem, the doubts in my mind are growing.
I am really in a dilemma now. I don't dare to question her cousin's wife. What if I make a mistake? Not only will it hurt the child's feelings, but people will also laugh at our family for being heartless.
So, I ask you to help me draw a portrait of this child when he grows up to 11 years old, and see which one is my biological grandson.
After saying that, he took off his glasses, rubbed his sore eyes, and leaned back on the sofa with a tired expression.
Chu Jingqiu looked at Principal Li's tired face and couldn't help feeling sympathy.
She gently put down the teacup, picked up the paintbrush on the table, and began to paint on paper based on the baby's characteristics in the photo and the laws of human growth.
Her brush rustled across the paper, and in just about twenty minutes, a lifelike portrait of a young boy appeared before her eyes.
Principal Li couldn't wait to take the portrait and look at it, but he was not as surprised as he had imagined. Instead, he frowned and said, "What's going on? He looks like Xiao Kui from Qian Erni's family.
But they are not too similar. The portrait you drew is fatter than Xiao Kui.
The weight is similar to our child, but the appearance is not that similar to our current child."
Chu Jingqiu thought for a moment. She only drew the portrait based on the photo and ignored the child's growing environment. He had been abused since childhood, and his height and weight looked smaller than his peers.
So she made some minor changes and handed it to Principal Li again.
Principal Li's face immediately turned livid when he received the portrait. He pounded the table angrily, "They are so heartless and worse than animals. I...I must seek justice for our Zimo."
Principal Li's wife hurriedly snatched the portrait from his hand and took a look at it. After just one look, she fell down limply.
Chu Jingqiu quickly hugged her, and Principal Li and Shu Yahan also hurried over.
Chu Jingqiu pinched Principal Li's lover's philtrum hard, and she slowly opened her eyes.
When she regained consciousness, tears welled up in her eyes and she burst into tears, "Oh my God! I really regret it! If I had known it would be like this, I would have taken Zimo to the farm.
Although the conditions there were difficult, the other children in our family were not as thin as Zimo.
What's more, we gave her a thousand yuan when we left. Over the past ten years, I have also asked my students to regularly drop off some money and tickets at home.
After her salary was backpaid, we gave her another thousand yuan as a token of our gratitude to her for all these years.
How…how have we wronged her? How dare they mistreat our Zimo like this!
What’s even more abominable is that they sent their own animals to our house and pretended they were our children.
This family is such a vicious person! I will never let them off easily this time!"
Principal Li also said with tears in his eyes: "Xiao Chu, thank you, you have never seen our Zimo, but you can draw so realistically.
I... I really don't know how to thank you. Once I have dealt with this matter, I... I will definitely come to your house and prepare a generous gift to thank you."
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