"Is that Aunt Wang?" Shen Hui, with her sharp ears, recognized the voice and mouthed the question to Shen Fenghe.
Shen Fenghe nodded.
Zhu Mingqi asked, "How can you prove it?"
“Madam, I need money now, I won’t lie to you.” Aunt Wang said, “My son is in the ICU right now, I need this money. Your daughter really didn’t die. The one you buried was Guihua’s brother’s daughter. You were all so distraught back then, no one was there to help… and since the child was in such a state, Guihua made it look real. She told me to take the child and throw her into the trash can outside the hospital. The child was still breathing at that time.”
Shen Hui sent Zhao Xuning a message: 【Something happened at my house.】
Zhao Xuning: [What?]
Shen Hui: [My former maid called to extort money from me.]
No sooner had I finished speaking than the doorbell rang.
When Shen Siyan saw that it was Zhao Xuning, she sat there motionless.
Shen Hui raised her hand to let the maid open the door.
Zhao Xuning didn't dare to speak after she came in, and Shen Hui immediately got up and pulled her to her side.
All I heard was someone saying, "Madam, really, how could I lie to you? My son is waiting for this money to save his life. I really know who took your daughter away. It must have been her who made a deal with Sister Guihua. I was just confused and listened to Sister Guihua... Anyway, that child was about to die, but I didn't expect that child to be so lucky and still be alive."
"Then why don't you blackmail her?" Zhu Mingqi asked coldly.
Aunt Wang was taken aback, and said in a choked voice, "Madam, we haven't been able to get through to them on the phone for a long time. She told me that the child was dead and had been thrown into the sea. But I only found out from the news these past few days that she was lying. Madam, I'm not lying to you, please save my child's life."
Zhao Xuning had come in halfway, but he had overheard the gist of it and asked Shen Hui in a low voice.
Shen Hui leaned close to her ear and told her the whole story.
Zhao Xuning's expression changed slightly.
Zhu Mingqi eventually agreed and had someone wire her one million yuan.
Aunt Wang wasn't stupid; she said she would tell her daughter's whereabouts once the million was transferred to her account.
After Zhu Mingqi hung up the phone, she leaned weakly against the table, almost collapsing.
Shen Yaobo helped her up and supported her.
Zhu Mingqi asked the housekeeper to wire money to Aunt Wang, but Zhao Xuning stopped her, saying, "Wait a minute."
The whole family stared at her.
Zhao Xuning only hesitates for a moment when making a choice, but she is decisive once she makes a decision, so she said simply and clearly: "I know where she is."
Everyone was shocked.
Shen Hui grabbed her wrist, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
“I’m not lying.” Zhao Xuning grasped her hand in return, but his gaze was fixed on Zhu Mingqi. “Would you want to acknowledge her?”
Zhu Mingqi pursed her lips: "Is she really still alive?"
Zhao Xuning nodded: "Alive and healthy."
Gu Yixue seemed to have understood something. She scrolled through today's trending topics, found Liang Shi's previous costume photos for "Heart's Journey", looked at the photos, and then glanced at Shen Fenghe.
Then he silently placed his phone in front of Chen Fenghe.
Shen Fenghe was still listening to Zhao Xuning speak when she saw her looking down at him.
A sudden inspiration struck.
“She’s had a DNA test done, so it’s true.” Zhao Xuning told them directly, “But I don’t know what she was worried about, so she kept it a secret for more than a month. Today, she encountered something bad, and it’s still trending at number one on the hot search list.”
Shen Hui was taken aback: "Huh?"
Everyone was shocked, but Shen Hui was the only one who uttered a sound of shock.
Zhao Xuning glanced down at her, saw that she was staring blankly, pinched her cheek, and quickly let go.
Shen Hui opened the trending topics and found Liang Shi's name on them.
I clicked in and then came out, and my shock was beyond words.
Shen Yaobo and Zhu Mingqi both turned on their phones.
Shen Siyan stared at the screen, still incredulous: "You're lying to us, right?"
Zhao Xuning showed them the DNA test report image that Liang Shi had previously sent her, using data to prove its authenticity.
Shen Hui asked, "How did she get the samples?"
Zhao Xuning recounted the events of that day truthfully.
However, some unspeakable content was omitted.
She was able to get Shen Hui's hair that day because Shen Hui came to see her. As they were talking, Shen Hui was so angry that she cried.
She didn't know how to comfort her, so she went up and hugged her, then leaned down to kiss Shen Hui, running her fingers through her long hair. When the kiss ended, she casually pulled out a strand of hair.
As for Liang Shi's white hair, no one knows how he got it.
Zhu Mingqi, however, remembered what happened that day.
She was somewhat dazed. "No wonder I always felt she was very kind to me... I've always wanted her to be my daughter-in-law."
Gu Yixue & Zhao Xuning: "?"
Zhu Mingqi's eyes were already red. Before she could come to her senses, Aunt Wang called again.
"Madam, why hasn't the money been transferred yet? Don't you want to know where your daughter is?" Aunt Wang asked anxiously.
Zhu Mingqi breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll only give you 200,000 yuan. Tell me clearly who Yang Gui colluded with, how you committed the crime, and how you switched the goods."
"Two hundred thousand won't do, madam, it won't save my son's life," Aunt Wang was still bargaining.
“I’ll count to ten.” Zhu Mingqi’s tone was cold and sharp. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t give you a single penny. Now that I know who my daughter is, I’ll go find her, but your son is in the ICU and can’t wait.”
Aunt Wang panicked.
Zhu Mingqi has already started the countdown.
When they counted to five, Aunt Wang immediately panicked and said, "Sister Guihua took money from Miss Qiu. Her gambling husband lost three million. If he didn't pay, he would be turned into a human pig. At that time, Miss San was weak and had a strange illness. Sister Guihua contacted Miss Qiu and switched Miss San out."
"How much money did you take?" Zhu Mingqi asked.
"One hundred thousand," Aunt Wang said. "I only carried the third young lady out; I didn't do anything else."
Zhu Mingqi already knew the whole story, so she hung up the phone and instructed the housekeeper to transfer 200,000 yuan to Aunt Wang.
As for Yang Gui, the other party involved in this matter, also known as Sister Guihua as Aunt Wang, she resigned after the death of the third young lady. It is said that she was later beaten to death by her husband and was even featured on a legal program.
When Zhu Mingqi found out, she even sent people to her hometown to offer condolences.
Thinking about it now, I feel like I could stomp on her grave.
What is that?!
No one was really interested in eating breakfast.
When Zhu Mingqi finally realized what was happening, she first asked Shen Fenghe, "Is what's trending on social media serious?"
Shen Fenghe said calmly, "It's all been taken care of."
The Shen family handled this situation quite well; within five minutes, all the related trending topics had been removed, and the search terms could no longer be found.
"That's good." Zhu Mingqi sat there and breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Yaobo poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "Don't panic. If she's our daughter, we'll acknowledge her. Don't be afraid."
"I really didn't expect this," Zhu Mingqi sneered. "She actually did such a thing. What a beast."
Shen Yaobo was taken aback: "Is it Qiu Zimin?"
Zhu Mingqi: "Who else could it be but her?"
Shen Yaobo gritted his teeth: "The romantic debts left behind by Shen Chi."
Zhu Mingqi: "..."
"If you had kept her in check, would she have turned out like that?" Zhu Mingqi glared at him.
Shen Yaobo's tone immediately turned sour: "So many years have passed, and you're still on her side."
Zhu Mingqi: "..."
The two exchanged a few words, but eventually managed to calm themselves down.
But the question that follows is: Why didn't Liang Shi want to acknowledge them?
Zhu Mingqi whispered to Shen Yaobo, "Was I not good enough? Does she not like me?"
Shen Yaobo reassured her, "It's definitely not. She must have her concerns."
Even the taciturn Shen Fenghe joined in the consolation: "There must be some unspeakable reason."
Gu Yixue said, "She's living a pretty good life now, with a wife and children. She probably doesn't want any changes in her life, which is why she chose not to acknowledge it."
Zhu Mingqi felt even more upset upon hearing this.
She always thought about how much suffering her child had endured in places she couldn't see.
This morning was a complete mess.
Zhao Xuning sent Liang Shi a message: "Could you come over here?"
I sent her my location directly.
Liang Shi looked completely bewildered and asked her, "Did you handle the trending topics for me?"
Zhao Xuning: [I suppose so.]
Liang Shi: [You are such a kind person!]
Zhao Xuning: [...]
Zhao Xuning still intends to meddle in other people's business today and give Liang Shi a push.
So after hesitating, I still didn't tell her the truth.
However, she also messaged Xu Qingzhu, asking her to come over as well, so that Liang Shi would have someone to support him.
After sending the message to Liang Shi, Zhao Xuning was still reflecting on herself. She used to be someone who never meddled in other people's business. What's wrong with her now? She's even meddling in this kind of thing?
It's true that spending too much time with Liang Shi makes you catch the habit of meddling in other people's business.
Liang Shi was also surprised; the trending topics related to her disappeared in an instant.