Chapter 305: Chapter 305: Justifications and Old Friends

Gu Qinghuan hadn’t planned to say much, but Xu Meiling’s words completely enraged her.

“Credit? Hard work? You’ve got some nerve!

Xu Mingshan, you knew perfectly well he was a kidnapped child, yet you still aided and abetted the crime by keeping him. And you’re the Party Secretary? What kind of awareness is that?

You kept him, but you weren’t even willing to treat him decently. He lived in your house worse than a dog! So young, and he had to fend for himself, even support a whole bunch of you bloodsuckers.

When he was useful, you squeezed every last drop out of him. When he wasn’t, you tossed him onto the kang and left him to die alone.

Liu Guifang, your house is full of grain—were you really missing that one bowl of rice for him? You starved him until he was skin and bones, relying on two children to survive.

Are your hearts made of stone?

And now you’re talking to me about credit and hard work? Don’t you find that laughable?”

Gu Qinghuan pointed at them and scolded them right to their faces.

Xu Huaizhi and Xu Meiling both fell silent. What Liu Guifang had done was undeniable, and they themselves had turned a blind eye to all this injustice.

Liu Guifang lay on the ground, not sure if she was too weak to retort or just too ashamed—either way, she said nothing.

Xu Mingshan looked utterly defeated.

He’d lived in fear for so many years, and now the day had finally come.

The onlookers erupted in shock.

“Xu Lao’er isn’t their biological son?”

“That can’t be right. I remember Liu Guifang went back to her mother’s house pregnant that year. What happened to her own child?”

“I always thought it was strange. Of all the Xu kids, Liu Guifang treated the second one the worst—always beating and scolding him, using him like a beast of burden. Turns out he wasn’t even her own.”

“Beast of burden? At least you feed animals on time. You didn’t see it, but a couple of years ago I went to their house and saw Huaian tied to the kang, nothing but skin and bones. It was horrifying. The young lady is right—they really have some nerve!”

“If you didn’t like him, why take him in? And then to treat him like that? That’s just inhuman.”

…

Xu Mingshan and his wife’s reputation was ruined, their standing completely lost.

Yun Runtong, as a father, felt as if a hole had been punched through his heart hearing these words.

Liang Zhiqiu rushed forward and grabbed Xu Mingshan: “Why did you keep him if you weren’t going to treat him well? Even if you didn’t love him, you could have at least fed and clothed him. That child was so good to you—are your hearts made of iron?”

This was a mother’s fury. She only hoped her child, wherever he was, could grow up healthy—she didn’t dare hope for more.

But this family wasn’t even poor, yet they wouldn’t even give him enough to eat or wear, and tormented him in every way. How much pain and despair must he have suffered back then?

Xu Mingshan understood—the child’s real parents had come.

“Eldest, get them out. I want to speak to our guests alone,” Xu Mingshan said to the stunned Xu Huaizhi.

Xu Huaizhi and Lin Xiaomeng quickly ushered the crowd out of the courtyard. Soon, only the family remained inside.

Gu Qinghuan also wanted to see how Xu Mingshan would try to justify himself.

Xu Huaizhi helped Liu Guifang up. She was so ashamed she couldn’t even look at Yun Runtong and his wife.

“Back then, my wife was pregnant and went home to help with the harvest. She worked too hard and gave birth prematurely—the baby was stillborn.

The next day, her aunt showed up with a baby a few months old, crying from hunger. My wife had just started lactating, so she nursed him.

Her aunt saw that we’d lost our own child, and since this baby needed feeding, she asked if we’d take him in.

At first, we didn’t want to, but she said if we raised him, we could keep the gold locket he wore as payment.

I was young and greedy, so after discussing it with my wife, we agreed.

The child not only had a gold locket, but also two solid gold anklets, and his swaddling and clothes were all good quality. I suspected he’d been kidnapped—otherwise, her aunt wouldn’t have hidden her identity and come back to her mother’s house.

But for the sake of that money, I kept quiet and went along with it, bringing him home. In a blink, so many years passed.

At first, we actually treated him well, or he wouldn’t have grown up healthy. But then we had more kids.

Over time, my wife became biased—loving your own children is a mother’s instinct. I couldn’t stop her.

We may not have doted on him like our own, but we did raise him, didn’t we?”

Xu Mingshan was clearly trying to excuse himself. He could tell that Huaian’s biological parents were not ordinary people.

It was too late for regrets now. At the very least, he had to try to avoid their retaliation.

Yun Runtong looked him over and said, “Save that story for the police. They won’t wrong anyone.”

He couldn’t choose forgiveness for Xu Huaian, but he also wouldn’t use his position to seek revenge. He’d leave it to the law.

Xu Mingshan had touched on something in his heart: as bad as they’d been, at least they’d fed the child and kept him from starving or freezing to death as a toddler.

Not seeking revenge was his final act of mercy.

Gu Qinghuan understood this was the best way to handle it.

“You may have raised him, but you know perfectly well why you did it.

He owes you nothing now. All these years, he’s obeyed you in everything, handed over every cent he earned—he’s long since repaid that tiny, insignificant debt.

From now on, he’s him, you’re you—no need to have anything to do with each other. Go your separate ways. If you see each other on the road, just pretend you didn’t,” Gu Qinghuan said, then left with Yun Runtong and his wife.

After beating up Liu Guifang, she’d helped Huaian vent his anger. From now on, there’d be no more ties to this family—what a relief.

Xu Huaizhi had never known his younger brother wasn’t biological.

Now, all of Liu Guifang’s cruelty toward the second child suddenly made sense.

He slumped, disappointed, and looked at his parents. “You’ve gone too far.” They’d taken someone else’s child and possessions, then abused him—no wonder his real parents had come for him.

What should have been gratitude had turned into hatred.

Whenever he thought of the suffering his brother endured in their home, he felt deeply uneasy.

“Oh, what do you know? Back then, we were dirt poor—had to split one pancake over several meals. If we hadn’t taken him in and pawned those trinkets, how would we have fed you?

Besides, I nursed him for a year, so I’m half his mother. They can’t do anything to us.

You, on the other hand, are useless—just scold me. Even Meiling stood up for me just now. You? Raising a son is pointless!” Liu Guifang moaned as she spoke.

Now she dared to talk, after nearly wetting herself from fear earlier.

Xu Huaizhi slumped to the ground.

Xu Mingshan could tell Yun Runtong didn’t plan to retaliate, though they might still suffer a bit. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief—so long as they kept their lives, there was hope for the future.

Lin Xiaomeng sneered, “You really are short-sighted! You turned what could have been gratitude into enmity—what a trick, I’m impressed!” She even clapped sarcastically.

She used to see Gu Qinghuan as a rival, but now realized she was completely outclassed. Forget it—better to get along, in case she needed help someday.

Besides, she was about to prepare for university entrance exams—who could say what the future held?

“Sister-in-law, what’s with the sarcasm?” Xu Meiling glared at Lin Xiaomeng.

“I’m talking about you!”

The two started bickering.

“Enough! Go home and fight, don’t yap here!” Xu Mingshan was already annoyed and didn’t want to hear their squabbling.

By evening, the sun was sinking behind the mountain, painting the sky a brilliant red.

The three finally met the instigator from all those years ago.

She was now unrecognizably old.

Her weathered face was covered in wrinkles, her body gaunt and hunched, hair completely white, clothes ragged, her whole figure stooped with age.

When she first saw Yun Runtong and the others, she didn’t react, thinking they were just asking for directions.

It wasn’t until Yun Runtong said, “Aunt Chun, we’ve been looking for you for so many years!” that she realized.

God knows how long he’d waited for this moment. He’d thought he’d be furious, but now he only felt calm.

Liu Chun’s face showed surprise. She took two steps back, trembling all over, not daring to meet Yun Runtong and his wife’s eyes.

Liang Zhiqiu curled her lips in a mocking smile.

“Who would have thought someone as wicked as you would still be alive? But it’s good—heaven has eyes, letting us see your fate!”

Liu Chun forced a bitter smile.

“Sir, Madam, it’s been so many years. How have you been?”

“Thanks to you, I haven’t slept a full night in years. Every time I dream, it’s of my poor child.

We treated you well, didn’t we? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?

Why did you take my child? Why didn’t you find a good family for him? Why? Why?”

Liang Zhiqiu grabbed Liu Chun’s shoulders, shouting hysterically, tears streaming down her face.

Liu Chun let her vent, not defending herself. Tears rolled from her cloudy eyes as well.

After Liang Zhiqiu finished, Yun Runtong got straight to the point: “Why did you take Zhouzhou all those years ago?”

There was no deep hatred between them—in fact, they’d always had a good master-servant relationship. Liu Chun had even given the child’s jewelry to the Xu family, so it wasn’t for money. She simply took the child and hid him for decades.

Why? He needed an answer.

Gu Qinghuan handed Liang Zhiqiu her handkerchief. She wiped her tears, eyes red and swollen, and looked at Liu Chun, waiting for the answer.

“I… Sir, Madam, just think of me as heartless and cruel, unable to stand seeing you happy!” Liu Chun wiped her tears, her answer vague.

“What do you mean, unable to stand seeing us happy?” Yun Runtong couldn’t accept that.

If Liu Chun had truly hated them, she could have killed the child, or ransomed him for a fortune, or abandoned him in the mountains to die.

But she chose the most troublesome, mutually destructive path.

She took the child, hid herself, gave both the child and the valuables to someone else, and lived a hard, impoverished life.

What was she after?

Yun Runtong and Liang Zhiqiu simply couldn’t understand."