Qiao Shengquan was bombarded with phone calls from his wife while he was at work. Eventually, he had no choice but to answer.
But this time, his wife wasn't demanding 500,000 yuan or custody rights. When Qiao Shengquan heard the first sentence his wife said, his heart skipped a beat before she could finish.
Qiao Shengquan, who had always been honest and soft-spoken, became agitated for the first time: "Nonsense! Who says Xiaoying is not my daughter!"
"She was carried in your womb for ten months and born in the hospital. I have raised her for over ten years. As her biological father, how could I not know?!"
"Just because they don't look alike, does that mean they are not twins? You gave birth to them yourself and raised them. Don't listen to his nonsense."
"I don't need to look at any stupid reports or proofs. Tell that person to leave immediately. I don't have time to go back. Why should I go back to see him?"
Qiao Shengquan's unusual behavior startled Li Lilian, and she snatched the report from Qiao Lingling's hand to examine it piece by piece.
"You better come back and explain to me. If you don't come back, I'll find him and go to your workplace." After saying that, Li Lilian hung up the phone.
Half an hour later,
Qiao Shengquan returned.
When Qiao Shengquan saw Su Zhan in the yard, his emotions flared up again. Without waiting for Su Zhan to say a few words, Qiao Shengquan pushed him out the door.
Unable to drive him away, Qiao Shengquan even picked up a bamboo pole used for drying clothes in the corner and looked as if he was about to fight.
"Who allowed you to come to my house and talk nonsense? Get out of my house, or I'll call the police."
Qiao Shengquan wasn't tall, about 1.7 meters in height, and years of work had burdened his shoulders, but he managed to push Su Zhan, who was over 1.8 meters tall, and his assistant out of the door.
"Don't think you can come to someone else's house and bully them just because you have some money. Anyone who dares to have ill intentions towards my daughter, I'll fight them."
Qiao Shengquan stood in front of the door with the bamboo pole, blocking the way. "Go, get out of here. Don't ever come back."
Li Lilian looked at the abnormal behavior of Qiao Shengquan and approached him with a few documents in her hand, questioning, "Explain to me why this document says that I gave birth to twins and one of them died. How did that dead girl come into the picture?"
Eighteen years ago, with limited conditions, Li Lilian didn't undergo any prenatal examinations from pregnancy to delivery. Just by looking at her belly, she knew she was carrying more than one child.
"And this report clearly states that I gave birth to a boy and a girl, twins. How did they become two daughters?"
No wonder she couldn't get along with her eldest daughter since childhood. It turns out she wasn't her biological child at all.
Qiao Shengquan snatched the papers from Li Lilian's hand, crumpling them into a ball and throwing them on the ground. With a stiff neck, his face turned black and red from anger.
"You are talking nonsense! What 'dragon and phoenix twins'? Both of my daughters are alive and well. Who told you they died?"
Seeing Qiao Shengquan's overly agitated reaction, Su Zhan knew something was amiss and risked being hit by the bamboo pole as he rushed forward.
"Mr. Qiao, please calm down. I wouldn't have come to your home without evidence."
"Are these few fabricated documents the evidence you're talking about? My daughter is already eighteen years old. If you want to investigate something from so many years ago, who knows what your intentions are and what you're scheming? I'm telling you to leave, do you hear me? Leave immediately," Qiao Shengquan's father shouted.
Su Zhan replied, "The records from the clinic cannot be wrong. If you don't believe me, I can have the clinic's staff come and confirm that these are all genuine documents, not something I fabricated."
"I'm not a bad person, Mr. Qiao. There's no need for you to be so agitated. I just want to ask for your cooperation in conducting a paternity test. If Qiao Ying is indeed your biological daughter, I will apologize to you," Su Zhan said.
Upon hearing the mention of a paternity test, Qiao Shengquan's father became flustered. "What test? She is my daughter. I don't have time to deal with all of you. Leave immediately."
Seeing that Qiao Shengquan's father was uncooperative, Su Zhan's tone grew firm. "Mr. Qiao, if you refuse to cooperate, I will have to involve the police. If Qiao Ying is truly my elder brother's daughter, I won't let his only child wander outside."
Upon hearing this sensational news, the neighbors who were watching the scene began discussing it in astonishment.
Qiao Shengquan said, "Don't you dare scare me with the police. If you dare to disturb my daughter, I'll fight you with all my might."
Su Zhan replied, "I'm sorry, but I have no choice then. Ah Li, call the police."
He then took out his phone and searched for Principal Zhang's number.
"I contacted Qiao before coming here. I didn't want to disturb her without confirming the truth. But if you refuse to help, I have no choice but to resort to this. If it turns out that I misunderstood, I will take responsibility for my actions today," Su Zhan explained.
Qiao Shengquan's father looked at Su Zhan and the assistant calling the police. He slowly let go of the bamboo pole in his hand and looked around at the curious neighbors, seemingly giving up on this futile struggle.
After about ten minutes,
The atmosphere in Qiao's courtyard calmed down.
Su Zhan and the assistant returned to the courtyard.
The gate was closed, blocking the view of the curious neighbors outside.
Su Zhan looked at Qiao Shengquan, who was squatting at the threshold, holding his head in silence, patiently giving him time.
However, Li Lilian was not as patient. She kept pressing Qiao Shengquan for the truth with the crumpled documents in her hand.
But Qiao Shengquan continued to hold his head without saying a word.
Seeing Li Lilian getting increasingly agitated and trying to pull Qiao Shengquan away from the threshold, Su Zhan stepped forward and pulled her back. "Stay calm and give him some time."
"What do you mean by staying calm? I've painstakingly raised my daughter for over ten years, and now her family has come to take her away. What have I gained? Do you know how hard I've worked all these years?" Li Lilian couldn't stop complaining.
Su Zhan nodded, "I understand. I empathize with your feelings. If Qiao Ying is indeed my elder brother's daughter, you and your husband will be our Su family's benefactors. We will definitely repay you both for the years of nurturing."
Su Zhan's words struck a chord with Li Lilian, and she thought to herself, "I didn't expect this person to be so understanding. If he says that, there must be benefits coming my way."
Li Lilian had never felt much affection for her eldest daughter. Now, this eldest daughter had become a heartless betrayer. Just when it seemed like Li Lilian was going to end up raising her in vain, a glimmer of hope appeared.
So, wiping away her tears, Li Lilian began to recount the hardships and sacrifices she had endured over the years to Su Zhan.
Observing the state of Qiao Ying's father, Su Zhan understood the situation and naturally felt gratitude towards the foster parents who had raised Qiao Ying for over a decade.
Thus, Su Zhan tried to console and promised Li Lilian a series of benefits.
At that moment,
Qiao Ying's father, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "You claim that the child belongs to your older brother? Where is your older brother? Why hasn't he come? And what about the child's mother?"
A flicker of pain passed through Su Zhan's eyes as he replied, "My older brother... he passed away over a decade ago. As for the child's mother, I have no knowledge of her."
Su Zhan crouched down and sincerely said to Qiao Ying's father, "When my older brother died, he had no idea that he had a child. He definitely didn't abandon the child. The child's mother must have had her own difficulties and was forced into a situation where she had no choice... They were deeply in love. If you're willing to listen, I can tell you their story. My older brother suffered greatly before he passed away. If he had known he had a child in this world, he wouldn't have died."
Thinking about how his older brother could have lived a good life with this child, and they could have been a happy family of three, Su Zhan couldn't help but feel an indescribable regret.
Su Zhan asked, "Mr. Qiao, please tell me the truth. Whose child is this?"
After waiting for a long time,
Su Zhan finally heard Qiao Ying's father say, "I found the child behind the back door of the clinic."
