??Chapter 255: Chapter 252: Disgusting (Third Update)
Chapter 255: Chapter 252: Disgusting (Third Update)
The festive mood of the fourth day of the lunar new year was still strong. At seven o’clock in the evening, as the lights began to glow, children were still running around setting off firecrackers in so of the old neighborhoods and alleyways. The crackling sounds were incessant, and so mischievous kids even threw them at the feet of passersby, waiting for the loud “bang” that would startle them.
Once their goal was achieved, the children would clap their hands excitedly and burst into laughter before scattering in all directions.
“This place should be set for demolition soon.”
Lin Fei, following the address he had obtained, led several people into a dimly lit alley. The ground was littered with paper remnants from the firecrackers, and occasionally one would step on an unexploded one, which, with a pop, wasn’t enough to scare anybody but still required caution while walking.
The apartnt buildings in this community were only a slight improvent over tube-shaped apartnts, forrly housing for employees of a state-owned paper factory. The largest units were just over ninety square ters, with at least forty years of history.
“It’s on the second floor of Building Five.”
According to the records, the house where Lin Jian’an’s family lived was allocated to his father-in-law when the latter was the director of the paper factory. Since there was only one daughter in his wife’s family, and Lin Jian’an had married into the family, his father-in-law gifted them this house as their matrimonial ho after the two got married.
The group ascended the stairs, and after Lin Fei had knocked on the door and waited a mont, a middle-aged man ca to open it.
“Who are you…?”
On seeing several unfamiliar faces, Lin Jian’an beca vigilant.
Lin Fei flashed his badge in front of him and asked, “Are you Lin Jian’an?”
Upon realizing it was the police, Lin Jian’an nodded in confusion, “I am. May I ask what this is about?”
“May we co in to talk?”
Lin Jian’an stepped aside to let them in, and when he caught sight of Xu Qian, who was the last to enter, his expression turned startled.
“Jian’an, who is it?”
A middle-aged woman, wearing an apron and limping, erged from the kitchen. Alard at the sight of a group of strangers flooding into her ho, she was caught off guard.
“Jian’an, who are they…?”
Lin Jian’an snapped out of his daze and pulled his gaze from Xu Qian, turning to explain to his wife, “They’re police, but I have no idea what they want with .”
“Here’s the thing,” Lin Fei got straight to the point, “Lin Jian’an, twenty-two years ago, did you get married in your hotown in the form of a wedding banquet?”
The expressions on both Lin Jian’an and Ren Xiufen’s faces changed drastically, but they managed to remain composed. After a few seconds of panic, they quickly regained their calm.
But before Lin Jian’an could respond, Ren Xiufen hastily interjected, “My husband has already made things clear with that woman, and they weren’t really married back then—they didn’t even pick up the marriage certificate. At most, it was an engagent. But we are a legally married couple, we have a marriage certificate.”
Lin Fei glanced at Ren Xiufen without acknowledging her statent, and continued to question Lin Jian’an, “So, you’re saying that you indeed had a wedding banquet back then, right?”
Lin Jian’an pursed his lips and nodded.
“This is sothing that happened so many years ago, Comrade Police Officer, what exactly do you want by asking about this now?” Ren Xiufen couldn’t help but interject once more.
“Can you be quiet for a mont? I’m currently speaking to Lin Jian’an. Please refrain from interrupting again.”
Lin Fei’s tone beca stern. Being an experienced detective, his serious deanor was often enough to intimidate most people.
Ren Xiufen finally closed her mouth, no longer daring to make a sound.
“Lin Jian’an, your wife—or perhaps I should say the woman you married in your hotown with a wedding banquet—is her na Xie Huifang?”
Lin Jian’an nodded again.
“Did she bear you two daughters back in your hotown?”
“…Yes.”
“Based on the current ti, if they are still alive, the eldest would be twenty-one, and the second child would be sixteen, right?”
Lin Jian’an suddenly looked up at Lin Fei with a shocked face, “Offi…Officer, what do you an? What do you an by ‘if they are still alive’?”
Lin Fei looked at him sternly, “Whether they are alive or dead, don’t you know as their father?”
Lin Jian’an’s face turned pale in an instant, and he looked at Lin Fei, opened his mouth, but couldn’t utter a word.
“Very good!” Lin Fei nodded and continued, “Fifteen years ago, did Xie Huifang ever co here with her two daughters to look for you?”
Lin Jian’an nodded dumbly, his voice hoarse, “She… She ca.”
“What did you say to Xie Huifang then?”
What did he say?
Lin Jian’an slowly turned his head to look at Ren Xiufen because at that ti he hadn’t said a word, it was the heavily pregnant Ren Xiufen, who was about to give birth, who spoke.
In that situation, whether he said anything was irrelevant, for Ren Xiufen’s belly represented everything. The fact that he had abandoned his wife and child to marry another had been sealed; Xie Huifang had to accept it whether she wanted to or not.
Ren Xiufen simply inford her of the facts: she had beco crippled in one foot trying to save Lin Jian’an, and Lin Jian’an married her out of responsibility. They were a legally married couple, recognized by the state.
She advised Xie Huifang it was best not to make a fuss, because even if she did, she wouldn’t gain an advantage. She had no marriage certificate; she had no case.
“In that situation, Xie Huifang left with her two young children. Didn’t you ever inquire where they went? If they had safely returned to their hotown?”
Lin Jian’an’s face turned beet-red, and he was unable to speak. Suddenly, he thought of what the officer had just said about whether his daughters were alive or not, and he shuddered violently. He looked up at Lin Fei and gritted his teeth, “Did Xie Huifang, she, did she lose my daughters? Or… how could she take care of children? Such grown people, yet unable to look after two kids? I told her she could remarry back in her hotown since she was still young…”
“Slap! Slap!”
The sound of slaps suddenly interrupted Lin Jian’an, and they also shocked him.
Everyone failed to notice Xu Qian suddenly step forward and fiercely slap Lin Jian’an twice. Tears stread down her face as she glared at him with clenched teeth!
“You… Are you insane? How can you hit soone?”
Ren Xiufen snapped out of it and lunged forward with a raised hand, aiming to hit Xu Qian, but Xu Ang stepped forward and caught Ren Xiufen’s arm, while simultaneously stepping to the side to shield Xu Qian behind him.
Since the beginning, his focus had been on the state of his sister; nobody was going to touch her, not a chance.
Lin Jian’an held his face, looking at Xu Qian, from initial shock to surprise, and then understanding.
He murmured softly, “Qianqian…”
Xu Qian’s original nickna was Qianqian. When her adoptive parents had asked her what her na was, she had told them it was Qianqian. They thought it was the character ‘Qian’ with a grass radical and simply added the character to her na after ‘Xu’.
So, now, almost no DNA test was needed to confirm that Lin Jian’an was indeed her biological father.
But Xu Qian wished she had never co, never seen him.
Disgusting, utterly disgusting!
How could she have such a repulsive biological father?
Xu Ang let go of Ren Xiufen’s arm, causing her to stagger backward several steps, creating a safe distance between them.
He turned around to wipe Xu Qian’s tears and whispered comfortingly, “Don’t cry, he’s not worth it.”
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