"Yes, Dad is very sad and hates himself..."
"I'm sad too," Li Xiaoya said softly. "But that's all in the past now. My saddest tis are behind ."
Li Qingqing watched as Li Jiang's expression went through another wave of changes.
Suddenly, an absurd thought struck her—
Li Xiaoya was controlling the pace.
Even more, she was controlling Li Jiang's emotions!
Every word she spoke seed calculated, as if she had anticipated Li Jiang's reactions in advance...
Li Qingqing shook her head. No, no, no, how could that be possible?
It's not like Li Xiaoya had been reborn.
How old was she? She couldn't possibly be that cunning, could she?
"Dad will make it up to you from now on," Li Jiang found his voice again.
"How will you make it up?"
"Dad will stay by your side, protect you, take care of you..."
"But others can do that too."
"But they're not your father."
"If Dad is so terrible, why can't soone else be my dad instead?"
Li Jiang was stumped again. He reminded himself that this was just childish thinking.
He moved his lips: "Because we have a blood bond. Do you understand what that ans?"
Li Xiaoya nodded: "I know. Grandpa and Mom have a blood bond too. But you and the people in the village, you severed their bonds. Why can you do that, but others can't?"
Li Jiang's pupils dilated, and he was speechless for a long while.
Though she was young, she seed to know everything...
Tears slid down Li Jiang's face as he made one last effort: "I didn't. Do you believe ? Do you know what clan power ans? When everyone around you is a criminal, they force you to do the sa things they do. Otherwise, they won't tolerate you."
Li Xiaoya was silent for a mont, then said: "I don't understand."
Li Jiang wiped away his tears: "It's okay. Dad will explain it to you slowly. There are a lot of complicated things involved. Are you willing to accept Dad again?"
"If I accept you, will you take back to Li Family Village?"
"Of course not. You're good here. Many people love you and spoil you. You can still go to your elite school. It's just that there will be one more person who loves you—your dad. Isn't that good?"
Li Xiaoya seed confused.
She hadn't seen him for so long that his appearance had beco unfamiliar to her, with only traces of familiarity left in his voice. That unfamiliarity had diluted her childhood dependence on the word "Dad."
She could clearly understand his purpose... he wanted to absolve himself of guilt.
But why was he saying these things?
Was he acting?
Li Xiaoya pinched her palm and said softly, "Okay, then co ho with to see Grandpa."
Li Jiang said, "No problem. Dad should et them, apologize to them, and explain the truth. So things aren't that simple, Xiaoya..."
"Then let's go..."
"Alright, let's go."
After this conversation, Li Qingqing was also confused.
Had Li Jiang gone crazy?
After all this trouble, he was just going to follow Li Xiaoya back to see her grandfather? Wasn't he afraid of being beaten by the father of the daughter he had wronged?
Li Xiaoya led the way with a stiff face, then took out her phone: "I'll call the driver to pick us up."
Was she calling her grandfather? Of course not.
She still had doubts.
So she chose to dial Ke Muning's number...
Li Jiang glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
It wasn't 110 (the ergency number).
The strategy had worked.
Ke Muning answered the phone quickly: "How was it? Were you the center of attention today? Are you happy?"
Li Xiaoya spoke in Hua Country's language: "Have the driver co pick up. I want to co back."
During this ti, Li Xiaoya had been speaking English with Ke Muning. Although she used simple words and sotis made grammatical mistakes, she persisted in speaking it to improve faster.
Suddenly switching to Hua Country's language, Ke Muning was taken aback for a mont. But he was certain it was the little devil's voice.
"Bye-bye, I'll wait for you here," Li Xiaoya said and hung up the phone.
Ke Muning sensed sothing was off.
"What's wrong with her?" He frowned, then called his subordinate, "Go check the school."
He didn't know where their activity was today, so he had to ask at the school.
Soon, his subordinate reported back with the address.
"You go there first, I'll be there soon."
Ke Muning said as he dialed Li Xiaoya's number again.
Li Xiaoya answered, still using Hua Country's language: "Are you here yet?" Then she made so vague sounds and hung up again.
Now Ke Muning was absolutely certain that sothing was wrong.
Abroad, kidnapping, murder, or even sudden encounters with antisocial individuals were not uncommon occurrences.
Ke Muning quickly associated the situation with these possibilities.
He stood up and strode out.
The person across from him didn't know what had happened and hurriedly followed, almost getting hit in the face by the rebounding door.
"It should take quite a while to arrive," Li Jiang's voice sounded. "Why don't we take a taxi and stop by a mall? I think it's best to buy so gifts before eting your grandfather, otherwise I might get thrown out, right?"
He finished speaking and raised his hand to wave.
A taxi smoothly stopped in front of them.
Li Xiaoya's eyes flickered, but she said nothing and obediently got in.
Li Qingqing followed closely behind.
At this mont, the driver turned his head—it was "Brother Yong" from that day!
Li Qingqing certainly recognized him! Her eyelids twitched. ...Li Jiang was indeed fully prepared.
Although Li Xiaoya was clever, she was still no match for an adult who knew how to act and when to compromise!
Li Qingqing suddenly felt much better.
Li Jiang told the driver the na of a mall, and the driver nodded cooperatively, but actually turned onto a different road.
anwhile, Zhou Xiaoshu asked, "Has it been a while now?"
An Ying said, "Yes, it has."
Zhou Xiaoshu quickly told the teacher.
Then An Ying hesitated for a mont before adding a description of Li Qingqing's appearance and even recounted their conversation at the ti.
The teacher found it strange too, after all, these were all children of wealthy families, how could they not be careful? She imdiately said, "I'll contact the parents to confirm."
Hearing this, An Ying suddenly had an epiphany.
Why wait for a while?
Because the person Li Xiaoya wanted to et might be sowhat dangerous, but she still wanted to go see them, perhaps to obtain so information from them?
If after a while she still hadn't returned, then through Zhou Xiaoshu's intervention, her family would know she was in danger and could rescue her in ti.
Is that... how it is?
An Ying's personality was cautious and low-key. Although she had deduced this, she didn't dare tell the teacher. But... she dared to tell Qin Sui.
Even if her deduction was wrong, he wouldn't mind!
He would just be happy that she told him before Sheng Yuxiao did!
An Ying imdiately made a phone call.
At this ti.
In the senior high school classroom, a rich second-generation student surnad He was carefully holding Qin Sui's revolving lantern, saying, "This is what Young Master Qin specially brought for to see, uh, because I wanted to see it..."
"What's so special about it?" others wondered.
Young Master He imdiately raised his voice: "Because it's from Li Xiaoya!"
"Who's Li Xiaoya?"
"Oh, I know! That little girl from last ti!"
Young Master He nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, she made this herself."
The others still couldn't appreciate what was so special about it.
Young Master He carefully turned his head, watching as a figure walked in... well, it wasn't Young Master Sheng! It was Ning Heng. Why was Ning Heng dressing like Young Master Sheng?
Where was Young Master Sheng? Why hadn't he co to school yet today?
In a while, wouldn't he have to repeat this whole speech again?
Qin Sui suddenly stood up and patted his shoulder.
This gesture was telling him he didn't need to say any more.
Young Master He let out a long sigh of relief.
Qin Sui turned to look at Ning Heng, thinking that if he knew, Sheng Yuxiao would soon know too...
It was fine not seeing it in person. That way, Sheng Yuxiao would be even more desperate to know exactly what kind of gift Li Xiaoya had given.
"Young Master Qin, I..." How was my performance? Young Master He turned his face, but before he could finish speaking.
Qin Sui suddenly answered a phone call: "Hello. Okay, I got it."
After the last incident, he had specially given his number to An Ying, not expecting it to co in handy so soon... Li Xiaoya had gone to et soone, possibly dangerous, but she wanted to go. Who could that be?
Qin Sui was unaware of Ke Muning's existence.
So his first reaction was—Li Jiang!
"Hey, hey, Qin, where are you going?" As the class bell rang, Young Master He watched Qin Sui brush past the teacher entering the room.
Even the teacher was stunned.
This... this was blatant class-skipping, right?
And wasn't skipping class usually Sheng Yuxiao's thing? When did Qin Sui start doing this too?
Why was Sheng Yuxiao so late anyway?
He had gone to see Li Xiaoya.
He made his way from the elentary school section to the activity area, randomly grabbing an elentary student to ask questions.
The young student trembled: "Li Xiaoya left... she left with a little girl..."
Sheng Yuxiao was stunned for a mont. Li Xiaoya didn't have many friends, and the only little girl who could be considered close was Zhou Xiaoshu... but Zhou Xiaoshu was her classmate.
Sheng Yuxiao didn't hesitate for long. He made a direct phone call to find the person in charge of the venue: "I want to see the surveillance footage."
This was Ning family property, how could the person in charge refuse?
This is how Sheng Yuxiao identified the person in the footage... "Li Qingqing."
*
The taxi stopped in front of a tin-roofed factory on the outskirts.
"Weren't we going to the mall?" Li Xiaoya asked.
The pain, guilt, and kindness on Li Jiang's face had all disappeared. He looked at Li Xiaoya and said coldly, "They all say that foreign man is your father. I saw it."
Li Xiaoya: "Oh."
There was no panic on her face.
"Do you know how jealous I was then?"
Li Xiaoya didn't speak.
anwhile, Li Qingqing looked around nervously, suddenly feeling uneasy. This place looked like a good spot for murder and body disposal.
Li Jiang's deanor now seed a bit crazed.
"I really wanted to be your father, really wanted to. After all, you're so lovable, have been since birth." Li Jiang led Li Xiaoya out of the car.
Finally, he couldn't help but bare his fangs a little: "But I know that you, like your mother, are ice that can't be lted, cold and heartless to the core. Does smart DNA always lead to this result?"
Brother Yong got out of the car too, trying to diate: "After all, the child is still young. Just talk it out, how can there be a child who doesn't recognize their father?"
Li Jiang said softly: "Who told I'm not her father?"
Brother Yong was dumbfounded: "What?"
Li Qingqing was also stunned.
Li Jiang crouched down in front of Li Xiaoya, one hand firmly pressing on her shoulder: "What you said earlier completely shattered my fantasies and hopes. ...I'm wondering, why did you so quickly beco indifferent to your dad? Is it because you've been dazzled by the life of luxury? No. That's not your personality."
"Did your mother ever say sothing to you? Did she tell you not to think of as your father?"
Li Xiaoya's fingers clenched tightly, trembling slightly.
Li Jiang didn't wait for her answer. He spat out words from between his teeth, his voice bordering on deranged: "Wei Wenyu, do you really have to treat like this?"
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