"You..." Xu Changjiao pointed at him, her voice trembling, "Look at your face and his face, do you still think I'm talking nonsense?"
Xie Jianyuan squinted and smiled, "There are plenty of people who look alike. If all of them are considered brothers, then there would be a long line of people coming to the Xie Household to claim kinship."
Suddenly, his tone changed abruptly, and he said with a half-smile, "So, why don't you consider getting a number first?"
Xu Changjiao choked, wanting to say something more.
"Mom, let's go first." Zhao Ying's tone was firm this time, interrupting Xu Changjiao without allowing any argument, and she pulled her into the elevator.
"Why are you pulling me?" After the elevator doors closed, Xu Changjiao pushed her hand away with displeasure and scolded her, "You have no manners! Can't you see I'm talking?"
Zhao Ying rolled her eyes inwardly. Her mother had a strong personality and loved to show off, but at this moment, she could only go along with her temper and coax her.
"Our only target is Xu Chun. The information that person provided only confirms that he is one of your lost twins; the other one is still missing. Why bother searching for him? We only need to find this one."
"What do you know?" Xu Changjiao snorted coldly, somewhat disappointed in her daughter. "Did you see that man's watch? Your second cousin's son, who studied abroad, has one. He's always showing it off in front of people, but he secretly doesn't even wear it. He even told me it's worth that much."
As she spoke, she made a gesture, which startled Zhao Ying. "Really? Richer than a celebrity?"
Xu Changjiao said, "I don't know about that, but I can't let any of my sons be missing."
At this moment, Zhao Fu, who had been silent all along, glanced at her, then lowered his head, tapped his pipe, and said in a muffled voice, "That's why I said we couldn't abandon those two kids."
Xu Changjiao's eyebrows shot up, and she shrieked, "You surnamed Zhao! What do you mean by this? If I hadn't thrown them out, their family would have been ruined long ago!"
When she gave birth to twins, she was a source of pride in her remote town, and she walked with much more confidence. However, after the babies were born, a serious problem was discovered.
The older child was born with a cleft lip and facial deformities, while the younger child was frail and constantly had a fever. They were diagnosed with sepsis, which was a devastating blow to a family that was already struggling financially.
During that time, this incident became the talk of the town, because Xu Changjiao always loved to show off, and after learning that she had miscarried two boys, she bragged about it to others all the time, so everyone was laughing at her.
Xu Changjiao was in a bad mood every day after giving birth. Looking at her two crying children, she felt even more angry. In the end, she simply told Zhao Fu to leave the two children at the gate of the orphanage, saying that it would be better for both of them.
Zhao Fu initially disagreed, but the exorbitant medical expenses made him hesitate for several weeks before finally agreeing.
Whether it was retribution or not, after abandoning her twin baby boys, Xu Changjiao was never able to conceive a boy again. She had several abortions, and finally, the doctor told her that if she continued to have abortions at her age, she might never be able to have children again. So, she reluctantly gave birth to the child in her womb, who is now Zhao Ying.
They thought the Zhao family line would end there, but one day someone contacted them, saying that one of her children had been found—the now-famous actress Xu Chun.
She didn't know anything about the celebrities on TV and wasn't very educated. It was her daughter who told her that celebrities could earn a lot of money, which made her grit her teeth and buy an expensive plane ticket to come see him.
Hearing Xu Changjiao's words, Zhao Fu felt guilty and ashamed. It was indeed because he couldn't earn money that the things that happened back then occurred.
He took another puff of his pipe, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Why don't we go back? We really have let the children down."
"Go back?" Xu Changjiao sneered, "Do you even have the money for our daughter's dowry? Where are you going to get the compensation for your drunk driving accident? The car we finally bought is now impounded. The whole family's income depends on me alone. What right do you, this good-for-nothing, have to talk about going back? Do you think you can make money if we go back?"
These words were like daggers to the heart, leaving Xu Changjiao speechless.
Seeing that she knew she was in the wrong, she simply shut her mouth in embarrassment.
"Mom, what are you planning to do next?" Zhao Ying asked.
"Let's test Xu Chun's attitude again and see if we can get something out of him."
What if it's not possible?
"If not, just do as that person says. He'll definitely give us hush money to keep things quiet."
Xu Changjiao paused, then said smugly, "Besides, to put it bluntly, if I hadn't sent him to the orphanage back then, would he be enjoying such a comfortable life now? In the end, he should be thanking me."
Zhao Ying didn't respond to these words. She knew it was impossible to expect her mother to have feelings for someone she had never met. Perhaps there might be a little, but compared to money and interests, it was insignificant.
She didn't go back to criticize her mother, since she didn't really have any feelings for this suddenly appearing adopted brother.
However, she still felt a pang of regret. If she hadn't been born healthy, her fate wouldn't have been much better than Xu Chun's, or perhaps even worse.
After Xu Chun and Xie Jianyuan returned home, Xu Chun wanted to calm down and think alone for a while. She made an excuse to go to the bathroom and hurriedly walked into the corridor. As soon as she grasped the doorknob, she felt a warm touch on her hand.
Xie Jianyuan leaned over him from behind and wrapped his arms around him, placing his hand over the hand that was gripping the doorknob.
Even without turning around, Xu Chun could feel the immense pressure emanating from behind her.
"... What's wrong?" Xu Chun tried to suppress the slight tremor in her voice, her gaze falling on the hand covering her. Xie Jianyuan's hand was very beautiful, with distinct knuckles, long and fair, with faint blue veins protruding on the back of his hand.