They had notified the police station in advance, and with Cheng Yong having abused the Shen Family's biological child and even being suspected of child trafficking, the police were very cooperative in arranging a confrontation between the two sides.
After running up gambling debts yesterday, Cheng Yong had gone home only to get no money and instead receive a savage beating from Shen Xingshuo. Even now, sitting in the station, he still could not make sense of it.
"Cheng Yong, you have visitors."
The dispirited middle-aged man sat sloppily in a corner, unmoved even when he heard his name. Only when the staff member sharpened their tone did he look up in alarm, squinting to see who had gotten him detained.
The visiting room was cramped, and the sour smell hanging in the air made everyone wrinkle their noses.
"Did Boss Zhu send you to collect the gambling debt?" Cheng Yong looked at the imposing Shen Changgeng, his tone ingratiating. Apart from that, he could not think of anyone who would go after him for no reason.
Despite being detained, Cheng Yong had no awareness of his wrongdoing whatsoever. He was even worried that he might not be able to gamble in the future, and still remembered to nod and bow in a show of goodwill. "I'll have the money soon. The little bastard hid it."
At the words "little bastard," the faces of everyone present darkened at once. Cheng Jin clenched his fists and stepped out from beside Shen Xubai.
"The little brat's here too. Perfect." Cheng Yong paid no attention to Cheng Jin's ugly expression and threatened him as though it were his right. "Tell Cheng Jun to bring the money here, or I'll beat him to death."
The word "death" struck a sore spot. Cheng Jin raised his head like a wolf cub, wishing he could rush forward and bite a chunk of flesh off Cheng Yong.
"To hell with your gambling money! Who the fuck do you think you're calling yourself a father to?" With his son being humiliated right in front of him, Shen Changgeng kicked the table before him.
With a series of crashes, the falling table struck Cheng Yong's shin. The man let out a miserable howl and rolled around clutching his leg.
"If Boss Zhu didn't send you, then why did you get me locked up?" Hearing that they were not there to collect a debt, Cheng Yong scrambled up in agitation, only to trip over the chain at his feet the next second.
"Did this damned brat call the police?" With nowhere to vent his anger, Cheng Yong fixed his eyes on Cheng Jin. Seemingly realizing why his son who was not his own had appeared, he began swearing and cursing.
"You've got some nerve! Nothing better to do after filling your belly than sticking your nose into my business? If I don't kill you later, my name isn't Cheng!"
Vile, furious, a drunkard, a gambler-Shen Changgeng clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He could not believe that the younger brother he had searched for over a decade had grown up under abuse like this.
"Little Jin is a child of our Shen Family. What the hell are you?" Seeing his younger brother humiliated, Shen Xubai's voice was full of scorn. "Nothing but a stray dog."
"Who? A child of the Shen Family?" Only then did Cheng Yong take a proper look at Shen Xubai and the others. Even the woman, whom he looked down on most, wore a jade bangle on her wrist. Their family seemed far from ordinary.
"A child of the Shen Family? Then how much money can you give me?" Cheng Yong's greedy gaze swept over Shen Xubai. Upon hearing that the child was not his, his first reaction was to demand money.
Seeing Cheng Yong stare fixedly at his watch, the corners of his mouth twitching with excitement, utterly unconcerned about whether the child was biologically his, Shen Xubai was so furious that he laughed.
"You want money? Fine. How much do you know about Ms. Liu giving birth back then? Who contacted you?"
"Pah!" When Shen Xubai brought up what had happened ten years ago, Cheng Yong bared his mouthful of yellow teeth and frowned impatiently. "How would I remember?"
"Anyway, the child is mine unless you pay me!"
"If you don't remember, take your time thinking about it in prison. We'll talk when you remember." Looking at Cheng Yong's shameless behavior, Shen Changgeng coldly cut off any thought he had of bargaining. "If you can't remember, you'll stay here forever."
Seeing that Shen Changgeng was different from the bosses who liked to pay people off, Cheng Yong had no choice but to drop his foul-mouthed tirade and turn his attention to Cheng Jin, whose clothes were now clearly much finer.
"That bitch was no good. She should've died long ago! The son she had from sleeping around is a damned brat too!"
Although Cheng Jin hated Cheng Yong, he was full of gratitude toward Liu Meng, who had raised them for five years. She had been one of their few sources of warmth, even though the woman's appearance had long since blurred in his memory.
"You're the one who deserves to die." Cheng Jin watched with satisfaction as Cheng Yong's hands and feet remained bound in chains, years of pent-up feelings raging within him. "Even shooting you would be letting you off easy."
"How dare you talk like that, you damned brat!" The child he had always held in the palm of his hand had begun to resist, and Cheng Yong indeed could not stand the provocation. "I should've dug a hole back then and sent you two to keep your mother company, so she wouldn't be seducing men down there!"
The curses overlapped with his childhood memories, and Cheng Yong's hideous face seemed to magnify endlessly. Even Cheng Jin, who had always been good at disguising his feelings, could no longer bear it. He shook off Shen Xubai's hand and lunged forward to kick him.
"Why don't you go die? If it weren't for you, Mom wouldn't have died!"
"My brother and I didn't even spend any money, but you still made him drop out of school and left him unable to stand for the rest of his life!"
"Mom supported you, and my brother supported you! Why didn't you die sooner? If you'd died, my brother and I would've had better lives!"
By the time he finished shouting, Cheng Jin had broken down. The mother who had been the only one to protect the brothers had died before his eyes. His older brother, not yet ten, had dropped out of school and taken jobs wherever he could, only to come home and be beaten...
"You little shit!" Dazed by the kicks, Cheng Yong instinctively shoved Cheng Jin away. Fortunately, Shen Xubai protected him in time, keeping his younger brother from falling.
The commotion in the visiting room drew the police. Perhaps out of fear of the police, Cheng Yong visibly became more obedient after being warned, but the look he directed at Cheng Jin remained vicious.
"Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out." Shen Changgeng took the warm milk his wife handed him and stroked Cheng Jin's head with his large hand, soothing the little boy.
Lin Yujing could not be bothered to deal with someone so shameless, but her son refused to leave, so she could only keep an arm around Cheng Jin's cold body.
Under the combined intimidation of the police and Shen Changgeng, Cheng Yong finally realized that the people before him were not to be trifled with. To avoid spending the rest of his life in prison, he began desperately recalling what had happened ten years ago.
"It really was strange. With such a small belly, how could she have given birth to two children?"
"I'd heard it was a boy, so I even made a point of sending the girl away. But when she was giving birth, Old Chen asked me out for drinks. We started gambling as we drank, and I forgot about her and the kids."
Listening to Cheng Yong's disjointed words, Shen Xubai frowned as he sifted through the information. "Why did they invite you? Did you know the people you gambled with?"
"We got together all the time. What does it matter whether I knew them? As long as there was money to be had!"