Chapter 235: Chapter 235

Li Xianglu looked around, her gaze cold and clear, her tone devoid of any emotion, "At the beginning of ’75, I had parents. My mother wanted to find a good job with a food supply for her beloved second son, and schemed to marry me off to the idiot brother of the director who had promised to help, even though I later escaped, you can imagine how hard it was."

As soon as Li Xianglu finished speaking, everyone started talking. Li Jianhong swallowed nervously, tugging on Mom, who was standing in front of her.

After she finished speaking, Li Xianglu turned around and said to Ge Sanmei, "Auntie, what, have you forgotten about this?"

Ge Sanmei’s face was tight as she stared back, "What, you still hold a grudge against your second brother? Director Wang’s family is in such a good condition, why couldn’t you marry there?"

Li Xianglu shook her head and said to everyone, "Look, this is what a biological mother is like. At the beginning of spring ’75, my kin decided to adopt me out to my current grandfather. At that time, this auntie took US$ 600 and three hundred kilograms of fine grain."

Six hundred yuan! Even today, the subsidy given to college students is only 8 yuan a month, not to mention six hundred yuan, leave alone the money, what about three hundred kilograms of fine grain? Where could that even come from?

Li Xianglu looked around once more, speaking indifferently, "This is what happened. I will only say it this one time. It was not my will to be adopted out, but since I’m no longer a child of this family, why should I still care about them? I really want to ask, what are you doing here? Didn’t you just go to Zhengzhou in November to ask your third son for fifty yuan? What, you’re in the capital now? What is it this time? Asking for money, wasn’t the six hundred yuan enough for you to spend?"

Having said this, Li Xianglu shook her head and walked out to the side, while Qin Xi looked coldly at everyone and left as well.

Everyone was in disbelief; it turned out Li Xianglu had such a background. It’s no wonder she didn’t even recognize her own mother. This wasn’t a mother at all, worse than a beast, not even a tiger would devour its own offspring. To let her daughter marry an idiot for the sake of her son and to think it’s justified—that was unimaginable.

There were many biased mothers in the world, but such extreme partiality was indeed rare!

Shen Yuehong was also shocked after hearing this; it was completely different from what she imagined. If only she had known, she wouldn’t have spoken up earlier. She couldn’t help but take a step back, wanting to hide behind the crowd.

Iro was about to leave when he overheard Li Xianglu speaking. Before he could chime in, he saw Shen Yuehong’s sneaky attempt to leave and snickered, "Mr. Shen, you are really selfless. Why don’t you take this great aunt home to take care of her? You’ve always been so kindhearted!"

Everyone looked over. Not a single girl liked Shen Yuehong, and the boys all stayed away, not wanting to get involved with someone with such a malicious mind.

But Li Jianhong really did look over, pleadingly saying, "Kind student, please help us out. My sister won’t look after us, and my mom and I haven’t even had a warm bite to eat since getting off the train."

Shen Yuehong was practically going crazy; she turned and left in a huff. Hmph, these country bumpkins really think too highly of themselves!

Li Jianhong saw that everyone was dispersing, and as the security staff came to drive them out, she had no choice but to leave first.

Out of the school gate, Li Jianhong shook off Ge Sanmei’s hand and walked ahead.

Ge Sanmei was startled and quickly followed after her, finally catching up and grabbing her daughter, "Jianhong, what are you doing? Where are you running to? What if you lose me?"

Li Jianhong shook off the hand with disgust, "Alright, hurry back. Yuan Cheng and I are going to Hong Kong, and the second brother can’t come with us!"

Ge Sanmei’s face fell instantly upon hearing this, "No way, we had an agreement. If that wretched girl refuses to take care of me and your second brother, Yuan Cheng is supposed to take your second brother with him when he goes to Hong Kong. How can you renege on that now?"

Li Jianhong said somewhat irritably, "That won’t work. How can you just leave me behind? What if Yuan Cheng finds someone else over there? What about me and Chun’er!"

Chun’er is Li Jianhong’s daughter, who is now over four years old.

Upon hearing this, Ge Sanmei grabbed Li Jianhong and said, "Then we should all go. We can’t leave your second brother behind. Otherwise, don’t expect any of you to go. Even if I die, I’ll make a scene so none of you can leave!"

Li Jianhong, infuriated, stopped in her tracks, "Mom, are you still my real mother or not? Everyone hopes for their children’s well-being, but why are you always holding us back? No wonder San’er doesn’t want to acknowledge you!"

Ge Sanmei was so angry she couldn’t catch her breath, standing in place panting for a long time, while Li Jianhong did not pay her any attention and strode forward.

Seeing that her daughter was ignoring her, Ge Sanmei gasped for a few breaths and hurriedly chased after her.

One of Yuan Cheng’s uncles had fled to Hong Kong before the liberation and made a fortune there, but he had no sons. He wrote a letter asking the Yuan family to adopt a son to him, and the family chose Yuan Cheng.

Ge Sanmei talked to her son, and he immediately said he would go too, claiming once he was there, they would have money and he could provide for her in her old age. She had no reason to disagree and insisted that her daughter take her and the second son to the capital.

However, the man sent by the Yuan family’s Uncle insisted that only two people could go, and no more. That was unacceptable. Yuan Cheng proposed that they first find Li Xianglu to see if she was willing to take care of Ge Sanmei and find a job for her biological second brother Li Jianwen in the capital.

Thus, they had the incident of the major commotion at the school today. However, they didn’t expect Li Xianglu to outright reveal the truth, completely contrary to their expectations, appearing seemingly unconcerned about the adopted status.

The matter was not settled, so they now had to find a way for the second brother to follow. They had heard that one could make money in that place, and it was essential that the second brother go.

Li Xianglu, on the other hand, was unaware of their sudden visit to the capital and the reason behind it. After the previous confrontation, she felt somewhat depressed.

Qin Xi had gone to push the cart, and the two decided to return and spend another night. As soon as Li Xianglu entered the door, she saw everyone looking at her and sighed as she sat down.

Xiao Chong went over to sit beside Li Xianglu, comforting her, "Xiangxiang, don’t be sad. You’ve already escaped the bitter sea. It’s over now. You have us."

Xu Xin also spoke up, "I always thought you lived a very happy life. I didn’t realize you had such a tragic past. Don’t dwell on it. You’ve already been adopted out. Whatever they do, it has nothing to do with you."

Wang Ke adjusted his glasses and nodded, saying, "Yes, don’t overthink it."

Lu Anna hurried back from outside, almost tripping over a stool placed on the side. Xu Xin quickly steadied her, chastising, "What are you doing, not watching where you’re going?"

Lu Anna let out a breath, taking a while before saying, "There are police cars at the school. They’ve taken several people away, including Qin Miao!"