Chapter 351: Chapter 351

Until Li Juezhou left, Li Haidong kept clutching his chest tightly, but Li Juezhou didn’t even glance at him.

When Li Juezhou left, Li Haidong simply stopped pretending, sat up straight, and his face no longer showed any sign of illness.

Wei Lan also straightened her posture, lips curling slightly upward, and rolled her eyes at Li Haidong in exasperation, "I told you to stop using this trick so often. Now look, this trick can’t scare our son anymore."

Li Haidong was unconcerned, "Clearly, he just doesn’t see me as his father anymore."

"Forget it, be open-minded. Azhou is not someone who can be easily manipulated. Even if you are his father, so what?" Wei Lan patted Li Haidong’s shoulder, "Who told you to always indulge Duan Wenhu with no limits before? Now look what happened, you never corrected her, and eventually someone would teach her a lesson."

Afraid of genuinely upsetting Li Haidong, Wei Lan held back another remark.

Finally, someone dealt with the troublemaker Duan Wenhu, she had to thank Sang Ning for sparing the Li Family from this disaster in advance, or who knows what kind of mess Duan Wenhu would cause in the future.

"You’re all just bullying me!" Li Haidong huffed like a child having a tantrum, snorted coldly at Wei Lan, then got up and left in a huff.

With the evidence in hand, even if Duan Wenhu wanted to deny it, it was absolutely impossible.

Being on the same team, Li Sulan and Duan Wenhu uncommonly maintained their tacit understanding; even if they slipped up on a live broadcast, they firmly refused to confess.

Although Li Sulan didn’t directly push Doctor Zhou in the video, after Duan Wenhu was forced to confess, there was no way Li Sulan could escape unscathed.

Under Duan Wenhu’s accusations, the police smoothly acquired evidence that Li Sulan and Chu Tian colluded with Doctor Zhou to fabricate testimony to slander Sang Youming and Hu Zhi.

The crimes of Chu Tian and Li Sulan were set in stone. They initially thought that after associating with Duan Wenhu, the Chu Group could reach a higher level, but unexpectedly, they fell into an abyss, and their vast family business vanished in an instant.

The scandal involving Chu Tian and Li Sulan also affected Chu Xi. Previously, netizens took pity on her as the unfortunate princess who lost twenty years of her life due to being stolen.

Now when Chu Xi is mentioned, netizens only ridicule—having such parents, why bother being a princess?

With the downfall of the Chu Family and losing protection, life for Chu Xi at school became very difficult.

Openly and covertly, classmates mocked her for not having the destiny of a princess, saying she was born to jinx her parents, as she had just returned to the Chu Family and now both her birth parents were imprisoned.

Whether in person or behind her back, there were always those who mocked her mercilessly, but Chu Xi’s mind became incredibly resilient. No matter what others said, she was determined to finish her education and get into college.

She had never been so unwavering in her desire to study as she was now. With the Chu Family finished, she could only rely on herself.

Fortunately, Li Sulan had bought her a dividend fund, assuring that she would not lack for food or clothing even if she never worked a day in her life. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

But this kind of life couldn’t provide her with enough sense of security. What Chu Xi wanted now was respect from others.

After a mental struggle, Chu Xi made a very difficult decision.

She would leave the circle, only by leaving the circle could she gradually fade from the public view and slowly restore peace in her life.

But before that, she had to clear her name.

Chu Xi thought, since Chu Tian and Li Sulan were already in, their reputations already tarnished, further damage couldn’t affect them much. Using them as tools seemed more than appropriate.

Before the online discussion completely died down, Chu Xi posted a video announcing her departure from the circle.

In the video, she tearfully recounted her experiences to the netizens, saying she was on the brink of breaking down from the stress. Now, she chose to not bear it all any longer and confessed the whole truth to everyone.

"I admit I am also at fault for not bravely speaking out the truth when my parents maliciously slandered my previous parents. All of this now, you could say, is my retribution." Chu Xi’s acting was unprecedentedly brilliant, with a bitter smile on her lips while her eyes brimmed with sadness, the contrast of these emotions easily stirred sympathy in netizens.

Simply put, Chu Xi had a good relationship with the audience due to her looks; as long as she hadn’t committed a heinous crime, just a few expressions of vulnerability could gain her the support of most people.

In the video, Chu Xi sincerely shared with netizens how warm the twenty years she spent with the Sang Family were, and how great Sang Youming and Hu Zhi were as parents.

The previous rumors about the Sang Family parents online were malicious plots by Chu Tian and Li Sulan. Although she was the biological daughter of the Chu Family, having just returned to the family, she could only watch Chu Tian and Li Sulan’s reactions and did not dare to utter a word of complaint.

But now that she told the truth, Chu Tian and Li Sulan no longer had the power to blame her, even if they could, that would be something for the future.

The kindness of nurture outweighs that of birth, and she was very grateful for the Sang Family parents’ tolerance and care over the years. As long as they were willing, she would always be their daughter from now on.

Some people felt Chu Xi’s apology was full of hypocrisy, knowing that Sang Youming and Hu Zhi were arrested by the police during a live broadcast back then.

If Chu Xi was truly concerned about the Sang Family’s kindness, she should have spoken up sooner.

Looking at the comments under the video, Chu Xi felt overwhelmed. The reason for not speaking up sooner could only be explained by her lack of courage at the time.

But netizens didn’t accept her explanation, and there was nothing Chu Xi could do; apart from saying this, she couldn’t find any other excuse.

In response to netizens’ doubts, Chu Xi could only adopt a cold treatment approach. After all, she had made up her mind to leave the circle, so no matter how much they questioned, it would eventually fade away as she exited the entertainment industry.

After posting the video, Chu Xi did not plan to make any further responses, but she did not expect Sang Youming and Hu Zhi to both repost her video and leave messages supporting her.

Hu Zhi: [Xiao Xi is a kind girl. Back then she told us she wanted to clarify for us, but we feared doing so would create a rift with her biological parents, so we didn’t agree to her request.]

Sang Youming: [As long as you are willing, we will always be your parents.]

Honestly speaking, seeing the comments from Sang Youming and Hu Zhi, it would be a lie to say Chu Xi was not moved.

Recalling moments of her life in the Sang Family, she suddenly felt regret. If she were given another chance, when first returning to the Chu Family, and if she hadn’t lied to Chu Tian and Hu Zhi, would things be different?

Apparently, things were destined to go south when she defamed the Sang Family parents for abusing her and slandered Sang Ning for deliberately pushing her down the stairs.

Chu Xi was very grateful to Sang Youming and Hu Zhi for speaking up to support her, but it was only an act on the internet. In private, she didn’t contact Sang Youming and Hu Zhi anymore; from now on, being strangers to each other was the best outcome for them.