As soon as Chen Liuyue returned to the Chen household, she noticed Wu Peihua looking at her with a strange expression.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
"It's only been two or three days, but you're looking at me as if you don't know me." The corners of her lips curved upwards.
Perhaps it was an illusion.
Wu Peihua seemed to catch a glimpse of her own youthful self in the girl's expression and the look in her eyes.
Or maybe it was because of Old Chen's words.
After all, Liuyue was her own biological daughter.
Yet, even though she wanted to get along well in her heart, the words that came out of her mouth were entirely different.
"How come you came back alone?"
Ah, so this was an interrogation.
Chen Liuyue replied with a smile,
"Mom is asking why Sister hasn't come back? Should we call Auntie Jin to ask how many more days they'll need to finish visiting relatives?"
Just then, Chen Zhenye also came downstairs.
Seeing the tense atmosphere between his wife and daughter,
he quickly interrupted, "Alright, Ruanruan has Haotian looking out for her back in the hometown. What could possibly happen?"
"Ding ling ling—"
The landline phone at home suddenly rang.
Wu Peihua was surprised but went to answer it anyway.
From the other end of the line came Jin Minjia's furious voice:
"You Chens certainly have fine upbringing, raising such a fine son!!!"
This came out of nowhere, a sudden barrage of scolding.
Chen Zhenye heard it too.
He reached out to his wife, and Wu Peihua handed him the phone.
"Teacher Jin, this is Chen Zhenye. Please don't be upset, take your time and tell me, what exactly happened?"
Jin Minjia's emotions were still running high, saying,
"My niece is the same age as Ruanruan, I've watched her grow up too. How could that beast Chen Haotian sneak into Huihui's room in the middle of the night?"
"How is she supposed to live after this!"
Her voice was loud.
All three people in the living room heard it.
The corner of Chen Liuyue's mouth twitched, revealing an unsurprised smile.
She had long known Tao Hui was a troublemaker, which was why she had hurriedly pulled Wei Miao away that very night.
Sure enough.
Chen Haotian, staying behind at the Tao house, had still fallen into the trap.
He thought he was a knight protecting Chen Ruanruan, but in reality, he was just a sweet, fragrant piece of steamed bun that Tao Hui had long wanted to take a bite of.
Chen Zhenye was utterly shocked, saying,
"How is that possible? Haotian would never do such a thing."
"Where's Ruanruan? Let Ruanruan speak to me."
Jin Minjia said hatefully,
"You parents just shield your own son. If it weren't for Ruanruan's sake, the Tao family relatives would have beaten your son to death already!"
"Regardless, you must give our Huihui an explanation. She's still young, hasn't even had a boyfriend yet. Here's what we'll do: after you return, both sides will meet and get engaged first."
"Once Huihui reaches the legal age for marriage registration, then you can get married!"
Wu Peihua and Chen Zhenye were dumbfounded.
How did their son just go to Tao Village and come back with a romantic debt?!
Chen Zhenye placated her with polite words and hung up the phone.
He immediately called Chen Haotian.
A cacophony of noise came from the other end—the sound of a car engine starting.
"Dad, I'm in a real hurry right now, don't call me. Let Ruanruan talk to you."
Then the voice on the phone changed.
"Dad, it's Ruanruan." Chen Ruanruan's voice still carried a sob, clearly badly frightened.
Chen Zhenye asked in a calm tone,
"Ruanruan, what on earth happened? Your birth mother, Teacher Jin, called saying Haotian went to her niece's room in the middle of the night..."
"This matter is simply too absurd."
Wu Peihua couldn't help but lean closer, saying, "Yes, our Haotian is such a good boy, how could he possibly do such a thing?"
Chen Ruanruan, voice choked with sobs, cried out,
"Devils! The Tao family are a bunch of devils!"
"Last night, in the middle of the night, Tao Hui came knocking on my door, saying she was scared to go to the bathroom alone. I didn't want to go out, but she dragged me anyway."
"Then she dragged me into the room she shares with Tao Cong and closed the door. I was scared, didn't know what they wanted, so I screamed."
"It was Brother who heard my scream and rushed down to save me."
"That Tao Hui has no shame, she actually took the chance to take off her clothes and hugged Brother. Then she said Brother was taking advantage of her."
"And my second uncle, Tao Tu, is no good either. They deliberately set out to entrap Brother. As soon as Tao Hui started crying, a whole group of people kicked the door open and came in."
"It's a honey trap! They planned it, they want to latch onto the Chen family, they want to suck our blood..."
Chen Ruanruan's words were broken by hiccups and sobs.
But she still managed to recount the heart-stopping events of the previous night.
Wu Peihua drew a sharp breath, unable to believe that such an outrageous thing could happen in this day and age.
Chen Zhenye, however, had been mentally prepared.
But hearing about the other side's shameless tactics still made him sigh.
"What's the situation now?"
Chen Ruanruan sobbed,
"They want to force Brother to agree to the marriage. Brother refused. Now he's driving, trying to escape with me and come back."
"Dad, my birth parents are bad people too."
"One of them pretended not to see or hear, the other sided with Tao Hui, even though we're the victims."
"Ah—! No, they've caught up."
Panic tinged Chen Ruanruan's voice as she shouted again, "Brother, the steering wheel! It's veering! Quick, turn it!"
"Beep—"
The call was forcibly cut off.
Probably due to some external pressure.
Chen Zhenye and Wu Peihua looked at each other, both weighed down with worry.
Could something have happened?!
They looked towards Chen Liuyue, who had been sitting leisurely on the sofa playing with her phone all along.
"Liuyue, you heard all that, right? Hurry, save your brother." Wu Peihua, utterly distraught, actually made the absurd plea to seek some help from her.
Chen Liuyue put down her phone and looked up.
She smiled faintly, saying,
"Mom, when I left Tao Village, Brother said he doesn't acknowledge me as his sister."
Wu Peihua was half-convinced, half-doubting. "That... how could that be?"
Chen Liuyue gave a light smile. "Brother is willing to give everything for Sister Ruanruan, even his life. So what isn't possible?"
Chen Zhenye shot a glance at his wife.
"Enough! Liuyue is just a child too, what can she do?"
"I'd better call my father-in-law quickly, see if he has any connections."
When Wu Hongjun and Qian Xiaofen arrived, they came with the traffic police.
"Dad, Mom." Wu Peihua felt as if she had found her anchor.
"You're finally here. How is Haotian? Any news?"
Wu Hongjun hung his head and shook it.
Qian Xiaofen also wore a worried expression, but upon seeing them, she immediately took Liuyue's hand and gently patted it.
"Xiao Yue, you must be frightened. It's alright, your brother brought this trouble on himself."
