“Me?” Ye Zhi was very surprised. Cen Xiucheng was going to expose Ou Minghan’s past, what did it have to do with her?
Before Cen Xiucheng could answer, seeing their lively conversation, Ou Minghan’s eyes darted. He immediately questioned righteously, “Cen Xiucheng, what exactly is going on? If you’re fine, why didn’t you call home to report your safety?! What exactly have you been busy with that you’d rather tell an outsider like Ye Zhi than your own mother? Do you know what your mother has been going through these past few days!”
Ni Na was stunned, and she looked at them with a blank expression. Ye Zhi and Qi Xuan showed no surprise, and from their words, it seemed they had known Cen Xiucheng was safe all along.
This meant that they, the family members, were the ones kept in the dark?
“Xiucheng, what is going on?” Ni Na asked, somewhat disappointed.
“Mom, it’s like this,” Cen Xiucheng explained, “The car accident was real, but I wasn’t in the car when it happened.”
Ni Na suddenly understood, no wonder she couldn’t find him after searching for so long.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Ni Na questioned.
“Because I wanted to take advantage of this time to investigate some important matters. And this car accident served as a good cover, allowing those who wanted to harm me to lower their guard,” Cen Xiucheng said calmly. “Mom, I have investigated everything clearly now. The person who called you earlier and arranged for you to come here was my subordinate. The reason I did this was to bring Ou Minghan here for a confrontation. President Ye and the others were also invited by me; some grievances should be settled.”
Suddenly, Cen Xiucheng looked at Ou Minghan, “You once told Cen Ya that your biological parents were harmed by the Ye family, is that correct?”
Ou Minghan’s face turned extremely unpleasant. He said coldly, “What does that have to do with you?!”
“It has nothing to do with me, I just helped you investigate what you didn’t want to investigate. Let’s meet someone first!” Cen Xiucheng clapped his hands. “Come in.”
The door opened, and an ordinary-looking man, about fifty or sixty years old with a simple and honest face, walked in.
Upon seeing the unfamiliar man, Ou Minghan immediately felt a sense of disdain.
This is it?
He thought Cen Xiucheng had investigated something significant, but he didn’t recognize this man at all!
The man glanced around the room and then retreated. Soon, he led a woman inside.
When Ou Minghan saw the woman’s appearance, his pupils contracted sharply!
How could it be her?!
The woman was over fifty. Although the marks of time were clearly visible on her face, it was also evident that she must have been a very elegant beauty in her youth.
As everyone’s gazes fell upon the woman, they all seemed to understand something, and in the next moment, they all looked at Ou Minghan in unison.
They looked so alike!
The admirable features on Ou Minghan’s face were identical to this woman’s! Without needing to be explicitly stated, everyone guessed her relationship with Ou Minghan!
“Is she… Ou Minghan’s biological mother?” Ye Zhi whispered to Qi Xuan.
She was truly surprised. Although she didn’t like to get involved in the Cen family’s affairs, she couldn’t help but be curious when she witnessed such dramatic gossip.
She couldn’t help but think of Zhan Ruoqing; she would have loved this scene.
“Presumably,” Qi Xuan was also surprised. “It seems she was fine all along; the rumor about her jumping off a building was false.”
“Aunt Su,” Cen Xiucheng stepped forward, “Thank you for your trouble. Could you please tell us the truth of what happened back then?”
The woman nodded and said calmly, “Hello, everyone. My name is Su Qian. I am… Ou Minghan’s biological mother.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Ou Minghan, her expression complex.
“Mother-in-law… so you’ve been alright all along?” Cen Ya’s face showed joy. She was about to step forward, but Ou Minghan grabbed her wrist again.
Cen Ya looked at him, puzzled, only to see Ou Minghan staring at Su Qian with a mixture of shock, anger, and hatred.
“I don’t have a mother! You are not my mother!” Ou Minghan said fiercely. However, their resemblance made Ou Minghan’s words quite unconvincing.
Su Qian remained calm and did not acknowledge Ou Minghan, recounting the past events slowly.
“The Su family used to be in real estate, and I was the only daughter. I fell in love with Ou Xu, a university classmate, when I was in university. He treated me very well, showing me great care, and I was determined to marry him.
However, my parents disagreed with this marriage, as they felt Ou Xu was only approaching me because of my status and had ulterior motives.
Ou Xu taught me how to argue with my family, and in the end, my parents couldn’t resist me and agreed to our marriage. After we got married, my father fully supported his career, and I stayed at home to manage the household and raise our children. We had a relatively sweet time.
But joy was short-lived. My father suddenly fell ill, and my mother passed away from excessive worry. After they left, the company was handed over to Ou Xu to manage.
However, without my father overseeing it, the company deteriorated, internal struggles intensified, and cash flow became a problem. At that time, Ou Xu pinned all his hopes on one project. Unfortunately, he failed to secure that project; it was won by Ye Shi.
The Su family company went bankrupt, and our family was evicted from our large house, forced to rent cheap basements to live in.
But at that time, I was still naive enough to believe that facing such difficulties was nothing. As long as Ou Xu and I worked hard together, with our hearts and efforts aligned, we could still live a good life.
To alleviate Ou Xu’s pressure, I, who had been a homemaker for years, took the initiative to find work. However, I was out of touch with society and couldn’t find suitable work for a while, but our family was in dire need of money. So, even jobs like washing dishes or being a cashier that required physical labor, I did them.
I thought Ou Xu would be moved by my efforts and work hard with me, but…”
Su Qian seemed to recall a painful memory. Her face contorted in fear, and she instinctively raised her hands as if to protect her head and face.
The man who had accompanied her saw this, took her hand, put his arm around her shoulder, and gently comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s all in the past.”
Hearing his voice, Su Qian took several deep breaths and slowly calmed down.
“Ou Xu was somewhat diligent for the first two months, looking for work everywhere. But after two months, he gave up.
He refused to accept his failure, and everywhere he went, he blamed the Ye family, claiming they used schemes and tricks to win the project and deliberately targeted him, causing the company’s bankruptcy.
None of this had anything to do with the Ye family. When I tried to persuade him, hoping he would cheer up, he became enraged and started hitting me…”