Free Web NovelChapter 47: Chapter 47: Schadenfreude
Zhang Wei Qiang smiled and nodded. "That’s only if the Lin family doesn’t press charges. But Lin Dong already ruined Gu Lihui’s handsome face. To get Gu Lihui to promise not to press charges against him, the Lin family probably won’t insist on taking him to court. So when it comes down to it, we’re the only ones left to decide whether or not to sue him."
"Hah. It’s karma, and swift karma at that. The Gu family probably never imagined they’d fall into our hands so quickly..."
Wen Xiu couldn’t help but laugh when she heard this, feeling an inexplicable thrill.
Lin Qin, a joyful look on her face, handed Zhang Wei Qiang a bamboo tube filled with water. She waited until he had taken a drink before asking, "You only told half the story. How exactly did Lin Dong find out those twins weren’t his?"
"Yeah, how did he find out?" The others’ curiosity was piqued as well.
"Apparently, Lin Jiayi was playing with her younger brother the other day and somehow managed to hit her head. She was bleeding a lot. Lin Dong happened to be home, so he and his wife rushed her to the hospital. As luck would have it, the hospital’s blood bank was empty, so they asked family members to donate. And you wouldn’t believe it, when they tested the blood, they discovered Lin Jiayi has Type A blood, while both Lin Dong and his wife are Type O. The doctor muttered something like, ’That’s odd. Could the baby have been switched? How could two Type-O parents possibly have a Type-A child?’"
As Zhang Wei Qiang said this, Lin Qin couldn’t help but interject, "What’s the reasoning behind that? How is it that two people with Type O blood can’t have a child with Type A blood?"
"Oh, come on, daughter-in-law, don’t worry about the reasoning! Just let Qiangzi keep talking. Besides, whatever the doctor said must be right." Wen Xiu was completely engrossed. Even though she didn’t understand any of this "Type O" or "Type A" blood business, it didn’t stop her from enjoying the "story."
"I understand the basics of blood types, but I can’t really explain it clearly. The point is, the doctor was right. If a husband and wife are both Type O, they can only have Type O children. It’s only possible to have a Type A child if one parent is Type O and the other is Type A." Seeing his wife’s curiosity, Zhang Wei Qiang tried to explain, but he couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw her utterly confused and bewildered expression.
"I know Gu Lihui has Type A blood," Zhang Minzhen said suddenly.
"All right, all right, no more interruptions! What then? Qiangzi, forget about all this blood type stuff and just get on with it! What happened next?" Wen Xiu was getting impatient. She didn’t understand this business about blood types, nor did she care to. She just wanted to know what came next.
Seeing how anxious she was, Zhang Wei Qiang stopped beating around the bush and recounted the rest of the story in one go. "After that, Lin Dong got suspicious. He went straight home and told his parents, and their expressions changed instantly. The odds of a baby being switched at birth are almost zero, and for twins—especially fraternal boy-girl twins—it’s even rarer. You have to understand, they were the only fraternal twins in our town back then. Even if the hospital had wanted to make a mistake, where would they have found another pair to switch them with?
Plus, the two children looked so much like each other, and in many ways, they resembled their mother. Although neither of them looked anything like their supposed father, the Lin family had never been suspicious. Lin Dong had even joked self-deprecatingly that he was ugly and it was a good thing the children didn’t take after him.
So later, after Lin Dong’s father went to consult a doctor he knew, he found an excuse to take Lin Jia Bao to the hospital for a blood test as well. They discovered he was Type O. But while that could mean he took after his mother, the fact that his twin sister was Type A meant he couldn’t possibly be a child of the Lin family either... That’s when the Lin Family completely lost it. Lin Dong went home, beat the truth out of his wife, and forced her to admit the children’s real father was Gu Lihui. Not only had Gu Lihui known all along that the children were his, but the two had been secretly carrying on their affair all these years."
Before anyone could react, Zhang Wei Qiang continued with a note of relief, "The veteran officer handling the case at the station said our little sister was incredibly lucky to have such a good daughter. The owner of the nearby shop who saw the whole thing said that if Nuannuan hadn’t been pulling her back with all her might, she would have been the one whose face was ruined. Apparently, after Nuannuan pulled her away, she just collapsed on the ground and couldn’t get up for a while. In the end, our little sister had to be the one to pick her up."
"Was it really that close?" Wen Xiu’s mouth fell open, at a loss for words.
"Really?" Lin Qin and Zhang Dazhuang looked over as well.
"Of course, it’s true." Zhang Minzhen patted her chest, still shaken by the memory. "You have no idea how strong Gu Lihui was at that moment. I was completely caught off guard when he dragged me forward, and I couldn’t summon any strength to break free. I have no idea where Nuannuan found such power. When she collapsed on the ground afterward, it scared me half to death. Thankfully, she was all right after a few moments."
"In an emergency, people can tap into a huge reserve of potential they don’t normally have. Her exhaustion afterward is a completely normal reaction." Inwardly, Zhang Wei Qiang had his own doubts. ’Logically, even if Nuannuan had an adrenaline rush, how could a little girl’s strength possibly overpower that of a grown man who was also running on pure adrenaline?’
’Or maybe Gu Lihui’s hands went weak with fear at that moment?’
Remembering Gu Nuan Nuan’s unusually sharp hearing, he glanced at Zhang Minzhen. ’I need to have a serious talk with my sister and niece about this tonight,’ he thought. ’Whether it’s true or not, for now, I’ll just assume Gu Lihui’s limbs went weak with fear.’
But as he had that thought, a small voice in the back of his mind piped up: ’Someone with these kinds of abilities could make a real contribution to the country. I shouldn’t be helping to hide this...’
He began to question his own actions. ’Am I wrong to be so selfish?’
He quickly shook his head. ’So what if she has abilities? Nuannuan is still just a child. She shouldn’t have her future decided for her so haphazardly at such a tender age. This isn’t me being selfish. If I didn’t give Nuannuan the chance to choose for herself, and instead just arrogantly made the decision for her, *that* would be truly selfish.’
"Not a single person in that family is any good. Thank goodness Nuannuan is more like one of our own. Hmph. Speaking of which, it’s no wonder that Lin Dong was provoked into doing something so rash to Gu Lihui. Gu Lihui really brought it on himself. Tsk. Tell me, besides that barely tolerable face of his, what other good points does that Gu fellow have?
The Lin family is so pitiful. Not only did they raise another man’s children for all those years, but now they’ve been utterly disgraced, and their son is going to prison. Lin Dong isn’t a young man anymore, is he? When he gets out in a few years and finds another wife, will he even be able to have kids? If he can’t, won’t the Lin family line just die out?"
The way Wen Xiu spoke, everyone could hear the note of schadenfreude in her voice.
And in truth, she was gloating. Lin Dong was certainly pitiable, but he was also a fool for not realizing sooner that his own children weren’t his. The fact that he’d wanted revenge, but almost attacked the wrong person—nearly harming an innocent and ruining the face of one of their own girls—was enough to make her resent him.
Wen Xiu sneered inwardly.
To be honest, she didn’t feel much sympathy for Lin Dong. In her eyes, he was simply too clueless and incompetent.
