He Dingbang almost wanted to jump up and give his youngest son a beating: “You little brat, holding your phone all day and not learning anything useful! Can’t even speak properly! Just shut up!”
“In this situation, even if I talk until flowers bloom, it won’t help.” He Ruzhu said with a troubled face, looking at He Ruxue, “Big sis, you basically raised me. Grandmother won’t ignore you, and you won’t ignore me, right?”
The second eldest, He Rusong, frowned deeply, looking displeased: “What’s going on here? Is everyone just trying to find their own way out when disaster strikes? Are you so quick to accept that you’re not part of the He family? I can’t accept this!”
He looked at the silent He Grandmother, a man in his thirties almost on the verge of tears: “Grandmother, we all grew up under your watch. I knew from a young age that I didn’t have a mom, and Dad was unreliable, but I never felt pitiful because you were there to hold the family together. Grandfather… Grandfather wronged you, but were all those years of feelings fake? I don’t know what to say, but I really don’t want this family to fall apart…”
He Grandmother didn’t respond. She continued to look at He Grandfather, her emotions seemingly much calmer than before: “You speak.”
He Grandfather leaned on his cane, his figure hunched over significantly in a short time.
“Back then… I was an employee of the He family, valued by your father and you, and you wanted me to marry into the family…” He Grandfather confessed in an old and weary voice, “You asked if I was single, and I lied to you. I had a girlfriend at the time, someone I dated back in my hometown…”
This He Grandfather, whose real name is Qin Kai, continued—
Although he wasn’t single at the time, when the young He Grandmother asked him, he guessed her intentions. He couldn’t resist the allure of wealth, so he said he was single. To gain more favor, he even claimed he had never been in a relationship.
After deceiving the He family father and daughter, Qin Kai turned around and broke up with his girlfriend at the time, and soon married the He family’s daughter, He Ying, becoming the He family’s esteemed son-in-law.
He Grandmother, He Ying, found it ironic upon hearing this: “A typical ‘phoenix man’ story. I’ve seen plenty of such dramas in other families, and I was smug thinking I hadn’t misjudged. Who would’ve thought… No wonder you could have an illegitimate child. That ex-girlfriend of yours, she’s the biological mother of this illegitimate child, right?”
Hearing He Grandmother no longer call him by name but refer to him as “illegitimate child,” He Dingbang felt as if his heart had died, not daring to make a sound for fear of drawing her attention.
He Grandfather’s lips trembled, unable to deny it. Denying it was pointless. Would saying He Dingbang’s biological mother was another stranger make it easier for him to be forgiven?
He continued—
His ex-girlfriend, like him, was working hard in City A. After their sudden breakup, she didn’t make a fuss and just cut off contact. Until the year after he got married, she reached out to him.
She said she received a letter from home, her family elders were in poor health and needed money for surgery. She had no choice and knew he had become the son-in-law of a wealthy family, so she wanted to borrow some money.
She promised it would be just this once, and afterward, she’d take the money back home to care for her family, get married, and have children there, never returning to City A.
In reality, it was a “loan” that wouldn’t be repaid.
“But I felt guilty for her, and indeed wanted to send her away quickly, so I gave her a sum of money. Then she said she felt sad and wanted me to have one last meal with her, and I agreed, thinking it was a farewell meal to end things quickly…” He Grandfather looked guilty.
“At the meal, she kept pouring me drinks. I didn’t think much of it. I remember it was lunch, in the middle of the day, at a proper restaurant. If it were at night, I would’ve been more cautious. But… you know my drinking capacity when I was young, Ah Ying. I got drunk, and she… in the private dining room…”
Perhaps feeling embarrassed to recount youthful indiscretions in front of his descendants, He Grandfather wiped his face before continuing.
“When I sobered up, it had already happened. I regretted it, shouldn’t have drunk alone with her. I was angry at her, asked why she did it. She said she didn’t know how to repay me, couldn’t return the money, so she wanted to sleep with me once. But she knew I wouldn’t agree, and she knew my drinking capacity was poor, so she took the initiative…”
This explanation made He Grandmother’s lips curl into a sarcastic smile, her eyelids drooping.
He Grandfather didn’t wait for her reaction and continued: “After that, she went back to her hometown, and we had no contact until you were about to give birth. She suddenly called me, saying she was also about to give birth, and the child was mine…”
“She said after discovering she was pregnant, she came to find me again, but saw me accompanying you, who was heavily pregnant. She felt guilty towards you, didn’t want to ruin us, so she planned to secretly have the child and raise it herself.”
“But she didn’t dare return to her hometown while pregnant, fearing gossip and that people would guess the child was mine, which would implicate me. So she rented a place here to have the child. But when it came time to give birth, she realized she needed to go through procedures at the hospital, and she lacked many documents and money. She had no choice but to find me again…”
He Grandfather continued with regret—
He said if he had known earlier that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant, he would’ve forced her to abort the child, even if it meant going against his conscience. But by the time he found out, she was about to give birth, and it was too late to abort. Yet he couldn’t just ignore her, so he found a hospital to settle her in.
Unexpectedly, his ex-girlfriend and wife He Ying gave birth just one day apart, with the ex-girlfriend giving birth to He Dingbang a day earlier.
The ex-girlfriend said she couldn’t raise the child alone, begged Qin Kai to find a way to bring the child into the He family, saying it was a relative’s child or a friend’s child, promising never to disturb them again.
He Grandfather sighed: “Of course, I didn’t agree. I wanted to give them a sum of money and send them away, but… she might’ve thought I was doubting her motives, and she committed suicide in the hospital that day, leaving only Dingbang behind.”
He Grandmother’s expression shifted slightly.
He Grandfather noticed and didn’t dare get too excited: “I was worried about how to confess to you and seek your forgiveness. You were about to give birth. It was our first child, and you had a difficult labor, fainting afterward. The nurse who brought the child out said you hadn’t even had a chance to see the child—”
During He Grandmother He Ying’s unconsciousness, the newborn suddenly suffered organ failure. According to He Grandfather Qin Kai’s recollection, the doctors and nurses discovered it almost immediately and did everything they could to save the child, but they couldn’t.
“I swear, they really couldn’t save the child. I don’t know why Ning Yichu, that scoundrel, would sow discord, implying that I deliberately let the child die. Maybe he did it on purpose, or maybe he was deceived. After all, it was so many years ago, and he only heard about it from others—Ah Ying, instead of listening to others, why not ask those who actually experienced it back then?”
He Grandfather said, surprisingly showing a candid expression: “You can go to the hospital where you gave birth and ask. You might still find one or two doctors or nurses from back then who remember.”
He Grandmother still didn’t speak.
He Grandfather’s voice weakened: “Our newborn was gone, and Dingbang’s mother was gone too. I really didn’t want to make you sad. I didn’t know how to tell you that our child was gone, and I had an illegitimate child due to someone’s scheme. Telling you both things at once would be like killing you…”
“So I took it upon myself to ask the doctors and nurses to lie with me, saying Dingbang was our child.”
“The doctors and nurses back then thought Dingbang was an abandoned baby, probably thinking they were doing a good deed by killing two birds with one stone. And back then, hospitals weren’t as strictly regulated as they are now. It was fifty-three years ago, and there weren’t many decent machines… In short, this matter was covered up.”
“Ah Ying, I’ve kept this secret for most of my life, and it’s always weighed on me. Now that I’ve finally said it, although I’ve wronged you, the burden in my heart has finally been lifted… If you want to kick me and Dingbang out of the He family, I have no face to ask you not to, but…”
As he spoke, He Grandfather’s voice rose a bit: “All these years, if I had any ulterior motives towards you, with your abilities, you would’ve discovered it long ago, right? And Dingbang, he’s a scoundrel, causing us no end of trouble in this life, but he only found out about his background today. He always thought of you as his real mom, and now look at him, so pitiful…”
The more he spoke, the lower his voice became, and finally, He Grandfather coughed with age.
He Grandmother didn’t look at He Dingbang but glanced at Ning Yichu, seemingly wanting to see if this “informed person” had anything else to say.
Ning Yichu looked innocent: “Grandmother, don’t look at me. I’m not the one who’s been cuckolded and raised an illegitimate child for fifty-three years. If you’re magnanimous enough to forgive and hope for family harmony, I certainly won’t slap you in the face.”
He Grandmother was so angered by his sarcastic words that her blood pressure rose again, but she held back and only asked him: “Where did you learn about this?”
Ning Yichu leisurely replied: “You should ask Grandfather how many times he’s gotten drunk over the years and told this story to how many people.”
He Grandfather was busy “coughing” and didn’t have time to refute.
He Grandmother’s face darkened, and she asked He Shixia: “Are you serious about giving him the company shares, or do you have other motives?”
Seeing He Shixia about to answer without thinking, He Grandmother quickly added: “Tell the truth! Shixia, Grandmother has had enough shocks today and can’t take any more.”
He Shixia apologized: “I also hope Grandmother lives a long life. As for the shares, I’m serious. All the paperwork is ready, and I’ll have the lawyer come over later. All that’s left is for Ah Ning to sign.”
He Grandmother seemed to age a few more years, her face full of confusion: “Why? Didn’t you not want to fulfill the marriage contract with the Ning family before, didn’t want to marry him? Or is it really like Rulin said, that he has something on you?”
“No, Grandmother.” He Shixia replied without hesitation, “I didn’t agree to fulfill the marriage contract between the He family and the Ning family before because the person they intended to fulfill the contract with wasn’t Ah Ning.”
“As for marrying Ah Ning, I didn’t take the initiative before because I hadn’t figured out my own feelings at the time, but I was sure he didn’t like me, so I thought he had other plans. But since he doesn’t mind marrying me, I don’t actually find this marriage too forced.”
Ning Yichu tilted his head, reminding him: “You’re overacting, He Film Emperor.”
He Shixia lowered his head and smiled at him: “I’m telling the truth, but when these things happened, I hadn’t figured it out myself… By the time I did, it was too late.”
He Ruzhu muttered quietly: “But when Ning Yichu first moved in a few days ago, Sixth Brother, you were quite cold to him. Didn’t you also hate his behavior of crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang himself to force you…”
Ning Yichu: “See, it’s awkward when you’re exposed.”
He Shixia remained calm: “At the time, I wronged him, thinking that the accident a few months ago was really his doing, and I thought he was really willing to risk his life to bet on whether I’d agree to marry him. And before that, he didn’t even want to ask me. Actually, if I knew he was willing to marry me, I would’ve been happy to choose this solution, without him having to go as far as slitting his wrists.”
Ning Yichu tugged at the corner of his lips.
He Shixia lowered his eyes: “But thinking about it calmly, I was too self-indulgent. This marriage wasn’t worth him risking his life. I was also too high and mighty, thinking he should be the one to contact me first. After all, I never took the initiative to discuss it with him. So now you see, he doesn’t care for me, and I deserve it.”
These words left the He family members present both surprised and solemn.
He Shixia spoke with such seriousness, but for the He family members who didn’t like Ning Yichu, especially since Ning Yichu had just stirred up trouble, exposing He Dingbang’s background… In short, the He family wasn’t pleased with this situation.
He Ruzhu was puzzled: “Wasn’t the drugging incident his doing? Wasn’t it already proven with solid evidence? Sixth Brother, are you blinded by love… By the way, how did the topic shift to Sixth Brother’s deep confession? Weren’t we just talking about… Oh, never mind, Sixth Brother, continue with your confession.”
Halfway through, He Ruzhu remembered what they were talking about earlier—about his dad being the result of his grandfather’s affair, and his grandmother being deceived for over fifty years—compared to that, listening to a live confession was better.
However, with He Ruzhu’s reminder, everyone else, whether they liked it or not, had to return to the topic of He Dingbang’s background.
He Dingbang wanted to punch He Ruzhu, his good son.
**Author’s Note:**
Today’s update is complete~ Taking a day off tomorrow, no update, and starting the day after tomorrow, updates will be fixed at 9 PM every night [heart]