Seven o’clock in the evening.
The night wind howled freely.
A black car stopped in front of Lin Ting and her daughter.
In the cold wind, Lin Ting held Xiao Youzi tightly in her arms.
Seeing Jiang Shuchen step out of the car, she rushed forward excitedly.
“Shu Chen, has the paternity test result come out?”
Jiang Yu had sent Shu Chen to find her, perhaps because the results were already in.
And Jiang Yu trusted Shu Chen the most, so he must have known about it too.
Lin Ting felt as if she had seen a glimmer of hope.
Instantly, her blood surged with excitement.
Once the results were out, it would prove that Xiao Youzi was Jiang Yu’s biological daughter.
Her little Youzi would finally not be left alone and helpless after her death.
As she kissed Xiao Youzi’s forehead with relief, tears of mixed emotions welled up in her eyes.
She couldn’t hold them back.
Warm tears fell on Xiao Youzi’s forehead.
Xiao Youzi looked up, her tiny hand wiping away the tear stains.
Beneath her long eyelashes, her big eyes were filled with concern.
“Mommy, why are you crying? Are you very sad, Mommy?”
“No,” she shook her head and kissed Xiao Youzi’s forehead again deeply. “Mommy is happy, Mommy is happy!”
At that moment, Jiang Shuchen, who had opened the car door to let her in, visibly paused.
He then released the door handle and looked at the mother and daughter, their hair tousled by the cold wind.
He suddenly felt that their figures, one big and one small, looked so pitiful and desolate.
Jiang Shuchen quickly asked, “Xiao Ting, what paternity test results?”
Seeing the tears of both sorrow and joy in her eyes, he knew this matter was far from simple.
His puzzled gaze fell on Xiao Youzi in her arms.
“Xiao Ting, is Xiao Youzi really Jiang Yu’s daughter?”
This matter had already caused a heated argument between Jiang Yu and Lin Ting when she was pregnant.
At that time, Jiang Yu refused to acknowledge the child as his.
Back then, Jiang Shuchen had repeatedly advised Jiang Yu not to jump to conclusions.
He urged Jiang Yu that, even if all the evidence of colluding with Zhou Ziheng pointed to Lin Ting, as her boyfriend, he should trust her.
But Jiang Yu wouldn’t listen.
Seeing Lin Ting nod with tears in her eyes, Jiang Shuchen felt deeply moved.
The wind grew stronger, making the mother and daughter appear even more fragile.
Jiang Shuchen quickly pulled the car door open again, shielding them from the wind as he said, “Let’s talk in the car.”
Inside the car, Jiang Shuchen didn’t know how to begin.
He had witnessed every part of Lin Ting and Jiang Yu’s story.
Asking about it might reopen old wounds.
But staying silent left him deeply worried about their situation, especially now that Jiang Yu was about to marry Lin Weiwei.
He remained quiet, and Lin Ting, sitting in the back seat, said nothing either.
At some point, Xiao Youzi fell asleep, and Lin Ting continued to hold her in her arms.
Looking at the sleeping little face, Lin Ting felt a surge of mixed emotions.
Would Jiang Yu cherish her more in the future?
Without her mother in the days to come, Xiao Youzi would surely be heartbroken, but at least she would soon have her father by her side.
Lin Ting didn’t notice when the car stopped beneath the Shengding Restaurant.
It wasn’t until Jiang Shuchen, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned around and asked:
“Xiao Ting, you haven’t come looking for Jiang Yu all these years. Why now? Has something happened?”
Xiao Youzi was still fast asleep in her arms.
Only then did Lin Ting, suppressing the pain and sorrow within her, slowly look up and respond:
“Shu Chen, I have cancer. It’s terminal.”
“I have no choice but to entrust Xiao Youzi to Jiang Yu.”
The tone was lifeless, much like the pallor on her face.
Jiang Shuchen’s mind exploded.
He felt physically and mentally drained.
Lin Ting was only a year younger than him; he had watched her grow up since childhood.
She was just twenty-nine.
So young!
No wonder she looked much thinner than five years ago, her complexion dull and weary.
“How could this be?”
His voice trembled slightly.
Jiang Shuchen couldn’t believe it.
He was about to say more when Jiang Yu’s call came through at that moment.
Staring at the flashing screen, even the motion of swiping to answer felt sluggish.
Over the phone, Jiang Yu asked coldly, “Have you picked her up?”
Five minutes later.
Lin Ting, holding the newly awakened Xiao Youzi, arrived at Furong Pavilion.
This was the private dining room reserved for the Lin and Jiang families during their most prosperous times.
Five years ago, Lin Ting was a frequent guest here.
Back then, the two families only gathered here for major celebrations.
Why had Jiang Yu summoned her here?
Just then, the door to the private room swung open.
It wasn’t a server who opened it, but Jiang Yu, whose expression turned icy upon seeing her and Xiao Youzi.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer.
The look in his eyes shifted from coldness to deep disgust.
So obvious!
Lin Ting couldn’t possibly miss it.
Instantly, unease washed over her!
Even the air around them grew heavy, making it hard to breathe.
She spoke slowly, “Mr. Jiang…”
“Come in.” Jiang Yu didn’t even let her finish, turning and walking inside.
Leaving her and Jiang Shuchen exchanging a glance.
She had a strong feeling that Jiang Yu must be deeply dissatisfied with the paternity test results.
Was it because her sudden appearance with Xiao Youzi had disrupted the happiness and sweetness he once shared with Lin Weiwei?
But five days ago, he had said that if Xiao Youzi was his daughter, he would owe her an apology.
What was really going on?
Lin Ting, holding Xiao Youzi’s hand, entered the private room with trepidation.
Inside, over a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward them in unison.
Upon seeing Lin Ting and her daughter, everyone except Lin Weiwei looked shocked.
“Lin Ting?”
“Tingting?”
Among the Lin and Jiang family members present were Lin’s father, Lin Jianguo; her brother, Lin Zhenyu; and Lin Weiwei’s mother, Su Xiuzhen.
Lin Ting greeted them politely, “Uncle Lin, Mr. Lin.”
As for Su Xiuzhen, she pretended not to see her.
She always remembered Lin Jianguo’s kindness in raising her.
But this Su Xiuzhen—her mother’s closest friend—had an affair with Lin Jianguo while her mother was pregnant, giving birth to Lin Weiwei, who was less than a few months younger than her.
It was clearly Lin Jianguo who had wronged her mother.
Yet, under Su Xiuzhen’s instigation, Lin Jianguo firmly believed that her mother had betrayed him back then.
Her resentment toward Lin Jianguo wasn’t because he had used the paternity test results to claim she wasn’t his biological child.
It was because of his betrayal of her mother.
At this moment, Xiao Youzi, upon seeing the crowd, looked timid beneath her long eyelashes.
“Mommy, who are they?”
“Don’t be afraid. Mommy is here. I’ll explain who these grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunties are when we get home. For now, just look at everyone and greet them politely.”
She crouched down, stroking Youzi’s head, offering gentle yet courageous reassurance.
Xiao Youzi nodded, then looked at the people in the room.
“Hello, grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunties. My name is Xiao Youzi.”
Her voice was polite and clear.
The sweet little mouth made Lin Jianguo’s heart soften considerably.
After all, Lin Ting was also the daughter he had raised for twenty-one years!
Even after learning back then that Lin Ting was not his biological child, after the pain and inner turmoil, he was still willing to treat Lin Ting as his own daughter.
No matter how much of a bastard this well-behaved, adorable little girl was, she was still their Lin family’s little granddaughter.
Lin Jianguo looked at Xiao Youzi, who was exactly like Lin Ting as a child, and remembered many things from Lin Ting’s childhood, making his heart grow even softer.
Then he kindly beckoned, “Xiao Youzi, be good, come to Grandpa.”
Grandpa?
Xiao Youzi looked up, glancing at Lin Ting in confusion.
Did she have a grandpa too?
At that moment, Lin Jianguo looked at Lin Ting with a complicated expression, “Tingting, why haven’t you come home at all since you were released from prison?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go home.
It was clearly because after she was sent to prison over the medical secrets incident back then, Lin Jianguo had said he wanted to sever ties.
She remembered clearly just how harsh and sharp Lin Jianguo’s words had been at the time.
“Lin Ting, you’re just a bastard your mother gave birth to, an ungrateful wretch who can’t be raised right.”
“From now on, even if you die out there, it has nothing to do with our Lin family.”
She didn’t resent Lin Jianguo for wanting to sever ties.
She only hated that Lin Jianguo, who had shown no intention of remarrying for years after his late wife’s death, whose persona was that of a man who doted on his wife and daughter, was actually all fake—he had already been sleeping with Lin Weiwei’s mother before her own mother died in childbirth.
Suppressing much of the hatred in her heart, she said calmly:
“Uncle Lin, back then, you were the one who said that even if I died out there, it had nothing to do with the Lin family.”
Su Xiuzhen beside them angrily interjected, “Tingting, how can you still hold a grudge against your father? Back then, your father was just so angry with you that he spoke in the heat of the moment. You don’t know how worried your father has been about your life all these years you’ve been going down the wrong path.”
Lin Jianguo endured the heartache of being cold-shouldered by his beloved daughter and sighed deeply, “Xiuzhen, forget it. Even if you tell her, she won’t understand.”
Lin Ting didn’t respond again.
All the grievances and grudges of the past no longer mattered.
Whether it was injustice or pain, it was all in the past.
Now, all she cared about was whether someone would take good care of her Xiao Youzi after she died.
So, she looked toward Jiang Yu beside Lin Weiwei, “Mr. Jiang, you must have something very important to discuss today, since you called me here?”
At that moment, Jiang Yu was holding a folder, standing up from the dining table, staring intently at her.
She appeared frail, thin, and pitiful, yet Jiang Yu’s temples throbbed with furious, hateful veins.
Then, curling his lips, he snorted coldly:
“Lin Ting, you want to know the paternity test results, don’t you?”
“I’ll let you know right now.”
He pulled the test results from the file folder and flung them hard into Lin Ting’s face.
Swish, swish, swish!
The papers scattered page by page.
The thin edge of the paper sliced Lin Ting’s cheek.
It also hit the innocent Xiao Youzi beside her, frightening the little girl so much that she shrank tightly against her mother.
Ignoring the pain on her cheek, Lin Ting quickly crouched down to shield the frightened Xiao Youzi.
Seeing the cut on her cheek, Xiao Youzi wiped away the blood for her.
But Lin Ting couldn’t feel any pain at all.
The paternity test results lay scattered on the floor.
The final line of text struck her brain with overwhelming force:
【Based on the analysis of genetic loci, Jiang Yu is excluded as the biological father of Lin Jinyi.】