243— The Night Of New Year's Eve (2)

Back to the present, Qiao Mingran didn't have any good face to show her brother when she saw him coming down from the stairs.

"Mingran, what's the matter?" Qiao Xiuming asked after seeing her cold expression.

Qiao Mingran originally intended to bring up the matter after dinner, but seeing him look at her innocently like everything was fine made her resolve go up in smoke.

"Brother, how could you?"

The side talks and greetings paused, while Qiao Xiuming looked bewildered. Gao Tingxiu consciously removed herself from the crossfire range and headed outside to practice her lines for an upcoming drama.

Much as she was looking forward to the confrontation, she somehow felt that watching her mother lose her composure the second time around would be painful.

"What are you talking about Mingran?" Qiao Xiuming asked with surprise. It was after he glanced at Gao Zhipeng and saw the latter winking at him that he understood that today's matters were not simple.

"Don't pretend with me! So you knew where my daughter was all these years, but you watched me live in pain and anguish all these years. Qiao Xiuming, you are callous!"

At this teary outburst, Huang Jingxing gently helped his wife up and took her to their room to rest. Qiao Yunzhu looked back after every two steps, but she still allowed her husband lead her away. This matter was left to those involved to settle.

But she almost couldn't believe it. How could her father do such a thing?

As they went, Qiao Yunzhu asked, "Jingxing, do you think my father can do such a thing? I can't imagine anyone separating me from any of my children, even the unborn one. Is this something a father would do?"

Huang Jingxing didn't want to comment on his father-in-law's affairs, but he knew his wife would keep thinking about it, so he just said, "Nothing has been confirmed yet. You just need to rest and let the elders settle it."

In his own opinion though, his father-in-law was more than capable of it. Qiao Xiuming was an easygoing man most of the time, but that was only when his interests were not on the line. Once he decided that something could affect him in anyway, he would not hesitate to deal with it.

The only question was, how did his younger sister's child come into this?

Downstairs, the battle was still raging.

"Mingran, that's not what happened. But trust me when I say that everything was for your own good."

Qiao Mingran's eyes were bloodshot as she laughed harshly, "Really? You stand there to tell me it was for my own good? It was for my own good that I lost my daughter right after her birth? It was also for my good that you knew where she was and hid it from me? Was it really for my good, or was it to serve your selfish interests?"

"Qiao Mingran, where are your manners?!" He called sternly, but Qiao Mingran was unfazed.

"Don't Mingran me! So you can do it but you want to prevent others from saying it? You and Gao Zhipeng are awful people, the both of you! Manners? What are those? Can they be eaten?"

Qiao Xiuming tried to get a word in, But his sister was still going on powerfully, tears streaming down her face.

"If manners could have kept my daughter with me, it would have been a different story. I have practiced my manners for more than fifty years, but look where that led me! I lost my daughter, my husband has no respect for me and my children are not close to me!"

"Qiao Mingran! You know the huge responsibilities of an aristocratic family. You were trained to follow proper etiquette. Why are you behaving like a shrew? You need to see the big picture and be obedient!"

Qiao Xiuming was heated up as well, and his voice reflected it. He blamed his brother-in-law for not handling the issue well and causing the current situation.

Qiao Mingran looked at his self-righteous expression with a mixture of disbelief and rage.

"Obey your parents, obey your brother, obey your husband, obey your son, obey, obey, obey! What if my parents were wrong? What if my husband betrayed me? What if my brother backstabbed me? What have I gained with all my dutiful obedience?!"

Qiao Mingran up until this moment was screaming words in agitation, but suddenly calmed down as she said, "Your brand of etiquette and manners are useless to me in this case, and henceforth, I'm done following them."

Qiao Xiuming narrowed his eyes at the note of finality in his sister's voice, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What it means is this: I came here today to inform you that I've found my daughter, and I'm bringing her back to the family."

"What? How did you find her? That aside, no! You are no allowed to acknowledge her in any way." Qiao Xiuming said with more than a trace of panic.

In the heated atmosphere, only Gao Tinghua noticed that spontaneous reaction, and it made his brows furrow a bit. Was the mysterious organization that powerful?

Qiao Mingran looked at him with an expression that said she was done taking him seriously, "I don't care what you or anyone else has to say about it. But know this, if anything, anything at all happens to my daughter, the entire Capital will be too small to contain both of us!"

Finished speaking, Qiao Mingran stormed out of the house.

Jiu Linfang, who was shocked still at the exchange that had just occurred. No wonder, no wonder her husband was so secretive. No wonder there were many things he wouldn't explain.

For instance, why they had to wait for many years to have a child. For instance, why he stubbornly decided not to help when she pleaded with him to use his connections to locate the missing child. Her thoughts chilled her.

She regained her mobility at the moment the door slammed and hurriedly chased after her young sister-in-law, leaving the men in the sitting room.

She caught up with her just by the car and gave her a tight hug. Qiao Mingran let out heart wrenching sobs as she cried in her arms, and Jiu Linfang shed a few years of her own as she patted her back.

No words were said, but after a while Qiao Mingran calmed down. Hearing the approaching footsteps, she said, "Let's talk later, Sister-in-law," before she opened the car door and sat down.

Gao Tinghua and Gao Tingxiu entered into the car as well and they drove off, ignoring Gao Zhipeng that was trying to talk to them.

Jiu Linfang watched coldly as her husband scolded Gao Zhipeng for not controlling the news strictly and allowing his wife to make such a fuss.

She sneered.

She only spared them a glance before walking in. Tonight was just the beginning.

It was quite likely that their family—and perhaps the entire Capital—would soon cease to be peaceful.