Silence filled the Feng family’s dining room that night. Because Old Master Feng was in a bad mood, no one spoke, and even the usually lively Feng Bai read the atmosphere and silently focused on his meal.
During dinner, the eldest uncle Feng Yuan’s phone rang. He discreetly checked his father’s reaction, then stepped out to take the call. When he returned three minutes later, he had a hesitant look as he gazed at his father.
Already in a foul mood, Old Master Feng grew even more irritated seeing him like this. “If you have something to say, then say it! Don’t hold it in!”
Being scolded by his old father in front of his nephews and niece didn’t embarrass Feng Yuan. After a brief hesitation, he said, “Little sis, she… bought a trending topic spot to expose everything Jiang Huai has done.”
Old Master Feng was taken aback. “What?”
Feng Yuan handed over his phone, showing the Weibo post Feng Yun had made. However, the post hadn’t gained traction, and only a few of her friends had commented so far. Although she had paid for a trending spot, it hadn’t made much of an impact, likely because the media outlets were unsure of the Feng family’s stance and didn’t want to offend them.
After quickly scanning the post, Old Master Feng’s chest rose and fell with fury. He paused for a long moment before tossing the phone onto the table. “That fool is no longer part of the Feng family. She can do whatever she wants—what does it have to do with us?”
Feng Yuan understood from this response that his father had no intention of stopping his sister, even if it meant exposing the family’s scandal. Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, Feng Yuan took his phone and left to handle the situation.
Old Master Feng continued eating in silence. Following dinner, he called Jiang Li into his study, and after a lengthy, heavy silence, he eventually spoke: “Xiao Jiang Li, she’s neither a good mother nor a good daughter, but… but your grandpa can’t completely abandon her. Will you be angry?”
Although this foolish daughter had deeply hurt him, even so, he couldn’t bring himself to completely cut her out of his life. He couldn’t just sit back and do nothing seeing Feng Yun’s current predicament, but he also feared his granddaughter would resent him for it. After all, that fool had once tried to coerce her biological daughter into donating a kidney to her adoptive one. Xiao Jiang Li had every right to never forgive her mother.
His only concern now was that his granddaughter would distance herself from him because he intended to help her foolish mother.
Jiang Li understood what her grandfather was worried about and smiled, “I won’t be angry, I…”
“As long as you don’t force Xiao Lizi to forgive someone unworthy of forgiveness, she won’t be angry.” Feng Qi’s voice suddenly cut in, interrupting what Jiang Li was about to say.
Old Master Feng frowned at Feng Qi. “Who said I’d force her to forgive that fool?”
Feng Qi met his father’s gaze calmly. “You’re not forcing her now, but what if Feng Yun comes begging you later?”
“After what she’s done, she has the nerve to beg my help? Even if she does, I would never force Xiao Jiang Li. You don’t need to worry about that.” The old man’s tone was firm.
“It’s easy to refuse her if she’s just asking for help. But what if she becomes depressed or has a mental breakdown? Would you still not pressure Xiao Lizi then?” Feng Qi pressed.
Jiang Li wanted to speak, but Feng Qi seemed to anticipate her intent and quickly silenced her with a look.
Seeing his father remain silent, Feng Qi continued, “I just want you to remember that no matter what happens to Feng Yun, she brought it on herself. You can choose to forgive your daughter who hurt you, but you have no right to convince Xiao Lizi to forgive a mother who tried to force her to give up her kidney.”
Old Master Feng sighed, “I don’t need you to tell me these things. I would never force Xiao Jiang Li to forgive that fool.” His earlier silence had only been due to the complex emotions he felt at the thought of Feng Yun possibly suffering from a mental breakdown.
Feng Qi believed that his father’s current resolve not to force Xiao Lizi was only because Feng Yun’s mental state hadn’t deteriorated yet, so he pressed further, “When Xiao Lizi first returned home, the Jiang family didn’t intend to acknowledge her at all. If the earlier incident with that fake suicide at school hadn’t gone viral, Feng Song and Feng Bai wouldn’t have discovered her, and we wouldn’t have known about her existence.”
“If we hadn’t brought her back, when Jiang Ruo got sick, the entire Jiang family would have pressured her to donate her kidney. Xiao Lizi would have barely come of age, and she was entirely on her own. Could she have resisted their coercion?”
Jiang Li gasped; hearing Feng Qi question Old Master Feng word by word, her eyes gradually filled with tears. The scenarios her uncle described hadn’t happened to her but were exactly what the original ‘Jiang Li’ had experienced in the book. And ‘Jiang Li’ had suffered even more—after being hit by a car, she had slowly awaited death, a process that must have been unbearably painful!
If only… if only the Feng Qi in the book had also discovered ‘Jiang Li’ and known about her situation, she wouldn’t have met such a tragic end.
It was at that moment Jiang Li suddenly realized why Feng Qi didn’t immediately retaliate against Jiang Zhou upon discovering his plot to take her kidney. Instead, he patiently waited for the entire Jiang family to make a move.
During that time, all she felt was that the waiting time was tedious, and never realized that her uncle had been carefully planning for her own good, patiently waiting for Ms. Feng’s decision!
In the end, Ms. Feng chose to ask her to donate a kidney to Jiang Ruo for Jiang Zhou’s sake—a choice her grandfather had witnessed firsthand. Under such circumstances, her grandfather no longer had any grounds to persuade her to forgive Ms. Feng.
Feng Qi’s pointed questioning made Old Master Feng’s expression turn grim. The vivid scenario his son described provoked an uncontrollable anger within him, and in the end, he could only say one thing: “I will never force Xiao Jiang Li, not ever.”
Jiang Li wanted to comfort her grandfather, but Feng Qi quickly pulled her away. Once they were outside, Feng Qi softly said, “Your grandfather is in a bad mood right now. No matter what we say, it won’t help. Let him sort things out on his own!”
Jiang Li nodded, looking up at her uncle’s gentle smile, and suddenly, her emotions overwhelmed her. She couldn’t help but bury her face in his chest, her voice muffled as she asked, “That whole situation—it wasn’t just a coincidence, was it?” Her uncle must have known for a long time that Jiang Ruo was Jiang Huai’s biological daughter, but he hadn’t said anything for her sake.
The moment she hugged Feng Qi, Jiang Li’s tears began to fall. She couldn’t tell if she was crying out of gratitude or mourning ‘Jiang Li’s’ fate.
Feng Qi was slightly taken aback by the sudden hug, as he had little experience comforting children. After a while, he finally reached out and gently patted his niece’s head. “You’re right; it wasn’t a coincidence. I just believe that those who have hurt you don’t deserve forgiveness.”
No one can force Xiao Lizi to forgive Feng Yun, not even his own father.
With her suspicions confirmed, Jiang Li’s tears flowed even more freely. After a while, she pulled away from Feng Qi’s embrace and awkwardly said, “I wasn’t crying just now, it’s just… just…”
She couldn’t find the words, and Feng Qi didn’t press her. He pulled out a tissue from his pocket and gently wiped away her tears, smiling as he said, “Of course you weren’t crying. You were just drawing a map on your uncle’s shirt.”
Jiang Li finally noticed the wet spot on Feng Qi’s shirt and suddenly wished she could disappear into a hole.
Oh, well, she shouldn’t be embarrassed! If she didn’t feel embarrassed, it was Third Uncle who would be!
Feng Qi reached out and ruffled her hair, “Go back to your room. You’ve got a banquet to attend tomorrow, so get some rest. You don’t want to show up with dark circles under your eyes and have people think our Feng family is secretly raising a panda, right?”
Jiang Li: “…”
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Ah, such a good uncle. Every child deserves people like this in their corner. Someone who will fight for them and speak out when other adults disregard their boundaries.
Because for some weird reason, some adults treat children like objects and ignore their boundaries. Like children aren’t allowed to have that or enforce it when parents/guardians/etc. go too far or are jerks.