At this moment, Zhang Rong, expressionless, looked at Liu Yi for a while before extending his hand towards Fu Xiaotang, softly saying, “Xiaotang, come up here.”
Fu Xiaotang felt Zhang Rong’s gaze and his voice, both seemingly hypnotic. She reached out her hand, and his rough yet warm hand gently but powerfully pulled her onto the stage. Zhang Rong gazed deeply at her, as if seeing only her. He didn’t care about anyone else; he just wanted to hear her speak. “Xiaotang, tell me, are you Fang Shu’s child?”
Fu Xiaotang was stunned. She slowly, painfully, shifted her gaze first to Fang Junxi, who smiled at her with deep affection, then to the others on stage—Zhang Yinge, Song’s mother, Song Ying, the vicious Liu Yi, the despairing Liu Shiquan, and Song Li, whose eyes seemed to hold a thousand words. She looked at Song Li for a moment, then turned back to Zhang Rong and confessed, “I don’t know. I’ve heard rumors from the servants since I was little. Who knows the truth?” Without waiting for Zhang Rong’s response, she looked at the woman in the wheelchair, her brow furrowed, and asked the host, “Who exactly are you? What does this have to do with you?” The emcee seemed taken aback by Fu Xiaotang’s question, paused for a moment, and then laughed with an expression of honor, saying, “I have nothing to do with this matter; I’m merely here to settle an old score as requested.” Fu Xiaotang stared directly at him and interrogated, “By what right did you bring her here? Shouldn’t she be in the hospital given her condition? How is what you’re doing now any different from murdering her again?” The emcee was stunned once more, and after a long while, he laughed without any sense of guilt, “Anyone who doesn’t know would think you’re her daughter. Daughters from the same father can be so different!”
Liu Yi laughed somewhat neurotically, “Yes, yes, she is, they are the true mother and daughter.” Suddenly, she grabbed Fu Xiaotang’s arm tightly and pushed her towards the woman in the wheelchair, “Get out of here, this is my engagement ceremony, take your mother and get lost!”
