Susu pursed her lips and said with a laugh, "Do we have feelings for each other? Then where does the resentment and hatred come from? You are a philanderer, yet you don't take responsibility for your own children. Who do you think you are, the Creator? Those children who became your offspring are truly pitiful and innocent. People like you don't deserve children or a family!"
Shu Zhongze was not angry, seeming to have seen through everything. "So I will marry Jia Nanfang, trust her, and treat her child, born of another, as my own. I accept this retribution. However, my youthful follies were my own fault, but this absolutely cannot implicate the family or the Shu Group..."
"How can you say Shu Yan isn't your biological daughter? That's impossible! You're so shrewd, how could Jia Nanfang have fooled you?"
Shu Zhongze laboriously took out a DNA identification report from the cabinet next to the hospital bed and handed it to Susu. "Take a look. I discovered this not long ago."
Susu took it and stared at the contents. It was a blood relationship identification report between Shu Zhongze and Xiaoxiao, concluding that the similarity in blood relation was less than thirty percent.
"If you aren't Xiaoxiao's parents, the similarity wouldn't be less than ninety percent..."
"But less than thirty percent definitely means he isn't her maternal grandfather," Shu Zhongze stated with certainty.
Susu looked at him and asked curiously, "Didn't you explicitly refuse to acknowledge Xiaoxiao back then? Why did you do a DNA test with her?"
"When you came to find me, I truly didn't want to acknowledge this inexplicable granddaughter. Rationally speaking, no one knows who her biological father is so far. If that man is terrible, I would be bringing trouble to the Shu family." Shu Zhongze chuckled self-mockingly. "But after you left and I calmed down, I thought that if this child were truly Shu Yan's flesh and blood, she would be a continuation of the Shu family's lineage. It would be better to secretly adopt her. I had Jia Nanfang handle this matter, but I was still worried and went myself. The result was truly unexpected."
"Jia Nanfang took the child away, but not back to the Shu family. Do you know about that too?" Susu asked.
Shu Zhongze snorted coldly. "This woman is too calculating. She never had good intentions towards me. Her DNA identification with this child shows she is the maternal grandmother. And when Shu Yan identified the body, she insisted on comparing her DNA, likely to prevent me from discovering anything."
At this moment, Susu felt Shu Zhongze was very pathetic. She said softly, "I've met the man who is with Jia Nanfang. He's a gentleman, respectable, and likely also a wealthy man. If a woman truly loves a man, she cannot tolerate him not loving her and cheating. Perhaps you should reflect on yourself; you hurt her too deeply..."
Shu Zhongze shook his head. "You are too naive. It's not as simple as you think. This has nothing to do with marital affection, nor who loves whom. From the moment she approached me and my mother, and came to our Shu family, it was a conspiracy! A grand conspiracy planned by her and that man!"
As he spoke, he suddenly clutched his chest, his breathing becoming difficult.
Susu immediately reached for the call button for the doctor, but Shu Zhongze stopped her. "No need. Let me have some water, I'm fine."
Susu handed him the water cup from the bedside cabinet. After he took a sip, his breathing smoothed out a bit. She then asked, "A conspiracy? What conspiracy?"
Shu Zhongze put down the water cup, his hand trembling slightly as he reached for something in the cabinet again. Susu said, "Whatever you want to get, I'll help you. Lean back, don't get agitated again."
Shu Zhongze heard her tone soften and felt a sense of relief. "There are a few photos in the top drawer. See if it's a man you've seen before."
Susu followed his instructions and found a few photos in the drawer, as well as a thick book with an exquisite cover, clearly something from years ago. People nowadays generally wouldn't use such ornate and elaborate notebooks to write things.
However, she didn't touch the notebook, only looked at the photos. The photos were taken from a distance, but she could still clearly see the two people in them. They walked into a hotel together and became very intimate once inside.
Susu could say with certainty, "Yes, this is the man who has an unusual relationship with Jia Nanfang. He's a few years older than you, with completely white hair."
"It's him, it's him." Shu Zhongze's eyes lost focus, staring blankly elsewhere. "Lü Xinjing, Brother Jiujiu, he's not dead... he's still alive... he's here to get revenge on the Shu family, he wants the entire Shu family to be buried with his father..."
Susu asked again, shocked, "You know this person? But his name isn't Lü Xinjing, it's Lü Yuanhong. He's an overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia and owns several restaurants in Lancheng..."
"No matter how he disguised himself or changed his name, I wouldn't mistake him, nor forget him." As he spoke, Shu Zhongze clenched his fists tightly. "Jia Nanfang is his person, sent by him!"
Susu stood up and tried to pry open his fist, which still had an IV needle in it. "Mr. Shu, calm down, you're still on an IV drip."
Shu Zhongze released his fist and gently placed his palm over hers. "Susu, I wasn't mistaken. You are the kindest among all my children."
Susu immediately withdrew her hand and avoided his affectionate gaze. "What grudge do you have with this person? How deep is your enmity?"
"He doesn't just have a grudge with me; he has a grudge with the entire Shu family. Actually, he is my maternal half-brother..."
Susu looked at the photo in surprise, then at Shu Zhongze's face. No wonder she had felt a slight resemblance earlier. "You are brothers?"
Shu Zhongze tried to calm himself down. "Yes. Before my mother married my father, she escaped from the Lü family. She was a young lady from a good family and had received a lot of modern education. But in that era, she couldn't escape an arranged marriage. My mother's family had a betrothal with the Lü family. At eighteen, according to her family's wishes, she married the young master of the Lü family, who was Lü Xinjing's father. However, they had an unhappy marriage for three years. My mother couldn't bear that feudal family life. She left Lü Xinjing, who was only one year old, and fled the Lü family, living incognito as a teacher in a school."
Susu listened intently, surprised by Shu Zhongze's mother's legendary experience. She must have been a knowledgeable and sensible woman. How could she have raised such a philandering son like Shu Zhongze?
Seeing Susu remain silent, Shu Zhongze sighed. "Talking about these old family matters, you must find it boring, right?"
"No, she was a woman who dared to break through traditions. She was remarkable." Susu genuinely regretted not having met Wen Shuman when she was alive.
"Break through traditions? It wasn't that easy to break through traditions in that era. It's just that later generations find it legendary." Shu Zhongze seemed tired. "I won't say more about this with you. There's also a diary in the drawer, left by my mother. If you want to understand her, and your grandmother's story, take it back and read it slowly."