Wang Bingjie was also bewildered today. First her father had hastily told her in the morning about her engagement to Zheng Xiao, and now he said he wouldn't interfere with them anymore. Although Wang Bingjie had never liked Zheng Xiao, she still felt awkward about the rejection, so she pulled Chen Xiaoyan and they quickly fled the scene of the drama.
Seeing this, Zheng Ze also wanted to leave, but Zheng Xiao stopped him. "Don't rush off yet. Regarding the tampering with the brakes to harm me, shouldn't we let the police handle it!" With that, he and Xie Yinuo dragged him to the police station.
By the time Zheng Dajun reacted and rushed to the police station to bail him out, Zheng Ze's criminal acts had already been established. Since there were no severe consequences, it was considered attempted assault. Coupled with Zheng Dajun's efforts, Zheng Ze was ultimately sentenced to only three months. However, this exposed Zheng Ze's previously kind and sunny facade, utterly ruining his reputation.
"I'm still very curious, Brother Xiao, how did you discover something was wrong?" After everything was over, Xie Yinuo finally voiced his long-held doubt.
And so, after all was said and done, everyone gathered at the Mao family villa to review the entire incident.
It turned out that a few days prior, Zheng Ze had overheard his father, Zheng Dajun, talking on the phone with Wang Haoyang. He had already learned then that they intended to arrange an engagement between Wang Bingjie and Zheng Xiao. Zheng Ze naturally couldn't let this marriage happen, as it would put him at an even greater disadvantage against Zheng Xiao. Thus, a sinister plan quickly took shape in his mind.
On the day of the banquet, while serving breakfast, he took the opportunity to add a laxative to Wu Yueli's cup of milk and secretly took her phone.
At nine o'clock that morning, Wu Yueli, as usual, drank a cup of milk with her breakfast. Little did she know that she would begin to suffer from continuous diarrhea. Due to her discomfort, she ended up not leaving her room.
However, Zheng Xiao, who had left early that day to find Xie Yinuo, did not want to be with them and was naturally unaware of all this.
In the banquet hall, Xie Qiao was indeed manipulated. She had originally planned to attend with Wu Yueli, which was why she rushed to find Zheng Xiao after receiving Wu Yueli's message.
While everyone was in a panic, Zheng Ze arranged for Mao Wenjing to promptly hand over his car keys. His plan was for Zheng Xiao to snatch the keys and drive away, then in his haste, accelerate recklessly and end up in a serious accident, or even death.
Zheng Ze's plan was originally seamless. He hadn't notified anyone, hadn't handed over the keys himself, and the car was his own. If an investigation were to occur, he could simply claim to be a victim himself, perhaps someone else was trying to harm him, and who knew that Zheng Xiao would suddenly want to drive his car!
Perhaps in the original novel, "The Perfect Life of the Fake Heiress," the hidden truth was just like this, but it wasn't explicitly written due to the protagonist's halo.
However, this time they encountered Xiao Wenqiang, who unexpectedly recorded a video, revealing the truth.
Although she hadn't had time to tell Zheng Xiao the specifics that day before he was sent away, Xiao Wenqiang sent him a message and forwarded the secretly recorded video to him.
Being intelligent, Zheng Xiao quickly sensed something was amiss. Even after contacting the cleaning lady, he decided to return home with Xie Yinuo first to confirm his mother's safety.
Then they rushed back to the banquet venue, completely thwarting Zheng Ze's plan.
"Thankfully Qingyan sent me a message in time, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable." Zheng Xiao felt a lingering fear now, as he had genuinely intended to drive Zheng Ze's car that day.
Speaking of this, everyone's attention shifted to Xie Qiao, as Mao Wenjing was also an accomplice. However, Xie Qiao had desperately protected her.
"Wenjing knows she was wrong. She's been locking herself in her room for days, barely eating," Xie Qiao spoke up for Mao Wenjing, though her confidence wavered slightly.
"Is it because she's remorseful? Or is she upset because that scoundrel Zheng Ze publicly accused her!" Mao Genhong said sharply.
"Alas, our Wenjing was such a good child, she was all spoiled by Zheng Ze. She used to be very kind," Xie Qiao still believed Mao Wenjing was not inherently bad.
"Spoiled children come from doting mothers. If you hadn't indulged her so much, Wenjing wouldn't have ended up like this!"
"Can you blame me? Wenjing was already sensitive, and now with another child in the family, she overthinks things. You favor Qingyan more, and if I didn't look out for her, she'd become even more sensitive."
"I treat both children equally. Even if Yan Yan were here today, I would say the same. As for why you dote on Wenjing so much, you know yourself if you have any ulterior motives."
"What are you saying? What ulterior motives could I possibly have?" Xie Qiao's eyes began to dart away, unable to meet Mao Genhong's gaze.
Mao Genhong said this because a while ago, at a business reception, he had coincidentally met Zhang Zhengming, a former classmate from university whom he and Xie Qiao both attended.
Xie Qiao's infidelity had occurred at her high school reunion. Zhang Zhengming was also a classmate from her high school.
Although everyone had drunk a lot at the reunion, and Zhang Zhengming was a bit tipsy, he vaguely saw Xie Qiao embracing another male classmate as they left the private room. Zhang Zhengming already knew that Mao Genhong and Xie Qiao had been dating since university and had married lovingly after graduation, so he took note of this scene. However, due to a work transfer, he soon left the city and assumed he had misseen due to his intoxication.
Years later, Zhang Zhengming returned to Yunbei City to work. When he encountered Mao Genhong, he recounted the incident as if it were a joke. "Old Mao, do you think I'm ridiculous? Knowing how good your relationship with Xie Qiao is, I still misidentified her, hahaha... I guess my alcohol tolerance wasn't great back then!"
Unbeknownst to him, Zhang Zhengming's words struck a chord. Mao Genhong recalled that period and remembered that Xie Qiao had not returned all night, and her calls had gone unanswered. When she returned home the next morning, she had only said she had chatted happily with female classmates and slept over at someone's house. Since their relationship had always been good, Mao Genhong hadn't suspected anything further.
However, according to Zhang Zhengming's account, coupled with the fact that Xie Qiao knew Mao Wenjing was not her biological child but refused to tell him promptly, Mao Genhong pieced together these events and discovered a significant secret.
"Some things, I don't want to say too much in front of the children. Xiao Qiao, whether you've done anything to betray me, you should know yourself." In the end, Mao Genhong did not expose Xie Qiao in front of everyone, preserving her dignity as a mother.
However, from then on, their relationship was no longer as loving as before, and even Xiao Wenqiang and Mao Wenjing could see that they were outwardly harmonious but inwardly estranged.
Time flew by, and soon after high school ended, Xiao Wenqiang faced the college entrance examination.
Through her own efforts, Xiao Wenqiang achieved excellent results, fulfilling Mao Qingyan's dream of becoming a scholar. She even got into a university in the same city as Zheng Xiao and Xie Yinuo, becoming a university schoolmate of Zheng Xiao once again.
On the day of university registration, Zheng Xiao naturally accompanied her. Just like in high school, he helped Xiao Wenqiang with the procedures and unpacking. While they were out looking for food, under the scorching sun, Zheng Xiao finally asked the question he had held back for many years: "Qingyan, will you be my girlfriend?"
Xiao Wenqiang raised her curved eyebrows, and a soft "Mmm" echoed in the sweet air...