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CHAPTER 253
"You know the twins. Hu Shen has important business to take care of in Europe while Hu Shan, sigh, his surgeon life wouldn't allow him enough time to travel so much. They both send their apologies and promise to come and visit once they have time."
No one spoke to counter her words. Everyone knew of the behavior and work of her twin boys. They were always very busy especially her surgeon son. His own life was another thing. They rarely saw them.
Sometimes it could take up to two years before they saw the twins for a family gathering like this.
"Okay. I presume your grandkids are doing well too," Lin Jie replied to make the atmosphere okay.
"Yes, the adorable little angels are such wonders. They are growing real nice and are all in their late teens."
It was a full house as Li Jing got the opportunity to meet and greet them all.
"Ahem!" Lin Zian started. "That is great," he said breaking the chain of conversation and cleared his throat. As we all know, this meeting was called…"
"Hehe hee," Lin Jie giggled, causing Lin Zian to arch a brow at his annoying younger brother. Noticing this he cleared his throat and explained himself. "Older brother has gotten so used to meetings that he is addressing a family get-together like one."
Everyone got the gist and ended up laughing themselves. After about a minute, all the laughter died down and everyone became more serious.
"Nice that you all found that funny. Now, back on track," Lin Zian started to say as he directed his gaze to the other end of the long dining table where Li Jing sat. This gathering was called to introduce to the Lin family officially my granddaughter."
No one spoke, everyone listened attentively.
"As we all know, Quinyang had remained missing for a very long while now and no one knows anything about her whereabouts. It was as though whatever I did to find her, led to a dead end every now and then and I was left with no heir. I recently just met my grandchild, Li Jing."
Lin Zian paused, giving room for whoever wanted to speak but none said anything and all their faces had a look of curiosity on them except one, Lin Jie.
His face held a bit of anger, confusion, and sadness. And although Li Jing could not really understand why she was sure he had his reasons. Rather than speaking, she chose to observe.
"Thanks to mother's heirloom that was passed down to every first child of the firstborn of the Li family, I found her. And with this, I am here today as a proud grandfather, happy and hopeful that I would find my daughter soon."
A round of applause followed but it did not come from everyone. It was true they had their questions. They had their doubts.
This was what he told people but they also wanted to be sure or hear clearly about how he found her especially without finding her mother and how true was his claim to her being his heir.
"I know a lot of you have your questions and I would now open the floor to hear them."
"Thank you brother for all you have said. A great speech in fact," Hu Qi started to say before directing her gaze to Li Jing and continued. "How sure are you of your claim that she is indeed your grandchild? I guess I speak the mind of all of us here when I say this right?"
Everyone nodded at her words, signifying that they agreed with her.
For Li Jing it was nothing. She had long already anticipated that she may not necessarily be welcomed in the family.
She even knew that most of them thought of her as a gold digger that wanted to steal her grandfather's wealth.
Honestly speaking she would not be surprised if they thought she fabricated the results herself.
"Thank you, Lin Qi for your input. And thank you, everyone. I know that it may be hard to believe but I would say this, during Huilang's birthday, I wasn't having the opportunity to attend but during one of my business meetings in their city, I happened to see the news of Ye Cheng and Li Jing's picture during Huilang's birthday."
"Okay, I think that news literally rocked the country. It was on some social media and mind you her reputation hasn't been particularly good, especially with Ye Cheng." It was Lin Xuilan who spoke next.
Immediately she said this, Hu Qi nodded at her, agreeing to her words.
"She is being called a homewrecker by his supposed girlfriend and had been attacked by fans several times. So with such a reputation, how do you expect us to believe she is not warming her way to you just for your wealth? Who knows the rumors may be true."
That was a clear insult to her face and that had angered Lin Zian greatly.
"Xuilang! Know your place!" Lin Zian slammed his hand on the table, shaking the drinks and plates of food as he hollered at her.
"She is knowing her place and that is why she is asking those questions as a concerned sister-0in-law," Hu Qi half yelled at her brother back.
"How is she calling my granddaughter a golddigger knowing her place?"
"Because we all have seen situations like this and in the long run we find out that everything had been a lie right from the onset," Hu Qi added again.
"I support brother, sister-in-law. I haven't had much time to spend with Li Jing but even I can vouch for that, that she is not a gold digger. I am a good judge of character so I can tell," Lin Huilang quickly chipped in as the air was hurt.
She had hoped that it would calm them down knowing that someone could vouch for Li Jing but even at that, she wasn't too sure as the person she was facing here was none other than Hu Qi.
"And so am I, Huilang but you said so yourself, you have barely known her. Besides, Quinyang had been missing for a very long time now and that family heirloom could have been stolen and pawned off many a time before it got to her."
"You are only saying this because mother never gave you the heirloom," Lin Jie fired back.
To say he was surprised by their words was not even close. Others may have been shocked as everyone knew that Hu Qi was very calm and collected and always tried not to pick sides or cause a commotion but now, her attitude and words clearly depicted something or someone that wasn't her.
At one point Lin Jie would have thought that it was an alien that was his sister if not that he knew her better than anyone.
They had been the closest siblings and he knew all of her likes, dislikes, and even her secret pains. Yes, she hid them well but he was much too observant to know the truth even with her secrecy.
It was also why he bantered his older brother, Lin Zian every now and then after the disappearance of his daughter.
In truth, Lin Jie had warned his older brother that he would end up losing his daughter if he kept on pressuring her to marry someone she did not accept but he failed to listen.
In the end, she disappeared, she ran away, never to be seen or heard from again. Lin Zian had gotten mad at him then, saying he did not mean him well by predicting his sorrow but of a truth, he was just too observant to notice what people didn't, such as Hu Qi's jealousy.
"What!" Hu Qi's eyes narrowed at her brother. She could see the look of clear disgust and anger on his face. She had least expected for him to say that, considering he was not always in agreement with their older brother.
"I did not stutter, Lin Qi. You are only saying all this and acting this way because you have always been jealous and angry that mother gave the necklace to Lin Zian's wife and not you."
Ouchie!
That was a huge slap to her face and her person and everyone at the dining table was shocked by the new discovery and opened secret.
"How dare you utter such lies, Lin Jie?" Immediately her once smooth and lovely face suddenly turned sour and was quickly replaced by an angry look as she stared her little brother down.
No longer was her face smooth and now if one was told her real age, they would easily believe as her forehead became wrinkled due to her frown and all the hidden facts of her aging that she had spent a fortune trying to conceal was let loose for all to see.
"Lies, Lin Qi? Lies you say? Shall I recount how many times you cried secretly in your room when mother refused you the necklace? Should I?"
GBAGHAN!!
