Chapter 74: I Didn’t Mean to Abandon Him

“What about the future of the Xu family? Isn’t it still up to us? Don’t we still have our eldest sister? What’s wrong with the future of the Xu family?” Xu Manni sneered, very displeased with Xu Mo.

“We still have Junzhe! At worst, Junzhe can inherit the family fortune. What’s the use of keeping Xu Mo around? He’s not even on the same path as us!” Xu Pandi chimed in.

“Do you even know what’s going on now, Xu Manni?” Xu Wanting immediately became angry.

“I do! Haven’t I said it already? It was his own choice to move out! It’s not like we forced him!” Xu Manni shrugged indifferently.

“Not like we forced him? Wasn’t it you, Xu Manni, who pressured him? Can you honestly say you didn’t force him?” Xu Wanting glared angrily at Xu Manni.

“I really didn’t force him! It was his own choice!” Xu Manni hurriedly defended herself.

“You didn’t force him? Xu Manni, things have come to this point, and you still dare to say such things! I’m starting to doubt if you have any conscience left! Let’s not talk about anything else—remember last year when our family went on vacation? Didn’t you hide his phone? Were you planning to abandon him?” Xu Wanting exclaimed angrily.

Xu Manni was stunned, her mouth opened in silence.

“You have nothing to say now, right? Xu Manni! You have plenty of explaining to do, and I haven’t even started holding you accountable for everything! Are you still going to say you didn’t pressure him?” Xu Wanting’s eyes were now red.

“I… I didn’t mean to abandon him. I was just making… a joke!” Xu Manni stammered nervously, her voice trailing off as she saw Xu Wanting’s anger.

“Playing a joke by hiding his phone, led to making him walk on the highway for over ten hours! Across miles and miles, you think it’s a joke to hide his phone and leave him stranded? Xu Manni, how shameless can you be!” Xu Wanting was particularly infuriated with Xu Manni.

Seeing Xu Wanting’s anger, Xu Manni dared not speak, looking flustered and somewhat aggrieved.

Xu Pandi hastily interjected, “Eldest sister, haven’t we done similar things before? When did we… start siding with Xu Mo?”

At this point, Xu Wanting felt a pang of sadness, her expression mournful. “Yes! We’ve all been like this before! So why wasn’t it us forcing him to leave? It was us who drove him away!”

Xu Pandi frowned, “I think Third Elder Sister makes sense! Our family isn’t lacking someone to inherit the family business—both eldest sister and second elder sister can, and even Junzhe can! Why does it have to be Xu Mo?”

Xu Wanting remained silent, tears streaming down her face.

Beside her, Xu Xuehui spoke up, “Fourth Sister, Xu Mo is our biological brother!”

“I know he’s our biological brother, but being biological…” Xu Pandi began, but seeing Xu Xuehui glaring fiercely at her as if she could devour her whole, she suddenly dared not continue.

“Xu Mo was abandoned outside for fourteen years. During these years, he spent his time in an orphanage! He couldn’t eat enough, couldn’t keep warm, and had to work multiple jobs just to get by! Even after he came to our Xu family four years ago, his situation hasn’t improved much, still more or less the same!” Xu Xuehui’s voice cracked with emotion, her eyes red with tears. “And you, Xu Pandi, what were you doing when you were young? You had a life of luxury, everything you wanted! Why is it not you who was abandoned, but him?” She spoke through gritted teeth.

Xu Pandi was stunned into silence.

“Don’t act like a mute just because you’re not speaking! At a time like this, you’re still making light of the situation!” Xu Xuehui sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Xu Pandi glanced around and suddenly couldn’t bring herself to speak. She couldn’t accept what was being said.

At this point, Xu Xuehui couldn’t persuade her either. There were also suspicions about them drugging Xu Mo, which would need to be investigated further.

“Regardless, Xu Mo is still our brother, our blood! So, I disagree with him changing his household registration and leaving home!” Xu Shuying finally spoke up.

“Even if he no longer sees us as family, even if he wishes we were dead, we started all of this!”

“Third Sister, Fourth Sister, I know there are countless things you’ve done that you can’t even count. Maybe you should think about what you’ve done to Xu Mo that he might feel sorry for! I think in these four years, you haven’t been idle!”

Xu Manni and Xu Pandi frowned upon hearing this.

…

Unable to resolve the issues within the Xu family, Xu Mo chose to temporarily set them aside.

Dr. Tang, the director of Fu Yi Hospital, visited twice, inviting them for meals and asking about Xu Mo’s situation.

Upon hearing that Xu Mo couldn’t currently transfer his household registration, they felt a bit disappointed.

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter much as Dr. Tang now had a new focus—Tang Lei, Gu Huanxi, and Li Banzhuang.

They decided to adopt the three as their own sons and daughters!

“The Tang family wields considerable influence in Xiahai City, and Director Tang was once their golden child, holding significant sway! Mr. Zhao is the director at the Research Institute, equally esteemed! I think it’s feasible!”

Tang Lei, Gu Huanxi, and Li Banzhuang asked for Xu Mo’s opinion, but he naturally refrained from interfering.

Director Tang seemed genuinely decent, not only well-connected in Xiahai City but also belonging to a prominent family in Beijing. After adopting them as godchildren, they could likely benefit from the Tang family’s support.

Xu Mo understood well that Tang Lei, Gu Huanxi, and the others were very eager for this opportunity.

When they were young at the orphanage, they often played games pretending to be each other’s parents and family members. Sometimes, in the midst of playing, they would end up crying, tears streaming down their faces.

This time, formalizing their relationship as godchildren brought no such emotions.

Upon hearing Xu Mo’s words, Tang Lei and the others hesitated for a moment but then agreed to Director Tang’s request to recognize them as godparents.

Upon hearing this, Director Tang and Mr. Zhao couldn’t help but be overjoyed. They immediately hosted a celebratory banquet, which was very lively.

“All of you are great kids! You all have bright futures ahead! You’ve all been accepted to Tsinhua  and Peking University, every single one of you is outstanding!”

“With you joining our Tang family, we will shine brightly. Old Zhao and I will no longer feel lonely!” Director Tang exclaimed excitedly.

Xu Mo smiled and replied, “I’ll bring them back to see you in the future! Although we’ll be studying at Tsinghua and Peking, our work will still be in Xiahai City!”

“Great, great, great! Coming back is good! You all will dine here these days! I’ve already prepared good wine and dishes!” Director Tang was thrilled.

“Alright!” Xu Mo chuckled.

Soon, they conducted a ceremony and recognized them as godparents. Director Tang invited Tang Lei and Gu Huanxi to move in with them, but considering they would soon be heading off to university, they politely declined for the time being.

“We’re heading to Tsinghua and Peking in a few days! We probably won’t stay here long enough to bother moving!” Tang Lei remarked.

Director Tang looked disappointed. “Old Zhao and I will accompany you to Tsinghua and Peking!”

“Is that… alright?” Tang Lei asked, surprised.

“Of course! What parent wouldn’t send their child off to school? Besides, Tsinghua  and Peking are a prestigious university. Old Zhao himself is an alumni of Tsinghua!” Director Tang smiled.

Upon hearing this, the four of them smiled and didn’t refuse their offer.

…

Back to school season!

It’s quite lively, and there’s a lot to prepare!

Half a month ago, Xu Mo had already dispatched several managers to Beijing to set up the company’s branches. This time, they were going there to distribute bicycles.

Currently, most of the preparations were complete. Overnight, Xu Mo could deploy 100,000 bicycles in Beijing.

Additionally, some of the company’s staff needed to be sent to Beijing in advance to develop the market there.

“Our user base has already reached the milestone of 300,000, and the growth rate is still very fast! If we succeed in Beijing, next month, we estimate we could have 500,000 users!”

“With this data, our growth can accelerate even further!”

“Do we need to start the second round of financing? Our reputation is already quite substantial!” Tang Lei asked.

“Yes, let’s proceed with the second round,” Xu Mo replied.

“Alright!”

To initiate the second round of financing, they needed to first attend classes and settle in. It wasn’t something they could arrange immediately.

The group began booking flights to Tsinghua  and Peking University.

…

On the other hand, at the Xu family’s residence.

After being deppressed for a long time, the Xu family was also quite lively that day.

Because on this day, Xu Junzhe also needed to report to Tsinghua University.

Xu Junzhe had already prepared many things and was ready to fly to Beijing.

Many people would accompany him on this trip to school.

“Eldest, have you found out which school Xu Mo has enrolled in?” Seeing Xu Junzhe busy, Xu Deming seemed to recall something and asked Xu Wanting.

“Not yet!” Xu Wanting replied.

“What about Second, Third, and Fourth? Don’t any of you know?” Xu Deming looked at the other daughters.

“We don’t know!”

The daughters all shook their heads.

“…,” Xu Deming suddenly seemed to age several decades, feeling somewhat powerless. “Alright, I understand.”

In these past few days, Xu Deming indeed seemed to age rapidly.

Not to mention him, even Xie Bingyan showed signs of aging.

Their hair had turned somewhat gray, and they appeared weary and lacking in vitality.