Chapter 9

“Chen Daniu and his wife are criminals — what are they doing here?” Qiao Xinyi asked back.

“You…” Perhaps the word “criminal” was too harsh; He Rou’s face turned pale. She bit her lip and was silent for two seconds, then reluctantly began to defend herself, “After all, they raised you. Isn’t it a bit too cruel to say it like that?”

Qiao Xinyi was about to sit down but stood up again as soon as she heard He Rou’s words. She fixed He Rou with a sharp gaze for a long time. Seeing this, He Rou grew uneasy and half hid behind her parents, avoiding Qiao Xinyi’s eyes.

Zhou Yun frowned displeased and said, “My daughter didn’t say anything wrong. Why do you have to look at her like you want to eat her?”

“She’s wrong — gravely wrong,” Chen Yubing stood up and tightly held her biological daughter’s hand. Her eyes were filled with tears, her voice hoarse, and she bit her teeth as she said, “My daughter was not abandoned by her parents at birth. She wasn’t kindly picked up and raised by Chen Daniu and his wife!”

“My daughter has a mother! The Qiao family can afford to raise our own children! We don’t need others to raise our child!”

“If it weren’t for Chen Daniu raising my daughter, she would have grown up healthy and strong in the Qiao family! They are the ones who stole my daughter! My daughter doesn’t need them to raise her!”

Chen Yubing shouted the last sentence with almost all her strength, and as she finished the word “raise,” tears fell from her eyes.

“That’s the truth,” Fu Qingshan was the first to speak up in agreement. “To the Qiao family, the Chen family means only crimes, not kindness.”

“The Chen family first beat a perfectly fine girl into a fool, then killed someone over a few hundred yuan — what kindness is that?” Chen Dachuan clicked his tongue.

“Chen Daniu and his wife first swapped children, then deliberately tried to murder me, plus a charge of trafficking bodies, and also spreading feudal superstitions — any one of these crimes alone would be enough for the death penalty for Chen Daniu and his wife. If this were a few hundred years ago, with multiple crimes combined, they would surely have been executed by lingchi [slow slicing], right?”

“So I say calling Chen Daniu and his wife criminals is not wrong, right?” Qiao Xinyi said as she argued with Zhou Yun and He Rou, while lightly patting Chen Yubing’s back to comfort this poor mother.

Qiao Xinyi looked at the He family couple and sneered slightly. This couple was quite interesting.

Before she arrived, the Qiao and He families had already met. Yet, even now, He Rou — Chen Daniu’s biological daughter — still stood nervously beside Chen Yubing, while the He couple anxiously guarded her.

“Enough about the Chen family and their affairs. Since you are all here today, you adults from the two families should discuss how to arrange your children,” the team captain said, trying to ease the tense atmosphere in the meeting room. “Also, your daughter from the Qiao family needs to have her household registration settled today.”

No sooner had the captain finished speaking than He Rou began to cry.

“Dad, Mom, I really want to keep being your daughter, but unfortunately, our time was too short. You are the best parents in the world. Being your daughter for nineteen years was the luck I stole. Please take your biological daughter back. You don’t need to worry about me anymore,” He Rou said, then ran off crying and covering her face.

Zhou Yun was heartbroken and, without thinking further, hurried after her.

He Shengli, the father, remained standing there. His foot stepped forward but was pulled back by the team captain.

“You all saw it. Although she’s not my biological daughter or my wife’s, she has been raised for nineteen years. You can’t just throw away feelings like that…”

The child was still young and couldn’t understand everything at once. “My wife and I really fear that Rourou might not be able to take it and something bad might happen,” He Shengli said anxiously as he saw his wife and daughter had both disappeared.

He turned to Chen Yubing and Qiao Baihe, pleading, “I want to ask you to give us some time. After we go back, we will try our best to persuade Rourou. It won’t be too long, about a week. After that, my wife and I will personally come to your company’s family housing to pick the child up. During that time, we’ll also tidy up the empty room at home and get ready to receive the child back.”

After saying this, He Shengli felt this arrangement was the most appropriate. Without waiting for Chen Yubing or Qiao Baihe to respond, he turned to Qiao Baihe and said, “Dad knows you’re a good kid, don’t be anxious. You can stay a few more days at your foster parents’ home. After all, they did raise you. Spend a bit more time with them.”

After saying this, He Shengli hurried after his wife and daughter. In doing so, he wasn’t just chasing after the daughter he had raised for nineteen years — he was chasing after his own future. After finishing her college entrance exam, He Rou had started a relationship with someone from a well-off family, which might help solve his urgent problems.

The three members of the He family left one after another, and Qiao Baihe, who was already pale, now looked even more ashen.

“Baihe, don’t be afraid. Come back with Mom. Even if they don’t want you, the Qiao family will always be your home,” Chen Yubing wiped her tears and comforted her daughter again.

There was one thing He Shengli said that Chen Yubing couldn’t refute: having raised a biological daughter for nineteen years, that kind of emotional bond isn’t something you can just cut off.

If the He family could happily take their daughter back today, no matter how unwilling she was, Chen Yubing would have to let go.

But with the He family’s attitude, how could Chen Yubing bear to let her daughter be sad?

While comforting Qiao Baihe, Chen Yubing didn’t forget about her biological daughter either.

“Don’t blame Mom. When we get home, I’ll try my best to make up for the nineteen years I owe you,” Chen Yubing said. “Baihe has a gentle temperament and is easy to get along with. As your older sister, she’ll take care of you. Try to get along with her first, and if it really doesn’t work out, tell Mom, and I’ll figure something out.”

From a human perspective, Qiao Xinyi could not fault Chen Yubing’s words. Even raising a dog for nineteen years would create a deep bond, let alone a daughter.

Compared to He Rou, who seemed to retreat but actually took a step back to advance and ran away crying, Qiao Baihe at least looked easier on Qiao Xinyi’s eyes.

Qiao Xinyi also noticed that Qiao Baihe, who hadn’t spoken a word until now, was genuinely soft-tempered.

If she were Qiao Baihe, and her biological parents dared to abandon her and run away, she’d surely do something that would make everyone miserable.

The team captain was also dumbfounded and felt the same way — the He couple probably didn’t like this biological daughter they had just been reunited with very much.

At least compared to He Rou, Qiao Baihe held a very low position in their hearts.

“I’ll bring in the officer to handle the household registration for you,” the team captain sighed inwardly, then looked at Chen Yubing, “Since only your side from the Qiao family came, as the mother, think about what name you want to give your daughter.”

“The boys at home are all named after trees, and Baihe is named after a flower, so maybe I’ll also use a flower,” Qiao Xinyi chimed in, “I want to be called Qiao Xinyi.”

Unexpectedly, she shared the same surname. Since that was the case, she was happy to be called Qiao Xinyi.

“That’s a good name. The xinyi flower is gorgeous but not gaudy, with abundant and colorful blossoms, symbolizing purity and fragrance. When it blooms, the flowers always face upwards, representing a vigorous and proud pursuit,” the team captain praised continuously. “It has a similar meaning to Baihe.”

Since Qiao Xinyi picked the name herself and the captain praised it so much, Chen Yubing naturally had no objections.