Volume One, Chapter 10: Switching the Parentage Test Report

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Perhaps it was the drowsiness dulling her mind, but it took Lu Xiaoman a moment to fully grasp the meaning of the message. Her sleepiness vanished completely. Her son—what did that have to do with her? Shang Linyuan kept vaguely mentioning the word “son,” which set her on edge. That man was so shrewd; could he have really uncovered some clue? But hadn’t he already acknowledged that the woman from that night was Chu Yan? How could he possibly suspect her? She had to quickly find a way to dispel Shang Linyuan’s doubts.

Lu Xiaoman stared at her phone for a long time but couldn’t come up with a good plan. Just then, a noise came from Lu Mingxi’s room. A sudden thud, then silence. Lu Xiaoman looked suspiciously toward the door. Had little Xi fallen off the bed while sleeping? That shouldn’t be possible; since he learned to walk at one, he hadn’t fallen, not even while sleeping.

Worrying something had happened to her son, Lu Xiaoman abandoned the phone and hurried to the next room.

In the adjacent children’s room, Lu Mingxi was indeed on the floor. Ignoring the pain in his bottom, he turned over and dialed Shang Linyuan’s number. He had to find out once and for all whether that man was really his daddy, whether he and Mommy had ever shared kisses and hugs—the TV said that’s how babies are made.

“How could Uncle not be my daddy? How could I have the wrong daddy? I clearly pulled Daddy’s hair. The paternity test must be wrong. It has to be.” As the call connected, Lu Mingxi’s head buzzed; he was certain he hadn’t mistaken his daddy.

At the door, Lu Xiaoman paused, quietly pushed it open, and saw her son’s distressed expression. If she hadn’t first heard his murmurs, she might have rushed in outright. Good heavens, he actually dared to pull Shang Linyuan’s hair for a paternity test! Such boldness! She felt both exasperated and amused. He was only five years old—who did he take after?

Lu Xiaoman gently knocked and then entered. Lu Mingxi was so startled he scrambled up, his face full of accusation: “Mommy, you always do this—entering my room without my permission!”

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“I knocked. You must have been too caught up with your daddy to hear me—that’s not my fault.” Mentioning “daddy” made Lu Mingxi a little guilty but also secretly hopeful. Had Mommy not heard what he just said? He had whispered it very quietly. But Lu Xiaoman’s words shattered his hope.

“Paternity tests can only be done by official, professional institutions. Once the results are out, there’s no way they’re fake.” Lu Mingxi grew anxious. “But Uncle is really my daddy, Mommy, please believe me.” His words became incoherent.

Lu Xiaoman rubbed her forehead. As for whether Shang Linyuan was her son’s biological father, she held the ultimate say. But since she had hidden the truth all these years, she couldn’t possibly tell him now.

“Everything must rely on evidence. If you don’t trust Mommy’s words, do you also not believe in science?” Lu Xiaoman softened her tone but remained firm. “Besides, it was wrong to secretly pull someone’s hair for a test. Next time you meet him, you must apologize.”

“But I…” Lu Mingxi’s voice grew smaller. He truly missed his daddy, terribly so...

Lu Xiaoman put on a stern face. Not wanting to pick a fight with a tiger, Lu Mingxi had no choice but to relent for the moment.

“Tomorrow, Mommy will take you to apologize to him and ask him not to deliver food to us anymore.”

“Why? Isn’t he your uncle? I want to call him great-uncle. He’s family.” Lu Mingxi refused to give up. If he couldn’t have him as daddy, then great-uncle was fine. He just liked Uncle so much. Besides, he didn’t want to drink millet porridge every day.

“I call him uncle, but we have no blood relation. He only took care of Mommy for a while at Grandpa’s request. Apart from that, we have no connection.” Lu Xiaoman tried to completely extinguish her son’s desire to find his father, speaking resolutely: “Mommy isn’t lying. Your daddy really died. Please don’t look for him anymore.”

Lu Mingxi lowered his head sadly, unwilling to speak further.

The smartwatch on his wrist was actually already connected, but neither mother nor son noticed. On the other end of the call, Shang Linyuan, forced to die once again in spirit, thought: Such a heartless little brat. Just like that, trying to sever ties with him? He was determined not to let things go her way.

Jindi Coastal Community.

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“You’re my brother, and after all my effort, you give me so little? That’s not even enough to feed my men.” Chu Yutang looked at the transferred amount on his phone, disgusted.

“Twenty thousand is not enough? How much do you want?” Chu Yan asked, biting back her anger. All he ever did was ask her for money.

“At least this much.” Chu Yutang held up six fingers.

“What? You want a hundred thousand?” Chu Yan laughed bitterly. “Sell me off and see if I’m worth that much.” Her monthly salary was just over ten thousand; after expenses and supporting her mother, she had only five or six thousand left.

Though she had been by Shang Linyuan’s side these years, she was merely his nominal girlfriend. Except for some necessary business occasions where Shang Linyuan would have money transferred in advance to buy clothes, he never gave her a cent.

If not for Shang’s mother secretly gifting her jewelry and money to buy this apartment, she would have nowhere to stay.

“Stop nagging. You’re just too stingy. Think about who Shang Linyuan is—this amount is nothing to him. You’re his woman; how could you have no money?”

Chu Yan’s eyes reddened with anger. “I’m his girlfriend, not his possession. His money is his, not mine.”

“What about your two bodyguards? They must earn well. You have money to hire them but no money to give your brother? Have you no conscience?” Chu Yutang scolded his sister.

“The bodyguards are hired by the Shang family, and they pay their salaries, not me.”

Last year, Chu Yan was once kidnapped by a business rival of Shang Linyuan. It was the Shang family who paid a high ransom to rescue her, and without evidence, the case was dropped. Shang’s mother worried about Chu Yan’s safety and assigned two bodyguards to protect her at all times.

“Fine, since that’s the case, forget the report. I’ll take it straight to Shang Linyuan. I’m sure he’ll be interested.” Chu Yutang waved the paternity test report in triumph, threatening his sister.

Luckily, he had kept a copy; this was more important than Chu Yan’s life. How could she not pay to get it back?

“You… do you want us to die together?” Chu Yan seethed, furious enough to want to strike this fool with a knife.

If Shang Linyuan found out that Lu Mingxi was his biological son and that Lu Xiaoman was the woman from that night, Chu Yan would be exposed as a fraud. She would be ruined, the Chu family would collapse, and what would happen to Chu Yutang? Even this apartment would have to be returned, and they’d be left homeless, begging on the streets!