Chapter 1151: Chapter 1151: Collective Lies
“That was all that could be uncovered about the incident back then, but…” Zhou Hengyang’s lips curled into a mocking smile, “my father-in-law was a prodigious talent from a young age, so intelligent it was frightening. As he showed more and more of his cleverness, Su Dachun and Ma Xiulan’s att.i.tudes toward him grew increasingly disdainful; yet they relied on him more and more because he was so capable and the family was poor. Over time, this created the situation you and your sisters are dealing with now.”
“What did my dad find out exactly?”
“It likely did.”
Zhou Hengyang let out a cold laugh, “After all, it was a fortune that could sustain an entire village.”
“So… does that mean everyone in the entire village was involved in switching my dad as a baby?” Su Wen felt a chill rush from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, her teeth even felt cold.
“Not just one village, but also all the older generation of the Su family; otherwise, it couldn’t have been executed so flawlessly. That era was terribly poor, there was nothing, and the arrival of winter meant many could starve to death. For a bite to eat, they’d do anything.”
“So… Third Grandma, Seventh Great Uncle, they all knew?” The thought that her family had lived for decades within a ma.s.sive, vicious conspiracy named poverty sent shivers down Su Wen’s spine.
She couldn’t begin to imagine how Su Xuewen must have felt when he learned the truth.
From birth to death, he was surrounded by nothing but exploitation, deception, lies, plots, manipulation, ugliness… beyond that, there was nothing else.
“There’s more to it.” Zhou Hengyang’s arms tensed unconsciously; he didn’t know if Wenwen could handle the next part of the story. If possible, he wished Wenwen could always remain oblivious to the ugliness and maintain her positive, optimistic spirit.
But Zhou Hengyang knew that given Wenwen’s intelligence, she would eventually notice something was amiss. Besides, Song Jinyan had just been added to the list of those who suspected something, and although Zhou Hengyang had managed to send the investigator away, it was only a temporary delay.
It wouldn’t be possible to keep it from Song Jinyan for too long.
He couldn’t let Wenwen be the last one to know the truth; it would be too unfair, too cruel to her.
He didn’t have the heart for it.
“What else is there? The Song family?” Su Wen thought about the revenge Su Xuewen antic.i.p.ated that never came to fruition.
“Wife, you’re truly smart.”
“Signs that remain unspoken are hard to detect, but you’ve made everything so clear.” If she still didn’t understand, that would indeed be foolish.
“I guess old man of the Song family must have learned the truth after my father-in-law died. That’s why Song Jiaming’s frenzied revenge never happened, and now he even moved out to live on his own. All this has aroused Song Jinyan’s suspicions; after we returned from the Capital, he started investigating in Clear Water County.”
Su Wen’s thoughts were a bit disordered, “Song Jinyan has doubts? Who in the Song family is most likely to know the truth?”
“Song Jiaming must know, he’s been at odds with my father-in-law for a long time, which means he knew very early on, maybe even from childhood, that Su Dachun and Ma Xiulan had secretly been in contact with him.”
Zhou Hengyang speculated, “These are my conjectures, but the probability is high.”
“Song Jiaming knew the truth, possibly even before my dad?”
“Perhaps my father-in-law noticed something off about Song Jiaming, some people just can’t help but show off covertly.” Zhou Hengyang had met Song Jiaming a few times in the Capital and, frankly speaking, he was nothing compared to the eldest of the Song family.
Even his nephew, Song Jinyan, could easily suppress him. In terms of IQ, scheming, means, stature, and breadth of mind, he lagged far behind other members of the Song family.
How could he possibly contain his sense of self-satisfaction when facing the victim, Su Xuewen?