Song Jia spoke honestly. She didn"t care if they were the kids" real family or not, but she didn"t want to send them away. She had always loved them like her younger siblings and didn"t have the heart to send them back to the life of poverty or away from her.
"How dare you say that? You can"t deny our rights to take them with us bi-" The Lin woman who was about to curse Song Jia paused when she felt Wu Zhang"s ice cold gaze on her. His look was so overpowering that she couldn"t somehow open her mouth to speak at all.
"It"s good that you stopped there." Wu Zhang reminded her. He didn"t say anything more but his warning was crystal clear. No one can badmouth his woman in front of him. If possible he wouldn"t let anyone badmouth her, even behind his back.
"Miss Song please understand, the children"s surname is Lin and not Song, they belong to our family so they should stay with us." Unlike his shrew wife, the man had more manners and spoke rather respectfully. Addressing them politely while his wife acted so impatient and like a true country-side illiterate woman.
"How much money do you want?" This time it was Wu Zhang who answered. He had been observing Song Jia"s expression for a long time and he knew even though she had a calm outer appearance, she was panicking inside. She cared for the children and she didn"t want them to go. "Take however much you want and forget the kids."
"You rich people think everything can be bought with money, don"t you?" The Lin Man chuckled mockingly. The couple looked determined to take Lin Mei and Lin Fang with them.
"Yes, we think so because we have the money to think so. You have a problem with that?" Song Jia retorted immediately.
"No, we don"t have any problem with what you think, but we want to take the children with us. That is all. Lin Fang"s father was not my cousin brother, he was more than a biological brother to me. I can"t leave his kids with strangers. I never came to ask for them until aunt and uncle were alive. But now it is my right as well as responsibility to bring them up. And if you don"t send them with us now, I will seek help from the police and media."
Wu Zhang was not at all convinced with whatever the man in front of him spoke. He actually, in all honesty, didn"t care about what he thought. All that mattered to him was what Song Jia thought. If she was willing to hand the children over to their uncle and aunt then he would let them take the children but if she wasn"t willing, then it won"t take him much to silence them.
He turned to the woman beside him, who seemed to be confused right now. "What do you want to do?"
"I don"t know, I am confused. I know ethically and morally it is their right to take the children but I just can"t bring myself to let them go."
"If you want, I can take care of them. No one will find out. Ever." He rea.s.sured her in a voice loud enough for only Song Jia to hear.
"No, they are the only relatives now that children have, we can"t harm them." She was against the idea of harming them, but she had to make a choice. Now.
After thinking for a long time, she finally opened her mouth to speak to the couple who had their eyes and ears focused on the two people in front of them.
"I will send the children with you, on two conditions." She stuck out two fingers of her right hand as she stated it.
"You are putting conditions to raise children of our own family, ha?" The woman asked loudly in her shrill voice. She found it very unacceptable.
"Yes, I am because I have the power to do so. You also know it quite well. Don"t you?" Song Jia asked calmly, but it scared the woman slightly. "And if you don"t want to agree, you can go away. The door is right behind you." She pointed towards the door behind the Lin couple with her chin.
"What is it?" The woman asked a little annoyed. She didn"t like the way they were being treated, but with just the looks of the house she knew they were rich and powerful people against whom they held no power.
"First is that you must s.h.i.+ft to C City so that I can keep an eye on the children. Not that I can"t do it if you live in your hometown but I don"t trust you. So-"
Before she could finish, the man interrupted her. "Rich Miss do you think it is so easy to s.h.i.+ft cities? It might be for you but it is not for us. We are poor people who earn only enough to fill our stomachs. s.h.i.+fting cities require a lot of money and a lot of trouble. The house in the countryside where we live in right now has three rooms. But even if we sold it, we won"t be able to buy even a room in this city."
"I will give you the money and a house to move in. Find yourself a suitable job here and if you can"t I will give you one." She paused for a moment and then continued. "You will not hinder their studies and their education expense will be borne by me. They will not be forced to work until they finish their education. Is that clear?"
"We don"t have any problem if you are fine with the money." The woman spoke even before her husband could open his mouth to reject Song Jia"s offer.
What could be better than taking care of the two orphans for money? They will not have to expend even a dime on them. They might even save some for themselves.
"Alright then, it"s done. But remember, I will appoint a financial manager to handle the expenses. But remember not even a penny will be for you or your family. All the money shall be used for these two children alone."
The lowly woman"s face fell hearing what Song Jia said. It defeated the sole purpose of her coming here to demand the children"s custody.
All she could was regret now because before coming here, she was initially very reluctant to take the children in. They were poor people, to begin with, and had only enough for their family of three. She didn"t want two extra mouths to be fed. But her thought changed when her husband told her that Nanny Lin"s employer dotes on the children so much that she has been taking care of them. She knew she will give them some maintenance to bring up the children well.
However, she still had some hopes because she didn"t know what a financial manager was. She thought that he would only check on them from time to time. But she didn"t know that this hope of hers was also going to shatter soon because Song Jia had other plans in mind.
"You can take the children once you s.h.i.+ft here." Song Jia spoke and before anyone could speak or ask anything, she went to her room.
She was sad to send them, but she knew this was the only right thing to do.