Chapter 803: The Backup Has Arrived

In that moment, the villagers who had followed began whispering cautiously: "That guy on the ridge—oh no, now he's called Changsheng—he's right. If Liu Wu and his wife hadn't first betrayed their conscience and switched the babies, none of this would've happened."

"Exactly. Their own brother now lives in Haishi; before, they never stopped hearing how prosperous Haishi was from the sent-down youth. If they hadn't switched the children, Changsheng would've been a factory worker, not sweating under sun and wind, eating bran and swallowing bitter herbs."

"Do you think their brother will come back to claim kinship?"

"Who knows? Once you get used to city life, how could you ever want to return to this countryside?"

"Probably won't come back. Shanliang—no, wait, my memory's bad—Changsheng, right? He's got to be over forty now?"

"He was born the same year as my Shuanzi. He's forty-one this year."

"Their kids must all have jobs too. Even if they don't recognize him now, the roots are already planted. Besides, he grew up there—his connections are all there. He definitely won't want to come back."

"True enough. The Liu family's got nothing left now. If he were in Beijing, it'd be one thing—but he's in Haishi, so it's uncertain."

"Exactly. So far away—if he doesn't show his face, even if you want to find him, you won't know where to look."

Just as everyone whispered, Liu Shanling suddenly knelt down: "Second brother, whether or not you're still a Liu, in my heart you'll always be my second brother. I beg you—consider all these years we lived side by side, let them go."

The moment Liu Shanling knelt, Xiao Changsheng leapt to the side of the gate: "You're smarter than your older brother—you're trying to use Dao, Dao, Dao—oh right, moral blackmail on me?"

"But I didn't take them. I didn't come here to settle scores—it's my biological parents who want justice from them. You've come to the wrong person."

Liu Jiandong couldn't bear to watch anymore: "Second Uncle, are you really going to be this heartless?"

Hearing this, Xiao Changsheng's face darkened instantly: "Heartless? You want me to dredge up the past again? How did you scheme against me? How did you scheme against Chuxue? You call me heartless—how many evil deeds have you committed? Don't you know better than anyone?"

His words left Liu Jiandong pale and stammering: "One thing… is… one thing. This can't be mixed together."

Xiao Changsheng let out a cold laugh: "Now it can't be mixed together? You're truly two-faced."

After saying this, Xiao Changsheng wiped sweat from his forehead—he hadn't expected Chuxue Sect's words to all come true.

Everything they could say had been predicted by Chuxue.

Just as Liu Shangang prepared to press further, someone pushed through the crowd from behind: "Make way, make way."

Everyone turned to look, and saw Qiu Shaofeng squeezing in, followed by a group of people.

Someone whispered: "The leader—isn't that Xia Qiu's husband?"

"Yes, that's him. What's his name again? My memory's gone—when I'm flustered, I can't recall anything."

"Qiu Shaofeng."

"Yes, yes, that's it—Qiu Shaofeng. Why did he show up now?"

"Dad, what's going on?"

Xiao Changsheng hadn't expected his eldest son-in-law to arrive: "Why are you here? Did something happen to Xia Qiu?"

Qiu Shaofeng quickly explained: "Xia Qiu's fine. Your second daughter called me, worried you'd be bullied. I'm glad I got here in time—what happened?"

The dozen or so young men who came with him now crowded into the courtyard, standing firmly behind Qiu Shaofeng—their presence was terrifying.