Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Old Master Si was a prominent figure in China, and he quickly uncovered everything behind the scenes.
The head chef of the Si family was fine, but the kitchen helpers and gardeners were bribed by Xiu Zhaotian long ago.
The gardener was responsible for planting cycads all over the Si family’s garden to ensure that enough cycad seeds could be collected all year round; while the kitchen helper was responsible for grinding these seeds into powder and mixing them into flour or seasonings.
Therefore, the year the Si family planted so many cycads, Si Ming also fell ill. He had ingested too much food containing toxins.
Because his daughter had also died of the same disease, Old Master Si assumed it was hereditary and didn’t think anything of it. The doctor didn’t ask any further questions either; how could he have imagined that in modern society, people would still be eating starch made from cycad seeds every day?
In fact, Xiu Zhaotian also wanted to harm Old Master Si. These poisonous powders were indiscriminately fed to both the grandfather and grandson, but unfortunately, Old Master Si was in exceptionally robust and managed to resist the poison’s effects.
This was related to his early experience participating in the War of Resistance against Japan in YN. The environment there was extremely harsh at that time, and in order to survive, he often ate plants containing trace amounts of toxins, which eventually led to the development of antibodies.
Besides the Si family’s cook and gardener, the Xiu family’s cook also had problems. That man had long since retired, left B City with a large sum of money for Hai Province, built a house in a small county town, and lived a comfortable and carefree life.
The people sent by Old Master Si only played a recording of his grandson, and he confessed everything. He said that he had taken money from Miss Fangfang to put a kind of starch in Madam Si’s food. The starch was non-toxic, and he had tasted it himself. So Madam Si’s illness had nothing to do with him.
The so-called Miss Fangfang was actually Xiu Zhaotian’s mistress and Xiu Yue’s mother, Zhou Fangfang. At that time, she was kept by Xiu Zhaotian outside the home and had no contact with Madam Si, so she could only bribe the cook to secretly poison her.
That’s why she suddenly started growing cycads. No one would go to the flower and bird market every day to buy cycad seeds for no reason; and she was afraid of arousing suspicion, so she had to produce the toxins herself.
Whether Xiu Zhaotian knew about her actions when she undertook them was unknown to Old Master Si, but Old Master Si did know that after his daughter’s death, the Xiu family garden began to plant cycads, and this was on Xiu Zhaotian’s orders.
His wife’s death gave him a taste of success, so he wanted to do the same to kill his son.
Fortunately, Old Master Si made a decisive move and brought his grandson back to the Si family as soon as his daughter died; otherwise, it would be unknown whether Si Ming would still be alive today.
Grandpa Si took off his reading glasses, rubbed his eyes, and felt that even he, an old hand at the world, dared not look directly at the ugliness of people’s hearts.
However, after calming himself down and turning to the next page of the investigation report, he discovered that the human heart could be more terrifying than hell.
Grandpa Si never imagined that the idea of poisoning his daughter with cycad seeds was actually conceived by Teng Xuan and Xiu Yue, who were only seven years old at the time. What were they thinking? Were they born devils?
Old Master Si felt a chill run down his spine.
Zhong Xingyun knew which passage he had read just by looking at his reaction, and immediately took out a recorder and said, “If you don’t believe me, old man, this idea really came from two kids. This is the testimony of the nanny who left Zhou Fangfang ten years ago. She watched Xiu Yue grow up and knows the mother and son best. Listen to it.”
The recording began to play, and a fearful voice said, “I… I really wasn’t involved in that. I left the Zhou family because I heard things I shouldn’t have heard. That day happened to be Young Master Xiu’s birthday. I painstakingly made him a birthday cake, but he smashed it, so I remember it very clearly.”
“That day, Mr. Xiu had promised to come and celebrate Young Master Xiu’s birthday, but he couldn’t make it because Madam Si suddenly fell seriously ill and had to be taken to the hospital. Young Master Xiu was very angry and told Young Master Teng that he wanted Madam Si to die. If Madam Si died, he and his mother could go back to the Xiu family. He would then have a father.”
At this point, the nanny visibly swallowed, as if recalling something extremely terrifying: “Upon hearing this, Young Master Teng suddenly pointed to the cycad tree outside the window and said that if you want Madam Si to die, you can grind the seeds of this tree into powder and feed them to Madam Si. After eating it, Madam Si will slowly become paralyzed and then die, and no one will notice the problem.”
“I… after hearing it, I didn’t realize that what the child said was true at all. I didn’t feel scared at all; instead, I was very angry. I thought Young Master Teng’s character has gone astray and he needs to be properly educated.”
“But as a nanny, I had no right to lecture the two young masters, so I told Zhou Fangfang about their conversation so that she could pay attention to the children’s mental health.”
“Zhou Fangfang was stunned. I can still recall the look in her eyes at that time. It was terrifying and chilling. She immediately called the two children into the study to talk. A few days later, she introduced me to a boyfriend. He was very handsome and gentle. I… I fell in love with him.”
At this point, the nanny began to sob softly, and after crying for a long time, she said in a suppressed voice, “For him, I quit my job with Zhou Fangfang, because that man said he didn’t want his wife to be a nanny, and that it would be embarrassing to take me out.”
“I left the Zhou family and went to work in a place very, very far away with that man. But as soon as I got there, he disappeared, and he stole all my bank cards. All the savings I had painstakingly accumulated over twenty years are gone, sob sob sob…”
“Later, I went to the police station to report the case and found out that the man’s name was fake, his job was fake, and his family background was also fake. He was a complete fraud! I had no money, no relatives or friends, so I had no choice but to stay in that place and do odd jobs every day to make a living.”
“Later, I met a kind family, and my life gradually settled down. Afterward, I followed them back to B City. Then, I suddenly saw a newspaper article about Mrs. Si’s death, and I discovered that her cause of death was exactly the same as what Young Master Teng had described back then. It was then that I suddenly realized that I might have been targeted by Zhou Fangfang all along. That man was deliberately introduced to me by Zhou Fangfang! How vicious she is!”
“Madam Si’s death must be related to Zhou Fangfang! She must have taken to heart what Young Master Teng said back then! It’s all true, and what that child said is all true!”
The recording ended there, but the study was not quiet; instead, the sound of Old Master Si’s heavy breathing could be heard.
He crumpled the investigation report in his hand into a ball and said in a cold tone, “We’ll treat these people the same way they treat us. Let’s not alert them and let them enjoy the rest of their lives.”
“I understand.” Zhong Xingyun nodded in agreement, and then quietly left the study.
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