More than twenty years ago, the Wen family was not the powerful family it is today. They were just an ordinary family whose business had just started to take off.
Naturally, they never expected that they would be involved in a storm among the powerful families.
The Qi family had already developed quite well in that era, with a foothold in various industries.
However, as the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind.
Father Qi had made quite a few business enemies. Back then, he was young and impulsive, and his methods were harsh. Naturally, he never thought that one day he would be secretly targeted.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help rubbing his temples.
A look of vicissitude, uncharacteristic of a middle - aged man, appeared on Father Qi's originally serious face.
"Who sent you?"
Just these few words made the butler in front of him tremble.
With things having come to this point, Mrs. Qi found it inconvenient to say anything further.
She was also in shock upon learning the truth and didn't have the strength to ask any more questions for the moment.
So Father Qi became the one to interrogate the butler.
Looking at Mrs. Qi, who was immersed in grief, Father Qi couldn't help patting her hand, signaling her to pull herself together.
The butler's lips moved for a long time, but in the end, he didn't say a single word. He seemed to be deep in thought or perhaps struggling.
Seeing his expression, Father Qi seemed to guess what he was up to.
"Do you think their family can still protect you at this point?"
Father Qi's anger was boiling over, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"Or do you think I won't be able to find out?"
"Do you think we've reached this stage just by relying on those business tricks in the commercial world to stay on our feet?"
Father Qi's words were a blatant warning.
The butler knew these things even without Father Qi saying them.
Having been the butler of the Qi family for so many years, how could he not know what kind of family they were?
Put nicely, they were highly successful in the business world. Put bluntly, they had connections in both the white and black - market worlds.
"The Chen family."
When the butler said these two words, Father Qi's expression visibly froze.
His once sharp and shrewd eyes were filled with disbelief.
Seeing his stunned look, the butler couldn't help clenching his teeth and shouting out the name.
"It's the Chen family."
When these words fell, even Mrs. Qi beside him couldn't help widening her eyes.
"The Chen family... It's actually them."
Mrs. Qi closed her eyes painfully, and even Father Qi was speechless for a moment.
This name was both strange and familiar to him.
He vaguely remembered that in the early years, the relationship between the Qi and Chen families was relatively good. However, business matters in the commercial world couldn't be explained in a few words.
Father Qi only remembered that in the end, he and the Chen family became competitors.
Back then, due to an incident, the Chen family was exposed for a huge scandal and gradually declined.
Father Qi vaguely remembered that when they were in desperate straits, they had come to him, hoping that he could lend them some money to tide them over.
But he had refused.
Father Qi never thought that this incident back then would make them bear a grudge against him.
But he also had his own difficulties.
At that time, the Qi family was also in its darkest period.
There were both internal strife and external threats.
He hardly had any funds at hand, so there was no way he could help them.
Moreover, Mrs. Qi was about to give birth. Father Qi rushed back and forth between home and the company.
He barely got enough sleep that he could count the hours on one hand.
But he never expected that they would hate him so much that they would separate him from his daughter for more than 20 years.
Thinking about how the entire Chen family was in desperate straits after their bankruptcy, Father Qi didn't know where they were now.
"Where are they?"
Father Qi spoke slowly. Whether it was the butler's illusion or not, there was a hint of hoarseness in his voice.
The butler closed his eyes painfully.
"You know the situation this year. The Chen family has gone bankrupt and is deeply in debt."
"Everyone's situation was tough those years. I only know that after the Chen family scraped together enough money for me, the whole family was beaten up by debt collectors."
Hearing this, Father Qi's eyes turned cold.
"Back then, they borrowed usury to raise funds... You know... The underworld doesn't follow any rules. I only know that in the end, they all..."
After saying this, the butler couldn't help sighing, and his voice seemed to carry a touch of old age.
The implication in his tone was self - evident.
After hearing this, Father Qi felt mixed emotions.
For a moment, he didn't know how to feel about the Chen family.
The Qi family, as an innocent victim, had also suffered a great deal.
He never thought that former friends would treat him like this, but the Chen family had also received their due retribution.
More than a dozen members of the Chen family were brutally beaten to death by usury collectors.
He didn't know how to deal with such an outcome.
Father Qi closed his eyes helplessly.
"So the child who was swapped was Wen Yin."
He said this in an eerily calm voice.
Mrs. Qi also knew what had happened back then, so she didn't say anything.
The butler nodded.
Back then, Wen's mother was close to her due date, but there was still nearly a month to go. He secretly bought some labor - inducing drugs.
However, these drugs had extremely strong side effects.
The butler secretly watched Wen's mother drink the drugs. Not long after, she was pushed into the delivery room.
After seeing that she had safely given birth to a baby girl and there were no obvious side effects, the butler heaved a sigh of relief and secretly left the hospital.
But he didn't know that the baby girl Wen's mother gave birth to was premature, so her organs were not fully developed, and she had a weak heart.
Wen's mother also became dull - witted because of the labor - inducing drugs. For so many years, she had been locked in the Wen family's villa by Father Wen.
Father Wen didn't know why his wife had become so miserable just because of a premature birth.
He had been investigating for so many years but still hadn't found out anything.
Because the information from that year had been well - covered up by the butler, there was no leakage. This sudden discovery was only because of Mrs. Qi.
The whole truth, bloody and bare, was laid out in front of them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Qi had complex expressions on their faces.
"Madam, I was really momentarily confused. I didn't know it would end up like this."
"The child has been found. Please spare my life."
The butler kowtowed heavily to them on the ground.
But their faces remained expressionless.
"We can't let you stay in the Qi family any longer at this point."