Chapter 54 - Why Didn’t You Say This Earlier?
Fang Zhili and Li Haoran were astonished.
They turned to look at Wu Meiya.
Wu Meiya was standing gracefully while Li Beinian remained as calm as ever and stared at them sneeringly.
Li Haoran’s face turned hot and red. Staring at Li Beinian, he asked, “Is what your Auntie said, true?”
“Of course it is,” said Wu Meiya who then instructed her servant to bring the silk banner. “Xiao Yuan, bring me the silk banner that the police sent us this afternoon.”
The servant immediately turned around and proceeded upon hearing her order.
Soon, she returned with a silk banner.
There were two lines of words embossed in gold on the maroon silk banner – “The role model of all youth. A heroic and upright individual!”
The Guang City policemen had included a note of gratitude and the date of the incident was two days ago.
“I’ve especially asked for the footage of Niannian’s act of bravery from the police station. Niannian is really impressive. Although she did not manage to catch the thief, she managed to retrieve all of the stolen items and even ended up getting injured herself.”
Staring at Li Beinian sympathetically, Wu Meiya said, “You must take good care of your wounds. It won’t be nice for girls to have scars.”
Li Beinian smiled and immediately stared at the couple who were insistent on making her get on her knees to offer an apology just now.
Feeling extremely embarrassed, Li Haoran barked angrily, “If that’s the case, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Li Beinian sneered softly and said, “Have I not mentioned it before?”
Li Haoran was speechless.
Yeah, she had explained herself before.
However, he did not believe it at all.
Who would believe her?
Fang Zhili smiled wryly and said, “Oh, so that was what happened. I was sure that Niannian wouldn’t have done something like that. You treat her so well and she’s living a life of luxury now. There’s no need for her to do such a sneaky and immoral thing.”
Is she trying to say that Li Beinian used to steal all the time?
Upon hearing her words, Li Beinian humphed coldly with gloomy eyes. She muttered softly, “I’m sorry to have disappointed you.”
“What?” asked Fang Zhili who had yet to recover from the shock.
“I may have grown up on my own and didn’t get to live as blissfully as your daughter did. I didn’t get to have everything spoonfed to me and handed to me on a silver platter but my adoptive parents have always educated me.”
She then turned to look at Li Haoran.
Li Haoran’s heart sank as he was plagued with an ominous feeling.
“It’s alright to be poor but one must always live with themselves and their own morals. It’s important to be an upright person.” She then looked at Fang Zhili with a mirthless smile and said, “Unless you’re crippled, you should never do anything sneaky or sordid. You shouldn’t resort to receiving handouts either.”
“I’ve lived uprightly all my life. Even if you ask me the same question ten times, I can tell you that I didn’t do anything of that sort.”
Li Beinian glanced at Li Haoran in disappointment. “You always say that you want to make it up to me but it turns out you didn’t mean it at all.”
Li Haoran felt embarrassed and remorseful.
He glanced at Li Beinian and Fang Zhili.
Fang Zhili was appearing rather aggrieved. When she held Li Haoran’s gaze, she stepped forth and said, “I’m sorry, Niannian. It’s all my fault for not trusting you. Your father has actually always trusted you, it’s just… ”
“Enough, stop going on and on. Silly one, you don’t have to find an excuse for me. It was my fault,” said Li Haoran who felt his heart ache when he saw Fang Zhili’s guilty expression. He then said to Li Beinian, “I was the one who didn’t trust you. I’m sorry.”
Li Beinian sneered.
What a good move!
Fang Zhili’s words made her become even more important to Li Haoran.