Chapter 281 - Pay Back A Hundred Thousand

To put it simply, Xu Lei got pregnant at a dangerous age. Her children were weak, and she gave birth to twins. Xu Lei couldn’t take care of three children at once.

They wanted to announce that their eldest son was adopted once he was born. But now that she had two infants, adopting one in such a hurry would arouse suspicion.

If she didn’t have her children, it would be fine if the eldest was seen as an adopted son. But when she had children of her own, saying that the eldest son was adopted would hinder his growth.

Since they were family, they wouldn’t treat the eldest son differently. But some trolls just loved to fabricate stories. Heavens knew how much that would affect their family.

Xu Lei was exhausted during that period. She got a nanny to take care of her children after she was done with postpartum period. But then that nanny was evil. It was fortunate that Xu Lei managed to stop the torture in time, but since then, she had harbored a distrust toward nannies.

Zhang Yuan kept on taking care of their eldest son. She was the surrogate mother whom Hou Cang and Xu Lei had hired.

Hou Cang’s mother was in bad health. Xu Lei’s parents had passed away. There was also bad blood between her and her siblings. Xu Lei couldn’t possibly ask them for help.

In this time of crisis, Zhang Yuan sought them out. Her ex-boyfriend swindled her fees as a surrogate mother. He also overspent her credit card by a hundred thousand yuan. Obviously, she couldn’t pay up. Zhang Yuan was facing criminal responsibility.

She begged Xu Lei and Hou Cang to save her. The couple was kind. Hou Cang helped her clear her debt of a hundred thousand yuan.

When she knew the plight of Hou Cang and Xu Lei, Zhang Yuan proposed staying and taking care of the children to repay her debt.

Xu Lei welcomed the help with open arms. Unexpectedly, Hou Cang’s mother found out that she had grandchildren now. She insisted on moving in to stay with the children.

They didn’t dare tell Hou Cang’s mother the truth. They might shock her too much. Hou Cang’s mother couldn’t accept her son hiring such a young nanny who even had a son of her own.

Hou Cang’s mother thought that a nanny like Zhang Yuan would arouse suspicion.

Under Hou Cang’s mother’s intervention, Zhang Yuan moved out together with Zhang Zhixuan.

Hou Cang’s mother passed away when Zhang Zhixuan was four. But by this time, the boy only saw Zhang Yuan as his mother.

Hou Cang and Xu Lei, who frequently visited him, were only a kind aunt and uncle to him.

Xu Lei did try to get Zhang Zhixuan to stay with them. But the boy would always look for his mom in the end.

Xu Lei tried to insist on making Zhang Zhixuan stay, but the boy refused to eat as a form of protest. Even when he fainted from hunger, he insisted on looking for Zhang Yuan.

Xu Lei and Hou Cang couldn’t explain surrogacy and bonds by blood to a child that young back then.

They couldn’t explain their absence in his first four years of life.

This was the sin she committed, so Xu Lei had to bear the consequences. She acknowledged Zhang Yuan as Zhang Zhixuan’s mom.

She and Hou Cang paid for all of Zhang Zhixuan’s expenses. They wanted to tell him the truth when he grew up.

But they didn’t expect this accident to happen when the boy was barely ten years old. They had to move their plan forward.

“Oh heavens. This is wild.” Song Meng exclaimed when she was done reading the post.

“Fate loves to play cruel jokes,” Yun Xiangxiang sighed softly.

Xu Lei went from an infertile woman to a mother of three. When Hou Cang’s mother interfered, everything spiraled out of control.

Xu Lei posted all the agreements between her and Zhang Yuan, including the records of Zhang Yuan’s surrogacy overseas. There was also the certification of adoption.

Most people wanted to believe this to be true. Many women went through a lot of hardships to get pregnant. Some of them failed even until now. Those who were tortured by their failure to conceive expressed their understanding in the comment section.

Marriage involved more than the couple [1]. Having children or not wasn’t up to the married couple.

It was a different time back then too. Late marriage and late pregnancy were common occurrences. The newlyweds could only enjoy their married life for six months before the unnecessarily nosy relatives would bombard them with stupid questions like when they would have a child. Even when it was none of their business.

Of course, not everyone went through that kind of torture. So many of them didn’t believe this to be the truth.

Some of them even attacked the couple maliciously.

[Perfect PR stunt, I’d say. If any men cheats from now on, they can say they were forced to do it. As long as the wife is consoled.]

[In the end, it’s all about the money. The wife is worried that she couldn’t dig more gold if Hou Cang falls, so she’s being a cuck.]

[She wouldn’t. Even if Hou Cang falls, Xu Lei can be a scriptwriter. I mean, look at her skills. She’s going to be famous.]

[Women who defend scumbags are the worst of the worst.]

[...]

“How can people be this evil?” Song Meng was furious.

Yun Xiangxiang snatched her phone: “Stop reading it. Confirmation bias gets everyone – especially trolls. Truth matters not in their eyes. Nor is understanding or tolerance. What matters is their thoughts.”

As an actress, Yun Xiangxiang had come across hordes of people like these. Getting angry with them was an insult to her. She didn’t have to do it.

“I can’t understand these people. It is fine if they don’t believe it. That’s their choice. But why do they have to create this kind of narrative?” Like they want the whole world to stand on their side.

They even ridiculed and attacked people who chose to believe. These trolls were sick.

Hou Cang didn’t offend them either. Why did the trolls try their best to ruin his family?

It was unnecessary to show their ugly side. This world could use some more kindness.

“Remember to give me a heads up when you can understand these people’s behavior,” The silent Li Xiangling blurted.

“Why?” Song Meng looked at Li Xiangling defensively.

This girl was a future lawyer. She knew where to attack.

“Since we are friends, I’ll recommend the safest mental asylum for you.” Li Xiangling said thoughtfully, “The moment you understand them is when you are not far from becoming one of them.”

“Oh, that’s so touching. Thank you so much, bestie,” Song Meng looked at Li Xiangling annoyedly.

“You’re welcome.” Li Xiangling turned off the computer and turned to Yun Xiangxiang, “I just transferred one hundred thousand yuan to you.”

“What?! Why did you give Xiangxiang that much money?!” Song Meng never had that much money in her life before.

“I borrowed it from her around this time last year,” Li Xiangling answered.

Yun Xiangxiang took out her phone to check. She did have a hundred thousand credited into her account. “How did you make this money?”

Li Xiangling cleared her debt of a hundred thousand in a year. At her age, Li Xiangling was supposed to be busy with her studies. Yun Xiangxiang was curious about where she got this money.

“Stocks,” Li Xiangling didn’t hide it from Yun Xiangxiang and Song Meng.

“Why didn’t you take me with you?!” Song Meng went up and pinched Li Xiangling as she interrogated her friend.

“Do you have the capital to enter the market?” Li Xiangling shook Song Meng’s hand off.

Song Meng was speechless.

“I can borrow from Xiangxiang!”

“Can you?” Li Xiangling probed.

Song Meng was annoyed.

She wanted to break ties with Li Xiangling. Song Meng didn’t need a friend like her.

But Li Xiangling wasn’t about to let her go. “Can you discipline yourself?”

Stock trading is hazardous. Those who won a bit would go deeper into it. Many were the stories of people driven to desperation and committed suicide because of their losses in stocks.