Xia Xiaolan was referring to the family that had bought Tang Youru.

That family’s deceased eldest son was likely Yu Li’s biological father. After his death, the family, not wanting to “waste” their purchased “daughter-in-law,” planned to marry Tang Youru to their younger son… This practice of a younger brother marrying his deceased brother’s wife wasn’t uncommon in impoverished areas. Some places even had multiple brothers sharing one wife when they couldn’t afford to marry separately!

While some people might accept this, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t, and clearly, neither could Tang Youru.

Perhaps Tang Youru had never accepted it from the start, but learning from her previous failed escape attempts, she had pretended to be compliant for several years after being sold to that family, while never abandoning her plans to escape.

In any case, Tang Youru chose to escape during the interval between her first “husband’s” death and before she could be married to the younger son, and she succeeded.

Given Tang Youru’s strong character, how could she have any feelings for that family?

It’s unknown whether she discovered her pregnancy before escaping or learned about it later.

Had she struggled with the decision before finally choosing to give birth to Yu Li?

She changed her name and gave her daughter the surname ‘Yu,’ starting a new life for both of them. Tang Youru didn’t want Yu Li to know about that family’s existence, so she tried to completely hide her experience of being trafficked from her daughter.

Unfortunately, Yu Li still learned about her background.

This was unavoidable – when the investigation began, they didn’t know Yu Li was Tang Youru’s daughter, and as Xia Xiaolan’s secretary, she had been involved throughout!

Fortunately, by the time Yu Li went to Yunnan Province, the initial investigation was complete, so she never directly contacted that family. Of course, now that family was in the local detention center, charged with human trafficking.

Xia Xiaolan suggested maintaining the status quo and preventing Yu Li from contacting that family.

Although those detained were Yu Li’s blood-related ‘grandmother’ and ‘uncle,’ this involuntary blood relationship made Xia Xiaolan sick to her stomach!

Tang Hong’en had thought about this too.

Make him accept such relatives?

He might lack many things, but relatives weren’t one of them!

“There’s no need to let Little Yu know. She’s a sensible and filial child. Between a mother who escaped with her from the mountains and raised her alone, and supposed relatives she’s never met who helped traffickers harm her mother, I think Little Yu can judge what’s important. We’ll handle the aftermath of this matter without involving Little Yu.”

Tang Hong’en was very decisive.

Xia Xiaolan shared the same opinion.

The treatment differed between being a cousin and being a secretary.

If it were just her secretary encountering such a situation, Xia Xiaolan would let her choose.

But for a cousin… why make the young girl struggle emotionally when they could handle it easily? Why complicate things?

After all, she had promised to look after Cousin Little Yu!

“Also, Little Aunt is right here in Beijing, and she seems to remember what happened before being sold. Why didn’t she try to find you? Should we…”

Tang Hong’en removed his glasses and rubbed his brow.

“I know, it must be Shi Surong and her husband’s meddling. There must be some misunderstanding. I’ll investigate further through Shi Surong!”

The recognition came too late.

This pained Tang Hong’en most of all.

Youru became paralyzed due to an accident before Xia Xiaolan met Little Yu.

If he had told Fen about his hometown situation earlier, could Youru’s vegetative state have been prevented?

After all, by then, Little Yu was already working at ‘Blue Phoenix,’ and his sister Youru was still conscious, not yet in a vegetative state.

Tang Hong’en tried not to dwell on this possibility – it would only torment him. What happened had happened, and dwelling wasn’t his style – solving problems was!

As for the Shao family’s belief that Yu Li carried too much burden and their opposition to her relationship with Shao Guangrong, Tang Hong’en considered these minor issues.

If the Shao family looked down on Yu Li, well, Tang Hong’en looked down on Shao Guangrong!

What kind of person was he?

A notorious playboy in Beijing who changed girlfriends like clothes, lucky not to have been arrested for hooliganism in earlier years – and now what? He claims to be “reformed” and thinks he can be with Little Yu.

Tang Hong’en didn’t have the concept of “picking up someone’s leftovers,” but if he did, he would have blurted out: After Shao Guangrong played around enough and wanted to reform, why should Little Yu be his consolation prize?

Fortunately, Little Yu had strong principles. When Shao Guangrong’s mother approached her, she didn’t engage with the Shao family but directly transferred her mother to Pengcheng – at that time, Little Yu didn’t know she had an uncle, choosing to bear everything alone. Tang Hong’en felt both pained and proud – this was truly his niece!

This was what Tang Hong’en admired most. Indeed, she was a child valued by Xiaolan – both were good children he had grown fond of.

Old Tang seemed to think of something, his face showing contentment, and his mood improved. At least this was his most relaxed expression recently. Xia Xiaolan seized his good mood to bring up the final matter:

“Uncle Tang, we can’t keep Little Aunt on conservative treatment forever, right? While the chances of recovering from a vegetative state are low, miracles do happen. Without looking far, didn’t Du Chengrong wake up despite doctors saying her chances were slim? I think we should pursue more aggressive treatment. Whether it’s sending her to Hong Kong or abroad, we shouldn’t give up!”

Though the chances were small, they existed. Xia Xiaolan didn’t know how long Du Chengrong had “pretended” to be unconscious, but given her age and history of cancer, jumping into the sea at that age must have caused real injuries.

Xia Xiaolan suspected she had been genuinely unconscious for a while, though she probably woke up earlier than she and Du Zhaohui knew. Du Chengrong’s treatment spared no expense, and if such spending was effective, why not try it for Little Aunt?

“You mean…”

“I mean we should send Little Aunt for treatment. Compared to health, spending some money is nothing!”

Xia Xiaolan spoke matter-of-factly, making Tang Hong’en laugh: “That’s because you’re wealthy, girl. This amount naturally means nothing to you. You’ve already spent hundreds of thousands looking for people…”

Is that just “spending some money”? In other families, even blood relatives might not be willing to spend that much, let alone a blended family.

Xia Xiaolan widened her eyes: “Uncle, you’re not going to count this against me, are you? Family shouldn’t keep separate accounts. My money is yours – making you pay for this yourself would be forcing you to take bribes-“

Tang Hong’en thought it wasn’t the same. It was one thing for him to use it, but if Xiaolan wasn’t willing to spend, that would be unfilial and deserve scolding:

“When Little Yu returns, let’s get her opinion. This child is very independent, a precious quality we shouldn’t carelessly destroy! You want to look after her as her cousin, but does that mean gradually turning her into a dependent who only knows how to rely on others?”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but think of Zhou Yi from before.

No – she still wanted to live for many more years. Little Yu was fine just as she was!