Chapter 574: Chapter 577 Exchange Conditions
Shi Shijun looked at him, skeptical, “What method?”
“Do you remember?” Shi Maotong said, “The underground brothel’s hidden boss!”
Shi Shijun frowned, “Dad, what do you mean?”
“He’s fond of Qianqian!” In Shi Maotong’s eyes emerged a glint of hope and stratagem, “Initially, he found Qianqian attractive and wanted her as his woman. When he found out that Qianqian was Ye Xinglan’s girlfriend, he refrained from pursuing her further.”
“Dad, please don’t tell me you’re thinking of letting Qianqian go to Zheng Yixiong?” Shi Shijun looked at him incredulously, “Zheng Yixiong is in his fifties this year, older than you. He could be Qianqian’s father!”
“This is the only way,” Shi Maotong said, “I learned that Ye Xingbei was smuggled out of Zheng Yixiong’s brothel by Gu Junzhu and his people! Zheng Yixiong won’t let Gu Junzhu off the hook for daring to steal from his territory. We deliver Qianqian to him, forming an alliance with Zheng Yixiong. Zheng Yixiong has the strongest influence in country Y’s underworld. An alliance with him will see the Shi family through this crisis.”
“Qianqian will never agree,” Shi Shijun said, “Zheng Yixiong is not just old, he also enjoys torturing women. He doesn’t see them as human beings. Qianqian, she… ”
“What she thinks doesn’t matter anymore,” Shi Maotong said through gritted teeth, “If it weren’t for her secretly keeping a male paramour, would the Ye family have turned against us? Ah Jun, to me, what’s most important is maintaining the century-long legacy of the Shi family, and you, the son who can carry on our family line! Shi Qianling and Shi Qianying, I’m not saying I don’t love them, but as you said, what has our love brought us from them?”
His anger grew as he spoke, his gaze colder, “Not only do we need to give Qianqian to Zheng Yixiong, we also have to send Xiao Ying to the Chi family, to calm them down. Even if it doesn’t completely resolve the conflict, at least they won’t be attacking us like rabid dogs, leaving us some room to survive!”
He paused for a moment, clenching his fists, “And your mother… we should also send her to the Gu family…”
Shi Shijun stared at him in disbelief, shivers running down his spine.
He couldn’t believe these were his parents.
One wanted to send his younger daughter to the Chi family for punishment, to vent their anger.
The other was more ruthless, wanting to trade his elder daughter, sacrifice his younger one to the Chi family, and even worse, send away his mother, who had borne and raised children for him, to be used by others.
Even the most brutal beast doesn’t eat its own offspring.
Were his parents worse than animals?
“I’m not a cruel father,” Shi Maotong’s heart trembled, his face cold, “If Qianqian and Xiao Ying were good, understanding children, I, as their father, would rather bankrupt the family and exhaust all means to protect them, but they’re not!”
“One of them caused Chi Qing to become mentally impaired, the other surreptitiously kept a male paramour behind Ye Xinglan’s back. Even your mother sent a twenty-something-year-old girl into a filthy brothel. They’ve all proven more cruel than the other. I can’t see them as my wife and daughters anymore. Our family…”
“Dad…” Shi Shijun, unable to bear more, interrupted him, “Xiao Ying caused Chi Qing’s impairment, but the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. If you send Xiao Ying to the Chi family, they will certainly tear her to pieces!”
“Qianqian kept a male lover, but this, at most, is a moral issue, even the law wouldn’t hold her accountable for it. If you send Qianqian to Zheng Yixiong, her life will be ruined!”