Chapter 158 - Hidden Secret of the Fan family
Xiu Mei received a huge shock when she heard this news.
"Did he leave the family voluntarily?" She couldn’t help but ask it.
"He did."
"Bur if he left the Xiu family voluntarily, why did he do it?"
Luen sighed as he finally opened the story from years ago that their family wanted to keep buried forever.
"Xiu Su Yi was originally a madman ever since he was young. As a kid, he liked fighting and joining gang fights. He almost didn’t graduate from high school because of his terrible grades. He never went to college and kept the lifestyle of going to bars daily, drinking, and indulging himself with women."
...Damn, she met such a terrible man?
Xiu Mei didn’t like how the conversation was going from the very start and unconsciously interlaced her hands with Lu Chen to seek comfort. Feeling his wife’s hand, Lu Chen interlocked their fingers and covered the back of her hand with his other hand and lightly patted it.
This display of affection entered Xiu Luen’s eyes but he acted as if he didn’t see it. But at the back of his mind, he was feeling very awkward having to witness his niece’s and her spouse’s public display of affection.
"He was the black sheep of the Xiu family back then. He was in a constant spotlight in the news because his name was Xiu, and the family couldn’t do anything to him at all. He was a hopeless case, as per Grandfather’s words."
The Grandfather he was pertaining to in his mouth was definitely her great grandfather, which is grandfather Xiu’s father.
"But then one day, he brought home a woman. Then he introduced her to be a member of the Fan family and declared that he would marry her. The entire family was surprised but they were thrilled to hear the news. For Xiu Su Yi to finally settle down after being a bachelor for so long. By then, your father and I were already married so imagine that it was only at that time he decided to get married."
Xiu Mei blinked as it took a little while before she completely absorbed her Uncle’s story.
Wait, the Fan family?
A woman from a Fan family?
That sounded very familiar. Where did she hear about this again?
Xiu Mei fell silent for a short moment to think until she was finally enlightened where she heard the familiar story.
"Isn’t this about the Fan family member who was revealed to be a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e?" Xiu Mei didn’t hold back her words and asked. If others were to hear it, it would’ve surely sounded very rude towards the Fan family even if it was the truth. Then it would surely spark some tension between the Xiu family and Fan family.
Xiu Luen didn’t hesitate to answer her and nodded his head, affirming her thoughts.
It was only now that Xiu Mei was realizing that this may be the reason why her Uncle ordered the steward to keep out anyone from approaching the study room. Because this was about the scandal that the Fan family has and as a member of the Xiu family, it won’t be proper for them to gossip and spread this news to other people.
After all, a member of a prestigious family is revealed to be a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e hanging around the red light district, it would be a stain enough that the Fan family wouldn’t be able to erase in their entire life.
"Is that why the family is very against the woman? Because she’s a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e?"
Or at least that’s what she read on the report.
"Not at first. It was even before we found out that the woman was a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. A day after Xiu Su Yi introduced the woman to the family, we found out that the woman was already arranged to marry another man."
Lu Chen and Xiu Mei turned silent.
They briefly glanced at each other and sighed. They knew that they were talking about something really serious but they couldn’t stop their thoughts.
...It’s like some kind of drama plot that they see on TV.
Unaware of their thoughts, Xiu Luen continued.
"It was a really big issue back then because once the media gets a wind that Xiu Su Yi got involved with someone from the Fan family that’s already engaged, it’s going to be a big problem not only on how we’re going to protect Xiu Su Yi but also the name of the Xiu family. So Xiu Su Yi visited the Fan family to break the arranged marriage agreement of that woman to the other man. But they didn’t listen to him and proceeded with the marriage."
...Yes, a typical drama plot ah.
"And then somehow, I didn’t know how Grandfather found out but he discovered that the woman was actually a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. I didn’t completely understand it back then, like how could someone from the Fan family be a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e? Everyone didn’t really believe him back then."
Xiu Mei’s thoughts nodded. It was actually one of the things she couldn’t understand when she read the report.
A prestigious family like the Fan family, why would someone become a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e?
"Was she an illegitimate child?" She asked. It was the only reason she could think of.
Why would someone from the Fan family work in a red-light district when they have enough money and prestige to live in luxury?
On the other hand, Lu Chen, who was listening quietly on the side was having a full-on realization of how complicated his wife’s circle was.
It was very different from the business circle and the underground circle that he was often involved in. In both circles, people are very ruthless and would take every chance to taint you with any dirt that they could find. All are trying to pull each other down to reach the top.
But on Xiu Mei’s circle, he thought it was pretty similar but it was still somehow different.
Even though each family knows some unspeakable secrets of each other, they won’t move each other unless the other attacks. Just like how the Xiu family kept the secret of the Fan family for all these years.
If it weren’t for Xiu Su Yi’s involvement with Xiu Mei, he wouldn’t have known this at all.
"No, she was not." Xiu Luen replied. "She was a legitimate child of the third branch of the family. But from what I heard, it was the father of that woman who sold her daughter to the red-light district because he couldn’t pay his debts from the loan sharks back then."
Xiu Mei frowned. "Her father sold her to pay his debts?! Such a bastard exists in the Fan family?!"
She subconsciously raised her voice in disbelief of what she just heard. Even if he was from the third branch, is their life that terrible that he has to sell his daughter? Does that person even deserve to live? How can he sell his own blood for his own benefit?
Noticing her outburst, Lu Chen squeezed her hand lightly as if to distract her attention. Feeling the pressure on her hand, she glanced at Lu Chen’s direction. With his comforting gaze, he calmed her down.
Oops.
Realizing what she had just done, she threw an apologetic look at her Uncle.
"Sorry, I was too emotional." She apologized.
Xiu Luen was very understanding and sympathized with her. "That was also how we reacted when we learned about it too so it’s very understandable. Because the Fan family is more known for their outstanding conduct and expertise in art, it was a great shock when we learned that something that worse was happening in their family. That was why they already arranged the woman to some commoner man for marriage in an attempt to marry out the woman from their family. Basically, it’s to completely cut their ties from her under the reason that she wanted to marry a normal man that they didn’t agree with so she left the family on her own. A reason as simple as that would be enough to wash off their hands from the dirt that the third branch did."
"But shouldn’t there have been at least a rumor or something? A scandal this big would have been very difficult to keep under wraps." This time, it was Lu Chen who asked. After reading the report on Xiu Mei’s case, he did send someone to the Fan family to investigate and monitor them.
"No, it was cleaned up and hidden after we learned about it."
Hearing that, the couple froze.
Cleaned up?
They both felt that Xiu Luen was going to blurt out something ominous.
"By clean up you mean... did they silence them?"
Xiu Luen nodded.
"Terrible as it may be, unfortunately, yes. One day, we heard the news that the woman’s father jumped from a building causing his death. And when we thought it was already fine, a few days after that incident, news came that the woman was caught in a car accident causing the death of one body, two lives."