317. Chapter 313 New Chapter 0286 Auntie, do you need to call the police?
"You're welcome, I think we have the same view on protecting Qingche."
Li Mengnan took out a crumpled cigarette box, poured out the last cigarette from it, held it between his fingers and gestured to Haitang, "I want to smoke a cigarette, do you mind? Sorry, I'm a bit of a smoker."
…”
"You smoke it."
Although Haitang said he didn't care, his brows furrowed slightly.
"To be honest, for my age, it seems more appropriate to call you eldest sister, but the seniority with Qingche is confusing, so I'll call you 'auntie'. I hope you don't blame me for calling you old."
Although Li Mengnan didn't know the specific age of the woman named Haitang, he could infer from Qingche's age that she was probably in her thirties. It was hard to say whether she was over thirty-five. At his age, it was indeed a bit embarrassing to call him that.
.
"It doesn't matter. You are Qingche's friend, so you should call me aunt... Although women never want to bow to time, time is not forgiving. I am still old after all."
Haitang poured himself a cup of hot tea, held his cheek with one hand, and stroked the subtle wrinkles that could not be concealed at the corners of his eyes with his well-maintained fingers, looking quite sad.
"To be honest, Auntie is different from what I imagined."
Haitang smiled at himself: "In your imagination, I should be a very cold-blooded woman, right? In order to seek my own happiness, I would rather abandon my child..."
"I have heard about what happened to my aunt. Although I don't agree with your subsequent actions, I can understand... In this world, some people choose to live for others, and some people choose to live for themselves, but
No matter what choice you make, you should not be bound by moral shackles, it is inhumane."
Although this woman named Haitang caused deep harm to Qingche and even affected Qingche's later life to a great extent, looking at the source of the whole incident, this woman was actually a victim.
All it does is a poor woman trying to escape the nightmare that haunts her.
"thank you for understanding."
Haitang didn't think that Li Mengnan's age and experience could truly understand her difficulties back then. He felt that the other party was just a polite consolation, so this thank you was a bit stiff.
"Speaking of which, we can't be considered strangers. Your mother Xiao Hui and I were familiar with each other back then. I have to call her Sister Xiao. Your mother is a good person, and I believe you should also be a good boy..."
The more Li Mengnan heard this, the more uncomfortable he became. He quickly stopped and waved his hands: "Auntie, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. Don't put so many big names on me. I know my own situation very well. Don't say that I am a bad person.
You’ve given me a lot of face, but you definitely can’t be associated with good people.”
Regardless of whether Li Mengnan is good or bad, at least at this moment Haitang can be sure that the other party is definitely a smart person, so there is no need to talk in circles anymore.
"Okay, let me get straight to the point! Have you and Qingche... already had that kind of relationship? You should understand what I mean."
Li Mengnan asked the other party to get straight to the point, but he didn't expect that Haitang would be so direct. Being asked by a mother if he slept with her daughter, even though Li Mengnan was thick-skinned, he felt a little unable to handle it.
Li Mengnan smiled meaningfully and was noncommittal.
He knew that this reaction would give the other party the wrong clues, but it was exactly the result he wanted.
"You...how could you do this?"
Haitang's face turned a little ugly.
"From a legal perspective, sexual relations with girls under the age of fourteen, regardless of whether the girl is willing or not, can be regarded as rape... Auntie, do you need to call the police? I know a policeman with a strong sense of justice. If you have this knowledge
Yes, I believe she will be happy to accept your case."
Li Mengnan also poured himself a cup of tea, holding it in his hand and sipping it slowly. The low-quality tea costing only a few yuan a pound was forced to pretend that he was drinking the best Dahongpao.
Now I come here to ask, what were you doing there in the first place?
Li Mengnan didn't necessarily have to say such sarcastic words, but he really couldn't stand Hai Tang's "I am Qing Che's biological mother" face.
It's understandable to get into the role quickly, but you always have to consider whether others can accept it.
But fortunately, this woman named Haitang still has a certain level of cultivation, and is not the kind of careless shrew. She took a deep breath and calmed down her excited emotions.
"Okay, I admit that I am not qualified to say such things, and I will not pursue this matter, but I hope it will not happen again in the future... Of course, it is unlikely that you will see Qingche again in the future."
Haitang actually knew very well that even if she wanted to hold Li Mengnan accountable, it would be impossible. With her precious daughter's obsession and attachment to him, it was impossible to testify against Li Mengnan in front of the police.
Li Mengnan smiled indifferently, waved his hand to signal Haitang, who sounded angry, to calm down, and said: "Auntie, don't be so absolute. Although you are indeed Qingche's first guardian in the legal sense, after all, you abandoned me in the first place.
Qingche has a criminal record first, so it is still possible for the court to cancel your custody..."
Haitang's face suddenly changed. He clenched his hands unconsciously and said coldly: "What exactly do you want to do? How much money do you want, I can give it to you..."
Although she didn't believe that Li Mengnan had the ability to cancel her custody of Qingche, she knew Qingche's feelings for him very well. If Li Mengnan insisted on not letting Qingche leave, even if she told him to go away, Qingche would never do it.
Leave this man.
"How much can you give me?" Li Mengnan touched his chin playfully. His sparse beard had grown a layer of green stubble, and it seemed like it was time to shave again.
Sure enough, it’s still about money...
Hai Tang sneered, with obvious disdain on his face. It was a pity that Qing Che was not here, otherwise she would have to let Qing Che see the true face of the man in front of her.
"Fifty thousand, this is my personal money. If you want more, you have to wait. I need to call my husband. He is discussing business outside and may not be able to reply to you right away..."
Haitang took out a blank check from the leather wallet he carried with him, put it on the table and pushed it in front of Li Mengnan with his fingers.
Li Mengnan picked up the check and looked at it curiously.
He had only seen this thing often on TV before. It was a gadget used by rich young men to show off. He knew that its function was similar to that of ancient banknotes. Although it was valuable, it could not be spent directly as money.
"This shouldn't be the legendary bad check, right? I don't have much education, so don't lie to me..." Li Mengnan stared at Haitang in confusion.
Haitang was immediately laughed out of anger, and snorted: "You can rest assured, as long as the number you fill in is less than 500,000, you can get the money."
"Well, I believe you." Li Mengnan smiled and suddenly pushed the check back intact.
Haitang was stunned. She couldn't understand why Li Mengnan suddenly acted like this.
"Actually, even if you don't take money, you will always be Qingche's mother. And the fact that you are willing to take so much money to 'buy out' proves that you truly regret your past mistakes and really want to renew this relationship."
I have no reason to stop the love between mother and daughter, and I am really happy for Qingche... Qingche is a very emotional and sensitive girl. I hope you can treat her well this time and don't let her get hurt again.
.”
"By the way, although Qingche and I are not completely innocent, I have never done anything so heartbreaking and animalistic. You can rest assured about this."
Seeing Li Mengnan's expression become serious and solemn, Haitang realized that everything just happened was just a test for her. When she looked at Li Mengnan, her eyes couldn't help but become complicated, as if she was getting to know him again.
"When I left Qingche, I just didn't want her to wander around with me. Now that I have the ability to give her a prosperous life, I can't let her suffer anymore."
Li Mengnan could see that Haitang was sincere when he said this, and she was also very confident. It seemed that this woman had been doing well outside these years.
"You mentioned your husband just now. I would like to ask - have you remarried?"
"I remarried seven years ago." Haitang knew that marital status was an inevitable issue, so he had no intention of hiding it from the beginning. "I know there were rumors that I ran away from home after falling in love with another man.
, in fact, it’s not that personal at all, I just wanted to escape from that home... Later, I met my current husband, a man who truly loves me and doesn’t mind my past. The two of us started from scratch and grew up with each other.
I have been supported step by step till now.”
"I can see that Auntie, you are living a very happy life now." Li Mengnan sighed. Although the first half of his life was a tragedy, in the second half of his life, he was able to meet the right person. This woman named Haitang is considered very lucky.
"It's...ok." Haitang smiled, but it seemed a bit forced, which made Li Mengnan feel a little confused.
By accident, he saw Haitang's mobile phone casually placed on the table when he came in. A thought suddenly flashed through Li Mengnan's mind and he said to the other party: "Auntie, do you mind if I take a look at your mobile phone album?"
Although photos cannot represent the entire life of a person, they can reveal many problems. It's not that Li Mengnan doesn't believe this woman, it's just that he must be responsible for Qingche's future life.
"Uh...there's nothing wrong with that."
Haitang hesitated for a moment and handed the phone to Li Mengnan. Anyway, it contained some things she usually took casually, nothing shameful.
At her age, it is impossible for her to take those excessive private photos like young people nowadays.
Probably because of his age, Haitang doesn't seem to know how to upload photos to online photo albums for backup, and almost all the photos are stored on his mobile phone.
Although there are many photos, the things taken are very monotonous. They are basically just group photos of people, and there are very few landscape photos. It can be seen that this woman is still a traditional housewife at heart, and is not very keen on traveling.
This is surprisingly similar to Qing Che. A small family is everything in their lives. Like mother, like daughter.
In these photos, a middle-aged man who is slightly fat and slightly bald frequently appears. Judging from the frequency of appearance, positioning, interaction expressions and other aspects, he should be Haitang's current husband, Qingche is about to meet
The right stepfather.
As the saying goes, face comes from the heart. Although Li Mengnan doesn't understand the tricks of the fortune-teller family, he can still feel some deep things from a person's temperament.
This man may not be easy to talk to, but his eyes are upright and he is definitely a decent man.
Li Mengnan suddenly noticed a strange photo. The bright color of this photo was obviously different from other photos in the album, and the pixel resolution was also quite blurry. It seemed to be a remake of an old photo.
In addition to Haitang and her current husband, there is also a boy about five or six years old in the photo. His appearance is very similar to the two of them, and there should be some kind of close blood relationship.
"this……"
"This boy is the child of me and my current husband. He was born in the second year after we got married." Haitang seemed to have guessed that Li Mengnan would definitely ask this question.
"Where is this child now?" Li Mengnan raised his head and stared at Hai Tang's face.
Haitang did not expect that Li Mengnan would be so sharp. There was a trace of bitterness in his expression, and he shook his head and said: "Died in a sudden car accident. This is the last photo of the child and us..."
Li Mengnan nodded thoughtfully, returned the phone to Haitang, crossed his fingers to support his chin, and asked, "Is there a reason why you want to pick up Qing Che?"
Haitang looked surprised again. After a moment, he lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect that Sister Xiao would have such a shrewd son like you. It seems that I can't hide anything from you... Yes, I came to pick up Qingche and it is indeed related to this matter.
It has a certain relationship, but I can assure you that we are definitely not using Qingche as a substitute for our original child."
Li Mengnan shrugged noncommittally and motioned for Haitang to continue.
"At first, my husband didn't know that I had a child. I was afraid that he would have a grudge, so I didn't dare to tell him until we got married... Later, when our child was born, he always told me that he wanted to have another girl.
We both have children. At that time, I had the idea of telling him the truth. If he could accept it, I would take Qingche over to live with us... Later, our child was gone..."
Speaking of this, Haitang's tone suddenly became lower. Even after many years, she still couldn't completely get out of that shadow.
"Since that incident, my husband and I have been depressed for a long time. He has been focusing on his career and wants to use work to forget the pain of losing a child... It took about three years like this, and we finally accepted it.
Due to this fact, I planned to have another child, but after a checkup, I discovered that my husband could no longer get me pregnant.
A home without children is incomplete, and my husband is a person who loves children very much. After the test results came out, he was very depressed and even thought about using sperm from a sperm bank for in vitro fertilization... Later, I
I confessed to him about Qingche, and not only did he not blame me for hiding it, he also seemed very happy and asked me to bring Qingche back to live together."
Haitang's explanation finally solved Li Mengnan's last doubt.
No man would be willing to raise a child of his woman's ex-husband, but if the man has no children of his own and cannot have children, then that's a different matter.
Anyway, there are children who have no blood relationship with him. A docile beautiful girl who has grown to half-mature age is better than a strange thing who doesn't know what kind of alien shape he will grow into in the future.
At this moment, Qing Che opened the door and walked in from the outside. He unpacked the cigarettes he bought and handed them to Li Mengnan. He sat next to the two of them, patted the snowflakes on his head, and smoked it on his red little hands.
He said: "It's actually snowing outside. When I was buying cigarettes, I heard the weather forecast on TV saying that the snow will fall until tomorrow morning, and then we can build a big snowman..."
"Auntie, have you booked your flight back?" Now that Qing Che is back, Li Mengnan naturally finds it inconvenient to continue the previous topic.
Haitang also understood what Li Mengnan meant, shook his head and said: "Because I wasn't sure what Qing Che meant before, and I haven't decided when to go back."
"Then book your flight tickets for the morning of tomorrow. Tomorrow you and Qingche will have a good day in Sanshan City. When you return to the south, I'm afraid it will be difficult to see snow."
"Yeah, I haven't seen snow like this for ten years."
Li Mengnan's words brought back Haitang's memories of the past. Looking at the white catkins flying in the sky outside the glass door, he felt a mixture of emotions in his heart.
After going to the bar to pay the bill, Li Mengnan turned back and said, "Okay, it's getting late. Auntie, where do you live? I'll drive you back."
"Did you drive here?" Haitang then noticed that what Li Mengnan took out of his pocket was actually a car key.
Li Mengnan didn't pay much attention to his clothing and image, and coupled with the embarrassing impression of the Xiao family, Haitang never thought that Li Mengnan was also a car owner.
"There is a yellow car parked at the intersection on the east side of the one-way street. Auntie, you should have seen it when you came here."
"Is that Chevrolet Camaro your car?"
Haitang was really surprised this time. If it was just an ordinary business car, it might have been rented by the other party to show off, but a nearly brand-new sports car could obviously only belong to him.
No wonder he could still remain calm and composed when faced with a check of half a million yuan. It seemed that he still underestimated this young man.
Li Mengnan smiled slightly. Sure enough, it was the right thing to drive here today. It felt good to be able to pretend to be B.
"Then please take us back to the hotel." Hai Tang stood up and took Qing Che's hand.
"We?" Qingche noticed that his mother used a special plural quantifier. He glanced at Li Mengnan, bit his lip and said, "Mom, please go back to the hotel. I... want to go home and spend the last night."
"Home?"
Haitang was stunned for a moment before he realized that the "home" Qingche mentioned was referring to her current residence. Then he looked at his daughter's panicked eyes, then looked at Li Mengnan, and suddenly seemed to understand something.
Sure enough, this little girl is not going to give up until she is given away to be eaten dry...