"Four years ago, Zhang Qiu almost killed Shi Feng in her attempt to take revenge on him," Liu Ning said, her conviction growing with each word.
"Now, she's even more deranged. Seeing Shi Feng doing better and better, envy and jealousy have consumed her. Since her own son is gone, she wants to ruin someone else's son."
It was not an unfounded speculation. Four years ago, Zhang Qiu's first target was Youyou. Her reason was simple: since her son, Xu Jia, was no longer alive, why should Xu Tingyu be able to give birth to a son? So she wanted to kill Youyou to make Xu Tingyu feel her pain. But in the end, Qi Shifeng took the knife for Youyou.
Recently, Xu Tingyu had returned to the country and established a close mother - child relationship with Youyou. Zhang Qiu must be even more jealous. She was a crazy woman, and it was quite normal for her to carry out such a crazy act of revenge.
Moreover, Zhang Qiu knew the Qi family well. It was highly possible that she had spent the past four years feigning madness to carry out her revenge. And most importantly, Zhang Qiu was Youyou's grandmother. It was normal for Youyou to follow her obediently.
Qi Ruixi was reluctant to accept this answer and retorted, "But Youyou has never had any contact with Zhang Qiu since he was born. He doesn't even know who she is. Why would he go with her?"
Qi Shifeng was very careful about the people Youyou came into contact with. How could he let Youyou meet someone who had once tried to kill him? Keeping Zhang Qiu in the nursing home was not out of any affection Qi Shifeng had for her. It was simply for Xu Tingyu's sake.
"How do you know Zhang Qiu and Youyou have never had contact? And even if they hadn't before, what if she used Xu Tingyu's name to deceive him?" Liu Ning glared at Qi Ruixi.
At this critical moment, her daughter was still taking the side of the Xu family. The Xu family were all crazy people, demons from hell. What couldn't they do?
Qi Ruixi fell silent. This possibility couldn't be ruled out. Zhang Qiu was Xu Tingyu's mother. If she tried every means to coax Youyou, how could a four - year - old child tell the difference?
Seeing Qi Ruixi's silence, Liu Ning was even more convinced. "It must be her. She wants to take revenge on our Qi family. She wants my son to pay for her son's life. Since she couldn't kill Youyou, she's been scheming to kill Shi Feng."
"That bitch. We should have let her rot in jail back then. Your second brother was just too soft - hearted, and that's why he's in this situation now." She was filled with anger just thinking about Zhang Qiu.
At this moment, Jiang Li couldn't help but interject. "Ms. Zhang doesn't have much money. She probably couldn't have arranged such a meticulous plan."
A lot of things required money to be accomplished. For example, to ensure that the people working for her had no second thoughts and would obey her completely. Kidnapping was a serious crime. Only a generous reward would tempt someone to take the risk.
Jiang Li had contact with Zhang Qiu a few times a year to check on her situation in the hospital. So he knew that Zhang Qiu didn't have much money. Without money, no one would help her. How could she have arranged all this?
They had already mobilized so many people to search, but there were very few clues. This indicated that everything had been perfectly covered up. This was not something that could be achieved simply by being careful.
Liu Ning completely ignored these points and rolled her eyes at him. "You don't analyze when you should, and you spout nonsense when you shouldn't."
"She may not have money, but doesn't Xu Tingyu? I heard her asking Xu Tingyu for money with my own ears. She wanted all of Xu Tingyu's property."
She had heard that Xu Tingyu was quite wealthy now. And since Xu Tingyu was living abroad, who knew what kind of desperadoes she had befriended?
"I think there's another possibility. Maybe all of this was a joint effort by the mother and daughter. They wanted to kill my son to take revenge.
"Then that little bitch Xu Tingyu could take Youyou away. I knew she had no good intentions when she came back. She's been up to no good." Liu Ning got angrier as she spoke.
"She's always wanted custody of Youyou. This time she came back, saying it was for some performance, but she must have come for the custody.
"Shi Feng would never give Youyou's custody to her. So she simply staged this whole drama just to take Youyou away."
She knew that there was no one good in the Xu family. Getting close to them would only bring misfortune. For the past four years, Qi Shifeng had been fine. Why did all these things start happening as soon as Xu Tingyu came back?
Qi Ruixi began to have some doubts after hearing her mother, but she still didn't believe that Xu Tingyu could be so ruthless. "Sister really likes second brother. I can tell that there's feelings between them."
Xu Tingyu was a strong - willed person, but her heart was soft. It was obvious that she loved Qi Shifeng. Otherwise, why hadn't she developed a new relationship over the years?
"Sister loves Youyou so much. How could she kill Youyou's father? Mom, don't scare people with unfounded remarks."
Xu Tingyu's heart was full of love for this father - son pair. How could she kill the child's father just for custody? And she had publicly expressed her gratitude to Qi Shifeng more than once. She thought Qi Shifeng had raised Youyou very well. She had been away for four years, but Youyou still loved her. This was all Qi Shifeng's credit.
"How am I scaring people with unfounded remarks? If something really happens to Shi Feng, Youyou will be his only heir.
"She can not only get custody of Youyou but also smoothly inherit all of your brother's estate.
"People change, especially someone who has gone through so much. Her desire for money will exceed everything else."
Liu Ning knew a bit about Xu Tingyu's situation abroad. She knew that after Xu Tingyu went abroad, the old man hadn't given her any money, and she had had a tough time.
A person like this, after struggling back up, would be so greedy for money that it could wipe out their humanity.
"She must have had these motives from the start. Otherwise, why did your brother have an accident as soon as she came back?
"Youyou had grown up by your brother's side for so long without being kidnapped. Why did he disappear as soon as he went to the Xu family's old house?
"I think it was all premeditated. That little bitch hates your brother and our Qi family, so she wants to destroy us.
"Finally choosing to do all this at the Xu family's old house is just to tell us that this is the Xu family's revenge."
Liu Ning got more and more excited, as if she had already determined that this was the truth.
Although Qi Ruixi didn't believe that Xu Tingyu was such a person, she couldn't find the words to refute her mother for a moment.
Hearing this, Jiang Li began to waver. Yes, Zhang Qiu didn't have money, but Xu Tingyu did. And she had lived abroad for four years, even in the worst and most chaotic slums. No one knew who she had met during that time.
She probably hated Qi Shifeng too, hated him for not helping the Xu family, and hated him for everything he had done to her before. So Liu Ning's speculations were not impossible.
Maybe her return was not a rebirth but a return for revenge.
"I'll call the nursing home now," he said with a solemn face and then called the nursing home in front of everyone.
It was getting late, and the phone rang twice before it was answered. When they heard he was looking for Zhang Qiu, the person on the other end said, "Ms. Zhang applied for home - based care this month, so she's not here right now."