A female protagonist who suffers abuse in a novel? I'm flipping the table and going crazy on th

Lu Chengxuan was young and afraid of being beaten, so he always obediently did his work and dared not disobey in the slightest. His life was slightly better than his father's. Although he was not punished or beaten, the high-intensity physical labor day after day was exhausting and brought him to the brink of collapse.

Lu Zhenhua looked at the two of them with disdain.

He got straight to the point: "The reason I called you here today is about the Lu family's company."

"We need to raise 2 billion to buy back all of Wen Qi's shares. We're still short 500 million. Zhenbang, you and your son still have some assets and real estate; sell them off as soon as possible to raise the money."

Lu Zhenbang, who had been listless, looked up, now anxious: "You want me to sell my family's assets?"

Lu Chengxuan also disagreed: "Uncle, this is absolutely unacceptable."

Their family was not as wealthy as Lu Zhenhua's, and they didn't have much liquid capital.

Only a fool would agree to sell all their remaining properties and assets and empty their pockets to pave the way for Lu Zhenhua.

Lu Zhenhua had anticipated this, and calmly guided them, painting a rosy picture: "You should broaden your horizons and not just focus on immediate gains and losses."

We're all family; let's work together to raise money to buy back the shares and stabilize the Lu family's foundation.

Once I have fully acquired the shares and the turmoil has subsided, I will allocate a portion of the repurchased shares to your branch of the family.

"By then, you'll hold company shares and receive dividends year after year, which is far more reliable than holding onto several properties."

The rhetoric of "drawing a pie in the sky" was flawless, making it sound like the future was bright and full of benefits.

Lu Zhenbang and his son's eyes flickered slightly, and after some thought, they were indeed somewhat shaken.

Grandpa Lu pressed his advantage, adopting the authority of an elder, and ordered, "You two should think this through carefully."

Unless the shares are bought back, Wen Qi will continue to hold the Lu family's lifeline, making it impossible for Ji Sheng to completely sever ties with her and successfully divorce her.

If Jisheng can't get a divorce, our Lu family will never have a peaceful life.

These past few days, ask yourselves honestly, in your current state, how many more days can you grit your teeth and persevere?

Lu Zhenhua and Lu Chengxuan remained silent.

These days are like hellish torture; I live in agony every day.

If I stay any longer, I'll die in this old house.

The father and son exchanged a glance and instantly understood each other's thoughts.

Lu Zhenbang sighed deeply and agreed, "Fine... I'll sell."

Lu Zhenhua breathed a sigh of relief: "That's right. A family should stand together through thick and thin and get through this difficult time together. Once we get through this, we will definitely not treat you unfairly."

Grandpa Lu also breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease.

The second son's family owns quite a few properties; ten days should be enough to gather them all.

Ten days... Just thinking about having to suffer for another ten days makes each day feel like an eternity.

Dongcheng West Corner District.

West Corner is also a villa area.

However, this area consists of old, affluent neighborhoods.

Many villas are empty, and only some elderly people live there.

Gu Ting stayed here all night.

He trusted Wen Qi completely from the bottom of his heart.

Since Wen Qi was certain that his mother was here, he was absolutely certain that he was not mistaken.

For him, simply staying here, being closer to his mother, is good enough.

After a night of waiting, fragmented memories of the past flooded back.

From the time he was seven years old, his father repeatedly told him that his mother was seriously ill and needed to rest in a sterile room for a long time.

For years afterward, every time he visited the sanatorium, he could only gaze at it from afar through a thick layer of soundproof glass.

At the age of thirteen, he excelled academically and went abroad for a half-semester exchange program.

When Gu Cheng returned, he told him the news of his mother's death.

Gu Cheng told him that his mother passed away peacefully.

His mother was afraid that it would interfere with his studies, so she specifically instructed everyone to keep the news from him.

Not being able to see her mother one last time became a deep-seated regret for Gu Ting for many years.

However, as one grows older and more matures, and upon reviewing the whole incident, numerous loopholes and strange doubts emerge.

Everything was too coincidental, so coincidental it seemed deliberate, so coincidental it seemed fake.

Many years later, the clues from back then have been erased.

He searched through everyone he knew, but could not find a single piece of evidence.

Rumbling--

The sound of heavy machinery engines grew louder as it approached.

Gu Ting snapped out of his daze and looked up in the direction from which the sound came.

A large convoy of heavy construction vehicles approached from not far away.

Several excavators, followed by crushers and demolition machines, formed a complete professional demolition team.

Gu Ting got out of the car and stood by the roadside to watch.

A black sedan drove out from behind the convoy and stopped on the side of the road.

The car door opened, and Wen Qi stepped out.

Gu Ting looked at her and went to greet her: "Miss Wen, this is...?"

Wen Qi: "Professional demolition expert."

"...?"

Gu Ting was stunned.

Wen Qi: "I don't know the location of the dark room, but I'll find it."

"..."

Gu Ting hadn't finished digesting it yet.

Wen Qi is now fully engaged in her work.

They ushered the demolition workers into the villa.

"Listen carefully to the construction requirements. Work precisely. All non-load-bearing walls, mezzanines, partitions, and false walls must be demolished."

The focus of the inspection should be on wall gaps, basement mezzanines, attic hidden compartments, and secret rooms; any structures with hollows, gaps, or signs of artificial alteration should be prioritized for dismantling.

"it is good."

The dozen or so people were all veteran demolition workers with over a decade of experience.

Demolition of houses is something that requires professional expertise.

Extremely experienced, with ears that have long been trained to perfection, it can be called a living wall detector.

Ordinary walls are solid cement brick walls, and the sound of knocking on or dismantling them is dull and heavy, with a solid texture.

The sound will be completely different if the wall is hollow, has hidden layers, or has gaps in the dark room; the subtle differences are easy to distinguish.

The machines roared to life, and the experienced workers began their work.

The gate was pushed down.

The machines roared, and the workers had clear divisions of labor and worked together seamlessly. Some were responsible for knocking to locate the problem, some for meticulously demolishing the wall, some for clearing the rubble, and some for checking for blind spots.

Although Gu Ting was surprised, he inexplicably felt that Wen Qi was very reliable.

Wen Qiyu: "Don't worry, it's a sure thing, we'll definitely find it."

Looking at the massive demolition scene before him, Gu Ting felt a sense of relief.

"Wen Qi?"

Wen Qi turned her head to look when she heard the sound.

"Wen Qi, is that really you?"

Su Xinghe jogged over.

Wen Qi looked at Su Xinghe approaching, his hair disheveled and flying in all directions.

The collar was torn, the clothes were crooked and wrinkled all over.

What's most striking is the several clear and bright nail marks on his fair and handsome face.

The red marks are fresh and hot, crisscrossing and uniquely shaped.

Wen Qi saw the fingernail marks and chuckled, "What happened to you?"

Su Xinghe was somewhat embarrassed: "I got into a little conflict with someone, we got into a fight, and I just caught a glimpse of you through the car window, so I came over to check on you."

"A fight?" Wen Qi raised an eyebrow, her eyes scanning him up and down. "Are you sure you weren't just being ganged up on?"

Su Xinghe rubbed his nose and turned to look at the bustling demolition site: "So, you're going to tear down this villa and rebuild it?"

Wen Qi: "No, I'm looking for Mr. Gu's mother."

Su Xinghe: "???"

Demolish the house? Find Mom?

These two completely unrelated things have come together: a physical search for relatives?

Gu Ting remained silent.

Wen Qi: "It's a long story, but to put it simply, it's about finding my relatives."

"..."

Searching for relatives?

When others search for their relatives: they visit clues, examine traces, deduce step by step, and carefully investigate.

Wen Qi's search for her family: Must she dig three feet into the ground?

It's outrageous, absurd, and utterly speechless.

Su Xinghe looked at Wen Qi as if she were a lunatic.

He took a few steps toward Gu Ting: "What's wrong?"

Gu Ting: "Looking for relatives."

Su Xinghe turned his head and frowned at him.

He looked completely speechless.

Who goes looking for relatives like this?

Excavators roared, raising a light dust as the workers performed their duties with great professionalism, dismantling walls and clearing spaces.

Throughout the morning, the demolition work proceeded steadily and in an orderly manner, with the non-load-bearing walls of the old buildings being precisely dismantled.

Wen Qi constantly monitors the construction progress.

Throughout the entire process, Gu Ting felt uneasy, anxious, expectant, and somewhat afraid.

As houses were demolished and every nook and cranny was cleared away, he grew increasingly anxious.

Seeing that no one was saying anything, Su Xinghe just stared blankly.

He wanted to see how they would find their relatives.

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was afternoon.

Just as everyone was methodically dismantling the basement, the construction worker suddenly stopped and shouted, "There's something wrong here! The sound down there is off; it's hollow!"

Upon hearing the sound, Wen Qi and the others immediately stepped forward: "Operate carefully, open it slowly."

Several workers immediately switched to smaller tools and began chiseling away small areas of the floor tiles and cement.

Half an hour later, a section of the ground was dug open, revealing complete darkness below.

The entrance was exposed, and a damp, musty smell hit you immediately.

Wen Qi composed herself, looked down, and turned to the group of demolition workers, saying, "Stop work for now, you can all leave."

The demolition team members were all smart people who got paid to do their jobs. Seeing Wen Qi's serious expression, they didn't dare to delay for even a moment.

Su Xinghe craned his neck to look down: "Wow, could there be some treasure down there?"

Wen Qi reached out and pulled him aside: "You go out too."

Su Xinghe had intended to stay and lend a hand, but when he looked up and met Wen Qi's gaze, he obediently followed the group.

The noisy roar of the machines stopped, and the crowd dispersed.

Next to the dark room, only Wen Qi and Gu Ting remained.

Gu Ting looked at the dark room, her feelings a mixture of tension and fear.

Wen Qi reached out and patted his shoulder.

While others were unaware of the inside story, Wen Qi knew it all perfectly well.

In her original book, there were very few scenes about Gu Ting's mother, Jiang Shining, only mentioning her briefly with the eight words "tortured and imprisoned, a horrific sight".

Behind those eight seemingly insignificant words lies years of imprisonment in darkness.

The endless torment and devastation are a hell that outsiders can never glimpse.

Beneath Gu Cheng's refined and scholarly exterior lies a twisted, perverse, and scheming nature.

Otherwise, he would never have tormented his wife and kept the deception a secret for decades.

Wen Qi looked at Gu Ting, giving him ample space without disturbing him further.

Gu Ting's Adam's apple bobbed, and he bent down and jumped down into the hole.

Wen Qi jumped down as well.

The dark room wasn't very large, but the scene that came into view was enough to make one's heart tremble and one's scalp tingle.

Various kinds of instruments of restraint and torture were scattered around the corners, walls, and iron racks.

Just a glance from them is enough to send chills down your spine and make your heart pound; it's hard to imagine the torment the people here endure year after year.

Gu Ting's body trembled slightly uncontrollably, and all his muscles tensed up.

His gaze swept quickly across the dimly lit room, landing on a narrow inner door on the left side of the dark room. The door had no door panel.

Gu Ting walked heavily toward the small door, where the scene inside was completely exposed and crashed into his eyes.

In the cramped cubicle, against the wall, a woman huddled weakly in the corner, her figure thin and emaciated, just skin and bones. Her long hair was messy and dry, falling freely and covering most of her face.

His clothes were tattered and torn, barely covering his body, which was covered in scars.

The exposed ankle was firmly locked in place by a heavy, dark electronic ankle bracelet.

Gu Ting choked on his breath, his eyes instantly turning red.

Even if you were mentally prepared, even if you knew in advance all the horrors.

Witnessing this scene with my own eyes, my heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife.

Wen Qi witnessed this scene firsthand and was also shocked.

It's hard to tell whether a respectable-looking person is a human or a ghost.

Jiang Shining, who was in the corner, had already noticed something was wrong when the demolition machines roared and the walls were being torn down outside.

Ten years of imprisonment had made her accustomed to the silent environment.

She was highly vigilant at the slightest disturbance.

Not knowing what was happening outside, she instinctively curled up her thin body and stared warily at the door.

His eyes, which had been deprived of sunlight for years, had become cloudy and dull.

Gu Ting trembled all over, even though the person's hair covered most of their face, and even though they hadn't seen each other for more than ten years.

He recognized her at first glance.

"mom……"

With a hoarse, choked voice, Gu Ting stumbled forward.

He knelt down in front of Jiang Shining, his hands trembling as he grasped hers.

Jiang Shining trembled, as if awakened by that familiar call.

The murky, lifeless eyes suddenly twitched, and a glimmer of light appeared in their dim depths.

She stiffly raised her eyelids, staring fixedly at the young man kneeling in front of her, her eyes instantly reddening.

She grasped Gu Ting's hand in return, and the real touch made her realize that this was not a dream.

Gu Ting's eyes were blurred with tears: "Mom, it's me, Ting. It's me, Gu Ting."

"Ah Ting... Xiao Bao..."

Jiang Shining's lips were dry and cracked, moving slightly, her voice weak and trembling, almost incoherent.

"Mom, it's me."

Jiang Shining's muddled thoughts cleared, and she stretched out her withered hand with trembling hands.

He stroked Gu Ting's cheek, choking back tears as he murmured, "I...am I dreaming? A-Ting, it really is you...my little treasure..."

"It's not a dream, Mom, it's not a dream." Gu Ting raised her hand to cover the hand that was stroking her cheek.

Jiang Shining thought that she would be trapped in this tiny hell for the rest of her life, and that she would never have the chance to see her son again.

I never imagined I would be able to hug my grown-up son again.

Gu Ting wanted to hug his mother tightly, his gaze sweeping over her body covered in wounds and her thin, tattered clothes.

Feeling her stiff and weak state, I dared not exert any force.

"Mom, don't be afraid, I'll take you out, I'll take you to the hospital for treatment."

Jiang Shining released him, very nervously saying, "I can't leave."

"mom?"

"Ah Ting, these leg irons have a tracking function." Jiang Shining's voice was tense, concealing her fear: "If I move even the slightest bit, Gu Cheng will receive an alarm immediately, and he'll rush over right away."