She was tricked into marriage for three years, then remarried a childless, tough guy and became preg

Li Meihua reached under Shen Tang's pillow and touched the envelope.

She glanced at it quickly; it was a thick stack of money.

She opened her eyes wide in shock, then quickly stuffed the envelope back in and hurried back to her bed.

She couldn't calm down for a long time.

Where did Shen Tang get so much money?

The money was given to her by Zhou Nan. Why did Zhou Nan give her money? Who was the man Geng Yan saw? What is his relationship with Shen Tang?

One question after another popped into Li Meihua's mind.

She took a deep breath.

Shen Tang and Huo Xiuyuan are getting married soon. However, the chief is currently away, so their marriage application cannot be approved yet.

She still has time.

She needed to find out Shen Tang's secret as soon as possible; the money must have come from an illegitimate source!

The next day was a day of rest for the cultural troupe.

Li Meihua returned home, called her mother Zhang Guiying, and invited Geng Yan to go to the dock together.

Every morning, fishing boats return from the sea to the pier, laden with seafood—all kinds of fish, shrimp, and crabs, lively and jumping around.

The fish and shrimp here come in all shapes and sizes and are of various kinds, but they are cheap and fresh. That's why many people get up early to buy seafood here.

Li Meihua's mother, Zhang Guiying, stared intently at the seafood in the basket, while Li Meihua and Geng Yan stood aside whispering to each other.

"Did you see that?" Li Meihua asked.

"No, let me look again. There are too many people, and it's not easy for me to keep an eye on everything," Geng Yan said in a low voice.

"Hey newbie, bring that basket down from the boat, hurry up! They're waiting to pick some." The boat owner's gruff voice rang out.

"Okay," Chen Zhongyi replied, carrying a basket of seafood off the boat and placing it on the ground.

Geng Yan hurriedly tugged at Li Meihua's sleeve and frantically winked at her.

Li Meihua's face lit up with joy, and she stepped forward to greet him, "Master, you look familiar. Where are you from?"

Zhang Guiying was squatting on the ground selecting small fish when she heard Li Meihua's voice and looked up.

When she saw Chen Zhongyi, her expression turned to shock.

Chen Zhongyi glanced at Li Meihua and said in a muffled voice, "You're mistaken."

He turned and boarded the boat.

"Master, wait a moment..." Li Meihua continued to ask something.

Zhang Guiying grabbed her arm, frowning, and asked, "How do you know him? Do you even know who he is?"

"Mom, do you know him?" Li Meili asked Zhang Guiying with surprise.

"Let's go, we'll talk about it when we get home."

Zhang Guiying tugged at Li Meihua's sleeve, and kept muttering to herself all the way:

"Don't talk to strangers when you're out. Do you know how dangerous that is? You can't judge a book by its cover, do you hear me?"

"Mom, who exactly is he?"

Li Meihua couldn't listen to Zhang Guiying's words at all; all she wanted to know was who the man was and what his relationship was with Shen Tang.

Geng Yan left halfway through; she didn't want to get involved in any more trouble. Li Meihua winked at her, "Don't worry, I'll give you two extra points in this assessment."

Geng Yan nodded. "Be careful, Shen Tang is not easy to deal with."

"Okay." Li Meihua pulled her mother, Zhang Guiying, and quickly went home.

"Mom, Mom, tell me quickly, who is that man?" Li Meihua pressed for an answer.

Zhang Guiying's face darkened. "Why are you asking about him?"

"I felt like I'd seen him somewhere before."

Zhang Guiying frowned. "You were only three years old then, how could you possibly remember?"

"I saw him when I was a child?!" Li Meihua became even more curious about the man's identity.

After much persuasion, Zhang Guiying finally spoke.

"Back then, when our cultural troupe was performing for the local people in Hexi Town, we borrowed their venue. We stayed in the same courtyard as the opera troupe."

In the opera troupe, there was a young female lead named Liu Yue. She was beautiful, with bright hair, white teeth, and a graceful figure. A local bully took a liking to her, forced her to perform in his courtyard, and then raped her.

"Alas," Zhang Guiying sighed, "Liu Yue wanted to end her life, but she had a child, a child who was only one year old."

"Liu Yue endured the humiliation and continued to perform on stage. But the bully was not satisfied and continued to humiliate Liu Yue. Feeling utterly ashamed, Liu Yue jumped into the river and drowned."

"What does that have to do with the man at the dock? Is he the bully?" Li Meihua asked hurriedly.

Zhang Guiying shook her head. "The man at the dock was named Chen Zhongyi, and he was Liu Yue's husband. He was originally a worker in the opera troupe. That year, his hometown was flooded, and he suffered a disaster. He went back to his hometown to bury his elderly mother. By the time he returned, Liu Yue was already dead."

Li Meihua fell silent and listened quietly.

"That night, the bully was killed and chopped into mincemeat. When the police arrived, several vicious dogs were gnawing on the corpse."

Li Meihua frowned. "That's ruthless. Did Chen Zhongyi escape?"

Zhang Guiying shook her head. "He didn't run away; he turned himself in."

Zhang Guiying sighed, "When a person is pushed to the limit, they're capable of anything. We went to see it, and we had nightmares for days afterward; the scene was terrifying."

Li Meihua thought for a moment, then asked, "What about their children?"

"I don't know. Chen Zhongyi was arrested and imprisoned, and his child is gone too. Some say he was killed in retaliation by the tyrant's henchmen, others say he was kidnapped in the chaos. Who knows!"

"Chen Zhongyi went to prison, and the bully's henchmen wanted to avenge their boss, but Chen Zhongyi's family had long since died."

"Is the child a boy or a girl?" Li Meihua asked.

"The girl was very beautiful, with fair skin, like a jade sculpture. What a pity..."

Li Meihua fell silent, lost in thought.

Zhang Guiying glanced at her and said, "Why are you asking these questions? That's strange."

"It's nothing." Li Meihua stood up and went back into the house.

She sat at the table and wrote down several names.

Shen Tang, Chen Zhongyi, Liu Yue, Shen Qingshan

She had inquired around and learned that Shen Tang's father, Shen Qingshan, drove a truck. Was it possible...?

Li Meihua's eyes lit up—

Shen Tang is not Shen Qingshan's biological daughter!

What if Shen Tang is that child? She was taken away by Shen Qingshan, a truck driver, so no one knows where the child went.

Before committing the murder, Chen Zhongyi may have entrusted the child to Shen Qingshan, who then concealed her background for the child's safety.

Li Meihua became more and more certain the more she thought about it.

Shen Tang is the child of a murderer!

Once the relationship between Shen Tang and Shen Qingshan is confirmed, she will no longer be able to stay in the performing arts troupe, and it will be even more impossible for her to marry Huo Xiuyuan!

Li Meihua became more and more excited as she thought about it.

But where is the evidence?

By the way, a blood relationship test can be performed.

She needs to find a way to get the test samples from both of them. Shen Tang's sample is easy to get, but how can she get Chen Zhongyi's?

Li Meihua got up and went out the door.

"Where are you going? Dinner's almost ready," Zhang Guiying asked, looking up from the stove.

"I'm not eating anymore, I'm going back to the performing arts troupe," Li Meihua said as she left.