Bright sunlight pours in from rows of floor-to-ceiling windows. Under the bright morning light, Li Li showed a thoughtful expression.
After a long while, she considered her words and said: "I was born in a business family, and my family has some ancestral property. Later, thanks to my father's management, the family business became more prosperous... This may be suspected of showing off, but frankly In other words, the assets I personally hold are quite rare among my peers. And I am not the only child in the family. I have an eldest brother and a half-sister."
Hearing this, Zhou Yu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly. Li Li, who noticed the change in his expression, immediately smiled.
"I can guess what you are thinking, Mr. Zhou Yu." She said immediately, "A wealthy family, three wives and four concubines, and children of different mothers fighting against each other. This is a traditional drama. There is nothing new under the sun. But I am You guarantee that my father was not that...sexually casual. My biological mother died of cancer, and it was not until then that my father met his second wife, my sister's mother. To be fair, She is an unforgettable beauty, Mr. Zhou Yu, if you don’t mind, I think she looks a lot like Ms. Zhou Yu.”
"Are you referring to appearance?"
"No, in terms of appearance, Ophelia is a mixed-race lady with very obvious Caucasian ancestry. However, the wonderful thing is that she has a very classical poet temperament, which made my father crazy about her for a time. Less than a month after they met, I fell in love. It was less than a year after my biological mother passed away, and my brother and I were both under six years old. You can imagine the uproar this caused in my biological mother's family. Despite the tremendous pressure, my father remained stubborn and insisted on The couple entered into marriage. A year after their marriage, Ophelia became pregnant."
When she said this, she wiggled her fingers casually, as if she was driving away flying mosquitoes and flies.
"This matter undoubtedly has a significant impact on the stakeholders. They tried every means to cause Ophelia to miscarry, made my father sign a pledge of heirship, and even arranged for a popular actress to meet my father - we can learn about the specific process. Omitted. In short, it was all in vain. Ophelia seemed to be protected by the gods, cleverly avoiding all kinds of conspiracies, and successfully gave birth to my sister Li Xu. However, at the time of delivery, One night, she died very suddenly."
"...Is it difficult to give birth? Or is it a man-made accident?"
"I'm afraid it's neither."
Facing Zhou Yu's strange gaze, Li Li showed her contemplative smile again. After a while, she said: "Ophelia is not the only one who died, Mr. Zhou Yu. At that time, all the medical staff in the ward , they all died tragically. I did not use the word 'kill' because the ward was completely closed at that time. My father and relatives personally waited outside the door the whole time, and no one could enter the delivery room under their eyes. The murder was committed. According to the information I found later, the cause of death of all the deceased, including Ophelia, was abdominal cavity burst, and the cause could not even be identified. The only person who survived at that time was my sister Li Xu. In order to protect her, my father used his personal connections to silence the hospital, paid heavy compensation to the family of the deceased, and bribed newspapers that knew about it. The matter has been hidden from the public eye since then."
Li Li said these words in an extremely neutral tone, and it was difficult to discern her positive or negative attitude in her words. Despite this, Zhou Yu still felt faintly dissatisfied in his heart, especially when he heard the part about covering up the death incident, he was filled with some kind of anger that he could not describe.
In order to cover up this sudden emotion, he tried his best to say in a calm tone: "In that case, how did you know about it? Your father should not be willing to mention this kind of thing to you."
"This is because you lack personal experience, Mr. Zhou Yu. In a big family, your secrets can be hidden from your wife and husband, but not from your servants. They will clean your study, store your clothes, and listen to you In their eyes, you are both a paid master and an entertainer. There is nothing they can’t find out. And I was only six years old at the time, and no one cared what children of this age thought. So when I dumped It is very easy to collect intelligence when you are running around your own home without the nannies. And after listening to the rumors in the mansion, I have to admit that human imagination is not as rich as praised in the book. Some people are just following the routine. For example, they think that Ophelia was subjected to some kind of sinister trick to lower her head by my mother's family, or that my sister Li Xuxu has some kind of extremely evil fate. I don't think so. I was really curious, so I managed to avoid the surveillance of the servants and sneaked to the nursery to see the rumored orphan. For the first time, I realized that newborn babies are really disappointingly ugly, even Ophelia's Daughters are not exempt from vulgarity."
When Li Li said this, "Tiger" suddenly let out a muffled laugh. He ignored Zhou Yu's surprised gaze and took out a bottle of whiskey from under the counter and started drinking.
"I didn't hire you to consume excess alcohol, Kudzu-chan."
"Recreation time, boss." He replied with narrowed eyes. "When someone starts telling a story, I have to have a drink or two."
Li Li knocked on the armrest of the chair, and finally seemed to decide to compromise. She still did not shy away from the existence of "tiger" and continued to say calmly: "I swear to you, Mr. Zhou Yu, even though her birth was full of ominousness, I still love my sister deeply. I have been watching her grow from a baby She turned into a child, and then a girl. When her facial features were fully grown, I was surprised to find that she was a complete replica of Ophelia, without inheriting any of my father's appearance. I have seen many children who look like their parents. But Li Xu and Ophelia, they look so much like each other that it makes my hair stand on end. As she grows older, I begin to fear that she will suffer the same fate as Ophelia. This fear constantly manifests itself in my dreams. A plot. I always dreamed that she got married, became pregnant, and died in an unbelievable way at the moment of giving birth, leaving only a baby girl exactly like her. In order to get rid of this nightmare, I changed the direction of my planned career. Computer science turns to statistical genomics - looking at the time with current eyes, it will inevitably feel very ridiculous, Mr. Zhou Yu, but I had a very strong belief at the time, that is, the appearance inherited by my sister must be the same as Ophelia's. There is a connection between their deaths, and there is something in their genes that is beyond current scientific understanding. And to save my sister from that fate, I have to solve this mystery."
Zhou Yu listened to her story quietly. When the other party mentioned his half-sister, Hongye's face quietly appeared in front of his eyes. The "Jing Ancestor" in Motian's mouth, and Zhou Yu, who was called the "Last Descendant", were so similar in appearance that no one would doubt them even if they were twins.
"...Does she look exactly the same? What about her personality? Is it the same as Ophelia?"
"This can no longer be verified." Li Li said, "It is said that Ophelia's character changed dramatically when she was sixteen years old. Her life before she came to the opera stage is little known, and there are many contradictory stories. version. Since my sister is under sixteen years old, I have no way of knowing whether her temperament will be consistent with Ophelia's in the future."
"Wait a minute. You and your sister are only six years apart. Are you not twenty-two years old this year?"
"Twenty-four years old, Mr. Zhou Yu. If what your father said is true, we happened to be born in the same year and month."
Zhou Yu slowly raised his eyes and looked at Li Li's face. She leaned back in her chair and said nonchalantly: "It was a summer vacation, sir. I came back to China from school, and the house was full of green vegetation. Before entering the main hall, I noticed the roses downstairs. I opened it all the way, so I stood there and watched for a while. The sun was scorching hot, and the cicadas were making me upset, so I took off my coat and handed it to the servant next to me. Just when I was about to loosen my shirt, my sister came from the fifth floor. She jumped down and fell one meter away from me. It was a cobblestone road, and her body was torn apart. Her blood was all splattered on my shirt, as if I was wearing a red dress at the time - that The scariest moment I've ever experienced in my life, sir."
