Plunder-Chapter 303: Perfect Replication

"Zhou Jin’an, don’t forget, I am your mother! Everything I do is for your own good."

Mrs. Zhou launched into her usual mode of emotional blackmail.

If it had been in the past, Zhou Jin’an would have merely responded with silence. But now, he no longer wanted to be the person who feigned deafness and muteness.

"You are my mother, but you can’t make decisions for me. This is my life, and you have no right to interfere."

"You—" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Mrs. Zhou angrily pointed her finger at Zhou Jin’an.

Her son was now completely out of her control.

A subtle panic started to spread in her eyes.

As their eyes met, Zhou Jin’an’s were filled with indifferent determination, while in Mrs. Zhou’s, besides anger, there rose a hint of fear.

She was proud that her own son had turned out so outstanding, but an outstanding person can also be frightening.

Over the past two decades, she had lost too much, and the scale in her heart had long been imbalanced. Besides wanting to clear her name and prove her innocence, she also wanted to take back everything that belonged to her.

Looking at the man who was about to leave her, tears finally gathered in her eyes.

"How can you talk to me like this?"

Her voice suddenly softened, and her whole demeanor deflated; one hand on her chest, and the other tremblingly pointing.

Feigning strength and weakness were both tactics of confrontation.

When her forcefulness hit a wall with Zhou Jin’an, Mrs. Zhou immediately resorted to demonstrating weakness.

There was no denying that this tactic was indeed effective on Zhou Jin’an.

His eyebrows knitted into a frown, and a trace of pity flashed across his stern face.

After all, the woman standing before him was his biological mother.

In the past year, he had almost lost her.

But just as Zhou Jin’an was experiencing a fierce inner conflict, Auntie Jiang appeared.

She removed her shoes and threw them straight from the second floor.

The shoe hit Mrs. Zhou’s forehead precisely.

"Ouch!"

Caught off guard, Mrs. Zhou took a solid hit from the shoe.

Auntie Jiang descended the stairs with an imposing air, "Jin’an’s mom, I’ve already let it slide once, but now you’re pushing your luck. How has my daughter wronged you? You keep picking fights over and over. Do you think I, as her mother, don’t know what kind of person she is? Randomly throwing dirty accusations at her, let me tell you, we won’t stand for it!"

Having been hit by the shoe, Mrs. Zhou simply played the victim, supporting her head and collapsing onto the ground.

"Jin’an, look at this, what kind of people are these?"

She tried to pull Zhou Jin’an onto her side.

The commotion downstairs was too loud, and seeing that the conflict was about to escalate further, Qiao En came down from the second floor with the child in her arms.

"Mom, please get up."

She handed the child to Zhou Jin’an and reached out to help Mrs. Zhou up.

Her help was rejected; Mrs. Zhou slapped away Qiao En’s hand.

"Take your filthy hands off me. You promiscuous woman, you don’t deserve to call me mom," she retorted sharply.

Mrs. Zhou’s words cut deep, and Qiao En was wronged.

"I won’t admit to things I haven’t done."

"Yayun, don’t bother arguing with her. She’s nothing but a troublemaker," Auntie Jiang pulled Qiao En to her side forcefully.

Seeing this, Mrs. Zhou turned her pleading gaze toward Zhou Jin’an, "Jin’an, listen to her, she’s actually calling me a troublemaker. Do they even have any respect for me? I am your mother, after all."

"You indeed are Jin’an’s mother, but you don’t deserve to be. Instead of sharing the burdens of your children, you only think about causing them trouble all day long. How could there be such a selfish and self-centered mother in this world?"

"Jin’an and Yayun have finally gotten their lives together, and now you wake up and decide to break them apart. My daughter Yayun might be average, but so what? Jin’an and Yayun love each other, and they already have a child. You insist on splitting them apart. Is this for Jin’an’s good, or just to satisfy your own selfish desires?"

"You want them to separate, right? Fine, I am Yayun’s mother, and I agree. I’ll take Yayun and the child and leave right now. Whatever kind of woman you think is worthy of Jin’an, go find her yourself."

Auntie Jiang blurted out a stream of words in anger.

On a heat, she snatched the child from Zhou Jin’an’s arms and grabbed Qiao En by the other hand, "Yayun, let’s go home."

Auntie Jiang was formidable, and naturally, Qiao En was not to be outdone.

"Mom, since Mrs. Zhou thinks this child is of the Zhou family’s blood, she wants him, she can have him."

Saying so, Qiao En took the child and stuffed him into Mrs. Zhou’s arms.

"Mom, let’s go home."

Qiao En looped her arm through Auntie Jiang’s, united with her mother, and before the echo of their words faded, they walked towards the exit.

A trace of smugness had just risen on Mrs. Zhou’s face, but it quickly dissipated.

"Give me the child."

Mrs. Zhou had just picked up the child when Zhou Jin’an immediately took it away.

He ran after Qiao En’s footsteps, "Mom, don’t go."

He reached out to pull Auntie Jiang.

Qiao En pried open his large hand, "Don’t stop us."

Zhou Jin’an became desperate and suddenly pulled Qiao En into his arms.

"En’en, if you must go, let me take the child and go with you."

Saying so, he headed outside without looking back.

Mrs. Zhou stood frozen on the spot.

"Zhou Jin’an, I am your mother."

Zhou Jin’an halted in his step, his face cold as ice, devoid of even a trace of warmth.

"This is also my mom."

"Mom, let’s go," Zhou Jin’an said warmly to Auntie Jiang.

Mrs. Zhou watched with wide eyes as Zhou Jin’an, holding Qiao En and the child, vanished from her sight.

"Madam, let’s go back," suggested Aunt Liu in a low voice.

Mrs. Zhou stood there as if soulless, "Why is it like this? It shouldn’t be this way. Jin’an is my son, how can he accept a ’dirty’ woman?"

A tear rolled down her cheek, refusing to stop.

Aunt Liu reached out to support Mrs. Zhou’s arm, and suddenly, her emotions exploded.

"Why? Why is it like this? Why was she not abandoned despite experiencing the same things as I did?"

Aunt Liu hung her head, "Madam, it’s all in the past. The young master cares about the Young Madam, so he..."

"I understand, I understand. Zhen Dong doesn’t care about me, so he doesn’t care about the truth? He only cares about whether his reputation is lost. I was driven out of the Zhou family, and he quickly welcomed a new wife. It turns out, after all these years, I’m the only one who couldn’t let go..."

She broke into uncontrollable tears, becoming a sobbing mess.

Bearing witness to her pain, Aunt Liu stepped forward again, suggesting, "Madam, let’s go back."

The Maybach drove steadily towards Gu Yuan.

Qiao En held the child, with Auntie Jiang sitting beside her.

Auntie Jiang’s large hand firmly gripped Qiao En’s smaller one, providing her with motherly warmth.

"Mom, thank you," Qiao En said in a hushed tone.

Auntie Jiang looked at her with affection, the grip on her hand intensifying slightly.

"Silly child, I’m your mother."

That night, Qiao En returned to the small courtyard in Gu Yuan.

After putting the child to sleep, she turned to give Zhou Jin’an a big hug.

"Husband, thank you for everything you did today."

Qiao En wasn’t skilled in sentimental expression, but she understood Zhou Jin’an’s choice. His trust and determination were her confidence in combating this cold world.

"Silly, we are one, I’ve said that I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, even if that person is my own mother. Don’t overthink, just sleep well. For the time being, we’ll stay here."

"Hmm."

Qiao En held Zhou Jin’an tightly, as if she was embracing the entire world.

She was fortunate to have her mother and her lover steadfastly standing by her side when life dealt her painful blows.

Suddenly, she thought of something.

More than twenty years ago, Mrs. Zhou was also misunderstood to have had an affair with a driver, and today, after more than twenty years, she found herself in the same situation.

If this was a coincidence, she wouldn’t believe it, but these two events spanning over twenty years had replicated perfectly.

In that instant, she seemed to understand everything.

By her side, Zhou Jin’an was already sound asleep. Qiao En grabbed her phone from the nightstand and quickly typed on the screen.

"Detective Wu, help me investigate someone."