Liu Qin Xin’s eyes were also red with tears. “Brother Shuo, calm down and hit him gently. The deed is done—no matter how hard you beat him, time can’t be turned back.”

They say the hardest thing to resist is a beautiful woman’s kindness.

Faced with his mother’s overbearing pressure, Mr. Ming didn’t change much at all; his hand still hovered high in the air, ready to deliver a severe beating that would teach this little punk a lesson once and for all.

But when Liu Qin Xin’s eyes filled with tears and a few drops rolled down her cheeks, Mr. Ming’s heart immediately softened.

In an instant, so many thoughts flashed through his mind, and the raised hand slowly began to lose its strength—there was no longer any intention to beat Liu Lai to death.

Still…

An unexpected scene from the office suddenly popped into his mind, and as he looked at the beauty before him, Mr. Ming’s old face couldn’t help but twitch twice.

After careful consideration, Mr. Ming finally backed down.

He shifted his complicated gaze away from Liu Qin Xin, withdrew his hand, and instead began to squeeze Liu Lai’s snow-white buttocks hard. “Out of respect for your grandmother and your mother, I’ll give you one chance—I won’t beat you to death. But within three counts, you’d better tell me exactly what happened, word for word. Otherwise, even if they plead on your behalf, you’ll still get a good thrashing.”

“Dad…”

Liu Lai trembled uncontrollably, his mind racing.

“One!”

Mr. Ming growled lowly, ignoring him completely.

“Dad…”

Two lines of tears streamed down Liu Lai’s face, looking utterly pitiful.

Mr. Ming remained unmoved, his voice booming as he continued counting: “Two!”

Liu Lai began to sob softly, glancing repeatedly at his grandmother and mother.

Mr. Ming didn’t even glance at them; he pinned Liu Lai to his lap and seemed ready to shout the final number.

Liu Lai’s heart sank—she knew she was out of options. No longer daring to hold out, she finally confessed obediently: “Dad, please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me! I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll talk—okay?”

“Then speak up—quickly!”

Mr. Ming ordered.

Liu Lai let out a sigh and began to cut to the chase, briefly recounting the whole incident.

Of course, she didn’t mention the details—why she wanted to get back at Ming Yue or where the poison came from. She only said that Ming Yue was simply too arrogant and outrageous, something she couldn’t stand, so she decided to teach that madwoman a lesson by slipping the poison in—but she never intended to harm Dad or anyone else in the family.

She’d been keeping watch all morning and hadn’t let anyone in the house drink that water.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Ming fell silent.

Liu Qin Xin and Liu Jia also kept quiet.

But as soon as Ma Fengying heard it, her voice shot up as she defended her precious grandson: “So it’s not our Lai Lai’s fault at all! It’s that jinx! It’s all that jinx! It must be that jinx!”

“Mom, did you even hear what he said clearly?”

Mr. Ming gave Liu Lai another hard pinch on the butt, then set him down and leaned forward, rubbing his forehead in frustration. Liu Qin Xin and Liu Jia remained silent.

Ma Fengying, however, paid no attention. She pulled her beloved grandson into her arms and shielded him, saying, “How could you not hear clearly? Didn’t Lai Lai already explain everything? He just had a good heart and wanted to help our family teach that jinx a lesson—what a sensible kid! He didn’t poison anyone else in the family, and he was extra careful—he was right there in the living room all morning, watching over it himself. What’s wrong with that?”

“You…”

“What do you mean ‘you’? Did I say something wrong?” Ma Fengying retorted confidently. “Since it wasn’t Lai Lai, it must’ve been that jinx playing tricks!”

Without any investigation or questioning, Ma Fengying relied solely on a momentary flash of “divine insight” to draw a final conclusion—and then launched into a tirade against Ming Yue.

“I knew it! I knew she was acting crazy early in the morning, now pestering Jiajia, now pestering Ming Xia. So it was all to hurt you guys? That water must’ve been slipped in by her! She must’ve known there was something added to the water by Lai Lai and deliberately wanted to get back at you!”

Mr. Ming’s headache grew even worse, and he didn’t say a word.

Because it just didn’t add up.

But Ma Fengying still wasn’t done cursing. While soothing her shaken grandson, she cast a scornful glance toward Ming Yue’s room upstairs and fumed:

“What a vicious mind! Knowing full well there was something in the water, she not only kept quiet but even pretended to be crazy and fooled everyone into swapping the drinks on purpose—clearly she had malicious intent to harm you! How could a daughter behave like this? She’s nothing but a heartless villain—a morally depraved beast!”

No sooner had these words left her mouth than Ming Yue appeared by the second-floor staircase, as if timing the seconds on a stopwatch.

She showed neither anger nor annoyance. Leaning both hands on the railing, she looked down coldly at the gray-haired old woman downstairs who was cursing her, her voice lingering long and low: “Grandmother, who are you calling a beast?”

End of Chapter 32: A Family of Bastards