Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 101: The Uncle Who Won’t Tell the Truth

Originally, Su Yijia had intended to buy groceries at the supply and marketing cooperative, but at this hour, even minced meat was unavailable there. She had to take a detour to the black market instead.

Fortunately, her luck was on her side. Apart from the usual fish vendor, there were sellers offering wild boar meat and rabbit. She bought as much meat as she could find and carried two large baskets of vegetables back to the Qin household.

Gao Huabin was waiting by the door and quickly opened it when he heard movement, accepting the baskets of groceries. Seeing that both baskets were filled with a variety of meat, vegetables, and fruits, he realized that she had been to the black market.

Initially, Ke Zeming had considered joking with Qin Kaize, saying his wife was difficult to care for. However, he quickly thought better of it, fearing it would come across as unkind. He swallowed the words.

Gao Huabin promptly washed the fruit and brought it out. "Sister-in-law, why don’t you have some fruit first? I’ll prepare the vegetables, and I’ve already started cooking rice and congee. It’ll save some time."

As he placed the bowl of fruit on the table, a knock came at the door. Though the door was left slightly open, the visitor didn’t enter.

Gao Huabin wiped his wet hands and went to open the door. There stood a middle-aged man with a somewhat grim expression.

"Whom are you looking for?" Gao Huabin inquired, examining the man up and down.

Lin Jiayao clenched his hand slightly on the side, suppressing his overwhelming anxiety. He replied, "I’ve come to find my niece, Su Yijia. I’m her uncle."

"I see. You’re sister-in-law’s uncle. Please come in." Gao Huabin opened the door wider, making room for him.

Lin Jiayao gave a polite smile to Gao Huabin and, upon spotting Su Yijia in the courtyard, was taken aback, his pupils widening before he quickly rushed over.

"Yijia," he called softly.

Su Yijia then raised her head and cast a cool, unyielding gaze upon him.

"Uncle, why did you come at this time? You just started working in the supply and marketing cooperative. Isn’t it a bit inconvenient that you took a leave so soon?"

Not ideal, that’s for sure, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He had only learned this morning about the incident involving his elder sister and Xinyue being taken to the police station. Previously, when the two of them had gone missing, everyone had searched high and low. The neighbors next door had reported seeing Yijia in the afternoon, but they hadn’t dared to come and inquire. They were afraid that the Qin family would hold them accountable if they thought they were the ones who had lost Yijia.

However, this morning, a few people suddenly arrived at his house, wanting to question him. Though he didn’t understand what was going on, he immediately thought of seeking help from the Qin family. He had assumed that the people there wouldn’t agree, but to his surprise, they not only agreed but also said they would wait for him to return home.

Lin Jiayao had hastily taken a leave from the supply and marketing cooperative, and then he hurried to the Qin family’s home. He hadn’t expected that Yijia would be sitting in the courtyard, calmly eating fruit and chatting as if nothing had happened.

"Yijia, where’s your mother and your sister? The neighbors said there was a fight at your place a few days ago, and then they went missing. We’ve been searching for three days, but we can’t find them. I’ve come here to seek your help," Lin Jiayao cautiously chose his words. He knew that it was impossible to avoid disclosing certain information, so he tried to make sure his elder niece wouldn’t get too angry.

But before Su Yijia had a chance to react or get angry, Ke Zeming sneered, "Couldn’t find them, or is it that someone came to take them away?"

"Do you know what happened? Were they taken away by your people?" Lin Jiayao hesitated, and his inner panic lessened somewhat.

Then he couldn’t help but look at Su Yijia with a wry smile. "You, my dear niece, why make things so complicated? You could have just asked me directly instead of taking such a roundabout approach. You almost scared your big aunt and me to death."

"Direct questions work just as well. Is Uncle that straightforward?" Su Yijia, propping her chin with one hand, leaned on the armrest of her wheelchair. Her bright eyes fixed intently on the man in front of her, sending shivers down his spine.

"Of course," Lin Jiayao replied somewhat nervously.

"So, who are my biological parents, exactly?" Su Yijia didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly.

How could she know this? His sister was such a failure, she shouldn’t have disclosed this information, right?

After a brief moment of panic, Lin Jiayao was filled with resentment. But the most crucial thing now was whether he should tell the truth. This matter had no concrete evidence, and even if his eldest sister was foolish, she probably wouldn’t admit to it, would she?

"You’re certainly your mother’s biological daughter, and my niece. Why are you asking such strange questions?" Lin Jiayao pretended to be shocked and appeared somewhat bewildered.

"Heh!" Su Yijia sneered. After shaking her head, she sighed deeply. "Do you know, Uncle, the person who truly made me start suspecting that there’s something wrong with my parentage is you?"

"How is that possible?" Lin Jiayao refuted incredulously. For all these years, he had never mentioned anything about Yijia’s birth or whether her parents favored her. There was no way he could have revealed it.

"You actually favor males over females. Even though you’ve concealed it quite well, there were still times when you had to make choices. For instance, deciding who gets to attend high school, or forcing the children in the family to go to the countryside. It’s clear that my little female cousin has been frail since childhood, but you just watched my aunt let my cousin shoulder the burden of this medical case and sent my poor little cousin to the countryside to die."

"Don’t tell me you knew when the form was already filled out and submitted, so it couldn’t be changed. You shouldn’t tell me that if this was exposed, she would certainly get fired from the factory. In your eyes, is a job more important than the life of your weak and sickly daughter?"

"Tell me, as someone who clearly favors males over females, why have you treated me the best within the entire family? Even when my younger cousin quarreled with me, you sided with me, ignoring the objections of my uncle and aunt, and even physically punished my little cousin. Why?"

Su Yijia meticulously listed all the issues she had discovered, leaving no room for Lin Jiayao to evade or offer any plausible denials. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Lin Jiayao still refused to budge.

"Yijia, look at you! Have I done something wrong by treating you well? I’ve told you before, ever since you were born, I felt a special connection with you. Just looking at you makes me happy. Besides, I saw the way your mother treated you and your younger sister, and the difference was just too obvious. I felt sorry for you, so I wanted to show you a bit more love."

"So you don’t feel sorry for your two daughters, who were treated unfairly, but you feel sorry for your niece living in a different house?" Su Yijia found his reasoning quite ridiculous.

For a moment, Lin Jiayao was genuinely lost for words. Su Yijia appeared impatient and raised an eyebrow, "I’ll ask you one last time. Who are my biological parents?"

"You’re overthinking it. Your biological parents are really your current mom and dad," Lin Jiayao insisted. He thought that too much time had passed, and there was no concrete evidence now. Admitting the truth would be foolish. Moreover, all they could do was only ask privately. They couldn’t use any interrogation methods or force him to reveal the truth.