Chapter Seventy-Two: The Haunted House (5)

Su Man took out a photograph and slid it over to Hu Chai. "Explain this," she said.

"Who’s this?" Chen Meng picked up the photo before anyone else could, glanced at it, and then gasped, "Isn’t this Qian Ji? The eldest son of this family."

She looked from the photo, to Su Man, and finally at Hu Chai, who kept his head down. Shocked, she stammered, "No way... This... is this Hu Chai?"

She could barely form the words.

Su Man didn’t answer her, but turned back to Hu Chai. "Do you want to explain it yourself, or shall I share my suspicions?"

Without waiting for Hu Chai to speak, she went on, "A child who escaped from the scene of a murder, growing up to become a household-name celebrity... That’s not something a child could manage alone. Maybe you had help... or maybe you didn’t, and it was your own ‘pitiful’ story that inspired some people to take pity on you..."

"Enough! Stop it!" Hu Chai finally snapped, cutting her off in anger. "You don’t know anything!"

His words, in a way, were an admission.

Su Man didn’t get upset. Instead, she replied sincerely, "It’s precisely because I don’t know that I’m sitting here speculating. But you know everything, and yet you don’t want to tell us anything."

She continued, bluntly, "You’re a celebrity who’s finally managed to escape his past—why come back here? Now you’ve seen your parents, your sister, your grandmother, and even your younger self. How does that make you feel? Or rather, what were you hoping to feel, coming to see them?"

Such direct questions left no room for lies, and Su Man felt no guilt for poking at old wounds. She could tell Hu Chai wasn’t here out of any deep love or longing for his family.

He wanted to deny everything, but under Su Man’s gaze, he felt exposed. His mouth trembled, and suddenly all the fight seemed to drain out of him. He slumped onto the sofa, and after a long silence, spoke in a defeated tone, "I came to put my past to rest."

Chen Meng, watching the exchange between Su Man and Hu Chai, was completely stunned. The information was overwhelming—she could hardly process it. So Hu Chai really was that celebrity, Chai Hu, and he was also one of the victims in that murder case. There was even a younger version of him downstairs. Her mind was spinning.

"You... If you’re Qian Ji, how did you escape? What exactly happened here all those years ago?" She was shocked at first, but then became hopeful. If he was Qian Ji, did that mean he knew how to get out of here? After all, those people outside were his family.

[Guys, I’m shocked—there’s actually a plot to this livestream!]

*** rewards five candies.

*** rewards two roses.

*** rewards a bouquet of roses.

Su Man glanced at the suddenly lively chat, a bit surprised that people enjoyed this kind of drama.

[Are we about to see some soap-opera-level twists?]

Some viewers began speculating, [What if the family abused the kid, and he ended up killing them, but then the adults took the blame to protect him?]

A flurry of guesses scrolled by on the screen.

Su Man didn’t pay much attention—too much speculation could cloud her own judgment.

She looked at Hu Chai, waiting for his answer.

"Back then, it was just like the news reported—my mother went mad and killed my sister, my father, and my grandmother," Hu Chai sank into painful memories. "I only survived because my grandmother hid me in a cupboard."

He could barely get the words out. Chen Meng, her heart aching for him, tried to comfort him, "You don’t have to say any more..."

Su Man interrupted her mercilessly, "It does matter. Go on."

Chen Meng glared at her, but Su Man ignored it, pressing Hu Chai, "The reports never mentioned a surviving child. The news called it a ‘family massacre’—no survivors."

Chen Meng indignantly defended him, "Maybe the reporters just didn’t want Hu Chai’s life to be disturbed! Don’t you have any sympathy? Aren’t you supposed to be a college student?"

Unfazed, Su Man responded clearly, "Sympathy has nothing to do with being a college student. I can have it, or not have it."

"And as for ‘protection’—reporters only want exclusive scoops. They don’t care how tragic your life is. A family massacre is a major story. They’ll squeeze every last bit of value out of you, leaving behind a few ambiguous words for the public to gossip over."

"You’re talking nonsense! Have you been through it yourself? Maybe you’ve had a hard life, but you don’t have to see everything so darkly—there are still good people in the world!" Chen Meng, trembling with anger, shot back.

"My life has indeed been hard," Su Man said calmly, as if recounting someone else’s story. "My adoptive parents were famous local philanthropists, who died saving someone, only to be slandered as murderers. The family they saved came after me for compensation, and some journalists, desperate for exclusives, tracked me down wherever I moved, crowding around to squeeze out every last drop of value, stirring up public hatred with misleading stories. Where are the good people? They all just act out of self-interest."

Chen Meng was speechless.

"I’m sorry..."

Su Man didn’t respond to her, but turned back to Hu Chai. "So, are you trying to say that you were lucky enough to meet good people?"

A flicker of discomfort crossed Hu Chai’s face, but he nodded. "Not everyone is as unlucky as you. There really are good people in this world. I met a wonderful police officer..."

"A wonderful police officer," Su Man repeated, "You really are lucky."

Her expression didn’t change, so Hu Chai couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or genuinely happy for him.

He stammered, "Well... maybe so. I... I’ve never complained about the world."

[The more I hear him, the more I feel sorry for the streamer. Never mind, let me send a yacht as a reward.]

[Hope all the bad people get what they deserve. Another yacht. Streamer, hang in there.]

[This guy... forget it, I still don’t think he’s a good person.]

The chat buzzed with a new wave of comments, and the number of viewers kept climbing.

"So what’s your relationship with that police officer now?" Su Man asked Hu Chai again. "He covered for you back then?"

"Yes, he took pity on me. He adopted me, gave me a new identity, and helped me start over," Hu Chai admitted, completely deflated. "But lately I’ve run into new troubles, and something told me I had to come here and put my past to rest."

She didn’t need him to explain further. Su Man already knew—it was probably tied to that recent news story, where the celebrity nearly died in a rigging accident. But how did that connect to all this?

"Was it your parents or your grandmother who wanted you to come keep them company?"