The question elicited silence from Zhang Huan.
"Was it you, or someone else, who made you do this?" Lin Xiao pressed on. "To say such things to a child of only three years old, I don't believe a mother would say that."
Zhang Huan remained silent, seemingly caught in a whirlwind of indecision, whether to speak or not.
"Sister-in-law, you wouldn't want your son to lose his parents so young, would you?"
Lin Xiao's voice dripped with a killing intent as he uttered these words.
In the span of a breath, Zhang Huan's face turned deathly pale. Lin Xiao's implication was clear... she was in mortal danger?
No!
"I, I'll tell you!"
Zhang Huan quickly blurted out, "I'll tell you everything!"
"That's more like it, sister-in-law."
Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction. "So, shall we go back to the car?"
With that, he rose to pay the bill, gesturing for Zhang Huan to follow him.
Zhang Huan trailed behind Lin Xiao, her anxiety palpable in her expression.
Back in the car, Lin Xiao looked at Zhang Huan as she entered. "Speak, sister-in-law. I hope to hear words I can believe from you."
Zhang Huan faltered for a moment, looking at Lin Xiao's face. His words felt strangely pointed. "If you don't trust me, then why should I say anything?"
"No, no, sister-in-law, you've misunderstood me."
Lin Xiao quickly clarified, "I'm just emphasizing it once."
He continued to look at Zhang Huan with a half-smile, a peculiar expression that made her feel uneasy. After composing herself, she began, "This... this was the Nangong family's doing."
"Mmm."
The answer was unsurprising. In anyone's estimation, given Zhang Huan's relationship with Lin Xiao, a paltry sum from the Nangong family would have been enough to make her readily comply.
"They told me that before long, you, the Luo family, all of you, would have no way to live," Zhang Huan said, her face contorted with hatred. "Since you were all going to die anyway, I did what I did."
"Alright, that's true."
Lin Xiao even agreed, "Indeed. If the Nangong family dealt with me and my wife, then no one would have bothered you for doing this, nor would anyone have blamed you... So, you made your son do it?"
"No... I didn't."
Zhang Huan immediately shook her head. "I didn't ask him to say that, nor did I ask him to say anything to Xun'er."
"You just let him know, and then your son said those things to my daughter?"
Lin Xiao finally understood Zhang Huan's meaning.
Zhang Huan nodded slowly, just as Lin Xiao had inferred.
"A father's failure to guide his son..." Lin Xiao mused. "A pity his father isn't around, or I could have caused him some trouble."
His words clearly affected Zhang Huan, her expression turning grim. At this point, she asked, "So, may I leave now?"
"Go ahead, sister-in-law. I don't harm women."
Lin Xiao waved his hand, then gestured for her to exit the car.
Reassured by Lin Xiao's words, Zhang Huan hastily got out, not wanting to spend any more time in the car with him.
However, mere seconds after she stepped out, a group of people suddenly emerged from the side and apprehended her.
She was knocked unconscious before she even had a chance to cry for help.