The Choice

There is a certain aspect of human nature: children are young and will love their parents unconditionally, even if they are abused or hurt by them; they will still love them without hesitation.
That was why, when he saw Ban Xia being beaten on the sports field and heard from friends that she was beaten every day at home, he couldn't help but interfere in someone else's business.
But in the back of his mind, he still thought: Qin Xiu will coax her for a bit, and Ban Xia's scars will heal and she'll forget the pain, reconcile with her mother, and go home.
What child doesn't love their mother? Gu Fadian even thought pessimistically that Ban Xia would continue to be beaten, but she would gradually get used to it, get used to the domestic violence, grow up in abuse, and eventually either reach adulthood or die! That was why he loathed Qin Xiu and mocked her, making her lose face in front of everyone, but he didn't want to get too deeply involved.
Yet Ban Xia had actually chosen to abandon her mother and choose him? Earlier, after taking Ban Xia to the medical station, Gu Fadian had gone to a shop in front of the factory—a labor insurance store opened by Qin Xiu's maternal family—and heard some things that made him suspicious.
If this little girl trusted him this much, then he had to continue looking into this matter.
He asked, "Auntie Qin, may I ask if Ban Xia is your biological daughter? On what date and where did you give birth to her?" Officer Zhao pulled out her notebook, uncapped her pen, and flicked the ink, ready to take notes.
Qin Xiu was a bit nervous and stammered, "She was born in June '91, she's four years old this year. Why?" Everyone felt that sounded about right; Ban Xia looked to be around four.
But Gu Fadian immediately said, "The case is solved. This child is fundamentally not Qin Xiu's. Officer Zhao, look at this. This is a commemorative photo of Qin Xiu on a trip to the Capital in May '91. Does she look like someone who is nine months pregnant?" Ban Xia had said her grandmother told her she was five, but her mother said she was four.
Gu Fadian had noted this earlier. When he went to the store owned by Qin Xiu's family, he saw the photo displayed on a glass shelf and took it with him.
As expected, it had now become the key to breaking the case.
The moment Officer Zhao saw the photo, she frowned. "Ma'am, this child was not born to you. So where did she come from?" Qin Xiu's vision went dark. She thought to herself that the photo should have been at her parents' house; who gave it to Gu Fadian? Everyone in the factory said the family of Dr. Gu had very high IQs, and only that brat Gu Fadian was a brainless fool, which was why Lin Jun and Gu Jin had abandoned him.
But why did she feel he was as cunning as a fox?