Chapter 716 - 712: You Can Do That?

Mason Hughes looked at Tanya Hughes with a smirk.

After a moment, he chuckled. "You’re a sharp one, little lady. But other outlets might not offer as much as I do."

"I can shop around and see who offers more, can’t I?" Tanya Hughes met Mason Hughes’s gaze without flinching.

Leopold Hughes glanced from the reporter to his daughter, feeling incredibly anxious.

He wasn’t very worldly and had never seen much money in his life. He honestly thought five was a lot!

"You’re smart and bold, little lady. Alright, for that alone, I’ll add another two." Mason Hughes didn’t press his advantage. He knew best whether this deal was worth it or not. "As long as the story you tell me has some explosive details, I’ll add more on top of the seven. The more bombshells, the more money you get!"

’He’s really adding more money?’

Leopold Hughes grinned from ear to ear. He never expected his daughter would be so capable, getting the man to add two more with just a few words!

Just as he was about to nod and agree, his daughter spoke up again. "Ten. A base of ten."

Leopold Hughes stared at his daughter in shock, as if seeing her for the first time.

’Ten?’

’She’s really got some nerve!’

Mason Hughes’s expression finally changed slightly. He narrowed his small eyes and his voice dropped. "Little lady, there’s a fine line between being bold and being reckless. Pushing your luck is reckless."

When his attitude shifted, Tanya Hughes’s heart pounded. She had never been in a situation like this before, so she had no idea if ten was too much. She was just gambling!

’I’ve already committed. I can’t back down now.’

Tanya Hughes swallowed hard and forced herself to say, "A guaranteed ten, or we’re not saying a word."

"Tanya, seven isn’t bad," Leopold Hughes muttered nervously, terrified of scaring off their ’Cash Cow’.

But Tanya Hughes remained unmoved. Seeing the reporter’s lack of response, she immediately stood up. "Dad, let’s go. Once we’re out, I’ll figure out how to contact other reporters."

"Huh?" Leopold Hughes froze, not comprehending. "But, the roast... the roast duck..."

Tanya Hughes shot him a look, and Leopold Hughes reluctantly got to his feet.

Just then, Mason Hughes finally spoke. "Alright, ten it is. Ten it is!"

Leopold Hughes was stunned again!

’What’s going on?’

’This price... is it really that flexible?’

’My daughter managed to double it with just a few sentences?’

Tanya Hughes felt a wave of relief wash over her, and an almost imperceptible smile touched her lips.

Sitting back down, Tanya Hughes didn’t get carried away. She held her ground and presented her payment QR code. "Pay the base of ten first. You can pay the bonuses after we’re done talking."

Mason Hughes took out his phone and scanned the code without another word.

The ten yuan arrived in her account just as the waiter began serving the dishes. Leopold Hughes was overjoyed. He eagerly picked up his chopsticks and started eating as he asked, "Hughie, ask whatever you want. Since you’ve paid, we’ll definitely cooperate. But you can’t go back on your word about adding more money."

"Don’t worry about that. As long as your story is juicy enough, I’ll keep my promise."

After speaking, Mason Hughes took video and audio recording equipment out of his bag, aimed it at them, and turned it on.

"Mr. Hughes, how many people are in your family right now?"

With his mouth full of roast duck, Leopold Hughes mumbled, "Four of us. Me and my wife, plus a daughter and a son."

"Was Lily Sterling originally a twin with your daughter?"

"Yes, they were born one after the other, only ten minutes apart. They looked exactly the same."

"Then why is Lily Sterling’s surname ’Shen’? She also said she has no memory of a father figure."

Leopold Hughes: "..."

Seeing his silence, Mason Hughes gave him a look. "Mr. Hughes?"

Leopold Hughes snapped out of it and said guiltily, "Well... back then, we never expected to have two at once. We couldn’t afford it, our family’s situation was tight. So her mother and I talked it over, and... we abandoned..."

"We tried to find a kind-hearted person to adopt her," Tanya Hughes cut in, finishing his sentence.

Leopold Hughes looked at his daughter. Tanya Hughes nervously pressed her lips together.

She couldn’t let her father publicly admit to abandoning her sister. Their family would become a public enemy, attacked and cursed by netizens across the country.

As a young person, she knew how vicious cyberbullying could be, and she couldn’t handle it.

Mason Hughes raised an eyebrow, then chuckled and shook his head, reaching out to pause the recording.

"That’s not right, is it?" Mason Hughes’s brow furrowed as he looked at them doubtfully. "You found someone to adopt her? If that’s the case, why didn’t Lily Sterling know you existed for all these years?"

"We gave her away, so she belonged to them," Leopold Hughes said casually.

Mason Hughes shook his head again. "No, that doesn’t add up. Mr. Hughes, if you say that, then why are you looking for her now?"

"For..."

’The money, obviously!’

’This reporter knows full well, but he keeps asking. What’s his game?’

Leopold Hughes pouted unhappily.

"So she was abandoned, right?" Mason Hughes cut straight to the truth.

The father and daughter fell silent, which was as good as an admission.

"This piece of information is worth a bonus, right?" Tanya Hughes asked suddenly.

Leopold Hughes took the cue and looked up at the reporter.

Mason Hughes blinked and nodded, not denying it. "It is an important piece of information. However, there’s already a lot of speculation online about Lily Sterling being abandoned, so it’s not exactly fresh news. Having you confirm it is worth a little extra, but not much."

"A little extra is still extra!" Leopold Hughes said.

"But if you want to earn a bigger bonus, it’s not like there aren’t other ways."

"What do you mean?" Tanya Hughes asked, confused.

The reporter, Mason Hughes, said meaningfully, "Well, how about saying something the netizens would never expect? Subverting expectations is what makes a story interesting, isn’t it?"

"Take the fact that you abandoned Lily Sterling, for instance. If that gets out, it won’t look good for you, either. So, could there perhaps be another reason?"

Led on by the reporter, the father and daughter subconsciously fell into thought.

’Another reason?’

’What other reason could there be?’

"Little lady, you’re so smart, you should be able to think of something, right?" the reporter continued to guide them.

Tanya Hughes looked at him, her brow furrowed slightly as she spoke hesitantly, "She was... abducted?"

The smile on Mason Hughes’s face instantly widened, and he couldn’t help but clap his hands in approval. "You really get me! That reason is absolutely perfect. It keeps your family from being thrown to the wolves for abandoning your daughter, and it even paints you as victims. Kills two birds with one stone, doesn’t it?"

Leopold Hughes, a step behind, stared at his daughter in shock again.

’You can do that?’

Tanya Hughes came to her senses and shook her head. "No, we can’t lie. What if we get exposed?"

"Little lady, you weren’t thinking about that when you lied just a moment ago," Mason Hughes reminded her. "When you said Lily Sterling was adopted out, weren’t you lying then, too?"