Sara Zhuo had no idea how to answer her daughter’s question.
Zhuo Yue was clearly lost.
She was, after all, only a teenager.
At that age, a girl cares deeply about where she came from.
While other tadpoles looked for their mothers, Zhuo Yue was searching for her father.
Sara pulled her into her arms. “Of course you can acknowledge him, but it will take a little time to prepare. Something has happened with the Zhang family. Once everything is settled, Mummy will take you there.”
Zhuo Yue wept with joy, sniffling as she asked, “This daddy… he won’t change again, will he?”
Sara nodded gently.
Joy and worry mingled on Zhuo Yue’s face.
She was happy to finally have a clear answer from her mother, but she worried about what would happen to her brother Zhuo Chen.
Mummy said she could go to the Zhang family, but she hadn’t said Zhuo Chen could return to the Xie family.
Because Xie Qian was there.
In Xie Yuping’s eyes there was only Xie Qian. Even after the paternity test, he refused to look properly at Zhuo Chen.
Ever since that day at the hospital, Zhuo Chen’s spirit had collapsed.
Although Xie Jinghu hadn’t mentioned taking back the money spent on him or the 20% stake in Silan he had given Zhuo Chen, Zhuo Yue knew how devastated her brother was.
It had nothing to do with money. It was the pain of not being acknowledged.
Had all those years of affection been fake?
Zhuo Yue buried her face in Sara’s arm and mumbled, “If only there were no Xie Qian—”
Sara immediately covered her daughter’s mouth. “Don’t talk nonsense. How could there be no Xie Qian? He is still your brother’s blood-related half-brother.”
There once could have been no Xie Qian.
But from the moment Xie Jinghu agreed to those additional divorce conditions, not only could Xie Qian not die; he had to live well.
Zhuo Yue nodded obediently and changed the subject. “Mummy, can you tell me about Daddy? I mean my current daddy. What kind of person is he?”
Was the Zhang family even more powerful than the Xie family?
Zhang Zhijun couldn’t be any worse than her previous daddy Xie Jinghu, could he?
Sara thought carefully, choosing her words. “He and Xie Jinghu are completely different. Xie Jinghu is weak-willed. Zhang Zhijun is not.”
Even now, looking back, Sara believed Xie Jinghu’s success had been pure luck.
Lucky to have an elder brother who rose quickly.
Lucky to marry a wife whose father brought crucial technology.
Lucky that during the 1997 financial crisis, when so many jumped from buildings, he not only survived but prospered.
Luck is truly mysterious.
When luck arrives, even the incapable can reach the top. When it leaves, those at the top can fall overnight.
“…He never had Xie Jinghu’s luck, so every step he took had to be earned by himself.”
Sara spoke vaguely, but Zhuo Yue heard admiration in her tone.
Zhuo Yue’s face lit up with anticipation. “So Daddy is that amazing!”
Inside the hotel, Sara was talking with her daughter.
Outside the hotel entrance, the two bodyguards Sara had brought back from abroad were chatting.
The older bodyguard still blamed himself for letting Zhong Yong take the siblings that day.
If he had stopped it, the employer’s family wouldn’t be in this mess.
The newer bodyguard felt the veteran’s principles were a bit skewed. “The boss didn’t blame us. We’re on Chinese soil; we can’t fight the local powers…”
The veteran glared at him. “I serve only the employer!”
Anything that benefits the employer is right; anything that harms the employer is wrong.
The new bodyguard straightened. “You’re right. No right or wrong, only the employer’s interests!”
How to put it…
Sara had actually been quite good to him too.
But she wasn’t his real employer.
The worst part was that he currently couldn’t contact his actual employer.
Had he been fired unilaterally for being too incompetent and producing no results?
Or perhaps his employer wanted to reach him but couldn’t.
A faint melancholy rose in the new bodyguard’s heart.
…
“I truly never expected this.”
After leaving the hotel, Dai Chenglan had the driver take her straight to the company.
She marched into her husband He Zhinian’s office, closed the door, and poured out everything she had just heard.
The shock was too great; her emotions ran high. “I’ve known her for over twenty years. I thought that was enough to understand her. When she was young, everyone revolved around her. She had countless suitors. I knew all that! But I never imagined that after the Zhuo family fell, this phoenix who became a pheasant would still dare act so wilfully! I can understand Zhuo Chen not being the old overseas businessman’s son; she was still with Xie Jinghu before marrying the old man, and she might not even have known whose child it was. But Zhuo Yue not being Xie Jinghu’s daughter? Has she lost her mind?”
The shock was so intense that Dai Chenglan forgot to remain elegant.
Sara’s reckless behaviour didn’t just affect Sara herself. The He family’s business was now deeply tied to Xie Jinghu’s. Her actions could drag the He family down with her.
A man who has been cuckolded has no rationality left.
Dai Chenglan couldn’t predict what Xie Jinghu might do.
Even if the He family suffered losses, Xie Jinghu would suffer too… but what if he simply went mad and lashed out at everyone connected to Sara?
It took He Zhinian a long while to process the explosive news his wife brought.
He leaned back in his chair and muttered,
“Our son was right. We never should have tried to get investment from Xie Jinghu through Sara Zhuo. This woman isn’t merely wilful; she drove another woman to suicide. There’s blood on her hands!”
This wasn’t just a moral flaw anymore.
This was murder.
He Zhinian closed his eyes in exhaustion. After a long, long time, he finally made up his mind. “I’ll have my secretary book tickets in a moment. I’m going to Beijing personally.”
“Zhinian…”
Dai Chenglan guessed what her husband intended to do. He cut her off. “Don’t try to dissuade me. I’ve decided. On this trip, I will talk to Mr Xie face to face, discuss recent developments, and give him clarity. If, without Sara’s influence, he’s still willing to invest in us, I’ll offer better returns in gratitude. If he believes we’re on Sara’s side and wants to punish us along with her, we’ll raise the money and repay his investment as quickly as possible. Whatever he chooses, I will accept it.”
Dai Chenglan’s heart ached. No matter which path Xie Jinghu took, the He family business would suffer; only the degree would differ. For a businessman, giving even one extra percent to someone else meant earning one percent less.
After so many years of marriage, she knew her husband would not change his mind.
Another thought struck her. “When I left, Sara specifically asked if I still considered her a friend. I’m afraid she’ll hold a grudge and retaliate later.”
It’s easy to board a pirate ship, hard to leave it.
Thinking of how Lu Meishu had been driven to suicide, Dai Chenglan felt a chill.
Although Sara had broken with Xie Jinghu, another old flame; Zhang Zhijun; had surfaced.
When it came to manipulating men, Sara had always been terrifyingly skilled.
Xie Jinghu had obeyed her every word. What if Zhang Zhijun now became her attack dog?
…
Zhuo Yue the little tadpole was looking for her daddy.
Her previous life’s ex-boyfriend’s mother was caught between a rock and a hard place.
None of this concerned Wen Ying.
Every email Wen Ying sent, Xie Qian replied to; in his usual concise style.
This was a novel and delightful. Their relationship had gone from friends → deskmates → best friends → something ambiguous, and just when the window paper was about to be pierced, they had somehow retreated to pen pals. Wen Ying was someone who found joy easily, especially after nearly losing Xie Qian. Even being pen pals made her happy.
Xie Qian would never spoil Wen Ying’s travel mood in his replies, so Wen Ying truly let herself enjoy the trip.
That day, completely unprepared, Wen Ying ran into He Zhen in Prague’s Old Town Square.
From a distance, it looked like He Zhen.
Yet also not quite like him.
…Huh? Had her memory of He Zhen already faded this much?
