Zhuo Chen had long seen through his sister’s concerns.
Zhuo Chen understood his sister.
When Zhuo Chen was young and his parentage was exposed, revealing he was not the son of old overseas merchant Qi, he had felt the same panic as Zhuo Yue now.
Who then was his father?
Animals have parents, flowers and trees have roots to trace, and people should have parents too.
The current Zhuo Yue was the Zhuo Chen of that time. Her understanding of over a decade had been overturned, leaving her like drifting duckweed, desperately needing to take root in new waters.
“This has nothing to do with whether you are likeable or not. It is that none of us can live entirely as we wish. Just like Mr Zhang, he is already having a very hard time. His original family is falling apart. The fact that he was willing to pay your upbringing costs in court today shows he is already a very responsible man.”
A daughter he had not spent over a decade with could hardly compare to a son he had raised personally.
Zhang Zhijun must be eager to mend relations with his son Zhang Hua. Upon seeing Zhang Hua appear, Zhang Zhijun immediately rushed over.
Zhuo Chen felt this was only human nature.
However, Zhuo Yue clearly did not see it that way. She bit her lip, gazing across the street where Zhang Zhijun was speaking to a young man.
The young man was tall and thin, looking travel-worn. He was her other brother.
Unfortunately, this brother would never treat her as kindly as Brother Achen did.
Zhuo Yue already knew about Zhang Zhijun’s wife Lu Meishu’s suicide.
Though only in her teens, she was quite shrewd. Once she realised the Xie and Zhang families were connected, and that Zhang Zhijun’s wife had committed suicide because of it, Zhuo Yue understood that her mummy could never become “Mrs Zhang”.
The Zhang family would not agree.
Even if daddy Zhang Zhijun truly loved mummy deeply, in China’s public opinion environment, it would be impossible.
People are always influenced by their surroundings and care about others’ opinions, unless everything settled and daddy could abandon everything in China to go abroad with mummy. Without all the gossip and disturbances, daddy and mummy could marry, and she could have a complete, healthy family with both parents.
Thinking this way, Zhuo Yue looked at Zhang Hua across the street with some hostility in her eyes.
Lu Meishu had already committed suicide, yet Zhang Hua was still alive!
Chinese people value sons highly. With Zhang Hua there, how could daddy abandon everything in China?
The happy family Zhuo Yue envisioned consisted of Sara Zhuo, Zhang Zhijun, Zhuo Chen, and herself. Zhang Hua clearly had no place in Zhuo Yue’s plans.
Coincidentally, Zhuo Yue had never been in Zhang Hua’s plans either.
While Zhuo Yue wanted Zhang Zhijun to marry Sara Zhuo, Zhang Hua’s thoughts had long moved beyond such matters. He had hurried travel-worn to Modu not to concern himself with how much Zhang Zhijun had spent on Zhuo Yue, but on the surface, Zhang Hua had to act as if he cared deeply!
Zhang Hua was furious. “I will never acknowledge that bastard as my sister. I have only one sister, and that is Nannan.”
Zhang Zhijun raised his voice. “What bastard? Where are your manners?”
“A child born from illicit union without proper marriage, what else to call it if not a bastard? Oh, it could be called an illegitimate daughter! You ask about my manners. My mum didn’t have time to teach me how to maintain manners in such a situation before she was gone. There’s nothing I can do.”
Zhang Hua’s attitude was poor. Instead, Zhang Zhijun took a step back, no longer accusing him of lacking manners. Calmly, he recounted the court proceedings.
Hearing that Sara Zhuo did not want Zhang Zhijun to bear Zhuo Yue’s upbringing costs, Zhang Hua sneered. “Forsaking small gains for big ones. That’s how this woman tricked Uncle Xie, and now she’s trying to trick you.”
Zhang Zhijun smiled bitterly. “I said it before. No one can ever replace your mother. There never was, and there never will be.”
That was true enough.
Apart from his mother being so foolish, which woman would hand over her family’s wealth on a platter?
Zhang Hua’s face was full of sarcasm. Zhang Zhijun cautiously asked about Lu Meishu’s funeral arrangements. “Your uncle must be devastated.”
Zhang Hua nodded. “Uncle is devastated. At first, he didn’t agree to bury mum back in the old home. He said that since mum married into the Zhang family, she was a Zhang. But I thought mum’s wish in life was to return home, and I had to fulfil it for her. I begged uncle for a long time before he relented…”
Halfway through, Zhang Hua suddenly looked up. “What conflict do you have with uncle? I remember going back to the Lu family with mum when I was little, then suddenly we stopped associating with them!”
The bitterness on Zhang Zhijun’s face was thick enough to dissolve. Unwilling to discuss such matters on the street with Zhang Hua, he told him to get in the car first.
At the court entrance, Zhuo Yue watched wide-eyed as Zhang Zhijun took Zhang Hua into the car. The vehicle sped away without even lowering a window.
The daddy she longed for showed her not the slightest attention.
Was paying money proof of caring?
If he truly cared about her, why not look at her, why not smile at her?
Not only had Zhang Zhijun avoided looking directly at Zhuo Yue, apart from necessary statements in court, he had not said an extra word to Sara Zhuo.
Zhang Zhijun’s behaviour suggested he had truly made an embarrassing mistake in his youth, wronging his friend and his own wife. Now this mistake had come to punish him, and he could only grit his teeth and accept the penalty.
Zhuo Yue cautiously observed Sara Zhuo’s expression.
This was not what mummy had described!
…
Zhang Zhijun told Zhang Hua to get in the car.
In the car, Zhang Zhijun reiterated his mistake. Zhuo Yue was simply the daughter born from “one erroneous night” with Sara Zhuo. There was no earth-shaking love between him and Sara Zhuo. In his heart, there was only his late wife Lu Meishu.
“If I had known your mother would choose that path, I absolutely would not have told her about it, even if it cost a lot to cover up the truth…”
Zhang Zhijun seemed genuinely regretful.
Zhang Hua felt no emotional ripple inside, but anger surged on his face. He turned his head away, clearly unwilling to hear more of Zhang Zhijun’s belated remorse.
Helpless, Zhang Zhijun got to the point.
“You asked about the conflict with your uncle? I caused his leg to be crippled.”
This time, no acting was needed. Surprise genuinely appeared on Zhang Hua’s face.
Zhang Hua had not expected Zhang Zhijun to admit it outright!
Zhang Zhijun’s voice was low. “In the past, your uncle and I were very close. We partnered in border trade. The Lu family had local connections, and I could source cheap quality goods from the interior. We worked well together and made a fortune in just a few years. Until one day, I discovered your uncle mixing other things into normal cargo. We had a huge argument. I said I would report him. Your uncle asked me, for your mother’s sake, to spare him this once. To make me believe him, he shot himself in the leg with a hunting rifle.”
The story Elder Lu had told Zhang Hua took a different turn in Zhang Zhijun’s mouth.
Elder Lu said Zhang Zhijun had partnered with the Lu family in smuggling, then seized their routes and caused Elder Lu’s disability.
But in Zhang Zhijun’s version, the one secretly smuggling was Elder Lu alone.
The disability was not caused by Zhang Zhijun but by Elder Lu himself.
For a moment, Zhang Hua truly wanted to believe Zhang Zhijun.
As Elder Lu had said, if Zhang Hua pretended to know nothing, he could continue as the Zhang family young master. In a few years, when his pain over Lu Meishu’s suicide faded, he could again be close father and son with Zhang Zhijun. But Zhang Hua truly could not do it!
Zhang Hua looked incredulous and hesitant. “Uncle is not doing well, neither financially nor in family matters.”
Zhang Zhijun let out a long sigh of relief. “Then I am reassured. I mean that your uncle has kept his own promise and not touched those unclean businesses again. That is good. In future, when you have time, visit him more. If he needs any help, feel free to assist. Over these years, he has refused my help. You are his nephew; he should accept yours.”
As he spoke, Zhang Zhijun took a document from his briefcase.
It was strikingly a “Share Transfer Agreement”.
Zhang Zhijun wanted to transfer 3% of his Jinhu Group shares to his son Zhang Hua!
“I have no face to see your Uncle Xie again. Remaining a ‘Jinhu’ shareholder is no longer appropriate. You are grown now. The money I have made in business over these years will eventually go to you. Take these ‘Jinhu’ shares first. Though a minor shareholder has no say in management, there are annual dividends.”
Zhang Hua did not know whether to accept.
Rationally, he should take the shares.
Keeping the 3% would bring annual dividends.
Selling the 3% to Xie Jinghu would bring a large lump sum.
Whatever one does in life requires money.
But Zhang Hua wished his father would emulate the old Xie Jinghu, treating him as harshly as Xie Jinghu had treated Xie Qian. Then Zhang Hua’s hatred for Zhang Zhijun would have no hesitation!
…
News of the first hearing quickly reached Wen Ying’s ears.
Hearing that Xie Jinghu demanded Zhang Zhijun offset Zhuo Yue’s upbringing costs with 3% company shares, Wen Ying was quite expectant.
Xie Jinghu was no good, but Zhang Zhijun was even more a venomous snake.
It would be better for the shares to stay with Xie Jinghu.
Unexpectedly, Sara Zhuo said she would take full responsibility for Zhuo Yue and needed no money from Zhang Zhijun!
“What a pity! Such a great opportunity! Did those two plan it in advance?”
Wen Ying lamented.
Xie Qian was unsure if they had coordinated beforehand.
Xie Yuping had people watching closely. Since Lu Meishu’s death, Sara Zhuo and Zhang Zhijun had not met privately once.
“There’s something else that will surprise you more. That woman helped Zhang Zhijun keep his 3% ‘Jinhu’ shares. Unexpectedly, right after the hearing, Zhang Zhijun immediately transferred the 3% to Zhang Hua.”
“Gave it to Zhang Hua?”
Both were cheating scoundrels, yet Zhang Zhijun was quite generous, voluntarily giving 3% shares to his son Zhang Hua.
Unlike that scum Xie Jinghu, who back then had to be squeezed and pressured by Uncle Xie in various ways to reluctantly hand over shares bit by bit to Xie Qian.
Wait, something seemed off.
Wen Ying nearly got sidetracked by the news. “If Lu Meishu hadn’t died, a divorce would at least have taken half Zhang Zhijun’s assets. Now Lu Meishu is dead, and Zhang Hua already qualifies to inherit part of her estate… Zhang Zhijun voluntarily giving ‘Jinhu’ shares to Zhang Hua bypasses how Lu Meishu’s estate is divided?”
