Assistant Qi thought Zhuo Chen was utterly spineless.
Assistant Qi was curious to hear how this spineless Zhuo Chen would beg Xie Jinghu for help, but Xie Jinghu waved a hand to dismiss him first.
This meant he did not want Assistant Qi to overhear the conversation with Zhuo Chen.
Assistant Qi swiftly gathered the files on the desk. “President Xie, I will get back to work then.”
He left Xie Jinghu’s office without lingering.
Assistant Qi had his own office at Jinhu. He carried the files back, greeting several colleagues in the corridor with a calm expression.
Once the door was closed and the files set down, Assistant Qi sat, opened his laptop, and began processing work.
He liked listening to music while working, a habit many in the company knew about.
With headphones on, Assistant Qi looked relaxed, fingers flying across the keyboard.
After years as a double agent, he had mastered the art of doing two things at once.
At Jinhu, Assistant Qi had two jobs: one open, one secret.
Right now, he was handling both simultaneously!
…
As expected, Xie Jinghu had waited for Zhuo Chen to lower his head, yet deep down he felt no real satisfaction.
The phrase “human nature is base” truly applied to Xie Jinghu in full measure.
If Zhuo Chen did not beg for help, Xie Jinghu felt uncomfortable.
But when Zhuo Chen begged so quickly, Xie Jinghu felt even more uncomfortable.
He had wanted to use this opportunity to assess Zhuo Chen’s abilities, yet Zhuo Chen sought his help without even trying to save Si Lan himself.
Zhuo Chen had yielded too easily, which made Xie Jinghu think of Xie Qian.
What would Xie Qian do in the same situation?
Xie Qian would rather die than lower his head and beg him.
Moreover, Xie Qian could probably resolve Si Lan’s troubles with his own abilities, without needing to ask anyone for help. In comparison, Zhuo Chen fell far short of Xie Qian in both capability and character!
Both were Xie Jinghu’s sons, yet Xie Jinghu refused to blame himself. If Zhuo Chen was inferior to Xie Qian, it must be because Sara Zhuo was inferior to Zou Weijun.
That woman surnamed Zhuo was all appearance, vain and materialistic, false and hypocritical!
The Zou family had upright traditions. Professor Zou had passed wisdom to Zou Weijun, and only she could produce a son like Xie Qian.
What an excellent son.
Unfortunately, he was not close to Xie Jinghu.
No matter how much money or property Xie Jinghu offered, Xie Qian would accept it.
And then… nothing more.
He took the wealth but offered no affection, leaving Xie Jinghu deeply frustrated.
Once he had found Xie Qian an eyesore; now Xie Qian found him an eyesore.
These thoughts flashed through Xie Jinghu’s mind. Xie Qian was beyond his control, but Zhuo Chen, weak though he was, could at least be used.
“How do you want me to help you? Zhuo Chen, I do not help other people’s sons.”
Xie Jinghu was actually forcing Zhuo Chen to choose sides!
And to make the choice himself.
If Zhuo Chen chose Sara Zhuo, Xie Jinghu would not help.
If Zhuo Chen chose Xie Jinghu, he could no longer stay neutral in the conflict between Xie Jinghu and Sara Zhuo.
Zhuo Chen could not play the dutiful son to Sara Zhuo while trying to extract support from Xie Jinghu.
Xie Qian never did that. Xie Qian always stood firmly with Zou Weijun and never lowered his head!
On the other end of the line, Zhuo Chen’s voice was bitter.
“Actually, I would like to know whose son I really am. I used to be surnamed Qi, now I am surnamed Zhuo. In future, could I be surnamed Xie?”
Of course he could not be surnamed Xie!
If Zhuo Chen acknowledged his ancestry, the old lady at home and Xie Yuping would never let Xie Jinghu off.
Xie Qian and Zou Weijun would not forgive him.
Most importantly, Xie Jinghu himself did not want Zhuo Chen to acknowledge his ancestry.
Seeing Zhuo Chen always reminded Xie Jinghu of how Sara Zhuo had deceived him for over a decade.
That woman surnamed Zhuo had been so bold in cuckolding him precisely because Zhuo Chen existed. As long as the affair stayed hidden, she could keep deceiving him; once exposed, she could still use Zhuo Chen as leverage!
Acknowledging the son meant acknowledging the son’s mother.
If Zhuo Chen were ever to inherit Jinhu, given his deep bond with Sara Zhuo, how could he abandon his own mother?
Handing Jinhu to Zhuo Chen would indirectly give it to Sara Zhuo.
And giving it to Sara Zhuo would mean giving it to Zhang Zhijun as well.
The mere thought of that adulterous pair made Xie Jinghu’s blood boil.
No matter how cold Xie Qian was, he was still Xie Jinghu’s son, and Zou Weijun had never cuckolded him!
Xie Jinghu knew the answer to Zhuo Chen’s question but could not say it outright.
Fortunately, Zhuo Chen was quite open-minded. “Daddy, I understand your difficulties. Mummy hurt your feelings, you hate her. Yueyue is not your daughter, so you dislike her too. That is only natural. But one is my mummy and the other my sister. I cannot abandon them. That is my difficulty. Can you understand?”
If Xie Jinghu could empathise with others, he would not be Xie Jinghu.
He sneered. “After all that, you still choose the woman surnamed Zhuo. Then I cannot help you!”
Zhuo Chen was not surprised in the least.
In the past, he might have wanted a proper discussion with Xie Jinghu.
He would have said that abandoning the mother who had raised him just because his father was richer and more powerful would make him an ungrateful wretch.
If he could betray Sara Zhuo today, he could betray Xie Jinghu tomorrow.
But now Zhuo Chen had no desire to open his heart to Xie Jinghu.
Some things, once changed, could not go back. Zhuo Chen could no longer confide in him.
“President Xie.”
Zhuo Chen smoothly changed the address. “You may disown me as your son. After all, you have a more outstanding one. As far as I know, your father-son relationship with Xie Qian has deep rifts. No matter how you try to please him, he remains unmoved.”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing Zhuo Chen mention Xie Qian, Xie Jinghu’s brow twitched violently. He suddenly wondered if he had spoken too harshly earlier.
He recalled the four additional clauses in the divorce agreement.
If Zhuo Chen felt he had no hope of inheriting the family fortune, what if he targeted Xie Qian?
Even if Zhuo Chen himself did not, that madwoman Sara Zhuo might take desperate action.
At this thought, Xie Jinghu softened his tone slightly. “Actually, my heart is not that hard. About Si Lan…”
Zhuo Chen interrupted him.
“President Xie, I would like to discuss Si Lan in person.”
“…In person?”
“I am at the entrance to Jinhu right now.”
With that casual sentence, Zhuo Chen not only shocked Xie Jinghu but also startled Assistant Qi, who was “listening to music” in his own office.
After brief consideration, Xie Jinghu did not invite Zhuo Chen upstairs but chose to go down himself.
Assistant Qi pretended to open his door just then. Seeing Xie Jinghu approach, he hurried forward. “Are you going out? There is a document that needs your signature…”
Xie Jinghu was distracted. “Hm, no need to follow. We will deal with the document when I return.”
Xie Jinghu strode off, leaving Assistant Qi so frustrated he wanted to bang his head against the wall.
What could not be said over the phone that required a face-to-face meeting?
Zhuo Chen had not only shed his pride but was being so cautious. Was he planning to play the emotional card in person?
Yet Assistant Qi could not warn Xie Jinghu without exposing his own double-dealing!
…
Xie Jinghu’s expression shifted unpredictably.
A car was indeed parked at the Jinhu entrance. When Xie Jinghu appeared, Zhuo Chen opened the door for him.
“After you.”
Xie Jinghu suppressed his irritation. “Zhuo Chen, where did you learn this cloak-and-dagger nonsense?”
Was it from Zhang Zhijun?
Yes, if Zhang Zhijun had been carrying on with Sara Zhuo all along, Zhuo Chen might have known for years!
Zhuo Chen said earnestly, “I simply do not want to make things difficult for you. From now on I will call you President Xie. You previously supported Zhao Dong to cause trouble for Xie Qian, but the situation has changed. Now you want to mend relations with Xie Qian, which makes Zhao Dong’s existence rather awkward. I spent some time at Si Lan and found Zhao Dong to be ambitious but lacking in talent. You were able to support him. Why not consider supporting me instead?”
Xie Jinghu looked Zhuo Chen up and down.
“Zhao Dong is an outsider. If he becomes uncooperative, I can simply replace him with another outsider. You are different.”
Xie Jinghu was not senile. Supporting Zhuo Chen was no different from letting him acknowledge his ancestry!
“Of course I am different. My special status makes me far more useful for provoking Xie Qian.”
Zhuo Chen analysed his own value. “Xie Qian will eventually become Jinhu’s heir. President Xie, you need a blade to sharpen Xie Qian for you. Zhao Dong cannot bear such a responsibility, but I can!”
