CW: mention of past rape, abandonment, and some real rancid misogyny.
Shao Yujie agreed to meet that man, and the location was set at the only four-star hotel in Gongshui County where that person would find appealing. It was also the hotel where Zhu Tong stayed during the time he started school.
In a secluded private room with a serene atmosphere, when Shao Yujie pushed open the door and entered, the man was already there, sitting calmly at the dining table. Upon seeing Shao Yujie, an inevitable expression of triumph couldn’t be concealed on his face.
“You’ve arrived? Sit down.”
Shao Yujie tightened the handbag in her hand and sat down opposite him.
Before coming here today, she meticulously dressed up. The hair that had been tied up for the sake of convenience at work was let down, and she put on a long skirt that accentuated her elegance. Gone was the simplicity of the lady of the milk tea shop, and the youthful innocence was absent as well. She appeared sophisticated and gentle, exuding an aura of intellectual charm.
She gave birth to a child out of wedlock at 18. This year, she was 35… almost 36.
She was abandoned and reviled by others, and the culprit was the man sitting opposite her now.
Shao Yujie didn’t speak. The man opposite her spoke first, “I haven’t seen you for more than a decade. You seem to have changed a lot.”
Shao Yujie did not answer.
The man continued, “I didn’t expect that we would meet again in such a place.”
Shao Yujie finally said, “I didn’t expect that a well-known president of a big company from A City would appear in such a small remote county in person. It’s been a long time… Xia-zong.”
“…”
Xia Weiyi seemed surprised that she would still speak so sarcastically. He paused briefly but didn’t pay much attention to it.
He gently turned the ordered dishes in front of her, and said softly, “This is made by the chef in the restaurant you used to like the most. Try it, does it taste the same as before?”
Shao Yujie looked at the exquisite dishes that obviously did not come from this hotel. She wasn’t moved at all, but her reply was in a softer voice, “Xia-zong, let’s cut to the business directly.”
Seeing that she was ungrateful for his gesture, Xia Weiyi’s eyes darkened slightly. He clasped his hands together, elbows resting on the edge of the table, and went straight to the point: “Yujie, come back.”
Shao Yujie asked, “To where?”
Xia Weiyi: “Go back to A City, you can choose any house you want, and I will give you the best life for both you and your son.”
Shao Yujie suddenly laughed, “I can choose any house I want? Since when did you become so generous, Xia-zong?”
Before coming here today, Shao Yujie had guessed what purpose Xia Weiyi had by looking for her. However, she didn’t expect that he would bring it up so shamelessly.
He still had the same arrogance and self-righteousness as before.
Her words were obviously sarcastic, making Xia Weiyi frown impatiently, “If one house is not enough, what conditions do you have…”
“Do you want Shao Ming to acknowledge you?”
Shao Yujie didn’t beat around the bush and interrupted him directly.
Xia Weiyi acquiesced.
This was his purpose.
Shao Yujie sneered. “Xia Weiyi, are you inflating your own worth?”
“You…”
“Give us the best life? Where were you all this time? When you let someone drug me and have them send me to your bed, did you ever think about giving me a good life? You destroyed me. When you knew I was pregnant, you still drove me away from A City to endure humiliation. What have you done? Does Shao Ming have any connection with you now that he’s grown up like this? Xia Weiyi, why should he acknowledge you?”
Shao Yujie has never spoken to anyone in such a stern manner in her entire life. Although the cutting words came out from her mouth, her hands were trembling.
Looking at the man sitting across from her, she inevitably recalled the night she least wanted to remember in her life.
Back then, she came to A City to attend university.
During the summer vacation before the university started, she and her friends worked as part-time waitresses at a bar because the pay was higher there. She knew such places were unsafe, but one can’t help but feel lucky sometimes. She didn’t know that the nightmare-like place would eventually turn into her actual nightmare.
She got pregnant, was expelled, and didn’t further her education. When she was sent back to Gongshui County, she didn’t even know she was pregnant.
When she got the test results at the hospital, how shocked and disappointed her parents were, how her own sister sneered at her…
Shao Yujie didn’t want to recall any more, she took a deep breath, “Xia-zong, if you’re here today just for this matter, then you can leave. Shao Ming will never acknowledge your blood relationship, and I will never lobby him in your stead.”
She got up and left.
Xia Weiyi suddenly said, “Don’t you want to see your biological son?”
Shao Yujie froze all of a sudden.
Xia Weiyi continued, “I can let you see him, and even let him acknowledge you. In exchange, you let Shao Ming go back with me. He is still your son, and I think, they are both your sons, even if Shao Ming isn’t of your blood.”
“…”
After a brief hesitation, Shao Yujie’s stiff body quickly relaxed. She said indifferently, “Xia-zong, you might have a conscience now, but you tend to forget. What you don’t remember, I won’t forget. Since the day you took the child away from me, the child you abandoned to me, is my own son.”
“Also, as you can see, Shao Ming and I are living well now, and we don’t need you to give us a good life.”
After speaking, she went straight to the door of the private room, opened the door and went out.
In the corridor outside the private room, Shao Yujie had her back against the wall. She needed to calm herself down for a long time before her trembling hands could stop. Finally, she left the hotel.
In the private room, Xia Weiyi was still a little stunned when Shao Yujie left, as if he couldn’t believe that he was rejected so decisively.
He paused for a while, anger showing on his face. With one hand, he swept over a bottle of red wine that he had prepared but hadn’t opened yet, and then he scolded in a low voice, “You don’t know how to appreciate my goodwill!”
The red wine bottle shattered on the ground, liquid pouring out. Xia Weiyi couldn’t help but feel annoyed when he saw his own angry reflection on the dark-red puddle.
Like most marriages in high society, his marriage was an arranged one in the name of business.
There was no loyalty between husbands and wives in a marriage that was brought together for the sake of profit. He was like that, and so was his wife.
In order to ensure that his future heir was of his own blood, he found Shao Yujie when his wife was pregnant.
Originally it was just a trivial change of babies. After years had passed by, he even forgot that he had a son living outside the city.
During a chance encounter and a sudden whim for a paternity test, he unexpectedly discovered that the abandoned child he suspected to not be his was… not only was his biological son, but he had grown into a pleasantly surprising person without his knowledge.
Compared with that flower vase1pretty face, but useless otherwise, Xia Yang, who liked to use his temperament and couldn’t give him any help, the mature and determined Shao Ming was obviously more suitable to be his heir.
After knowing him, Shao Ming satisfied him more than he imagined.
He has excellent grades. Although he was very young, he had strong determination and was clever. On top of that, he has amazing business talents.
What exactly is Zhu Tong’s identity? Why can he make Liu Jianbai speak up for him, even showing respect towards him?
Since making the Zhu twins as Liu Jianbai’s godchildren at the last banquet, the Zhu family seemed to have attracted some big shots overnight. Various company projects they had encountered consecutive problems. Although not yet bankrupt, it has been hit by many serious blows. If this continues, the Zhu family will be squeezed out of its position as a commercial giant in A City.
The individuals behind the scenes targeting the Zhu family were very measured. They haven’t let the Zhu family collapse completely and be divided by others, nor have they allowed the Zhu family to remain peaceful. It’s as if they’re hanging the family on a cliff, constantly keeping them in a state of fear and anxiety.
Their strength could be clearly seen from their ability to accurately force the Zhu family into this position.
The reason why Xia Weiyi was in such a hurry to recognize Shao Ming as his legitimate heir was to borrow his relationship with Zhu Tong.
But Shao Ming thought that his wings were hard2independent, and he was unmoved by both soft means or hard means.
Xia Weiyi was not a patient person. He even thought about approaching Zhu Tong, but Zhu Tong’s attitude towards him at the banquet made him give up this idea.
And now even Shao Yujie, a woman, dares to ignore him!
The more Xia Weiyi thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He finally ran out of patience.
He wanted to see how hard Shao Ming’s wings were. He really thought that he would really be able to ascend to the sky in one step if he boarded the Jiang family’s boat?
Not to mention that he couldn’t rise to such heights on his own, but now, even in high school, he dared to be with Zhu Tong. The more influential someone is, the more they care about lineage. Xia Weiyi didn’t believe that the people behind Zhu Tong would allow him to be with a high school student with no background, especially a male.
No one cared what he thought, and no one cared what he was going to do.
After returning to school, because his life is full, time passes very quickly.
Shao Ming’s winning the math competition inspired Zhu Tong and made him more diligent. During the day, he attended the school earnestly, and when he went back at night, he had to take supplementary lessons.
Shao Ming always couldn’t help but feel heartache, even shamelessly claiming that he would take responsibility for earning money to support their family in the future. However, the resolute young man with integrity firmly refused; he wanted to be self-reliant.
However, in recent days, Zhu Tong has had some troubles.
As the weather gradually cools down, even those who are sensitive to the cold are wrapping themselves up in down jackets. However, Zhu Tong these days… seems a bit restless.
Especially when he woke up every morning and saw the young man lying next to him. There was an indescribable urge in his body… it made his mouth dry.
The system said, ‘This is proof that your health has improved.’
“…”
Zhu Tong remembered that the reward for the favorability level of 80% was a strong body that was immune to all kinds of diseases. However, since receiving the reward, Zhu Tong hadn’t felt any noticeable improvement in his physical health.
He thought he was strong. He was unlike Shao Ming, tall with six-pack abs and other muscles.
But his appearance has hardly changed.
Thinking of the embarrassing scene of having a nosebleed in front of Shao Ming’s naked body… it seemed that it happened after the favorability level exceeded 30%.
Why was his physical improvement always reflected in these strange aspects?
Does everyone else do this?
Shao Ming… will this be the case too?
Another early morning, Zhu Tong woke up in a daze. The room’s light hadn’t been turned on yet, and outside the window, it was pitch black. Normally, the room would be lit up by now because Shao Ming always woke up earlier than him.
Waking up early today, Zhu Tong blinked a few times, feeling a bit groggy. He stared at the dark ceiling for a moment, feeling lost. Suddenly, he noticed something, and his awareness instantly sharpened. His body stiffened abruptly.
It’s not that he didn’t understand his own body. But when he quickly realized what the strange feeling between his legs was… his face instantly burned into a hand warmer.
He still had Shao Ming’s hand on his waist, hanging casually in front of him, very close to…
Zhu Tong didn’t have time to think about anything. He lifted the hand on his waist, turned on the light to open the door, and rushed straight to the bathroom.
Shao Ming was awakened by his “rude” actions, and when he opened his eyes, he saw only a back running away in a hurry.
“…?”
T/L: well, I bet everyone knows that Xia Weiyi is Shao Ming’s biological father, but that child-swapping thing sure is a plot twist. So, XWY’s disagreement of XY’s crush on SM is because they’re both his sons! Surprise incest, I guess
