On the night before the launch, Zhuo Jingren had to force Lily to stop working and go to sleep early. How could she still work the night before the big event? Though Lily did her best to argue, in the end, her husband won. Using the ‘honeymoon phase’ reasoning, Zhuo Jingren dragged Lily to bed and got her so tired that she couldn’t even manage to open her eyes.
“President, I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour but I think you really need to hear this news as soon as possible.”
Zhuo Jingren sat on the chair in his office and looked at a wall clock to his left – It was thirty minutes past eleven. Secretary Go must have found out something really important to rush about at this hour of the night and disturb his sleep. “Speak,” he said.
“This is what I found about the Yang Family,” Secretary Go stated while giving a thick folder to Zhuo Jingren. “Let me start with the Patriarch. Old Man Yang is a retired General, his wife died more than ten years ago and he never remarried or got close to another female. He is a righteous old man who is also very strict. The eldest, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Sen, he has been married for more than twenty years to He Yuyan, a nurse whom he met while working in the military. After their marriage, the latter stayed at home and gave birth to a son, Yang Jing, who is currently a captain in spite of his young age.”
Seeing Zhuo Jingren just stare at the wall clock without looking at the files, Secretary Go continued. “The second son, Yang Tao, is an upright man who seems to have inherited his father’s strict behavior. His wife died while giving birth to their youngest daughter, Wendy Yang, a painter based in Korea. He also never remarried another woman and raised his son and daughter alone. His eldest son, Geoff Yang, is also in the Military. He, however, is unlike the older generations of the Yang Family, he is… Well he loves to sleep around with women and…”
“And what?” Zhuo Jingren asked.
“He seems to have an on and off relationship with Miss Li Shanshan.”
“Continue.”
“The two met during a taping that required military assistance and then they started seeing each other. Actually it was more like George Yang was chasing Miss Li around. Our sources believe that he wanted a real relationship but Miss Li refused.”
Zhuo Jingren nodded and gestured for Secretary Go to continue.
“The thing that I wanted to show you is an old DNA test result copy that our men found. This shows… that Miss Yang Mi is the biological daughter of the eldest son, Yang Sen,” Secretary Go said, deliberately pausing before he continued. “Apparently, two years after his marriage with He Yuyan, Yang Sen was assigned to one of the villages near the border of China. He met Miss Yang Mi’s mother in one of the villages. The woman got pregnant and Yang Sen’s wife, He Yuyan, made sure that he would never know about Miss Yang Mi.”
“If Yang Mi was born in China then… how did she become Lily’s assistant in Europe?” Zhuo Jingren thought out loud. An illegitimate daughter of a prestigious military family? If this news gets out, then…
“I took the initiative to check out Miss Yang Mi’s background and found that she has a sickly mother living in the Yunnan Province along with Yang Mi’s half-sister. Their relationship is very harmonious and Miss Yang always sends money home for her mother’s health.”
“Alright. Go home now,” Zhuo Jingren said. This thing… for some reason, he felt that Lily knew about this information. “One question though,” he said, and Secretary Go stopped in his tracks. “You said it was He Yuyan who prevented her husband from knowing the truth. What did she do? And how did you find out about this?”
“Ah.. it wasn’t really that hard, President. When our men asked some people living near the Yang Family’s mansion, they found out that years ago there was a woman who twice brought a child to the mansion, asking to speak to Yang Sen each time. That woman should be Miss Yang Mi’s aunt. According to my research, Miss Yang Mi’s mother suffered from cancer after giving birth to her second daughter. She must have asked her sister to bring Miss Yang Mi to the Yang Family to be recognized. However, Yang Sen was a military man who hardly stayed at home so it was He Yuyan who met them. She was also the one who gave them enough money for the treatment of Miss Yang Mi’s mother.”
“After that day, they never tried to contact the Yang Family to have them recognize Yang Mi. If my guess is right, then He Yuyan must have negotiated with them to to stay away in exchange for the money,” Secretary Go added.
Zhuo Jingren did not respond. Instead, he waved his hand and watched as Secretary Go left. “That was quick.” Lily’s sudden voice surprised Zhuo Jingren. Secretary Go didn’t even take twenty minutes to explain whatever it was that he relayed to Zhuo Jingren.
“You’re still awake?” He watched as the latter wrapped the robe tighter around her. She walked towards Zhuo Jingren and unceremoniously sat on his lap.
“I woke up because it was too cold, and I need someone hot beside me.” she answered, her half lidded eyes staring at Zhuo Jingren’s handsome face. “So what was that all about?”
“Didn’t you hear what he said?” he asked while wrapping his arms around her.
“I don’t eavesdrop, okay?”
“Hmmm… yeah. I believe you,” he chuckled. “It was about the Yang Family. Do you know about Yang Mi and the Yang Family?” In response, Lily stared at him before she nodded.
“I do.”
“Does she know about it too?”
“Yes, she does.”
“Do you have your plans or…?” he asked. If Lily wanted to do something about the Yang Family then he would gladly back down and support her from behind.
“I already told you, they don’t interest me. And Yang Mi does not care about them either,” she said while placing her head on the nook of his neck. “Why don’t you stop thinking about them and think about the possibility of me being naked under this robe?”
“Naughty as always,” he chuckled deeply before he brushed his lips against her ear. “Lets sleep… you have a long day tomorrow,” he said as he rose from his seat while carrying her.
“Weak,” Lily uttered while rolling her eyes.
