Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Wei Ni Estate? Do you come from a wealthy family?” Xiaozong asked in surprise.
“We’re comfortable,” the materialistic Mei Shuangshuang answered, feeling glorious.
“Is that so?” Xiaozong exchanged mobile numbers with her and sent her to the entrance of Wei Ni Estate.
Mei Shuangshuang skipped home merrily while Xiaozong drove back to his house. However, he did not live in a luxurious estate or a lavish mansion. Instead, he lived in a humble abode, which was a rented apartment in a secluded area.
He returned the car to the car rental store before walking back home.
The chubby friend of his who went to the nightclub together with him was already waiting at home. Upon sight of him, the chubby friend hissed in disgruntlement, “Have you any idea how outrageous you were? You went off to have fun with a gorgeous babe on your own and left me alone in the club. Do you know how I came back? I took the bus home.”
“I wanted to ask her to sit down together at your table but she didn’t want to. That chick tonight was gorgeous, wasn’t she?”
The chubby man chuckled and asked, “Yes, her skin was fair like porcelain. I wonder what she feels like.”
“I’ve tried it. Not too bad. She seems to be from a wealthy family,” Xiaozong answered as he lay down on the bed.
“How did you know?”
“She lives in Wei Ni Estate. That’s such a luxurious district,” Xiaozong answered while looking at him.
“Go ahead and make a move on her then. I’ve never succeeded when I go with you anyway. In today’s society, I guess looks still do come first. I tried to flirt with a few but none of it worked out. Oh well,” the chubby man lamented, sitting on the bed and enjoying a supper of fried chicken and beer.
“I told you to cooperate with me but you insist on going alone. You only have yourself to blame.”
“Xiaozong, I’ll cooperate with you, but will you let me have some fun with that girl someday?”
“What’s so hard about that? You can enjoy yourself to your heart’s content,” Xiaozong agreed nonchalantly.
The chubby man chuckled and said in delight, “I’ll hold you to your word. Great buddy.”
Xiaozong grabbed a can of beer and opened it to take a few sips. “I just want money anyway. I’m not interested in anything else.”
—
For a few consecutive nights, An Xiaoning had been listening to the recordings from the listening device bugs she had planted in the rooms, all the way until the 1st of August.
She did not manage to hear anything from the first listening device bug, which she had planted in the president’s study.
An Xiaoning guessed that the bug must have been discovered by detectors.
Fortunately, the bug that she had painstakingly planted in Shi Xiaoyu’s bedroom was still intact.
She could hear all sorts of noises from the device, including footsteps, Shi Xiaoyu’s conversations over the phone, as well as sounds of items dropping.
However, she heard a different noise tonight.
It was rather soft and only lasted for less than twenty seconds. However, it sounded extremely unusual to An Xiaoning.
It was a crisp, ringing sound, which faded very quickly.
Strangely, the room fell silent after the ringing sound.
Could it be that Shi Xiaoyu had fallen asleep in bed? An Xiaoning thought to herself.
She continued to listen closely but did not hear any other noises.
Nonetheless, she continued to sit there with her earphones on. The night was dead silent, which amplified each and every noise clearly.
Half an hour later, An Xiaoning heard another ringing sound. An Xiaoning paid closer attention to the noise and soon began to hear Shi Xiaoyu’s footsteps on the ground.
What in the world?
What was that ringing sound?
But I didn’t hear any of that ringing noise even when Shi Xiaoyu had gone to bed, when I was hiding in the closet that night.
An Xiaoning was puzzled and confused. Just as she was in the midst of figuring out what it was, Shi Xiaoyu gave someone a call and instructed the person to hurry over as quick as possible.
Not long after, she heard sounds of the door being unlocked with a key, followed by footsteps…
“What’s the urgent matter?” Tuoba Rui asked.
“Come, sit down here. I have something important to discuss with you.”
“What is it?” Tuoba Rui asked.
“Gucheng is getting married in four days. There’s definitely going to be lots of people on his big day. I was going to ask you if we should invite the Jin family since they’re a powerhouse in our country’s business industry.”
“That goes without saying,” Tuoba Rui answered.
“An Xiaoning has already divorced him. But she’s the goddaughter of the Gu, Lin, and Jin families. We still ought to invite her, right? After all, we’re becoming in-laws with the Jin and the Lin families. It would be a little inappropriate not to invite her,” said Shi Xiaoyu, staring at him.
“If that’s the case, we shall invite her then,” Tuoba Rui agreed.
“Sure. That child looks so much like Sister. Don’t lose your composure when you see her on that day,” said Shi Xiaoyu.
“Why would I lose my composure? Is there a need to? What did I tell you before? That child has nothing to do with the Tuoba family,” Tuoba Rui hissed.
An Xiaoning’s heart sank as she continued to listen attentively.
“Let’s drop the subject. Since you’ve agreed to it, I’ll have her name be included on the guest list then. I’d really like to meet her, though. You’ve been so busy lately, you rarely come to my bedroom to rest. You’ve been sleeping in the study every night. Stay behind tonight, I’ve missed you,” Shi Xiaoyu said with a smile.
Tuoba Rui expressed assent coldly.
An Xiaoning did not remove her earphones, thinking that they would continue to talk further. However, they did not say anything else.
Thus, she removed her earphones and remained seated quietly.
It seemed she would be invited to the wedding on the 6th of August.
Would turning down an invite to a royal wedding, using the excuse of being somewhere too far away, be plausible?
Impossible.
However, her voice would definitely let the cat out of the bag if she were to attend the wedding using her true identity.
By then, everything she had meticulously planned would go down the drain and her efforts would be wasted. In fact, she might even suffer a greater loss.
It would become much more difficult to get to the bottom of the truth about her mother.
She only had a few days left.
It would be the 2nd of August tomorrow, what was she supposed to do?
An Xiaoning thought that it would be a good idea to discuss with her family and turn down the invite with the excuse of being severely injured.
She took a look at the time and returned to her room immediately.
She then headed inside the bathroom to call the Gu family and told Mr. and Mrs. Gu about the matter, to which they agreed. However, they would still have to try and see if the excuse would work.
They came to a consensus and decided to take things as they come.
An Xiaoning returned to the room next door after ending the call.
She was still overwhelmed with anxiety and filled with a myriad of thoughts when she sat on the couch.
She had already established some truths by now.
Tuoba Rui and Shi Xiaoyu both know that she, An Xiaoning, was still alive and well and knew whose daughter she was.
From their conversation, she had also learned that Tuoba Rui had never thought of acknowledging her. In fact, it had never crossed his mind to meet her at all.
Was he the one who abandoned her?
She dared not jump to conclusions before getting to know the absolute truth.
Regardless of whether her mother was dead or alive, she wanted to find out the truth anyway.
This was her ultimate agenda for entering the Autumn Palace!
An Xiaoning had only one goal in mind now, which was the only thing that’s keeping her determined in continuing to search for clues and find out the truth.
