Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Your mother was really beautiful when she was younger. You look so much like her, and your temper is similar to hers too. When I first saw you, it felt as if I was seeing the younger version of her. I’ve been keeping tabs on you secretly ever since I saw photos of you surfacing on the media. However, it was not very frequent and I mostly saw you on the news. I found out that you were psychic, just like your mother. At that time, I really wanted to meet you and tell you that I am your father. However, I didn’t have the courage to do it and I didn’t want to disrupt the peace of your life.”
How was my life peaceful at all?
I never once lived in peace.
“At the start, I didn’t have plans to search for my biological parents. After all, I was already in my twenties and had gained independence. It was only much later that I wanted an answer and some closure. What I was thinking then was that perhaps my biological parents had abandoned me because they had some difficult reasons and not because they didn’t want me anymore. However, in hindsight, I’m really thankful for my decision to search for my parents. If I hadn’t done that, no one would have discovered that she was still alive.”
“It’s all thanks to you that I could find out the secret Shi Xiaoyu had been hiding from me for years. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have known how much pain and suffering the love of my life had been put through, even until the day I die.”
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “It’s all fated. I have to head back to A City now.”
“Aren’t you going to stay here?”
“I’ll be back in another few days. I’m going home for a while,” she said while standing up.
“Okay.”
It was already evening when she left the Autumn Palace and boarded the flight back to A City.
It was currently drizzling in A City.
She did not instruct her bodyguards to pick her up from the airport and instead hailed a taxi home.
The moment she opened the front door, she was greeted with the sight of No. 6, to whom she gave a big hug and said, “I’m home.”
“Hello, Sis.”
She let go of him and asked, smiling, “Are you happy?”
“Of course, we’re over the moon.”
“Let’s go inside.”
“Sure.” No. 6 closed the door and followed her into the living room.
Everyone happened to be having dinner at the time. Upon the sight of her, they quickly greeted her one after another. She sat down and said, “I haven’t had my meal.”
“Sis, give me a moment, I’ll go get you some cutlery,” said No. 5, who hurriedly got up from his seat.
“Okay.” She removed her hair band and braided her shoulder-length locks.
“Why did you come home all of a sudden? Are you still going to go back there?”
“In another few days. I’d like to get some rest now for my body and my soul,” said An Xiaoning, who had not returned ever since she went to the Autumn Palace. It was a good time now for her to tell them everything. “I reckon you guys must have guessed it, but I still have to tell you properly. The truth about the poisoning incident has come to light, and Lin Shishi has died in labor today together with her newborn son.”
“She died in labor?” Shi Qingzhou asked in apprehension.
“Yes. I’ll tell you more about it later.” It was not that An Xiaoning did not trust her bodyguards, but rather, she felt that it was better to have fewer people know about it.
Seemingly having gotten the hint, Shi Qingzhou said with a smile, “That’s something worth celebrating. However, what’s going to happen to the Lin family’s assets?”
“Clearly, they’ll be confiscated by the government,” said An Xiaoning, grabbing the chopsticks and bowl from No. 5 before proceeding to dig in.
“Ever since these twist of events, your father and I have felt so much more relieved. Regardless of who becomes the next president, no one will dare to make life difficult for you again from now on.”
Shi Qingzhou looked extremely heartened and at ease. After resting for several months, she was slowly returning to the pink of health and her cheeks had gotten chubbier as well. Given that her features were already beautiful to begin with, she looked even better with some self-care, and her appearance now was a stark contrast to that of when she was imprisoned in the underground basement.
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “We’ve won this battle, but that doesn’t mean we can let our guards down. We must still be very cautious and wary of possible dangers.”
“That goes without saying.”
“…”
After dinner, An Xiaoning spoke to her parents privately in the room about what happened to Lin Shishi. Shi Qingzhou sighed and said, “Well, this matter has finally come to an end. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and someone has to die in the end. It just happens that we’re not the ones to.”
“I’ll be heading to Wei Ni Estate now. I won’t be coming home tonight.”
“Alright, go ahead. He misses you too.”
An Xiaoning expressed assent and left.
On the way to Wei Ni Estate, she wondered to herself, What is he doing now? Is he eating? Or reading? Watching a movie? Or could he be working out in the gym?
Those were the only few activities she could think of.
Wei Ni Estate was a stone’s throw away from Sanqiao Estate. Hence, she arrived in no time.
She drove her car past the gate and said to Fan Shixin, who was scurrying toward her, “What is your Young Sir doing now?”
“Young Madam, Young Sir is working out right now. He’s putting in the work and effort for the eight-pack that you wanted to see,” Fan Shixin answered, handing her an umbrella.
She took it from him and said, “I’ll go take a look.”
She then walked toward the gym and caught sight of two figures standing in the brightly-lit room.
It turned out that Long Tianze was there too.
An Xiaoning could not help but be amused and chuckle at the sight of them working out. She folded the umbrella and placed it beside the door.
“Has Tianze joined the gym club, too?”
“It’s all your sister’s fault. She insists on wanting to touch my pooping abs. I usually only go to the gym once or twice a week, but thanks to her, I’m forced to come here to train every day. She’s even abused me verbally and mocked me for being worse than Qingyan. I’d rather die than be insulted. How am I in any way inferior to him?” Long Tianze groused, drenched in perspiration.
“Well… press on, then.”
“By the way, there’s something I must tell you about.” Long Tianze put down the gym equipment, wiped the sweat off his neck with a towel, and continued, “There has been so many issues with Fang Erlan, that artiste who’s signed to your and Yangyang’s studio.”
“What issues?”
“She’s not the cause of them, she’s just been running into a lot of trouble lately.” Long Tianze explained to her about everything Mei Yangyang had told him, after which he said, “Yangyang and I both think that she’s either being harassed by a spirit or that someone’s out to make life difficult for her on purpose.”
An Xiaoning said, “I don’t have anything on for the next couple of days. I’ll go take a look tomorrow.”
“You guys have fun while I go back now. I’m dead tired,” said Long Tianze, who stretched his arms and walked away.
An Xiaoning shifted her gaze onto Jin Qingyan, who had stopped working out too. She walked toward him and stroked his chiseled abs. “Not bad,” she complimented with a gleeful smile.
He twisted open the lid of a bottle of mineral water and took a few gulps before chucking it aside. “You’re not leaving tonight, are you?”
“No.”
As soon as she answered, he picked her up in his arms. An Xiaoning squealed in shock and said while looking at him, “You scared me.”
“Accompany me for a swim.”
“It’s raining outside.”
“That makes it even cooler.”
