Chapter 158 Shock! Zhizhi's Identity Revealed

The cold wind blew across the little cub's red face, making the tip of her nose even redder.

Jiang Yan's eyes were full of heartache. He slowly withdrew his hand, his voice gentle but filled with complex emotions.

"Yes, I'm a bastard. I'm so incompetent. In pursuit of lofty ideals, I've done many wrong things, even causing a series of tragedies. Zhizhi... ...Do you know that your uncle is also very good at math? Your uncle can even build you an airplane out of wood. It can fly by itself without electricity. Do you want one?"

Zhizhi took a step back, her dark, grape-like eyes filled with wariness.

What are you trying to say?

"You're good at math, what business is it of mine?"

"I haven't even started school yet, and you're already a mature old man. What kind of skill do you have compared to a kid?"

The little cub waved impatiently, its tone as soft and sweet as a chocolate liqueur on the outside but pungent and sharp on the inside.

"If you don't want to talk, then we're leaving. There's no point in dealing with idiots!"

As it spoke, the little cub turned to leave.

However, she didn't really want to leave, which was evident from her slowing down and listening carefully to any sounds.

This is a common bargaining technique I learned when selling vegetables.

If you want the clothes but think they're too expensive, you pretend to leave when you're bargaining with the shop owner. The owner will definitely call you back and then pretend to compromise, saying, "Fine, fine! I give up, take these clothes at a low price, consider it keeping a repeat customer."

She's now betting that this strange man will call out to her.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Zhizhi secretly calculated the time, just as she was about to take her fourth step.

Finally, a helpless voice came from behind.

"Your intelligence is exactly the same as En Ning's... ...I always lose."

"What?"

Zhizhi turned around abruptly, thinking she had misheard.

En Ning?

Mom's name... ...right?

The little cub wasn't sure; she had never seen her mother's face. Sang Lao Er didn't know what her mother's name was either. In the mouths of her wicked father and vicious grandmother, the most common words used to refer to her mother were "money-losing girl," "infertile," and "unlucky."

But Grandpa Ji seemed to have mentioned this name occasionally before.

“Ji Enning... ...your mother’s name.”

Jiang Yan softly uttered the name, and as he spoke those three words, his hand trembled almost imperceptibly.

How could he possibly find peace? Just uttering the name made his heart ache as if it were being squeezed tightly.

Zhizhi rushed to him anxiously, "You know my mom? What's your relationship with her?"

She was now almost certain that the strange man looked like her father and shared the same surname, so he must be a relative of her father.

But when he says he knows his mother, that's a completely different story.

Who exactly is he?

The little cub's eyes were moist, and she clenched her little hands, looking longingly at Jiang Yan.

She was waiting for him to give a clear answer.

Jiang Yan nodded. "Would you like to see what your mother looks like?"

As he spoke, he slowly took out a pocket watch from his pocket. The silver chain followed a circular decoration with intricate patterns. When opened, one half was a photograph, and the other half was the watch face. The hands on the watch were no longer moving, but the photograph on the other half, even though it had faded and become old over the years, still made it possible to vaguely make out that it depicted a young woman.

Looking at the pocket watch he handed her, Zhizhi lowered her eyes and stared blankly at the photo on it.

Jiang Yan spoke softly, “Your mother has very fair skin and big, smiling eyes. Like you, she has two small dimples on her face when she smiles. Your mother didn’t have a particularly good childhood, but she never gave up. She worked hard to learn to read and write, and she is just as smart as you.”

How do you know so much?

Zhizhi interrupted him abruptly, her large eyes filled with suspicion, "What is your relationship with Mom? Why, why do you know Mom is in Sangjiapo, but you've never shown up? Are you... are you my...?"

The word "Dad" almost slipped out of my mouth.

The little cub looked up and met the strange man's clear black and white eyes, and she suddenly stopped talking.

Is he Zhizhi's biological father?

Is he Zhizhi's biological father?

She wanted to ask, but she didn't dare, because asking would mean she would resent him, she would resent her father for not coming to save her mother sooner, for allowing her mother to suffer in that place, and even lose her life because of it.

Who exactly is he?

Jiang Yan closed his eyes tightly, his hands hanging down on his legs clenched into fists, his knuckles cracking as he squeezed them.

"All you need to know is that Sang Lao Er can't have a child like you."

Upon hearing this, Zhizhi felt no joy, only intense anger.

"Then what are you doing here now?"

Where were you when your mother suffered?

"I already have new parents, and you're showing up again to disturb my life. What are you trying to do?!"

Each question was tinged with incomprehension and sadness.

Her little mind couldn't think of any more words to curse him.

Zhizhi gripped the pocket watch tightly, her eyes burning with rage. "You and Dad are brothers, right? I can confirm that now. But you've been avoiding seeing Dad, yet you promised to come see me... and you even talked about Mom with me. You never came here for Dad; you came to see me. So what do you want?"

Jiang Yan took a deep breath, barely managing to hide the pain on his face.

He didn't know En Ning had a child before, but he had signed a confidentiality agreement and was kept in one place, not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. When he was finally released, he found that his family had left and En Ning had completely disappeared.

At that time, he searched desperately, trying to find her whereabouts.

But no one knew where she went. It was only after much searching that they found out she had appeared in Sangjiapo.

At that time, En Ning had disappeared from Sangjiapo.

It was only after seeing the little girl's appearance in the photo in the Suzhou Daily's missing person notice that he realized he had been discovered.

En Ning had a child...

He then used all his abilities to investigate secretly and learned that Sang Lao Er was dead and had been convicted of child trafficking.

His confidentiality agreement hasn't expired yet, so he can't appear openly in front of Zhizhi.

But he wanted to see the child.

Because this is his and En Ning's only child...

"sorry... ..."

Jiang Yan's tone was tinged with a deep sense of helplessness.

“I just wanted to see you and give you the photos. I’m not a bad person, and I’m not here to hurt you, Zhizhi. Please don’t hate me.” He pursed his lips and said each word carefully. “I have to disappear for a month for some business. Please keep this meeting a secret and don’t tell your father that we’ve met.”

Jiang Yan raised his wrist to check the time, then hurriedly stood up to leave.

Zhizhi angrily called out to him, "You just want to leave like that? You haven't explained yourself!"

The child's voice successfully stopped him from leaving.

But time was of the essence. Jiang Yan took a deep breath, turned his head and slowly said, "If you want to sell vegetables in the future, you can continue to set up your stall. Don't worry about my colleagues buying from you. They are not bad people, and neither am I. Zhizhi... I know you have many questions you want to know. I will only tell you one thing: although you will call me Uncle for now, you will change your address in the future."