Chapter 71

In the next few days, Yu Lei hardly ever returned home.

When Tang Ruxin asked about it, he simply said he had too many cases and had to work overtime. Tang Ruxin had a sliver of suspicion that he was avoiding her, but then she realized that Yu Lei wasn't such a secretive person. He'd speak directly and wouldn't resort to such awkward tactics. So she continued to stay at his house, and it became even more comfortable.

During the days when Yu Lei disappeared, Tang Ruxin was not idle either. She spent her daytime hours in the library because she suddenly felt that she didn't really know Tang Jiulin very well.

Besides being her adoptive father, he was also the one who rescued her from the fire, a fire hero awarded by the municipal government for bravery, and the founder of Donghe Refining. Beyond that, she didn't seem to know much about him.

Tang Jiulin is a bit profit-driven, sometimes doing things by any means necessary, and doesn't seem to value feelings much.

She remembered that when her adoptive mother died, she didn't remember seeing Tang Jiulin look sad. He continued to do what he was supposed to do, and once the funeral was over, he threw himself into work.

At that time, Tang Ruxin was rebellious and stubborn, often doing things that were out of character. On the one hand, she was devastated by the death of her adoptive mother, and on the other hand, she was overwhelmed by the news of her true origins. While she couldn't accept it, she also wanted to find her real family. She caused chaos at home, and that period was when she and Tang Jiulin had the most contact.

During those years, she was imprisoned, beaten, and even tied up and starved. Despite all the threats and inducements, she refused to learn and, whenever she got the chance, she went to Tong'an Township to look for Zhao Zheng's whereabouts.

Then Yu Zhe showed up, and she understood Tang Jiulin's style even better. He could be ruthless when he was ruthless, yet gentle and gentle. He was a master of both mental and physical PUA, using a combination of sticks and dates to quickly tame Yu Zhe like a dog. Even now, Yu Zhe habitually obeyed Tang Jiulin's orders.

Unfortunately, she is a dog that will jump over the wall when forced into a corner, and she doesn’t have a suitable collar.

Ever since Yu Zhe, Tang Jiulin had been avoiding her, intentionally or unintentionally, often not returning home for a month or two. However, the nanny and driver were always at home, and he never neglected their food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

By the time she started college, Donghe Refining and Chemical had become one of the largest in the province, providing a significant portion of local employment. By then, Tang Jiulin had gone abroad under the pretext of expanding overseas markets. After a year or two of seldom seeing him, she gradually forgot that Tang Jiulin had once bared his teeth at her.

So what happened between him and Zhao Zheng before that?

Tang Ruxin had no way of finding out, so she could only go to the library to look for all the news reports about Tang Jiulin from that year, hoping to find clues between the lines of those words that had been covered in dust for many years.

The earliest news about Tang Jiulin was the fire caused by a gas explosion.

Back then, his name was Liu Lizhe, a security guard at the Qi'an Chemical Plant. The news report didn't detail the cause of the gas explosion, focusing instead on how Liu Lizhe discovered the fire, overcame his fear, rushed into the fire, and rescued a swaddled baby.

That baby was her—Tang Ruxin now, Zhao Lan back then.

The news report concluded with a brief summary of the fire's casualties: her biological father, Zhao Wenyan, died instantly; her mother, Su Nanxing, died despite medical efforts; and her brother, Zhao Zheng, suffered permanent brain damage from inhaling excessive gas.

This was consistent with what Yu Lei told her.

Tang Ruxin's fingertips fell on the last line of small words. The yellowed newspaper felt soft to the touch, softened and fragile by the rubbing of time. She was afraid that if she used a little force, it would cause cracks.

She had always thought she didn't mind. After all, her last name had been Tang for as long as she could remember, and she had only learned her last name was Zhao when she was twelve. It wasn't until now, when these three names appeared before her eyes, that she realized she didn't mind so much.

——Zhao Wenyan, Su Nanxing, Zhao Zheng. The family she was supposed to have, but completely lost overnight.

Tang Ruxin stared at the three names for a long time, seemingly unable to get enough. After a moment, she used her phone to capture this small piece of news and backed it up in the cloud.

Subsequent news was almost exclusively related to the founding and development of Donghe Refining. All the titles of outstanding entrepreneurs at various levels won by Tang Jiulin could be found in these newspapers.

Tang Ruxin did not miss any news with the three words "Liu Lizhe" or "Tang Jiulin". She took pictures of them all with her mobile phone and even downloaded and saved the retrieved TV news interviews.

After bringing the information back, she wanted to study it with Yu Lei to see if there were any clues, but the public servant had not shown up for several days.

Tang Ruxin thought it would be better for him to be suspended, at least she wouldn't have to eat takeout all the time.

In these reports, the only thing that connects Zhao Zheng and Tang Jiulin is the fire. Could it be that Tang Jiulin rushed into the fire and only saved her, but not Zhao Zheng, so Zhao Zheng holds a grudge against him?

Tang Ruxin sorted the images on her computer, writing down her own conjectures. After finishing, she looked through the news photos and her own annotations on them, looking for anything else to add.

The phone suddenly vibrated. Tang Ruxin took a look at the caller ID and saw that it was Song Mu.

"Mr. Tang, next Wednesday night is the company anniversary celebration. Will you be there?"

"Why does my name burn your lips?" Tang Ruxin said with a smile, "Come on, call me by my full name first."

Song Mu was silent for a moment, then hesitantly called out "Tang Ruxin".

Tang Ruxin's mood suddenly brightened, and she replied with a smile, "No."

Song Mu was silent for a while, and seemed to sigh before saying, "The chairman will officially announce the company's acquisition at the anniversary party and complete the signing ceremony of the acquisition contract in front of everyone. Are you really not coming?"

Tang Ruxin raised her eyebrows. So there was such a plan. She would have to take a look.

“Why choose this day to sign the contract?”

"The chairman meant that even if the company was acquired, the anniversary date wouldn't change. He hoped that this day would always be the company's anniversary."

Tang Ruxin curled her lips. Tang Jiulin was working hard on creating sentimentality and a sense of ritual.

"Then please save me a front row seat."

"Sure!" Song Mu's voice suddenly brightened. He seemed to realize that his happiness was too obvious, so he lowered his voice and said, "Then, see you next Wednesday."

Tang Ruxin hung up the phone, propped her chin on the phone, and began to count. Next Wednesday, five days left. I need to buy some clothes first, and schedule appointments with a hairdresser and makeup artist—what a hassle.

As soon as the thought came to her mind, Tang Ruxin immediately reflected on herself. It was true that bad company breeds bad influence. After spending so much time with someone like Yu Lei, it was hard to have patience for anything related to dressing up.