Chapter 19

Tang Hui could tell that Song Ziyi had only dragged him into the mess because he couldn't win an argument with Qi Wang. He glanced at Song Ziyi with disdain, still elegantly and calmly eating his snacks and drinking his sake, and said coolly, "I don't dare to offend him either, for fear that he'll raise the rent for our law firm next year."

"Pfft." As soon as the words were spoken, laughter and the sound of spitting out wine rang out. Looking around, Mu Ci, Lin Ruoruo, and Lin Ruoruo's foreign boyfriend were already laughing so hard they fell over.

The three of them laughed so hard they were doubled over. Song Ziyi's face turned a deep shade of purplish-red with anger. He sighed with feigned profundity, putting on an affected expression, as if lamenting the decline of morality and the loss of traditional values, and said, "Fine, I'm beholden to them, I can't offend my sugar daddy."

Even Tang Hui and Qi Wang laughed this time. Song Ziyi initially kept a straight face, looking heartbroken, but after a few seconds he couldn't hold back and hugged Mu Ci, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.

After the young people joked and played around for a while, Lin Ruoruo rubbed her nearly flat stomach and complained, "I'm so hungry. Niannian's job is really tough. I heard that the wounded were sent to the hospital at noon, and the whole hospital was busy all afternoon. I wonder if she can handle being so thin. I need to make sure she eats more to replenish her strength."

Upon hearing this, Qi Wang immediately rang the bell to call the waiter and then went on a frenzy of ordering more dishes, all of which were Chen Nian's favorites.

Tang Hui looked at Qi Wang with suspicion and asked, "Your wife has been busy treating the wounded all afternoon, why did you ask her to come over?"

Shouldn't we let him go home and rest early at a time like this, and then personally bring his wife dinner back home?

Qi Wang glanced at Tang Hui and muttered, "It's all because of you. Niannian is bringing her best friend from the hospital to introduce you to her. She's already made arrangements with the girl beforehand. If Niannian doesn't come, the girl naturally won't come either. I advised my wife to call it a day and reschedule, but she's worried that everyone will be busy and it will be hard to get together again, so she insists on coming."

Tang Hui quickly shut his mouth. Chen Nian had been rescuing the wounded all afternoon without her feet touching the ground. She was under great stress both physically and mentally. After half a day, even a strong man would have been exhausted, let alone a delicate young girl.

Even so, she still insisted on attending the gathering to act as his matchmaker, even though he was somewhat disgusted by this kind of blind date and forced himself to swallow his protest.

He had no doubt that if he dared to complain about this old-fashioned blind date format, Qi Wang would take back their law firm's office and kick them all out tomorrow.

With one arm around his fiancée, Song Ziyi watched the spectacle while sipping his sake from time to time. Seeing Tang Hui speechless, he gloated and teased, "Old Tang, if you ask me, you should just grant Chen Nian's wish and accept her best friend. You need a 'girlfriend' to deal with your crazy little cousin anyway."

Qi Wang already knew that Lisa had followed him to China, which is why he urgently arranged this gathering. He hoped that Tang Hui and Shen Bining would hit it off, which was better than Tang Hui being harassed by that crazy girl, Lisa.

Lin Ruoruo glanced at the men and said with some dissatisfaction, "What are you saying? It's like Nian Nian brought a girl here for anyone to pick. Let me tell you, Ningning is very pretty and comes from a good family. It's not certain whether she'll even agree to be with you."

Although Tang Hui is handsome, Shen Bining is her good friend. She can't stand seeing her best friend being judged like a commodity and has to stand up for her.

Tang Hui was taken aback by the retort, then explained with a wry smile, "That's not what I meant. Don't pay any attention to those two. They're just making fun of me. I absolutely did not mean any disrespect to your friend. I just came here today hoping to make more friends."

Just as Tang Hui finished speaking, the door to the private room was opened, and a waiter stood in the doorway with two stunningly beautiful girls.

One of them is Qi Wang's fiancée, Chen Nian, and the other...

"Attorney Tang."

"Dr. Shen."

“It’s you.”

Tang Hui, Shen Bining, and Song Ziyi recognized each other after exchanging glances for two seconds, and the three of them spoke almost in unison.

Now it was Chen Nian, Qi Wang, and Lin Ruoruo's turn to be surprised. The three who didn't know what was going on looked back and forth at the other three, too shocked to speak.

Lin Ruoruo's foreign boyfriend stared wide-eyed in bewilderment—why couldn't he understand what these people were doing? Was it because his Chinese was still lacking?

Mu Ci was also confused by what she had just heard, but she maintained her ladylike smile, knowing that someone would answer her questions later.

The waiter who brought Chen Nian and Shen Bining over glanced around the room with envy, thinking to himself: "A room full of handsome men and beautiful women. It's true that good-looking people hang out with other good-looking people."

Because it's a Japanese restaurant, the private rooms are decorated in a typical Japanese style. Upon entering, there's a large tatami mat with a table in the middle. Guests need to take off their shoes and go barefoot into the private room.

Chen Nian and Shen Bining took off their shoes and stepped onto the tatami mat. Chen Nian naturally sat down next to Qi Wang, while Shen Bining sat on Chen Nian's other side, close to Lin Ruoruo.

"You two have known each other for a long time?" Chen Nian pointed at Tang Hui and nudged Shen Bining with her elbow, voicing the question that puzzled everyone present.

However, Tang Hui, Shen Bining, and even Song Ziyi remained silent. Their acquaintance stemmed from the hospice service arranged by Zhou Nianhua, which involved Tang Hui's privacy. Unless Tang Hui spoke up himself, Song Ziyi and Shen Bining wouldn't expose someone else's wounds.

This sudden silence made Chen Nian and the others even more suspicious. Just as they were about to ask again, Tang Hui said, "Dr. Shen came to the law firm to see me a few days ago about some business."

His words were quite skillful, answering why he knew Shen Bining without revealing his private life. People who didn't know his secret would only assume that the two had interacted on business and would think it was "what a coincidence".

Song Ziyi and Qi Wang both knew about Tang Hui's background. Song Ziyi, of course, had already met Shen Bining at the law firm. Although Qi Wang didn't know at the time, Tang Hui found him the next day and told him about Zhou Nianhua's terminal illness, and asked for his opinion.

After Tang Hui's explanation, Qi Wang immediately understood what the so-called "official business" was. He looked at Shen Bining in shock, unable to say a word—it turned out that the doctor who provided end-of-life care for Tang Hui's biological father was actually Shen Bining.

He then cursed himself for being too careless. He clearly knew that Chen Nian's best friend at the hospital worked in hospice care, and Tang Hui had specifically mentioned "Dr. Shen" when he told him the whole story, yet he hadn't connected the two at all.

Of everyone present, Song Ziyi was the calmest, having witnessed the entire process. Qi Wang knew that Tang Hui's biological father was terminally ill and wanted to find his son, but he didn't expect that the person who took on this task would be Shen Bining.

Mu Ci and Lin Ruoruo were unaware of Tang Hui's secret. They simply felt that Tang Hui and Shen Bining were quite destined for each other, having met before due to work and now reuniting for personal reasons. Lin Ruoruo had even secretly begun to enjoy their relationship.

Lin Ruoruo's foreign boyfriend still hadn't heard what everyone was saying. He hung his head in frustration, secretly vowing to study Chinese harder when he got back, otherwise he wouldn't even have a chance to gossip.

Of the group, Chen Nian was the most shocked.

She was unaware of Tang Hui's tragic past. She had only heard that Tang Hui lost his parents at a young age and grew up in the United States with his aunt and uncle, but knew nothing more about him.

Qi Wang didn't tell her for two reasons. First, Chen Nian wasn't the type to pry into other people's privacy. Besides, it wasn't a good experience. Who would want all their friends to know why they lost their parents? Chen Nian couldn't bring herself to ask questions and get to the bottom of things.

Secondly, Qi Wang knows how to respect his friends. He would never use his friends' tragic past as gossip fodder to amuse his girlfriend or to chat with her when he has nothing better to do.

However, although Chen Nian did not know Tang Hui's secret background, she learned about the murderer Zhou Nianhua's experience from Shen Bining. She learned that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his terminally ill wife twenty years ago, and his only son refused to forgive him. The father and son had never seen each other since then.

Tang Hui just mentioned that they met on business, and one of Shen Bining's recent tasks is to help Zhou Nianhua find her son. And coincidentally, Zhou Nianhua's son is also a lawyer who recently returned to China, while Tang Hui lost both his parents at a very young age…

Furthermore, Song Ziyi, who runs the same law firm as Tang Hui, had also met Shen Bining, indicating that Shen Bining had visited their firm. According to Chen Nian, Shen Bining's only recent "visit" was to handle Zhou Nianhua's case.

Based on all of the above, Chen Nian can confirm that Tang Hui is Zhou Nianhua's son, and that this is how he lost his parents.

Chen Nian dared not show her shock too obviously, and did not even dare to look at Tang Hui.

She was afraid that she would burst into tears if she saw Tang Hui.

The mother was terminally ill with cancer, but the father cruelly murdered his wife. What a painful and desperate experience this must have been for a child. No one would forgive him, and no one would ever want to remember it again.

No wonder Tang Hui is so cold and indifferent. Chen Nian had previously wondered why cheerful people like Qi Wang and Song Ziyi could be brothers with Tang Hui. Now it seems that Tang Hui's ability to avoid going astray despite the shadows of his childhood is truly admirable.

Being a little withdrawn and aloof is really nothing to worry about.

A heavy silence fell over the private room. The people involved knew the reason, but Lin Ruoruo and Mu Ci were completely confused, their uneasy eyes darting back and forth between the crowd.

They didn't understand why the atmosphere, which had been fine just moments before, had suddenly turned sour, as if it had started after Tang Hui and Shen Bining recognized each other.

Could it be that their relationship is more than just acquaintances, and there's something else going on? Ms. Lin Ruoruo, a bystander, had her gossip radar going off like crazy. She kept glancing back and forth between Tang Hui and Shen Bining, already starting to fill in the blanks in her head.

Tang Hui realized that the atmosphere at the dinner party had suddenly turned out this way because of him, so he quickly tried to smooth things over by saying, "Everyone must be hungry, let's have the waiter bring the food."

A single sentence instantly brought everyone back to their senses. They realized that the sudden silence would only arouse suspicion, so they quickly started drinking and eating to ease the awkwardness.

Qi Wang rang the bell to call the waiter and instructed, "Our people are all here, please serve us the food." Then he frantically piled various side dishes onto Chen Nian's plate and said softly, "Have something to eat first to fill your stomach."

Tang Hui also took the initiative to chat with Shen Bining for a few minutes. Shen Bining secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear that Tang Hui did not dislike her and did not hold a grudge against her for helping Zhou Nianhua as a lobbyist.

The food we ordered arrived quickly. Everyone was starving, so they didn't have time to talk and started eating heartily.

After they had filled their stomachs, the atmosphere became lively again. The group ate and chatted, and with Lin Ruoruo and Song Ziyi there to liven things up, the previous awkwardness and silence vanished, and the private room was filled with laughter.

During this time, Shen Bining went to the restroom. Not long after she left, Tang Hui's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and his breathing became heavier.

"I'm going out to take a call," Tang Hui whispered, then hurriedly left the private room with his phone.

He seemed afraid the caller would hang up; as soon as he closed the door to the private room, he eagerly answered the call. "Lisa, where are you?"