Chapter 176

The name Wanhe is not common among children of Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu's age, nor is it common among Chu Liqiang's generation. However, women from scholarly families of Chu Xinghua's generation, between the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, often had such names.

Wanhe, Wanqiu, Wanqing. At that time, women were proud of being gentle, so as long as they had some knowledge, most of the names they chose would be in this format.

Chu Jiujiu had never thought about this name carefully until today.

She also stayed in the hotel these days. When she returned to the room, she took out the paper and pen prepared by the hotel for guests from the cabinet, tore off a piece of paper, and quickly wrote numbers on it.

The men she met as a child were all around 30 or 40 years old. She had only seen the side profile of the man who made the phone call. He might be in his 30s or 40s. If it was the former, the Aunt Wanhe he mentioned should be in her 60s or 70s, which did not match Zhang Nan's age.

If it's the latter, then there's no problem.

She quickly wrote down a result that was approximately equal to 80, and then she frowned again.

An eighty-year-old woman actually went to great lengths to find her home. It seems that she is extremely persistent.

The necklace was not on her body, so Chu Jiujiu couldn't even touch it. She intuitively felt that her guess was correct, but guessing alone was not enough. This matter was too big, and she still needed to find evidence to prove that her guesses were correct.

After walking around the room twice, Chu Jiujiu stopped and suddenly walked towards the door.

As she walked, she kept blaming herself in her heart. She was so anxious that she lost her mind. The person who knew the inside story lived on this floor. She could just go and ask Boss Mike.

Mike had already changed into his bathrobe when Chu Jiujiu suddenly knocked on the door. He opened the door without thinking. After opening it, he found that the person at the door was Chu Jiujiu. He crossed his legs awkwardly.

…

Chu Jiujiu didn't notice Mike's embarrassment, or rather, she noticed it but didn't care. She acted very friendly and asked Mike how his day was and if there was anything he was not satisfied with. There were still two days of travel left, so if he had any ideas, he could tell them now and their reception team would consider it.

As soon as this was mentioned, Mike became excited, and the two of them chatted more and more happily. Every word Chu Jiujiu said was to coax him. Even Master Sanzang could not resist the coaxing Chu Jiujiu. Mike was soon coaxed around by her. At this time, Chu Jiujiu raised her questions, and Mike naturally answered them readily.

"When we went to dinner, you spoke to a woman who was eating on the first floor. What happened? Do you know her?"

Chu Jiujiu saw Mike talking to Zhang Nan, but Mike didn't hear what Chu Jiujiu said to Zhang Nan. He didn't think there was anything wrong. He took a sip of the brandy next to him and sighed, "I recognized the wrong person. I thought she was my brother's girlfriend when he was in college."

Mike is not a gossipy person, so after explaining this, he didn't plan to continue. Of course, Chu Jiujiu couldn't let him go like this.

She leaned forward a little, her eyes shining, her face full of curiosity, "Isn't your brother also American? How come he has a Chinese girlfriend?"

Mike replied, "My brother likes this. He had three girlfriends in college, all of them were Asian. Asian faces are rare where we are. If there were more Asian students in college, he might have dated more."

"So that's how it is. Are they really that similar?"

Mike nodded, "It really looks like it, otherwise I wouldn't have made a mistake."

Chu Jiujiu smiled and said, "It seems that you have a good relationship with that woman."

Hearing this, Mike scratched his head. "Not that great, but she was the first girl my brother brought home. I got to know Chinese culture because of her. She's very smart, speaks several languages, and her life was legendary. For a while, I was fascinated by her. For her, I researched a lot of information about Asia. But after just a few days, I discovered that in the East, culture is even more fascinating than girls."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

Only Mike could say so innocently that he likes his sister-in-law.

Chu Jiujiu continued to ask him, "Hearing what you said, she must be an exceptionally powerful person. By the way, you said her life was legendary, so what was so legendary about it?"

Being attracted to a mature woman in one's youth is an experience no man could forget, so Mike didn't need to recall it and quickly said, "She was born in China and taken to Japan by her father when she was still an infant. Her father married a Japanese woman in 1944. It was said that this woman was very powerful, the eldest daughter of some group or club. She lived a very oppressive life under her control. After she graduated from elementary school, she was sent to the United States by that woman. She has been single there ever since. She is very tenacious and intelligent, and has always taken good care of herself."

Thinking of the stories he heard from Meng Wanhe, Mike still admired her very much. He liked this kind of strong woman the most. Unfortunately, this kind of woman generally looked down on him.

…

"When my brother met her, she had already traveled to many countries. He said that because she was so outstanding, her stepmother wanted her to return to Japan, but she didn't want to. I think her hometown in her heart is still China."

At the end, Mike shrugged his shoulders, explaining why he thought Zhang Nan was Meng Wanhe, because he always felt that Meng Wanhe would return to China.

Chu Jiujiu didn't say anything for a while. It wasn't that she doubted the truthfulness of Mike's words, but the person he described really had no flaws at all. She was so beautiful. Mike's filter for "Meng Wanhe" was at least eight hundred layers thick.

Chu Jiujiu was silent for a moment, pondering Mike's words. Suddenly, she froze for a moment and looked at Mike: "You said her father married her a stepmother in 1944. So she must be at least 36 years old this year?"

Mike also needed to calculate this question. After two seconds, he told Chu Jiujiu an exact number, "Thirty-eight years old."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

She always thought Zhang Nan was only about 31 or 32 years old, but she didn't realize that she was actually almost 40.

Chu Liqiang had previously sent people to check on the people on Mrs. Gao's side. Zhang Nan's name and age must have been within the search scope, but no one noticed anything unusual. It seemed that the identity of "Zhang Nan" was not something she made up after arriving in China, but she had changed her name for many years.

Even though Mike's description only half matched the feeling Zhang Nan gave her, Chu Jiujiu still firmly believed that Zhang Nan was Meng Wanhe. After all, any coincidence that was too coincidental was not a coincidence.

After a moment of silence, Chu Jiujiu asked Mike again, "You only said she had a stepmother, but what about her biological mother? Did she die?"

Mike shook his head. "I don't know about that. She never mentioned her biological mother, and she rarely mentioned her father either."

After hearing this, Chu Jiujiu had to give up on this question.

…

After asking a few more questions, Chu Jiujiu changed the subject. She had already asked a lot of questions, and if she asked more, Mike would show his doubts on his face. After that, she chatted with Mike for another ten minutes before saying goodbye and returning to her room.

Sitting on the chair, Chu Jiujiu turned on the desk lamp and frowned in thought.

Why did Zhang Nan change her name, and why did she change it back decades later? How much did she know about the necklace?

Zhang Nan wanted to steal her necklace, and Chu Jiujiu had already concluded it as soon as she learned her real name was Meng Wanhe. Because whether it was when she was a child or now, the only thing she or her family had was a necklace that was worth fussing over.

Not to mention, her last name is Meng.

Chu Liqiang's mother, her great-grandmother, is called Meng Xiaoyu. This necklace is a family heirloom that Meng Xiaoyu brought from the Meng family. It has been passed down from generation to generation and finally came into her hands.

Heirlooms are usually given to boys. The Meng family is a large landowner family and should care more about these things. Why would the precious heirloom be taken away by a married daughter? This is quite strange, but Chu Jiujiu had never thought about it before.

There are only two answers: either the Meng family made this decision, or Meng Xiaoyu secretly took the necklace away.

But the latter is unlikely. Chu Liqiang mentioned Meng Xiaoyu, a lady from a wealthy family, and she doesn't seem like she would do such a thing.

Things of the older generation, especially those that happened decades ago during the war, are really too difficult to trace back to their origins. This cannot be guessed by just guessing. Shaking her head, Chu Jiujiu threw away all those messy guesses, and then she looked at the piece of paper on the table.

It was still a bunch of numbers, but this time there were two lines added on top, one for thirty-eight and the other forty-four.

Staring at the number forty-four, Chu Jiujiu sneered.

"Traitor."

The Japanese invasion of China in 1944 had not yet ended, but Zhang Nan's father had already married a Japanese wife, who seemed to be from a wealthy family. At that critical juncture, he was able to do such a thing. Even if he did not provide convenience to the Japanese army, he deserved to be called a traitor.

What's more, he may have done something despicable.

Chu Jiujiu was secretly angry for a while, but slowly she calmed down. She and Zhang Nan were almost eight feet apart, almost within the five generations of mourning. They were just strangers, and it was not worth her getting angry at all.

Thinking of this, she felt a little comforted and a little smile appeared on her face, but suddenly, the smile on Chu Jiujiu's face froze.

It doesn’t matter to her, but what about Chu Shao?

And there is Chu Liqiang. They are both in the military. If Zhang Nan's identity is exposed, and if her problem is extremely serious, then the careers of both of them will definitely be affected!

No, this matter must be resolved as soon as possible!