Encounter
"Sis, I've arrived."
A man in a suit stepped out of the bright yellow sports car. If he weren't dressed in a suit, he would have been mistaken for a spoiled young master.
On the other end of the phone was a woman wearing frameless glasses, her hair pulled to one side, her head slightly tilted, listening to the hands-free call. The constant movement of her hands and her unwavering gaze showed her seriousness. Her white blouse with ruffles revealed glimpses of her fair skin, and her legs were crossed under the table.
The glasses didn't make her look old as they might seem; instead, they added a touch of allure to her shrewd and capable image. She responded softly, seemingly indifferent.
The man leaned against the sports car, one leg crossed in front of the other, fiddling with a lighter he'd just pulled from his pocket, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. Even his suit couldn't hide his nonchalant air. "You really want to do this? Sis, have you thought this through? Aren't you still working for that old man?"
"Don't smoke in front of the children." The woman frowned involuntarily when she heard the voice on the phone. She looked at the black screen of her phone, as if the person was right next to her, giving her this instruction.
The man chuckled and said, "I hadn't smoked yet, but I couldn't resist, so I lit one up. You already told me this before, how could I disobey?"
After a long while, the woman didn't say much. "Su Yao, didn't you hear what I said?" The man suddenly became serious, took off the cigarette he was holding, strode to the trash can next to him, and threw it away. The whole set of movements was smooth and fluid, but the words on his lips were urgent and even unclear.
The woman named Su Yao sighed, "Su Wenxie, haven't you picked him up yet?" She didn't respond to his question, but then suddenly remembered something, "Take him to that house in the city center, Aunt Hong is there."
“You already told me yesterday that you care quite a bit about this youngest son.” Su Wenxie didn’t press further; his sister was always more sensible than him.
The Su family in City A used to be incredibly successful, but in recent years their stock prices have plummeted. While it may not be fatal, if this trend continues, it's hard to guarantee they won't fall into ruin overnight.
To understand why this happened, we need to start with Su Yao and Su Wenxie's father, Su Wensheng.
Men, to put it bluntly, only do a few things: lust, gambling, and addiction.
Su Wensheng was a man of impeccable morals throughout his life, yet in the end he still fell victim to the sins of "lust."
After Su Yao and Su Wenxie's mother passed away, Su Wensheng found a beautiful girl to accompany him. Logically speaking, this was not inappropriate. However, the girl's appearance was too coincidental, and she was found to be more than three months pregnant within two weeks of entering the Su family, while the real lady of the Su family had only passed away a month ago.
In the affairs of the wealthy, who can be more noble than whom? It's just that she ran into Su Yao. Su Yao is a woman of strong character. When she heard the news of the pregnancy, even if she was stupid, she should have understood what was going on. So she went back to the Su family and slapped the beautiful woman across the face.
The girl cried at Su Wensheng's place, but Su Wensheng couldn't do anything about it. That's just Su Yao's personality, and with the recent subtle shift in the company's atmosphere towards Su Yao, he couldn't touch her.
Just as Su was trying to appease the young lady, trouble broke out. Su directly exposed the matter, saying that the young lady should not be allowed to marry into the family and should be kicked out after giving birth.
There was originally room for negotiation in this situation; at least the child could be acknowledged.
But when San'er gave birth, Su Yao said that as long as Su Wensheng acknowledged the child, she would no longer be a member of the Su family. So the child still doesn't have the surname Su, and San'er still doesn't have a formal status.
This incident has disrupted the Su family's company operations for the past few years, and the stock market has been performing poorly.
Su Wensheng was not one to be trifled with. He made a bold move, saying that once Su Yao had secured her position in the company but was still in a state of panic, he would marry her off, claiming it would help the Su family return to its peak. However, this move ultimately ruined all of Su Yao's efforts.
A marriage alliance would indeed be a good solution for the Su family now, and Su Wensheng, being concerned about his reputation, would naturally not marry Su Yao off to any scoundrel. However, Su Yao would not agree to this, and she directly announced that she wanted to take an adopted son home.
Su Yao is 28 years old this year, and the child she brought back is 16 years old. Even though the age difference seems huge, An Chi has a younger sister, which inevitably arouses people's imagination. In addition, Su Yao's annulment of the engagement back then has made people talk even more.
"Are you Su Yao?" A pale-faced boy stood next to Su Wenxie. His hair covered his eyes, making it impossible to discern his emotions. He wore a faded blue short-sleeved shirt with a school uniform over it, and his black trousers were a bit short. The backpack on his back was more like a grocery bag than a schoolbag.
But the boy was very tall; at sixteen, he was already taller than Su Wenxie's shoulder and very thin, looking as if he could be blown over by the wind.
Su Wenxie seemed to be used to being a young master and had never seen anyone like this before. He thought to himself that the person Su Yao had found was too disgraceful to the Su family, but he never interfered with his sister's decision. "I am not, I am Su Yao's younger brother, Su Wenxie. She asked me to come and pick you up."
As she spoke, Su Wenxie opened the back door. "My trunk can't fit a suitcase. Can you put the suitcase in the back seat and sit in the passenger seat?"
“I don’t have a suitcase.” The boy’s words shocked Su Wenxie. Logically speaking, given Su Yao’s personality, he would not allow him to have any connection with the people and things of the past for the rest of his life in order to prevent future troubles. So why didn’t he move out completely? Did he want to come back?
"Well, then you can sit wherever you want." Su Wenxie didn't care about his opinion, but a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes.
The boy noticed the emotion in his eyes, but showed no reaction, remaining completely still like a wooden puppet, and got into the back seat.
The two got into the car, one in front and one behind. Su Wenxie asked, "I haven't asked you your name yet."
"An Chi." The boy uttered two words from his thin lips.
Su Wenxie muttered to himself, "Su Anchi, that's a suitable name. I wonder if my sister will change it for him."
After An Chi was taken to the building in the city center that Su Yao had specified, Aunt Hong came out to greet him. "Young Master, this must be the young master that Miss instructed."
"Yes, Aunt Hong, I'm leaving you with me now. I'm off."
"Take care, young master."
As soon as she stepped out the door, Su Wenxie took out a cigarette from her pocket and lit it, looking somewhat impatient. I don't know what Su was thinking, bringing back a "trouble" like this. In this way, no one would want to marry her, but who would use "trouble" to block trouble?
Inside the building, Aunt Hong handed An Chi slippers. "Young Master, if you need anything, just let me know. Just call me Aunt Hong."
"Aunt Hong, is Xiao Yao back?" A white robot, about waist-high to An Chi, came out of the room. "Hmm, outsider detected. Entering Level 1 defense mode."
The lively voices from just moments ago suddenly turned into truly mechanical machine sounds, and the black, expression-changing screen in front of me changed to a red warning sign.
"Xiaobai, this is the young master, not an outsider," Aunt Hong said with a smile, looking at the robot.
An Chi quietly observed everything. The red warning light returned to its original state after hearing Aunt Hong's words: "Scan, enter character information, young master."
Suddenly the mechanical voice changed, and a cute child's voice came out, "My name is Xiaobai. What is your name, young master?"
Aunt Hong looked at An Chi expectantly. An Chi's eyes darkened. "An Chi." This was the second time he had introduced himself today, but he would probably have to change his name next time, just like that man named Su Wenxie said.
"Character information supplement: Su Anchi."
Because of his identity as "young master," Xiaobai immediately assumed that An Chi's surname was Su.
Seeing that An Chi didn't say much, Aunt Hong smiled and said, "Young Master, come to your room with me. See if there's anything you need to buy. You can tell me or Xiao Bai."
"I haven't finished asking yet, Aunt Hong!" Little White followed behind, but at Aunt Hong's command, it left to do its work.
An Chi rarely spoke, only uttering a weak "hmm" when Aunt Hong needed a response. This troubled Aunt Hong. It wasn't that the child was badly obedient, but rather that he was too obedient, showing no demands or expression whatsoever. If he were to quarrel with the young lady, this silence would surely make the young lady even angrier.
Aunt Hong cooked the meal, but only for An Chi. While he was eating, he overheard Xiao Bai and Aunt Hong's conversation.
"When exactly is Xiao Yao coming, Aunt Hong?"
"I don't know."
"Does she not want me anymore?"
"Don't overthink it, Xiaobai. There's still the young master's family here, and the young lady will come eventually."
When Aunt Hong was sent here, it was just as Su Yao was about to stay here for a long time. Later, Xiao Bai appeared, and Su Yao lived with Aunt Hong and Xiao Bai for a long time. Then something happened, and Su Yao rarely came to stay here anymore.
Aunt Hong thought to herself, "The young master's arrival here probably means that Miss doesn't really want to get involved, otherwise she wouldn't have sent him here."
Indeed, just as she thought, Su Yao hadn't seen An Chi even once in almost a week since he arrived.
Su Wenxie, on the other hand, met with him several times.
One time she came to bring him clothes and shoes, another time she came to bring him a bank card, and yet another time she took him out to eat. If An Chi didn't know that the person who adopted him was this man's sister, he would have suspected that he had made a mistake.
Later, he overheard Su Wenxie's phone call.
"Sis, everything's taken care of. When are you coming over by yourself?" Su Wenxie asked, a cigarette dangling from her lips, wiping her feet and kicking her legs on the balcony. Her tone betrayed no dissatisfaction, but her expression betrayed her reluctance.
An Chi thought that someone like him should be disliked, and that woman named "Su Yao" probably wouldn't like him either. He shook his head indifferently and prepared to walk away silently. He didn't have the habit of eavesdropping, but he stopped in his tracks. The reason was simple: a gentle female voice came from the other end of the phone.
He said, "Su Wenxie, don't be upset. I'm giving you benefits. No matter what kind of child this is, he is the child I, Su, want."
Su Wenxie suddenly stamped her foot and said seriously and anxiously, "I know, sister, how could I dare not be happy? I have done everything you said, really, come and see for yourself if you don't believe me."
“Once I return from Canada, I won’t need you anymore. I’ll make arrangements. An Chi just arrived these past few days, and I’m worried he might be unfamiliar with the place. Thank you for your help, Wen Xie.” Su picked up her phone, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of her office, looked at the low buildings in the distance, and recalled the first time she met An Chi.
Su was planning to raise a child to shield herself from the mess of this arranged marriage, but she also had her own considerations. For example, she wanted to find a girl who was close to adulthood and wouldn't cause her too much trouble.
Yes, the girl, she wasn't planning to find a boy, but there are too few well-behaved and sensible girls who are approaching adulthood, so she broadened her age range and still didn't consider finding a boy.
Meeting An Chi was purely accidental.
That was the sixth welfare home she had visited.
"Ms. Su, we really don't have any children who meet your requirements." The director of the welfare home bowed to her and smiled awkwardly.
Su reached out to touch the dean's shoulder, tightening her grip slightly, to comfort the dean who was over fifty years old. "Don't worry about it, Dean. Maybe I'm just not meant to be with these children."
She smiled at the director and prepared to return to the car parked in front of the orphanage, but then she saw a shy boy. The boy looked immature and very young, but he was very tall and thin.
Su Yao had no intention of interfering in what the boy was doing, but the fact that he was leading a girl to stand at the entrance of the orphanage piqued her curiosity. The girl was about the same size as the girl Su Yao had been referring to. She instructed her assistant, Ge, to investigate the matter, and then left by car.
The results came quickly: the boy's name was An Chi, and the girl was his younger sister. She was in poor health and had a brain tumor, so she urgently needed money for treatment.
Su Yao, who didn't want to cause herself any trouble, was unwilling to listen any longer; she wanted a healthy child more than anything.
But she did not stop Ge Jin from continuing his story. His father had passed away, and his mother was a traditional craftswoman who had not received much education. Because they could not afford medical treatment, she wanted to send her younger sister to an orphanage so that someone would pay for her medical care. However, the orphanage had always refused to accept her.
Indeed, if everyone were like him, the welfare home's expenses would exceed its budget.
Surprisingly, An Chi's academic performance was exceptionally good in that unremarkable small school, and he frequently won awards and scholarships.
Su Yao seemed to be deep in thought, and then gave the order, "Go and do this for me. Give him some money and adopt that boy."
An Chi is exactly the same person as her except for gender. Adopting a child from a poor family would not be difficult. Besides, she could also obtain the child under the guise of sponsorship.
Later, it was her turn to ask Su Wenxie to pick up the child.
An Chi's eyes flickered. She knew her name was An Chi, and rightly so, how could she not investigate thoroughly before adopting a child?
Su offered very generous terms. She promised to treat An Lan's illness for the entire time and also gave his mother a considerable sum of money, enough to ensure that his sister and mother would be worry-free for the rest of their lives. How could he possibly refuse to "be her child"? Besides, she said that after he turned eighteen, she would no longer impose any restrictions on him, and he would just have to be obedient for the next two years.
He leaned against his bedroom door, looking up at the ceiling, wondering how this could have happened.
He didn't know either; he just knew his sister needed medical treatment, and he chose a path of no return.
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