Chapter 26
It was not until he reached a final agreement with the two elders of the Chen family that Yu Zhe realized that he had been tricked by Tang Ruxin.
She had never intended to let the company support Chen Junan for life. The reason she instigated the Chen family to make this unreasonable request was to make their true intentions seem less difficult to accept during the negotiations with him.
It was a simple trick, but it was effective - at least when the talks were about to break down, Yu Zhe felt that the request to "bear for Chen Junan's medical expenses until the two elderly people passed away or Chen Junan regained consciousness" seemed much more appealing.
But Yu Zhe couldn't understand why she did this.
The two elderly men clearly had no such intentions at first, and even felt the company had done its best. Tang Ruxin's actions had cost the company at least a million dollars. If the two men lived to be centenarians to pay for Chen Junan's medical expenses, the company would have to support him for another thirty or forty years.
It’s still unknown whether the company can survive for another thirty or forty years!
Could it be that Tang Ruxin and Chen Junan had some personal relationship? Yu Zhe didn't bother to ask Tang Ruxin, so he reported directly to Tang Jiulin. Tang Jiulin on the other end of the phone wasn't surprised to hear this result, and simply asked him to meet in person.
Tang Jiulin owns two properties in the city, a villa in the suburbs, and a horse farm. He rotates between these places, never staying in one place for more than two weeks.
Today, the place he had an appointment to meet was not in these places, but in Yanwu County, east of the city.
When Yu Zhe arrived, Tang Jiulin was eating braised chicken with rice in a small restaurant that looked a bit old.
"Scan the code and order here." Tang Jiulin pointed to the corner of the table with his chopsticks, motioning Yu Zhe to sit down.
Yu Zhe noticed that Tang Jiulin wasn't wearing formal attire today, but rather a simple old-fashioned jacket and casual trousers. His army-green cotton-padded jacket hung on the back of his chair, which perfectly matched the restaurant's atmosphere. If he hadn't booked the entire restaurant for this hour, he would have completely blended in with the people of this small county town.
"Have I been here before?" Yu Zhe squinted his eyes and looked around.
Tang Jiulin thought for a moment, then nodded, "I brought you and Ruxin here nineteen years ago, and we also had dinner at this restaurant. You were this tall then." He raised his hand and gestured in the air, then continued, "Ruxin is two years younger than you and the same height as you."
Yu Zhe couldn't recall, and was too lazy to think about it, so he followed Tang Jiulin's words and said, "She has been slender since she was a child."
Tang Jiulin laughed heartily and happily began to recall what the three of them had eaten and talked about. It was as if it had happened yesterday, and every detail was clear.
"Dad has a really good memory." Yu Zhe agreed with a smile, but he was not very interested in talking.
The meal lasted almost two hours, and all he did was listen to Tang Jiulin's stories, without mentioning the losses Tang Ruxin had inexplicably caused to the company. Yu Zhe knew that Tang Jiulin would probably not do anything to Tang Ruxin this time, and might not even scold her.
He left the hospital early that day, and it was probably at that time that Tang Ruxin had discussed this with Tang Jiulin. Only he, like a fool, followed Tang Ruxin's script and played the role of a clown.
After leaving the restaurant, Yu Zhe loosened his tie and felt a little depressed.
"Come on, I'll take you to see the old house." Tang Jiulin patted Yu Zhe's shoulder with his leather gloves.
The two walked through the busy streets and entered a narrow alley. At the end was a bamboo forest. Deep in the bamboo forest was a primary school. When the wind blew against their faces, they could faintly hear the sound of reading aloud.
Behind the elementary school, a mountain road led to several houses nestled against the hillside. The front gate stood carelessly open, revealing water lilies floating in a water tank and a cat sleeping in the sun.
Yu Zhe followed Tang Jiulin, and during the brief, silent journey of more than ten minutes, his heart inexplicably calmed. He had a vague impression of the scene here, but it was there, long hidden in the deepest valley of his memory, invisible to the naked eye.
What about before this? He also had some memories, and they were memories he never wanted to recall, memories from the orphanage.
Tang Jiulin stopped and pointed at a brick house half-hidden in the woods.
"Do you remember it?"
Yu Zhe shook his head.
"It's normal that you don't remember. I only brought you here once. I came back to get something, so I brought you and Ruxin to see it. When I first adopted you, you were... twelve years old, right. Almost thirteen."
As he spoke, Tang Jiulin pushed open the dilapidated courtyard door, which was not locked.
The courtyard was covered in weeds and dust. A withered tree, its thin branches stretched out against the wall, looking so fragile that it would snap at the slightest gust of wind. Beneath the tree stood a square stone table, with two stone benches beside it.
Tang Jiulin came to the table, dusted off the dust on the table with his gloves, and nostalgia gradually appeared in his eyes.
"I used to play chess here with your Uncle Zhao." Tang Jiulin paused for a moment, then turned around and asked Yu Zhe, "Eh? Did I mention Uncle Zhao to you? Ruxin's biological father?"
Yu Zhe nodded. "I mentioned Zhao Wenyan. He was a Chinese teacher at the elementary school down the mountain and your comrade-in-arms."
Tang Jiulin fell silent, and only sighed after a long time.
"I didn't dare bring Ruxin here. In all these years, I only brought her here once, and we took a quick look before leaving."
"Dad is afraid that Ruxin will be sad. She can understand." Yu Zhe said.
Tang Jiulin shook his head and laughed, "What does she know? She was still crawling when I adopted her. She has no memory of the Zhao family, it's all hearsay. If I had told her about her life earlier, she wouldn't have made such a fuss with me. If she hadn't made a fuss, I wouldn't have adopted you. It's all fate..."
This time, Yu Zhe was silent. Did he have to thank her? He knew very well that Tang Jiulin had adopted him, who was almost thirteen years old, just to give Tang Ruxin a target to vent her anger on and divert her attention.
"I thought she was making a fuss because her mother died." Yu Zhe looked puzzled. "Did she find out she wasn't your biological child after her mother died?"
Tang Jiulin nodded. "She must have heard about it during the funeral, when people were coming and going. She never asked me for confirmation and just made a scene. A little girl in her early teens, smoking, drinking, fighting, and all kinds of trouble. She even ran away from home several times. I had no choice but to bring you back to fight her in the den. At least she stopped running away."
Tang Jiulin never hid the purpose of adopting him from Yu Zhe. Yu Zhe just didn't know that Tang Ruxin learned about her life experience at the same time as her mother died.
"Do you blame me?" Tang Jiulin turned around and looked at Yu Zhe with a kind smile on his face.
"I complained about you when I was young, but now I've learned to weigh the pros and cons. I'm only grateful to you," Yu Zhe said frankly. "Ruxin and I have been fighting for years, and it's become a habit. Sometimes it's quite entertaining."
Tang Jiulin smiled with relief and patted Yu Zhe on the shoulder. "You're thirty-one now, it's time for you to be more sensible. How have you thought about the matter I mentioned to you before?"
The faint smile on Yu Zhe's face disappeared instantly, and a stiff line appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Now that you have learned to weigh the pros and cons, you should know which option is most beneficial to you." Tang Jiulin turned and walked towards the door of the main house.
Yu Zhe still stood there with his lips pursed, flexing and releasing his fingers.
After a long while, when Tang Jiulin finished his stroll around the house and walked out of the brick and tile bungalow and returned to the courtyard, Yu Zhe finally spoke:
"Let me try."
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