Chapter 215 Game Theory
Zheng Huaixin stared intently at her, gritting his teeth as he said, "I admit it, I'm sorry to A-Yue, back then..."
His parents were sent to the countryside, his relatives turned a blind eye, and no one was willing to help him and his sister.
Later, his parents died in the cowshed.
The siblings were sent to the countryside.
His sister was a woman, and he didn't dare let her suffer in the countryside, so he went himself.
He was genuinely grateful to A-Yue back then, and he truly had the idea of spending his life with her.
However, people's hearts are fickle.
He survived countless hardships to get back into the top ranks, studied desperately, and climbed the ladder, but it was nothing compared to winning the favor of a second-generation red prince's daughter, who could get his attention much faster with just a word.
He was certain he was vain, and he chose a path that would save him ten years of struggle with almost no resistance.
In fact, he succeeded.
He obtained money, status, and power.
But he wanted more.
"...It was I who broke my promise first, and it was I who wronged A-Yue."
The woman sneered, "If you want to admit it, then so be it. A third of your salary isn't much for someone of your current status. Give me the money, and I'll stay away from your current wife."
"impossible."
Zheng Huaixin confronted the woman, saying, "I can give the money to A-Yue, but not to you. Who exactly are you?"
"You really don't know who I am?"
The woman looked at him and asked, "Although we've never met, A-Yue must have mentioned me, and more than once."
"Did A-Yue mention you?"
Zheng Huaixin froze, and through the woman's face, he seemed to see a scene from more than ten years ago, when A Yue nestled in his arms, smiling and chatting with him.
"Who are you……"
Zheng Huaixin's breathing quickened; he felt the answer was about to be revealed.
The woman looked at him with a mocking gaze.
Zheng Huaixin's eyes suddenly widened, and he called out the woman's name, "You're Aqin! Ayue's older sister, the Aqin who hasn't been back to her parents' home for several years since she got married!"
"Whether I am Aqin or Ayue depends on you."
Zheng Huaixin stared at her, his gaze somewhat cold. The woman didn't care at all, and didn't even try to hide her disdain for Zheng Huaixin. "You're reluctant to give me money, and you're afraid of losing face if you make a scene. What, aren't you afraid that your wife's family will cause trouble and ruin your career? Today's secretary, tomorrow's deputy mayor, the day after tomorrow's mayor of the capital city..."
"How did you know I work as a secretary at the City Hall? You're all the way from the Northeast, yet you came to Beijing and took a taxi directly to the City Hall. Did someone tell you that?"
The woman looked at him, but smiled without saying a word.
Zheng Huaixin was somewhat annoyed. "If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."
"Zheng Huaixin, what I want you to know, you don't need to ask. I will tell you when the time comes. What I don't want you to know, you will never know in your life."
The woman met his gaze with a cold stare. "You can talk nonsense or choose not to give me the money, but you'd better be prepared to go home and face your current wife, her family's greetings, and... how did a child of about ten years old suddenly appear?"
What do you want to do?
"Do you think your current wife would be willing to help you raise your son? Do you think her family would tolerate a child who's eyeing their daughter's inheritance? Also, do you still want to be the deputy mayor? Your superiors are only giving you three days, Zheng Huaixin. What you should be worrying about right now isn't who sent me, but rather paying me off to avoid trouble. I'll leave once I've taken the money!"
Zheng Huaixin narrowed his eyes slightly, "Stay away from them!"
"Okay, here's the money." The woman held out her hand.
Zheng Huaixin stared at her in disbelief. "Are you obsessed with money? A-Yue is gentle, kind, and understanding. You are worlds apart from her."
"Smack!"
The woman slapped him cleanly and decisively, her small stature exuding an inexplicable sense of oppression. "What did Ah Yue get in return for her kindness? Abandoned by her husband, left to raise her young daughter and son alone, only for her daughter to die! The Songhua River overflowed, flooding both banks, and she and her family drowned one by one while trying to save Shi Tou! When the floodwaters receded, the bodies we retrieved were rotting and stinking. Ah Yue was such a beautiful girl, and her parents were such good people... They were your flesh and blood, why should our whole family have to risk our lives for them?!"
The woman's voice sounded like a ghost's wail in the last sentence.
Zheng Huaixin stared straight at the woman.
The woman spat at him, "You scumbag, you don't deserve A-Yue at all!"
"……I have no idea."
At this moment, Zheng Huaixin was somewhat moved.
He could still hear the girl's soft voice calling him on the day he left, "Brother Zheng, my child and I are waiting for you at home..."
Zheng Huaixin's head suddenly went blank.
That day, A-Yue's hand was on her stomach, and she was gently stroking it.
Those are their children.
Zheng Huaixin suddenly felt his mouth go dry, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's me... I'm sorry to her."
"If you know you've wronged her, then pay up!"
The woman thought his tears were crocodile tears and sneered, "The person is dead, what are you pretending to be so sentimental for?! Bah!"
"I can give you the money, but I have one condition."
Zheng Huaixin snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the woman. He didn't think that his emotional appeal and remorse would make her change her mind. Between spending money to avoid trouble and ruining his future, he chose the former.
Things that can be solved with money aren't really problems.
"What are the conditions?" the woman asked.
Zheng Huaixin glanced at the door and said, "Take the child with you. I can pay him child support monthly or annually until he turns eighteen. I'm not suitable to raise him."
"Zheng Huaixin, you're a real bastard!"
The woman cursed, but agreed to his terms, "I can take him away, but I won't raise your child for free. I don't accept monthly or yearly payments. If you don't want to see him again, you can buy him outright. I don't want much, just this amount. Pay me and we're leaving..."
Zheng Huaixin looked at the woman's hands turning over and over, and laughed in anger.
"This definitely isn't five thousand, it's fifty thousand! You really dare to ask for that! I only make four hundred a month at most, and you're asking me for fifty thousand?!"
"You actually think 50,000 yuan is too expensive for a guaranteed future?"
The woman smirked and sized Zheng Huaixin up and down. "How can an ungrateful scoundrel like you be an honest official? Zheng Huaixin, you think A-Yue is stupid? Am I stupid too?"
"Twenty thousand, that's the limit I can give you. Shi Tou is already ten years old, and in a few more years he'll be able to..."
Before Zheng Huaixin could say anything more, the woman interrupted him, saying, "The stone is sick and needs surgery. Twenty thousand isn't enough; it'll be at least fifty thousand. No bargaining."
“I can’t come up with 50,000!” Zheng Huaixin said.
The woman spat, "Then get lost."
Zheng Huaixin stared at her for a long time before giving in, "Give me two days, and I'll raise the money!"
"No time wasters."
After the exchange, Zheng Huaixin asked, "A-Yue... how are you doing?"
"Go ask me yourself when you get down there," the woman sneered.
Zheng Huaixin turned to leave, but when he saw Xiao Shitou rush into the woman's arms as soon as the door opened, he paused for a moment, then continued on his way as if nothing had happened.
As they left the hotel, Zheng Huaixin looked at Lao Zhao and said, "Have the waiter go in and bring out the tape recorder."
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