Because Kim Hee-jin and her twin sister's arrival disrupted the party, everyone lost interest in continuing the celebration, said a few words of congratulations, and left one after another.
Only the employees of Beibei Restaurant and Secretary Jin and Yu Pan remained in the restaurant.
Seeing that it was almost 11:20 p.m., Du Xiaoruo made an excuse to change her clothes and went into the dressing room. Apart from a large wardrobe, there was nowhere else to hide in the dressing room.
Du Xiaoruo hesitated for a moment, then crawled into the wardrobe. She stayed inside for a short while, but it felt a bit stuffy, so she opened the wardrobe a crack to let in some air.
Someone pushed open the dressing room door from the outside. Du Xiaoruo quickly closed the wardrobe door, and in her haste, a section of the cheongsam's hem got caught in the gap between the wardrobe door and the door.
At this moment, Jin Xizhen, Qiao An, and the so-called twin sister walked in. If she went to fix her clothes again, she might be discovered. Du Xiaoruo had no choice but to stay in this position, hoping that they would not find her.
The three entered the dressing room. Qiao An subconsciously looked around to see if there were any cameras or anything like that. She didn't find any cameras, but she did see a familiar hem of a skirt.
He sighed silently. Some people are so stupid that they would give themselves away so easily when eavesdropping.
I walked over to the wardrobe, stood with my back to the door, and used my body to block out the section of fabric.
When Qiao An walked over, Du Xiaoruo was almost scared to death. He stopped and turned around before his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally calmed down.
"What's going on?" Qiao An stopped and looked at Jin Xizhen, her tone calm and unreadable.
Kim Hee-jin sat upright in a dressing chair, the kind smile that had been on her face gone. When she looked at Jo-An, her expression was so dark it could drip water.
"Didn't you always question me about why I treated you that way? Today I'll tell you the truth."
Qiao Qingmeng stood beside Jin Xizhen, leaning against the armrest. When Jin Xizhen took Qiao Qingmeng's hand, she held it tightly and tenderly for a moment.
“She is my biological daughter. 27 years ago, not long after I gave birth to my daughter, Qiao Rukun brought you back and switched you with my daughter. He even told everyone that I had a son. I only found my biological daughter two years after he passed away. For the sake of the Qiao family’s reputation, I recognized you as my son, but left my biological daughter to wander outside. How can I not hate him?”
At this point, Kim Hee-jin let out a cold laugh, her beautiful grey-blue eyes tinged with a resolute hatred.
"Qiao Rukun is also very cunning. I don't know where he found such a bastard child like you, who actually looks quite similar to me. But I'm not confused yet. I know who my biological son is."
"Isn't she Qiao Rukun's daughter?" Qiao An looked at Qiao Qingmeng calmly, getting straight to the point.
Since Qiao Rukun was going to use such a ridiculous method as switching children to punish Jin Xizhen, there was only one reason he could think of: Qiao Qingmeng was not Qiao Rukun's biological daughter.
Since Jin Xizhen was able to call Qiao Qingmeng back, she knew that Qiao Qingmeng's background couldn't be hidden from Qiao An, and she had no intention of hiding it anyway. After a long silence, she retorted with an air of arrogance,
"Xiaomeng's father and I were childhood sweethearts, and we truly love each other."
When the phrase "truly in love" was mentioned, Joan let out a scoff.
"Leaving you with another man and doing nothing while your own daughter is transferred away, is this what you call true love? I'm afraid people have long forgotten how to spell your name, Kim Hee-jin. Sure enough, even at 60, you're still love-struck."
Before Jin Xizhen could react, Qiao Qingmeng slapped Qiao An across the face, saying, "You're not allowed to insult my parents like that."
Qiao An grabbed her wrist to block the slap, saying, "Miss, think twice before you hit someone, or I might accidentally hurt you."
Kim Hee-jin suppressed her anger. She was there to negotiate with Jo An; there was no need to argue with him. Her face darkened, and she spoke.
"Qiao An, you're a smart person, so I'll be frank. You know I own 47% of the shares. Starting today, Xiao Meng will start working at the company; this is my arrangement. Exposing your backgrounds now won't benefit anyone. If you're sensible, you'll each get what you need; otherwise, it'll be a lose-lose situation, and you'll be despised for hiding your background."
“Okay.” Qiao An agreed readily. “I will start a new brand for my sister tomorrow, just like when I joined the company. If you have the ability, you can climb to the position of chairman, just like I am today. If you don’t have the ability, you can go home and find your mother like Qiao Qingchuan.”
"You beast, don't forget that I also own half of the shares." Anger flashed in Jin Xizhen's eyes, and her fists clenched, but in the end, Qiao An was in a stronger position, so she forced herself to suppress her anger.
Things are different now. If Qiao An were still young and could handle things, she would definitely slap him twice for being so arrogant and ignorant.
Qiao An remained expressionless, her voice relaxed and languid.
"But don't forget, I am the largest shareholder of Jinse now, and I have absolute power to appoint and dismiss personnel."
"Mom, you don't need to be angry."
Qiao Qingmeng glanced at Qiao An with disdain, her arrogance mirroring that of Jin Xizhen.
“Do as he says. In five years at most, I’ll make him kneel on the ground and beg me to forgive him.”
Qiao An frowned slightly, then let out another mocking laugh, "I have a suggestion, your statement was a bit childish, why would I kneel before you for no reason?"
Even if Qiao Qingmeng is really that capable, Qiao An would at most go bankrupt. Why would she kneel on the ground begging for help? It's inexplicable.
Qiao Qingmeng seemed determined to continue her chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) behavior to the very end, and even bent down to hold Jin Xizhen's hand.
"Mom, I am your love and hope."
Qiao An was completely speechless, even the anger that should have been there at this moment was gone, she was just curious about what kind of melodramatic romance drama line this was?
The fact that this conversation ended with "love and hope" was an unexpected outcome for everyone.
After they left, Du Xiaoruo pushed open the wardrobe door, took several deep breaths, and almost suffocated inside. She didn't know if the wardrobe had passed the formaldehyde test, and she didn't want to die young because of some gossip.
She had just stepped out of the dressing room when she received another text message on her phone.
Chen Ding: [Xiao Ruo, we've found Qiao An's biological parents. My poor child.]
Every character created by the author is a child she created, and Chen Ding felt that there was nothing wrong with his statement.
Du Xiaoruo, [...So, are you my mother-in-law now?]
Chen Ding retracted a message.
After a busy and chaotic day, Du Xiaoruo thought she could fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but with worries on her mind, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
As Du Xiaoruo turned over for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Qiao An, who was also awake, sat up abruptly.
Their eyes met, and Qiao An asked, "Want to chat for five cents?"
The night-time cameras installed by the production team were in the downstairs room. There were no cameras in the attic where Du Xiaoruo and the others slept, but because the attic was small and not very soundproof, the two of them still deliberately lowered their voices when they spoke.
They lay side by side on the pillows, their bodies arching into two small mounds under the covers.
Qiao An spoke first, voicing the question that had been lingering in her mind, "Do you think I might be Jin Jin's child?"
Actually, Du Xiaoruo had been thinking about this issue all night. First, Jin Jin said that Qiao An looked a lot like her grandmother. The grandmother she was referring to was Jin Xizhen and Jin Jin's mother. If Qiao An was the child of either of them, she might have inherited her grandmother's genes. In that case, it would make sense that Qiao An looked like Jin Xizhen.
Du Xiaoruo had previously heard Qiao An say that he was not Jin Xizhen's child, and today she learned that Qiao An was brought back by Qiao Rukun, who used Qiao An to exchange for Jin Xizhen's daughter born from her affair.
If Qiao Rukun were dark enough, he might first exchange one of his children for Jin Jin's child, and then place Qiao An, who was originally a child of the Jin family, under Jin Xizhen's care.
Qiao Rukun knew that with Jin Xizhen's selfish and ruthless nature, she would definitely not treat the child well. When the truth was finally revealed, Jin Xizhen discovered that she had actually been abusing her own nephew, which was undoubtedly a double blow to Jin Xizhen.
Moreover, there is now even stronger evidence: Qiao An and Jin Qihuai, the current child of the Jin family, are the same age.
All known evidence points to Joan being Jin Jin's child.
But Du Xiaoruo still had one deepest question.
“Since you look like Kim Hee-jin, and according to Kim Jin, you look more like your maternal grandmother, it’s understandable that Kim Jin thought you were Kim Hee-jin’s biological child. But Kim Hee-jin knew you weren’t her biological child, so why didn’t she suspect that you were actually Kim Jin’s child?”
This tangled web of relationships left Du Xiaoru completely bewildered.
Joan lay on the soft pillow, vaguely remembering things from her childhood.
“When I was about three years old, Qiao Rukun, who rarely came home, came back once. He took a vial of blood from me. At that time, I didn’t understand and thought he was going to harm me too. Now that I think about it, that blood was probably used to swap with Jin Qihuai’s blood for something like a paternity test.”
Du Xiaoruo slammed her fist on the pillow, puffing out her cheeks in anger. These people were too wicked. It was bad enough that they had committed such filthy acts as cheating and having illegitimate children, but Qiao An was just a newborn baby at the time. What did he do wrong?
"Now we can do a paternity test again and find out your true identity, Dad."
A third voice suddenly rang out in the darkness, startling Du Xiaoruo and Qiao An. The two huddled together and rolled around on the bed.
Lele quickly turned on the small nightlight next to her pillow.
"Don't be afraid, it's me, it's Lele."
Du Xiaoruo, "...", realized she was wrapped around Qiao An's waist like an octopus, quickly let go, and pushed Qiao An away with a flushed face.
Qiao An, who was pushed to the ground by Du Xiaoruo, pointed at Lele and asked, "...When did you get here?"
Lele lay on the floor and answered seriously, "I started eavesdropping when you started looking like Grandma."
It was also because the two of them were so engrossed in their conversation that Lele got up to pee and heard rustling whispers coming from the attic. So she crawled barefoot forward and managed to eavesdrop on the bedside for a long time without being discovered.
Now that they've overheard it, there's no way to hide it anymore.
The three of them lay side by side on the bed, with Lele squeezed between her parents. The fluffy wool curls tickled their faces, and the two of them moved aside with a bit of disgust.
"I have an idea."
Lele was completely immersed in the story she was imagining.
“We invited Jin Jin out for dinner. He’s that age, so he must have gray hair. I’ll carefully pluck his gray hairs. I’m a kid, so it’s not surprising that I do this. Then we can use the hair and my dad’s genes for a test.”
Du Xiaoruo poked his cheek and reminded him, "Usually, you should be shocked when you hear about something this melodramatic."
"Really?" Lele feigned surprise for a second, then said dismissively, "I'm so shocked."
Du Xiaoruo was speechless and forced to accept that Lele was the kind of child whose thinking was different from ordinary people.
As the conversation progressed, everyone became a little sleepy. Seeing that her parents were starting to doze off, Lele covered herself with the blanket, closed her eyes comfortably, and lay down peacefully between her parents, falling asleep peacefully.
I went to bed so late last night that I couldn't get up early the next day, which is unusual for me.
A ray of morning sunlight shone into the bedroom. Lele, who usually looks like a well-behaved child, has a really bad sleeping posture. His head was resting on Du Xiaoruo's arm, and his foot was kicking Qiao An in the chest.
The loudspeaker blared from downstairs, carrying the cacophony of Mu Hua's voice.
"Get up! Get up and have breakfast! Xia Qingye, Ni An, Du Xiaoruo, Qiao Lele, Mu Wenshu, get up and go to work!!!!"
Joan was woken up by the horn noise. When she saw the smelly foot lying across her chest, she simply lifted it up and threw it aside. No wonder she had nightmares all night.
Because she didn't sleep well last night, Qiao An was inexplicably grumpy this morning, finding fault with everything. She thought she'd smash Mu Hua's loudmouth sooner or later.
Lele woke up groggily, quickly washed up, put on a pair of knee-length shorts and a large T-shirt, and went downstairs with her messy curly hair.
Breakfast was already laid out on the table, and Xia Qing and the others weren't in much better shape either. They all looked like they'd been attacked by a ghost last night, their eyes vacant and yawning constantly.
After exchanging greetings, everyone began to eat breakfast listlessly.
Just then, the door to the first-floor bedroom suddenly opened from the inside. This room had been occupied by Fan Yingjiao before, and the bedroom had been empty since she left.
Fan Yue came out of the room yawning.
Good morning, everyone.
She walked naturally to the dining table and sat down, saying, "Good morning, everyone."
"It was too late last night, so we let Fan Yue and Xiao Tong stay here for the time being," Mu Hua explained casually while eating his breakfast.
As soon as Mu Hua finished speaking, Lele suddenly stood up and ran upstairs.
Xia Qing also put strawberries in Xiao Shu and Xiang Xiang's bowls, and was about to call Lele to have some fruit when she saw him suddenly run away. Curious, she asked...
"Where is Lele going? Is she finished eating already?"
Qiao An peeled a tea egg and put it in Du Xiaoruo's bowl. "Don't worry about him. That kid's ideas are weird."
About ten minutes later, Lele came running down the stairs again.
Her hair was combed and wasn't messy like before. She changed into a smart and refreshing white shirt, and even her bottoms were changed to slightly more formal beige casual pants.
Mu Hua, being a bit careless, gave Lele a strange look and asked, "Why did you go back to change your clothes halfway through your meal?"
Xia Qing also kicked Mu Hua under the table and glanced at Fan Yue with her chin raised.
Mu Hua still didn't react, "Fan Yue isn't an outsider, everyone should make themselves at home."
Xia Qing coughed a few times and mouthed the word "Xiao Tong".
Before Mu Hua could react, Qiao An put down her chopsticks and looked at Lele seriously, "Lele, it's illegal to date before you're 18. If you want to work for the National Security Bureau in the future, you can't have a criminal record."
Viewers in the live stream couldn't stand it anymore.
【Qiao An, you're just lying to a child, aren't you? You're a bad person!】
What's wrong? What happened?
[Gang Lele was dressed haphazardly at first, but after hearing that Xiao Tong was also living here, she hurriedly went back and dressed herself up again, which means she likes Xiao Tong.]
Isn't it bad for kids to start dating too early?
While early romantic relationships are generally discouraged, everyone goes through a hazy, innocent phase. With proper guidance from parents, these experiences can become cherished memories.
Xia Qing glared at Qiao An, then turned to Lele and said,
"Lele, don't listen to your dad. The law doesn't say that it's illegal to date before the age of 18. It's normal for you to have a girl you like. It's not a bad thing."
Qiao An was taken aback. "Anyway, I disagree. Xiao Tong's hair is even shorter than Lele's."
This time, even Du Xiaoruo joined the verbal battle.
"It's not like we're getting married, we need your permission. If we have feelings for each other, we can become good friends. Besides, what era are we living in? You can't even tell a girl to shave her head."
The adults were arguing back and forth, while Lele buried her head in her pumpkin porridge, so embarrassed that she wished she could shove her head into the bowl.
Xiao Shu was afraid that Lele would choke to death, so she reached out and grabbed Lele's collar and pulled his head up. Only then did everyone realize that Lele's face was flushed red, even his ears were bright red.
Seeing Lele's embarrassment, Fan Yue teased him, "Lele, if you want to like Xiaotong, you have to win over your future mother-in-law first."
Lele asked earnestly, "Who is the mother-in-law?"
The live stream was hilarious!
[As expected of Lele, daring to like a girl even though his mother-in-law has never heard of her.]
Although early romantic relationships are not allowed in China's education system, I genuinely believe that this relaxed atmosphere is actually better for children's development; children at this age should be exploring.
[But if that's the case, then Lele and Xiaotong are in a relationship where the woman is older than the man, and Xiaotong is three years older than Lele, right?]
[Lele's personality is actually very suitable for a relationship with an older woman/younger man; he's the kind of adorable, innocent puppy.]
Fan Baitong, the last to get up, also came out of the room. She was wearing a pair of ill-fitting adult slippers, and her short hair, like a little hedgehog, was sticking up haphazardly on her head. She was also wearing a large T-shirt that Mu Hua had randomly picked out for her last night, and she didn't know whose it was.
Xiao Tong exudes a calm and composed demeanor that seems to care about nothing, and even in this outfit, she remains captivating.
Lele's face turned even redder, and she whispered a reminder, "Xiaotong, you're wearing my T-shirt."
"Oh? Really?" Xiao Tong was a little surprised. "Uncle Mu Hua found it for me last night. Thank you, Lele."
"You're welcome."
The interaction between the two kids was pretty normal up to this point, while the adults who were randomly shipping them looked on with gossip.
At this point, Lele added another sentence.
"Then please wash the T-shirt and return it to me. I really like this one."
The gossipy crowd was speechless.
In the live stream room,
[Lele, your dad's right. You shouldn't date before you're 18. I'm afraid girls will beat you to death.]
[Hahaha, why is this so funny? Wash it clean and give it back to me, hahaha, it reminds me of my wretched nephew, his awareness is probably about the same as Lele's.]
[I don't know how Ha Zong was raised. He's so charming, his eyes are practically drooling when he looks at people, but my Le is such a weirdo.]
Jin Jin saw a nice mousse cake at the press conference yesterday and asked her secretary to pack two to go.
When I got back, Zhang Yanshu was already asleep. The cake was in the refrigerator, and Zhang Yanshu found it early this morning.
She brewed a cup of jasmine tea and ate these two mousse cakes for breakfast.
Jin Jin hadn't slept well the night before. He put on his coat and walked into the restaurant. He casually picked up Zhang Yanshu's jasmine tea, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then spoke softly.
"One cake is enough. It's high in fat and sugar, and eating too much is bad for your health."
Zhang Yanshu ate the cake heartily, glancing at Jin Jin nonchalantly.
"If you can't even eat the things you like, what's the point of having such a good body? But this cake is really delicious, even more delicate in texture than the high-end cakes that Xiyou makes exclusively for its members."
Jin Jin sat down opposite her, took the tangerine peel tea handed to her by the maid, and smiled.
"They said it was made by Joan's wife. That girl seems very refined and quite likable."
Zhang Yanshu swallowed the cake. "I watched her live stream. She said she has social anxiety and doesn't like to talk, but her personality is quite cute."
At this point, Zhang Yanshu also started gossiping, "The young couple has a very good relationship, they're so sweet."
Jin Jin smiled too, a genuine smile that came from seeing a younger person doing well.
After laughing, Jin Jin let out a long sigh.
"Did you see the news last night? Xiao Xi is up to something again, saying she brought back a daughter from abroad. I'd never heard of such a thing before. If she has a daughter this big, why has she kept her hidden for so many years?"
After finishing his cake, Zhang Yanshu took a tissue and dabbed his lips with it.
“I’ve thought about it. This daughter may not be Qiao Rukun’s child, which is why she’s been kept out of the public eye for so many years. The reason she’s being brought out now is because Qiao Qingchuan is failing, and Jin Xizhen needs her to step up and hold onto that 47% stake.”
Zhang Yanshu is very smart. Jin Jin likes to consult with her when she is unsure about something, and her suggestions are always the best solutions.
This is also what Jin Jin values most about Zhang Yanshu: he is open-minded, insightful, intelligent, and low-key.
Jin Jin felt that Zhang Yanshu's words made some sense, but there were still some parts that didn't make sense.
"Qiao Qingchuan, Qiao An, and Qiao Qingmeng are all Xiao Xi's children, so why does she dislike Qiao An so much?"
Zhang Yanshu picked up his teacup and took a sip, his mouth filled with the delicate fragrance of jasmine.
"Can't you see that? Of the three of them, only Qiao An is Qiao Rukun's child. Jin Xizhen's love has always been Zhang Hongge. In today's popular terms, your sister is a love-struck fool and will definitely favor Zhang Hongge's child."
More than thirty years have passed, but upon hearing Zhang Hongge's name again, Jin Jin still feels a heavy weight pressing on her heart, as if a large stone were pressing down on it.
"We shouldn't have let Xiaoxi marry Qiao Rukun in the first place; it ruined two generations."
Zhang Yanshu knew Jin Jin's heartache, so she took Jin Jin's hand in return and comforted her.
"This isn't your fault; you didn't even know she was pregnant at that time."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
