Normally, paternity tests take 7-15 working days to produce results. Jin Jin used a little bit of her connections to expedite the legal process and received the feedback report the afternoon after the sample was submitted.
In order to notify Jin Jin as soon as possible, the report was sent via text message. The written document has been sent by express mail, but it has not been received yet.
But the content of the text message speaks for itself.
Qiao An is the biological son of Jin Jin and Zhang Yanshu. Jin Huaiqi has no relation to the couple.
It is said that great sorrow is tearless and great love is unspoken. From being on tenterhooks to now having everything settled down, Jin Jin and Zhang Yanshu were surprisingly calm, sitting opposite each other, both speechless.
When Qiao An and the others arrived at the old house, the butler led them into the main room and then turned and left.
“An’er, stay with…Mom…Mom.” Jin Jin clearly felt awkward about this form of address, and her tone was hesitant.
After saying this, he stood up and said to Du Xiaoruo and Lele,
"Come play a game of chess with me in the yard."
Du Xiaoruo followed them out of the main room and closed the door for the mother and son.
Zhang Yanshu sat upright at the round table, looked up at Qiao An, and carefully examined him from head to toe before she realized that this was indeed her son.
Wow, Zhang Yanshu, you've raised such an outstanding son!
She pointed to a traditional Chinese eight-person chair opposite her, "Please sit down."
After Qiao An sat down, Zhang Yanshu asked,
Have you eaten yet?
Joan instinctively wanted to nod, but then she thought, this is my mother, there's no need to be distant in front of her.
"Not yet." The tone of this sentence is very casual, like a child returning home from an outing and exchanging the most ordinary words with their mother.
Zhang Yanshu smiled gently, "I'll tell them to go and prepare. Your stomach isn't good, so please eat something light tonight, okay?"
With just a simple sentence, Qiao An's eyes welled up with tears; she knew she had a stomach problem.
Zhang Yanshu then asked, "Is your stomach problem any better?"
"I'm much better now. I saw an old Chinese medicine doctor a few times, and now I'm fine as long as I eat on time."
"Hmm, if you still feel unwell, I'll find someone to take a look at you. You're still young; you can't do without good health."
Inside the room, Qiao An and Zhang Yanshu chatted about everyday things.
On the chessboard in the courtyard, Jin Jin was being steadily defeated by Lele. It wasn't that Lele was particularly skilled; it was simply that Jin Jin's mind couldn't remain as calm as it appeared on the surface. When the mind is not at peace, weaknesses are everywhere.
At dinner time, Qiao An and the other two had a simple dinner with Jin Jin and his wife.
Jin Jin is usually a very talkative person, but today he was unusually quiet. The meal was almost over before he finally managed to utter a single sentence.
“An’er, if you have any difficulties at your company, just tell me.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yanshu remembered something, and she turned to look at Qiao An.
"Does your company still have 47% of its shares held by Jin Xizhen? I think you should either buy back the shares, or just forget about Jinse and come back to work for our group. Anyway, the group will be yours sooner or later, so there's no need to waste your time on those small businesses."
When Du Xiaoruo heard Zhang Yanshu say that Jinse was a small business, she was first surprised, then thought that compared with Jinchan, Jinse was indeed a bit "small".
Qiao An pondered for a while, then looked up at Zhang Yanshu.
“Jinse cannot give up. I have a promise to the employees to protect their interests. As for buying back the shares, Qiao Rukun’s will has not been made public yet, so no one can touch these 47% of the shares. Although they are in Jin Xizhen’s hands, she has no right to dispose of them. Let’s just leave them as they are for now and see what happens after the will is made public.”
Mentioning Qiao Rukun, Zhang Yanshu's expression turned ugly. If it weren't for Qiao Rukun, Qiao An wouldn't have suffered for over twenty years, and they wouldn't have been separated like family, almost unable to recognize each other.
Thinking of all this, Zhang Yanshu wished he could dig Qiao Rukun out of his grave and whip his corpse.
By the way, Qiao Rukun probably foresaw this day long ago. I heard that his grave is empty, and his ashes were scattered into the sea long ago.
Qiao An added, "My identity doesn't need to be revealed for now. I still have some old scores to settle with the Qiao family. We'll reveal it after everything is settled. Is that alright with you two?"
Despite Jin Jin's powerful and influential status as a CEO, Zhang Yanshu is the one in charge at home.
Upon hearing Qiao An's words, Jin Jin subconsciously looked at Zhang Yanshu.
Zhang Yanshu glanced at Qiao An, paused for a moment, and then, as if making up his mind, said...
"Okay, you decide this matter, but Joan... we can't do anything illegal. I can't bear to lose you a second time."
After saying this, Zhang Yanshu complained impatiently.
"Hurry up and finish this, change the name properly. It's so annoying to hear 'Qiao An' every day. I really hope the word 'Qiao' will be removed from the dictionary in the future."
Jin Jin sighed helplessly.
"You're being completely unreasonable. The word itself is innocent; you can't be so irrational."
Zhang Yanshu glanced at Jin Jin and cleared away the bowl and chopsticks in front of him.
"Stop eating, you're annoying too."
Amidst Jin Jin and Zhang Yanshu's bickering, Qiao An's restless heart finally felt at home; this was her parents, this was the feeling of home.
Back at Yinge's villa, everything from Chenxiang Apartment had already been moved over. The housekeeper and two maids were cleaning the rooms, and it felt like they were scrubbing the floorboards until they were worn raw, like someone who had been unemployed and was now finding a new job and was working overtime.
Du Xiaoruo returned to her room, took a shower, and walked out of the bathroom with her wet hair wrapped in a towel.
She had just sat down at the dressing table when there were two knocks on the door.
When I opened the door, Joan was standing outside.
Qiao An waved the stack of documents in her hand. "I have something to tell you."
"Mm." Du Xiaoruo stepped aside and let Qiao An into the bedroom.
The room was filled with the sweet citrus scent of shower gel. Du Xiaoruo, wrapped in a pink towel, stared blankly at Qiao An.
When Joan met her wet eyes, her throat tightened, and she looked away.
He walked over to the sofa, sat down, spread the documents out on the coffee table, and beckoned to Du Xiaoruo, "Come and take a look."
Du Xiaoruo walked over and sat down on the sofa next to Qiao An, bending down to look at the documents on the coffee table.
Joanne pointed to a document that resembled a resume.
"This is the driver who killed Kerr while drunk. The records show that he has a son with neuroblastoma. I think he may have risked his life to drive drunk and hit Kerr because of money."
Du Xiaoruo blinked. "Who is Kerr?"
Because the two were very close, Qiao An was so captivated by the pleasant citrus scent emanating from her that she completely forgot that Du Xiaoruo had no idea who Kerr was.
He steadied himself and explained.
"Kerr is Qiao Qingmeng's boyfriend and the son of the director of Shengjing Private Hospital. The previous paternity test was probably switched by Kerr. Qiao Qingmeng was probably afraid that Kerr would reveal the truth, so she hired someone to silence him."
Time stopped for a few seconds.
Du Xiaoruo knew this was a world of melodramatic novels. Although all sorts of melodramatic plots were endless, there had never been a case of murder so far. Hiring someone to silence a witness was something that only happened in TV dramas. Had it really happened?
Overwhelmed with shock, her voice was hoarse, "Isn't she afraid of being arrested by the police?"
Qiao An sneered.
"As long as she pays enough to keep the drunk driver quiet, the police can't do anything about her."
Joanne carefully put the documents into a brown leather file folder.
"Send these materials to the person who wants to kill her the most right now. Consider it doing a good deed and hoping to accumulate some merit."
After putting away the documents, Qiao An showed no sign of leaving, so Du Xiaoruo sat down with him on the sofa.
There was a moment of silence.
Du Xiaoruo spoke first, "How are you feeling right now?"
Joan, "Hmm?"
"So, how did you feel after finding your biological parents? Were you happy? Shocked? Incredulous, or something else entirely?"
Qiao An crossed her legs on the sofa, lowered her head, and thought seriously about Du Xiaoruo's question.
He had already showered and changed out of his sharp suit. Now he was wearing a loose-fitting, hazy blue V-neck linen pajama set. The loose style and soft fabric softened his sharp demeanor during the day, making him look like a soft, cuddly puppy.
"Actually, I didn't feel much."
Qiao An raised her head, her eyes clear and bright.
"It's probably because I have too many things weighing on my mind right now—the company's affairs, the Qiao family's affairs, Mu Hua's affairs, and our affairs. With so many things on my mind, I just want to resolve them as soon as possible and then live my life peacefully. Do you know that when you have a lot of things on your mind, your emotions become dulled? That's probably how I feel right now. I don't have much energy left for this matter. I know they are my parents now, and that's enough."
Among all of Qiao An's words, Du Xiaoruo found one that interested her.
"About us? What about us?"
Instead of answering her question, Joan asked inexplicably, "Have you never been in a relationship before?"
Du Xiaoruo was caught off guard by his question. Although it was true that she had never been in a relationship, it was still a little embarrassing to admit it to his face, as if she had no charm at all.
She pursed her lips and answered solemnly, "Many boys like me."
"Yes, yes, I know a lot."
Joan’s tone was tinged with amusement. What he really wanted to say was that he wanted to pursue her again, go on dates, watch movies, buy gifts, fall in love, and get married, just like every ordinary girl experiences, so that she could have a complete first love.
But I can't say this in advance, or there won't be any surprise.
Du Xiaoruo stared at him, wide-eyed. And then? If you know so much, why are you silent? And why are you laughing so strangely?
There were a few more knocks on the door.
After Du Xiaoruo said "Please come in," the door was pushed open from the outside, and Lele walked in with a worried look on her face, holding her phone.
He squeezed between Qiao An and Du Xiaoruo in his little yellow duck slippers.
His eyebrows were furrowed in worry, as if tied into a Chinese knot, and he said with a pained expression,
"Xiao Tong blocked me."
"Why?" Du Xiaoruo quickly put on a gossipy expression and pricked up her ears. "Aren't you and Xiaotong already on good terms?"
Lele showed them her phone; the screen displayed a chat dialog box.
Xiao Tong, [Lele, what are you doing? It's so boring being back home all of a sudden.]
Lele, [I'm scrolling through my phone.]
Xiao Tong, [What are you using on your phone?]
Lele, [? Of course, it's the phone my dad bought for me.]
Lele, why aren't you saying anything?
Note: Are you currently friends with the other person? Please send a friend request first. You can only chat after the other person accepts your request.
Du Xiaoruo, "..."
Qiao An said, "...Lele, how about you sign up for a Chinese language training class? I'll find you the best teacher."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
