The villa has a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and a mountain breeze system that mimics the air in a primeval forest. The mattress was custom-made according to Du Xiaoruo's height and body shape, so it feels like a comfortable, enveloping body when you sleep on it.
Perhaps because the environment was too comfortable, Du Xiaoruo felt refreshed when she woke up the next day.
After washing up, she changed into a cream-colored loungewear set and slippers that felt as soft as walking on clouds, and walked down the stairs in a relaxed mood.
It was almost noon, and Qiao An was sitting at the bar processing documents. He had a study but didn't use it; he preferred to bring all his documents to the lobby on the first floor and occupy the bar area to work.
Du Xiaoruo walked down the stairs and greeted them, "Good morning."
Joanne looked up at the quartz clock on the wall and reminded him,
"Strictly speaking, we should say good afternoon now. In Mu Hua's words, it's like the sun is already high in the sky."
Du Xiaoruo felt no burden in front of Qiao An now, and when she heard him say that, she just pursed her lips indifferently.
She walked over to the bar, grabbed a big apple, and took a big bite. As she turned around, she was surprised to see the Jin family elders sitting on the living room sofa with smiles on their faces.
Perhaps she took a bite that was too big, because Du Xiaoruo's mouth got stuck in the apple.
Her usually small and gentle mouth was now wide open to its limit, with a large apple stuck in it, unable to swallow or pull it out. Du Xiaoruo was so anxious that she stomped her feet, and tears were about to come out of her eyes.
Zhang Yanshu laughed heartily on the sofa, completely disregarding his image.
Jin Jin couldn't stand it anymore and reminded Qiao An, "Don't just keep laughing, take it off for her first."
Qiao Anle's shoulders were shaking with laughter. He finally managed to stop laughing, but when he looked up and saw Du Xiaoruo's comical appearance, he lowered his head and chuckled again.
After he finally stopped laughing, she carefully helped Du Xiaoruo pull the apple out.
Du Xiaoruo's face burned with embarrassment, and her lips, stretched to their limit, also hurt. She didn't know if it was from shyness or something else, but after taking out the apple, she immediately turned around and rushed into the bathroom.
After checking her lips in the mirror to make sure there was no tear, Du Xiaoruo belatedly started to feel a bit embarrassed. If it were just Qiao An, it wouldn't be a problem, since no one could outdo him in being ridiculous. But the key question was, why were the Jin couple also at home? And why were they all silent?
Joanne knocked on the bathroom door and asked with concern,
"Xiao Ruo, are you alright? Your parents want to see you. They need to talk to you." After a night of getting used to it, Qiao An now says "Mom and Dad" much more naturally.
Du Xiaoruo slowly opened the bathroom door and glared fiercely at Qiao An.
Joan hung her head and laughed for a long time.
The Jin couple had recovered from their earlier burst of laughter. Jin Jin had regained his usual calm and composure, while Zhang Yanshu wiped away tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes with a tissue and waved to Xiao Ruo.
"Come here, I have something to give you."
Du Xiaoruo walked over and sat down on the sofa next to Zhang Yanshu.
Zhang Yanshu took out a small jewelry box from his purse, opened it, and inside was a pair of antique gold-inlaid jade rings.
These rings look quite old; the gold parts have a deep color, as if they've been aged for a long time, while the emeralds are even brighter. The rings are very beautiful, with a vintage, mysterious, and noble feel.
Zhang Yanshu handed the jewelry box to Du Xiaoruo.
“These rings were left to Jin Jin by her parents. We’ve been wearing them ever since we got married. I thought about it yesterday and decided to pass them on to you two. Since our identities aren’t public yet, it’s inconvenient for us to wear them, so please keep them for now.”
This is too valuable. Du Xiaoruo turned around and looked at Qiao An.
Qiao An smiled and nodded, "It's from Mom, so just keep it."
Since things had come to this point, Du Xiaoruo had no choice but to accept it generously, and whispered, "Thank you, Mom."
"Mm," Zhang Yanshu replied with satisfaction.
Yesterday's hasty family reunion meant that Qiao An and Du Xiaoruo didn't change their way of addressing each other. Today, Zhang Yanshu was hearing this address for the first time, and strangely enough, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all, as if it was the natural way to address him.
It is said that a mother and child are connected at heart, and Zhang Yanshu truly believes it this time. When the paternity test went wrong, her intuition told her there was a problem. Now she feels very comfortable with Qiao An, which may be due to the wonder of blood ties.
After chatting casually for a while, Zhang Yanshu raised his wrist to check his watch.
"I can't talk to you guys anymore, I have an appointment and I have something to do right now."
Seeing them about to leave, Qiao An felt a little reluctant and said, "Let's have lunch here."
"Come again next time, I'm very busy today."
Zhang Yanshu stood up, and Jin Jin quickly helped her pick up her purse and stood up as well.
As he reached the door, Zhang Yanshu turned back and gave him another instruction.
"You two should bring the kids home for dinner whenever you have free time. When you're busy, come home at least once a week. When you're not busy, come home whenever you have time, okay?"
Qiao An and Du Xiaoruo obediently agreed, and Zhang Yanshu then strode out of the villa with her head held high, with Jin Jin following behind her like a little brother.
After everyone left, Du Xiaoruo sighed.
"Your mom has such a commanding presence, like a queen."
Qiao An sighed, "No wonder everyone says I have a kingly demeanor; I guess I take after my mother."
Du Xiaoruo: "Are you all blind?"
Joan, "...Do you choke on apples because you have a sharp tongue?"
Du Xiaoruo, “…” When it comes to arguing, if Qiao An says he’s second, no one dares to claim to be first.
Two cars were parked in front of the villa. One was Jin Jin's usual black Rolls-Royce, and the other was a Rolls-Royce Bota Tall, one of only three in the world, worth 180 million yuan. It was known as the Rolls-Royce money-shredding machine and was a car that Zhang Yanshu had bought casually for fun.
Jin Jin asked with some concern, "Are you going by yourself? Do you need me to come with you? Or should we bring two bodyguards?"
Zhang Yanshu, annoyed by his excessive talking, waved his hand impatiently.
"This is a matter between mothers, so you shouldn't get involved."
Jin Jin watched Zhang Yanshu's car speed away. Although she knew that what Zhang Yanshu was going to do might be a little dangerous, Jin Jin was still at ease because Zhang Yanshu was intelligent, resourceful, and knew how to act.
The Rolls-Royce Floating Shadow drove all the way to the Qiao family's villa. At the foot of the mountain, the Qiao family's security guards came out and stopped them.
"Ma'am, do you have an appointment?"
Zhang Yanshu didn't slow down at all. He stepped on the gas, and the car sped past the security guard, broke through the barrier, and drove in. With a final drift, it crashed in front of the main building where Jin Xizhen lived.
After the car stopped, Zhang Yanshu took out sunglasses from his bag and put them on, dragged a golf club from the back seat, and walked into the main building with his head held high.
There was only one maid cleaning in the living room on the first floor. When she saw Zhang Yanshu, she paused for a moment and subconsciously asked,
Who are you looking for?
Zhang Yanshu raised his hand and swung his golf club, smashing two blue-and-white porcelain vases by the door.
The woman was so frightened that she trembled all over, and after a long while, she screamed and ran out to call for help.
Soon, a lot of people arrived. Judging from their attire, they were probably butlers and servants.
Zhang Yanshu sat upright in the main seat, suddenly tossing an incense burner that was beside him, and slightly raised an eyebrow.
"Get Kim Hee-jin out here."
The butler hurried forward. Judging from Zhang Yanshu's demeanor, he sensed that the newcomer must have a powerful background. He carefully chose his words, trying not to offend her.
"Madam, our lady has gone to the mountains to worship Buddha. Would you like to come again next time?"
Zhang Yanshu picked up a golf club and smashed several tea utensils on the coffee table to pieces. Then, he calmly and serenely looked at the butler.
"Why would someone destined for hell worship Buddha? If she comes out a minute later, something will be missing here. If she doesn't come out today, I could raze this whole building to the ground."
"Please don't get angry, I'll go find someone right away."
The butler agreed and ran out.
The maid who ran out with the housekeeper asked, "Why are you afraid of her? Get some security guards to kick her out."
The butler glanced at the bewildered maid and sighed inwardly. The young man was still too arrogant. Based on his many years of experience in judging people, he knew that some people were not to be trifled with just by their aura.
About half an hour later, just as Zhang Yanshu was about to smash everything in the house, Jin Xizhen finally arrived late.
When he finally met the person he was looking for, Zhang Yanshu showed his first smile of the day.
She instructed the housekeeper.
"You all go down and close the door."
Logically, the butler should have stayed to protect Kim Hee-jin at this point, but for some reason, when Jang Yeon-seo gave this unquestionable order, he chose to leave without hesitation.
Kim Hee-jin was much calmer than expected. She walked over and sat down to Zhang Yanshu's left, greeting him with a smile.
"Sister-in-law, it's been a long time."
She looked around at the mess in the room. "It's been thirty years, hasn't it? I didn't expect you to have such a bad temper now."
Zhang Yanshu sneered.
"Jin Xizhen, don't play dumb with me. You know why I'm here today. You hurt my son, and I'll make you wish you were dead."
Kim Hee-jin suddenly burst into laughter, a manic laugh that brought tears to her eyes.
"So you finally found out? You two idiots, thinking you're so high and mighty, little do you know that your sons are living worse than animals every day."
Jin Xizhen's eyes were bloodshot, making her look like a complete lunatic. She deliberately provoked Zhang Yanshu.
“Do you know? I pricked his whole body with needles, I didn’t give him any food, I starved him, and I ordered my own son to beat him. I never treated him like a human being, just because he was Jin Jin’s son.”
Zhang Yanshu could imagine what would happen to Qiao An if she fell into Jin Xizhen's hands, but hearing it with her own ears still caused her great distress. It took her a long time to force herself to hold back her tears. She couldn't be vulnerable in front of Jin Xizhen.
"You knew from the beginning that Qiao An was Jin Jin's and my child?" Zhang Yanshu asked in a deep voice.
Kim Hee-jin stared at her with those beautiful grey-blue eyes, her gaze icy cold.
"How could I not know? He looks exactly like my mother. Everyone who has seen him says I look like my mother, but he looks even more like her. There's no way it could be such a coincidence. I'm so grateful to Qiao Rukun for giving me such a great opportunity. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to get revenge on you."
Zhang Yanshu stared intently at her.
"What right do you have to retaliate against us? Jin Jin arranged for you to marry Qiao Rukun. Since you were pregnant with Zhang Hongge's child at that time, why didn't you refuse the marriage? Why did you go along with it and marry into the Qiao family? And even gave birth to someone else's child, bringing shame to both the Qiao and Jin families?"
Kim Hee-jin panicked for a moment, but continued to argue, "I didn't, you forced me, you forced me to marry Qiao Rukun."
No one forced you.
Zhang Yanshu shook his head, his tone calm but undeniable.
"You love Zhang Hongge, but you despise him for being just a driver for the Jin family. You want both love and dignity, which leads you down a wrong path that drives Qiao Rukun crazy and puts you in a hopeless situation."
Kim Hee-jin's secret was exposed, and her eyes darted around nervously, but she still stubbornly kept her mouth shut.
"You forced me to this. You and Jin Jin, your whole family deserve to die."
Zhang Yanshu took another jewelry box out of his purse and threw it in front of Jin Xizhen with a "thud".
“I’m here today to send you to hell, not to argue with you about these old, trivial matters. Open this and take a look; there’s something you won’t believe.”
Kim Hee-jin bent down to pick up the jewelry box, opened it with a click, and let out a shrill scream after seeing what was inside.
Hearing Kim Hee-jin's shout, the housekeepers who were guarding the door quickly pushed the door open and ran in.
Zhang Yanshu stood up, bent down to pick up the jewelry box that had fallen to the ground, closed the lid, put the box back in his purse, and leaned down to whisper in Jin Xizhen's ear...
"This is Zhang Hongge's left ear. Tomorrow you will see his right ear, and the day after tomorrow you will see his left thumb. I will send Zhang Hongge to you little by little in installments. If you don't want to get your lover this way, then go and turn yourself in and tell the police all the scum you and your son have done. I believe the law will be much more merciful than I am."
After saying that, Zhang Yanshu walked out of the dilapidated house that seemed to reek of decay, with his head held high. Behind him came Jin Xizhen's terrified scream.
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