Chapter 28 (Revised)
"Sister, why don't you just not go to that dinner party? No, this white one is too plain, take the red one."
After Song Zhiyu finished directing the stylist, he turned around and said pitifully, "The old man from the Liu family sent me a message. I don't think the Qiao family has any good intentions."
"What did the Liu family tell you?" Song Zhiyi sat upright as the makeup artist painted on her face.
"It's about the marriage arrangement," the stylist brought over new clothes, and Song Zhiyu came over to help pick them out. "The old man heard that Miss Zhi was going to attend the banquet, so he urged me to go. But I said I sprained my ankle and there was nothing he could do.
"But from what he said, it seems that it's not just the Liu family that's interested in you?"
"Well, Qiao Liangze also wanted Qiao Nianwen to marry me, and he came to me two months ago to sound me out."
Song Zhiyu sighed and said in disdain: "Don't any of these people look in the mirror?"
"Don't say that about yourself."
"..." Song Zhiyu choked and simply stopped picking clothes. He pulled a chair and sat down beside him, saying, "Actually, I have always had a question. Why did the old man have to find me for the marriage? He has so many grandsons. He should be able to find one who can be used after picking and choosing, right?"
"Oh, this should be my fault." Song Zhiyi took a mirror and carefully checked her makeup. She said casually, "Two years ago, when you were busy with the announcement, I attended a banquet as Miss Zhi. That time, I happened to meet the cousins of the Liu family."
"Then what?" This was something he had never heard of before, Song Zhiyu asked quickly.
"What else can it be? You know what those scumbags are like. I took care of the slick ones."
"You did it?" Song Zhiyu exclaimed with wide eyes, "Won't we be recognized?"
"How could I be so stupid," Song Zhiyi moved the mirror, in which the makeup artist was using wax to adjust the shape of her ears. "After that day, I checked the projects they were responsible for and targeted them one by one. The old man knew it was me, and from then on he didn't dare to bring those people to embarrass himself in front of me."
"So it seems that the old man's choice is really just me." Song Zhiyu thought thoughtfully.
"No, there's another one?" Song Zhiyi glanced at him, looking unhappy.
"Who?" Song Zhiyu asked, and almost thought of the answer in the next second.
"Liu Qifan," Song Zhiyi put down the mirror, his eyes were extremely cold, "your 'rival in love'."
He is also her biggest suspect at the moment.
When Song Zhiyu heard this, he shuddered almost visibly, laughed dryly, and said in a flattering way, "How can it be that we are rivals in love? The relationship between me and... that person is obviously just slightly better than a stranger."
Although the makeup artist and stylist are both his own people, Song Zhiyu still swallowed the name as it involves other people's privacy.
Song Zhiyi said sarcastically, "I've already lent out 500,000 or 600,000 yuan to people whose relationships are just a little better than strangers. If the relationship is a little better, I don't even dare to think about it."
"How can it be so exaggerated," Song Zhiyu muttered quietly, "and human life is at stake. I just want to save it if I can, and the money is not much for us."
"This is not a matter of money..." Song Zhiyi's movements were a little bigger, and the wax on her ears that had just been shaped was deformed by her. Song Zhiyi apologized, took a calm breath and continued, "I've told you many times to stay away from her. You have to at least hold on for these ten months, otherwise you will die, Song Zhiyu, you will die, do you know that?"
“…”
No one spoke. Song Zhiyi closed his eyes and sighed secretly.
Song Zhiyu has always been soft-hearted. After all, human life is at stake, and it is normal for him to lend money to his colleague to treat his mother's illness, but that person should not be Lin Xiaofeng.
In her eyes, her brother's life is naturally much more important than others, not to mention.
"You could have told me about this and I would have handled it."
"sorry."
Song Zhiyu knew that her sister was really angry this time, so she made a self-examination and said, "I heard the voice of the phone call first that day, and it sounded familiar so I walked over. Who knew that when I turned around the wall, I found out it was Lin Xiaofeng.
"And there was no reaction of being manipulated at that time, so I took it for granted that the crisis was over. I know I was wrong this time, but I promise there will never be a next time, and I will stay away from her in the future!"
"You...ah, forget it." Song Zhiyi sighed, "If I really want to talk about this matter, I can't blame you entirely."
She had also seen in the character card book that Lin Xiaofeng's mother would be seriously ill, and this was originally supposed to belong to Liu Qifan. It was just because of the butterfly effect that something went wrong in the relationship between Lin Xiaofeng and Liu Qifan, and that's why she was picked up by Song Zhiyu by accident.
The reason why the relationship between Lin Xiaofeng and Liu Qifan did not develop according to the original plot was ultimately due to the trouble caused by Song Zhiyi.
The last time they went back to the Liu family, Song Zhiyi met Lin Xiaofeng by chance. After returning, he sent her a report on Liu Qifan's messy relationships between men and women, drastically severing the tie between the two of them.
Without the help of the domineering boss Liu Qifan, Lin Xiaofeng, a newcomer who had just debuted, naturally had no ability to pay for his mother's huge medical expenses. That's why Song Zhiyu heard the hospital's call urging payment at the company, and in desperation she chose to ask him for help.
But maybe Song Zhiyu was afraid that she would be angry if she knew, so he kept the matter secret without saying a word. If Lin's mother's condition had not suddenly worsened yesterday, and Lin Xiaofeng had not been desperate and turned to Song Zhiyu for help again, she probably would not have known about this even after the plot was over.
After sorting out all the timelines, Song Zhiyi's last bit of anger disappeared: "Anyway, if anything happens in the future, just let her come to me. Don't worry about her mother. I have already asked someone to help find a doctor. There will be a result tomorrow at the latest."
Lin Xiaofeng's mother should have received good treatment, but now she has been blown away by the butterfly effect. As the "culprit", she must make compensation.
Song Zhiyi had just finished speaking when Song Zhiyu came over and handed her a fruit plate attentively while nodding in a flattering manner: "Don't worry, sister. She wrote me an IOU and she won't default on the payment."
Song Zhiyi knew that he said this on purpose, and sneered, "Don't worry, since I'm helping her, I will definitely dig out more value from her. Although she has just debuted, she has much more potential than you."
After all, she is the heroine.
The disguise was almost done. Song Zhiyi glanced towards the door and asked, "Is Yu An here?"
The topic changed so quickly that Song Zhiyu was stunned for two seconds before answering, "He just said he parked downstairs and should be here soon."
"Mr. Song." Speak of the devil. Yu An arrived at the door as the last word was spoken. He was rarely wearing a suit. When he saw people looking at him, he moved his shoulders uncomfortably.
"It fits him well," Song Zhiyi nodded with satisfaction, stood up and pointed casually, motioning him to sit over here, and said to the makeup artist, "Please adjust his facial features and body shape as well."
*
At seven o'clock in the evening, just as the sky was getting dark, a red supercar stopped in front of the villa. Before it stopped, a waiter came over attentively.
The car door opened, and the leading waiter was stunned for a moment. He quickly gestured with his left hand behind his back, and the smile on his face deepened: "Excuse me, is this Miss Koreeda?"
The woman nodded slightly. She was wearing a flamboyant red dress with an irregular hem that stopped just above her knees, revealing a pair of straight, slender calves. But the most eye-catching thing about her was the gorgeous golden mask on her face.
The mask fits tightly to her face, revealing only her lips and a small half of her face, which is one of Miss Zhi's trademarks.
Miss Zhi - Song Zhiyi got out of the car and gave a subtle wink to Yu An who was getting out of the driver's seat. The gems on the mask also reflected bright light as she moved.
To match her, Yu An also wore a half-face mask, but it was a low-key black one.
The elaborate disguises and masks make it difficult for even acquaintances to recognize them.
The waiter who ran to report the news came back quickly, paused for a few seconds to adjust his breathing, and said respectfully to Song Zhiyi: "Miss Zhi, please follow me. President Qiao has been waiting for a long time."
Song Zhiyi curled her lips, blinked at him from behind the mask, and said in a low voice, "Please tell Director Qiao that tonight is a dance, not a place to discuss work."
"Yes, Miss Zhi." The waiter blushed uncontrollably, earning a low chuckle from the woman in return.
After the people left, he couldn't help but turn around and follow the figure, saying in a trance: "Miss Zhi is still so beautiful."
"Well, be clear-headed. You can't get that." His companion poked him warningly, "And haven't you heard? They say that Miss Zhi always wears a mask when she appears. That's because, well, only the lower half of her face can be seen."
Another person interrupted him hastily: "Hey, you're getting more and more ridiculous. Why don't you look at where you are? If this gets out, you'll lose your job, right?"
*
"Relax." Feeling Yu An's tension, Song Zhiyi patted his arm gently and soothed him, "It's just a formality. We can just take a quick turn and then we can leave."
"Okay, Miss Song...zhi."
Song Zhiyi smiled and leisurely took Yu An to the garden. At the entrance there was a table full of masks, and many young men and women were standing there choosing with great interest.
This is almost a "standard feature" of the banquets she attends.
她十八歲給自己捏造枝小姐這個身份時，本來只是為了方便布局扳倒柳家，但卻異兵突起，一路吞了不少中小企業，反而陰差陽錯在豪門圈子裏打出了名聲。不過貌似他們都以為枝小姐只是被推出來的“代言人”就是了。
總之，随着這幾年動作越來越大，那些所謂的豪門對她的态度也更加恭敬，比如凡是她出席的宴會主家都會在席中準備一些面具，來彰顯他們的“貼心”。
至于那些關于自己“容貌有缺”的傳言，她也不是沒聽過，只是全然不在意罷了。
反正容貌有缺的是枝小姐，關她宋知意什麽事？
宴會即将正式開始，不過喬家應當是篩選了受邀人，花園上的客人并不太多。
宋知意随意看了一眼，随便找了個空着的席位，帶着于岸走了過去。
喬家和柳家相争多年，這次喬良澤請她過來是為了商讨融資事宜，為了牽制柳家，宋知意很樂意給他們提供幫助。但也僅限于此，聯姻什麽的，想都別想。
宋知意走到一半，眼角餘光瞟到一股肖似柳祈梵的身影，腳步沒有絲毫停留便自然地轉了個方向。
還真被小魚說對了，柳家真把柳祈梵派來了。真是，這麽費盡心思想和她“聯姻”，不如直接把柳家送給她算了。
把柳家拿到手再原地毀掉，那她就能安心提早退休了。
宋知意腹诽一聲，就近找了個空位坐下，一副悠閑做派。
“讨厭死了讨厭死了……讨厭！”
“靈靈，別這樣，叔叔他應該不是這個意思……”
兩道有些熟悉的在耳邊響起，宋知意順着看過去，忍不住皺了皺眉。
今天是什麽運氣，怎麽還能在喬家遇到萬博宏和歐靈靈，難道萬博宏和喬良澤相認了？今晚就要正式公布？
看這樣子好像不太像……等等，這倆人怎麽還是這麽親密，不會還沒發現是親姑侄吧。
嘶，刺激。
——
“嘶——好痛，輕點啦！”歐靈靈生氣地把手抽回來，眼眶含淚。
“好好，我輕點，輕點，”萬博宏眼神中是克制的心疼，“你把手再給我看看有沒有傷到骨頭，好不好？”
歐靈靈發出一聲鼻音，終是把手又伸了過去。
萬博宏仔細地檢查着他的手腕，看着看着，再想到兩人之間的身份，不由得有些走神。
關于自己的身世他不是沒有深究過，只是每次問起母親都會回避，久而久之，他也接受了自己是個沒有父親的孩子。
一直到母親去世，他都沒有在母親口中聽到關于父親的只言片語。原本，父親對他來說只是一個符號，一個沒有人問起甚至想不起來的符號。
直到昨天，他的身世忽然在大庭廣衆下公布，甚至親口蓋章的還是他的情敵喬念文、和從小一起長大的“妹妹”，歐靈靈。
渾渾噩噩地過了一天，到現在他都尚未厘清自己對喬良澤，這個或許是自己生理上父親的人應該抱有什麽樣的感情。
“宏哥哥？”
“宏哥哥！”
“嗯……怎麽了靈靈？”萬博宏恍然回神，眼神中還帶着一絲沒來得及收起的脆弱。
“手，”歐靈靈又動了動，把手抽了回來，嗔怪道，“你都看了好久了。”
“抱歉，”萬博宏笑了笑，“應該只是擦傷，回去抹一點紅花油就好。回去記得檢查一下身上有沒有別的地方也摔傷了。”
“嗯。”歐靈靈低低應了一聲，看着自己的手腕不知道在想什麽，片刻後忽然出聲，帶着哭腔，“宏哥哥，他是不是不肯認我？不肯認我就算了，憑什麽還那麽污蔑我，什麽破家産，誰稀罕啊。”
那個他，指的不是歐靈靈的生父喬老爺子，而是喬良澤，當前喬家的實際掌權人。
“不用擔心，”萬博宏安撫地對她笑笑，眸色幽深，“喬念文那邊會替你說合的，如果，如果你真的想被認回喬家的話，我還可以幫你求求喬……叔叔。”
“真的嗎？那太謝謝你了，我就知道宏哥哥最好了。”歐靈靈終于開心起來，拉着椅子貼着萬博宏坐下，然後笑着伸手，想像以前那樣拉着萬博宏的胳膊。
當他躲開時，兩人同時愣住了。
“宏哥哥？”
“抱歉，我只是，只是覺得，”萬博宏僵硬地扯了扯嘴角，“如果那人說的都是真的，那我們或許，再也不能兄妹相稱了。”
“原來你在擔心這個啊。”歐靈靈撇了撇嘴，故意搞怪地說，“雖然姑姑我呢，是比你輩分大了些，但我都叫了你這麽多年哥哥了，一時半會也改不回來，我允許你以後還叫我靈靈好了。”
他不是在說在這個。
萬博宏隐忍地閉了下眼，沉聲說：“好。”
——
宋知意饒有興致地看了半天戲，從兩人的閑言中不難推斷出歐靈靈已經知道了自己的身世，萬博宏也是一樣，只是歐靈靈那邊的“認親”進展的不是很順利。
想想也是，喬老爺子年歲大了，指不定哪天就要駕鶴西去，現在突然冒出來一個來歷不明的私生女，冷眼一瞧就是奔着分家産來的，喬良澤除非是昏了頭路才會在這種時候把人認下。
畢竟歐靈靈可不像萬博宏，還有個“白月光”的濾鏡。
宋知意揚了下手，從路過的侍者手中拿過一杯紅酒，深紅色的酒液搖晃，扭曲了遠處走來的身影。
她面具下的眉毛挑了挑，沖着來人遙遙舉杯，然後一口飲下。
今晚的喬家，還真是來對了。
歐靈靈比她晚一步發現喬良澤的身影，但依舊第一時間做出了反應。知道喬良澤不想認她，她幹脆拉着萬博宏一起迎了過去。
“董事長，希望您能相信我，我從小就沒有父親，母親也很早就去世了，我只是想知道我的生父到底是誰……我們可以簽協議，您來定，只要給我一個機會，讓我知道我的身世，我發誓，無論我是不是喬家的人，我都不會要喬家半毛錢。”
歐靈靈攔在喬良澤面前，嘴巴緊緊抿起，既倔強又可憐。
喬念文看得心疼，視線落在她有些發紅的手腕上，忍不住關心道：“靈靈，你的手沒事吧？”
“阿文……”
“夠了！”喬良澤簡直受夠了她這幅作态，只覺得額角都在跳動，他張口想再斥責些什麽，一道低沉抓耳的聲音卻先一步響起。
“喬董事長好久不見，”柳祈梵端着酒杯走了過去，視線落在歐靈靈身上時頓了頓，帶着笑意說，“晚輩是不是來得不太湊巧？”
喬良澤的表情僵了僵，強行将怒意壓下，爽朗一笑：“怎麽會來的不巧，祈梵啊，倒還真是有一段時間沒見過你了，最近在忙什麽項目？”
他說着給喬念文使了個眼色，讓他帶着歐靈靈兩人先走。
宋知意看着他們三人又回到老位置，刻意地背了背身隐藏自己，一副打算繼續看戲的樣子。
另一邊，三人落座後像是都不知道該怎麽開口，歐靈靈自顧自地小聲啜泣，喬念文終究是心下不忍，嘆道：“抱歉靈靈，我沒想到，我爸他會有那麽大的反應。”
“是我非要跟着宏哥哥過來的，原本還以為是‘雙喜臨門’，現在看來是我想多了。”歐靈靈整個人肉眼可見地黯淡了許多。
“今天的事怎麽也不能怪你，又不是你能做主的……不過，阿文哥哥，既然喬董事長不願意認我，連親子鑒定都不願意做，你可不可以帶我直接見見父親，我真的很想知道我的身世。”歐靈靈擡起頭，一滴淚從臉龐滑落，臉頰蒼白，脆弱地仿佛要碎掉一般。
喬念文看着自己被抓住的雙手，又看了看面前喜歡的女孩，眼神止不住透出哀傷來，艱澀地說：“靈靈，其實，不相認，不是也很好嗎？”
只要那個結果不擺在面前，他們還是能捂住耳朵、蒙住眼睛，繼續在一起。
歐靈靈的淚水更多了：“你不是我，你知道父親對我來說意味着什麽嗎？還是說，連你也不相信我了嗎？”
“不是不是，我沒有。”喬念文簡直要心疼懷了，恨不得把她抱在懷裏好好哄哄，然後到底是心有顧忌，他最終只是捧着歐靈靈的臉，幫她把眼淚拭掉。
萬博宏就在旁邊看着，不知道在想些什麽。
喬念文又沉默了片刻，看着歐靈靈哭紅的雙眼和怎麽都擦不幹的淚，終究是下定決心般說：“我還沒辦法違抗我爸，但我知道有個人可以幫你，我去求她。”
誰啊，這麽大能量。
宋知意優哉游哉地抿了口紅酒，只覺得八卦下酒，越喝越有。然而只是低頭一放酒杯的工夫，她面前唰一下就多了三個人——三個八卦生産工們。
為首的自然是喬念文，他被于岸擋在宋知意一米外，仔細地看了看宋知意臉上的面具，像是在确認身份。
Ou Lingling was held in his hand, her eyes moved on Song Zhiyi's mask, and she asked curiously in a low voice: "Brother Awen, is she the person you are talking about?" Such a young woman?
"I'm sorry, Miss Zhi, Lingling is just curious and has no intention of offending you." Qiao Nianwen secretly held Ou Lingling's hand and exerted force, signaling her not to ask more questions.
Song Zhiyi shook her head, and her pair of blue eyes (with cosmetic contact lenses) looked at him with interest, motioning him to continue.
She now understood that the powerful person that Qiao Nianwen wanted to find was herself. Also, the Qiao family's financing was still in her hands. She just asked them to do a paternity test. Qiao Liangze had to agree even if he disagreed. But she was very curious about what Qiao Nianwen wanted to use to impress him.
The air was briefly quiet, and Qiao Nianwen's voice, with frustration and reluctance, rang out again:
"Miss Zhi, I have a favor to ask of you. If you agree, I can agree to marry you."
"ha?"
No, is this person sick?