Seeing that it was Zong Jinghao, Lin Xichen began to panic, wondering if he had done something wrong.
“Why are you here?”
Zong Jinghao walked over and sat down at the side of his bed, ignoring his question completely. Before Lin Xichen could move away, Zong Jinghao grabbed his shoulders and asked, “Do you hate me so much?”
“That’s not true,” Lin Xichen denied.
“I knew exactly what you have done…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Lin Xichen shouted before Zong Jinghao could finish his sentence.
His little hands grasped the clean white sheets tightly, turning them into a crumpled mess.
How did Zong Jinghao even find out?
Zong Jinghao stroked his head. “You’re using Bai Yinning to compete with me for your mom’s attention, am I right?”
Lin Xichen’s eyes widened, and his face scrunched together comically. How did he know that?
“You’re my son,” Zong Jinghao said as he sighed.
When he heard from Bai Yinning that Lin Xinyan gave birth to the two kids after she divorced Zong Jinghao, he knew that it must have been Lin Xichen who told him about it.
That was something Lin Xinyan would never talk about, and not many people knew about it. Even Shen Peichuan and Su Zhan wouldn’t have known the full story.
Lin Xichen pursed his lips together to affirm Zong Jinghao’s suspicion.
He could bluff anyone, but never Zong Jinghao.
After all, he was his flesh and blood.
“Are you angry?” Lin Xichen asked, lowering his head and picking his fingers.
Zong Jinghao looked at him lovingly, a small smile formed on his lips. “I’m not mad. I’m just glad that you know how to take advantage of others.”
Lin Xichen got a huge shock. What was that?
He stared at his father with a bewildered look on his face.
“The highest level you could attain would be to accomplish your own goals through the hands of others. You didn’t do it properly, since I managed to see through it, but you’re not that dumb.”
When Zong Jinghao spoke, his tone was serious, yet there were hints of love lingering around his eyes.
Lin Xichen was only five, yet he could come up with such a complex scheme. That was impressing enough on its own.
Zong Jinghao held back from praising him outright since he needed to make it clear that it wasn’t enough.
If he complimented him, it would only make him complacent.
Lin Xichen huffed, not impressed with Zong Jinghao’s comment. Everyone else showered him with praises, and all he gets from his own father was not that dumb?
So he was essentially the smartest idiot?
He refused to listen to Zong Jinghao. “Of course I’m not dumb! Why don’t we have a bet?”
Zong Jinghao nodded, very much interested in his suggestion. “What do you want to bet on?”
“I wanna bet that you’ll never win Mommy’s heart back!” Lin Xichen said, raising his chin. The words you’re not that dumb had angered him completely.
He would make sure that Zong Jinghao failed!
He was such an arrogant man!
Zong Jinghao pursed his lips together and went silent. After a while, he spoke again, “Are you sure you want your mommy to be with that handicapped guy?”
“At least he’s only crippled physically, not emotionally,” Lin Xichen argued.
Zong Jinghao didn’t know how to respond to that.
Was Lin Xichen implying that he was crippled emotionally?
“Son…”
“I’m tired,” Lin Xichen said, clearly unwilling to listen to him any further.
In order to prevent Zong Jinghao from saying anything else, Lin Xichen burrowed into his blankets and closed his eyes, pretending to fall asleep.
The only two people that had ever made him feel helpless were Lin Xinyan and Lin Xichen.
“I know you’re not asleep yet. Besides, believe it or not, when I got divorce from your mom, I didn’t know she was pregnant.”
That was not the whole truth – he just didn’t know that she was pregnant with his child.
But he couldn’t tell him.
Letting everyone know that they had a child out of wedlock would ruin Lin Xinyan and the child’s reputation forever.
“You’re just giving me excuses! If you’re going to marry her, then take responsibility for her! Why did you marry her in the first place if you don’t even like her then you abandon her later?” Lin Xichen yelled, confessing all his thoughts. “I hate it when you do that. Mommy always told me to be a responsible man who never lies or hurts others. What about your actions?”
Zong Jinghao didn’t know how to answer at all.
Could he tell him that he married Lin Xinyan in exchange for some things?
Could he even tell his son that he and his sister were born before his parents were got married?
Wouldn’t that become a huge blow to the little boy?
Zong Jinghao pulled Lin Xichen’s blanket up further. “It’s cold outside. Remember to stay warm.
Lin Xichen flipped to the other side in a fit of anger, refusing to meet his eyes.
Zong Jinghao sighed and pulled his blanket to cover his exposed back. “If you don’t want to fall sick before your mommy comes back, then cover yourself properly.”
Lin Xichen was reluctant to, yet he didn’t resist any further.
Zong Jinghao managed to hit his weak spot.
He didn’t want his mommy to worry about him so he stayed put under his blanket.
Three days passed.
Lin Xinyan was in the middle of practicing her weaving skills when the old man suddenly called out to her. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” Lin Xinyan asked, still absorbed in her work. She was starting to get the hang of tea silk weaving, so she didn’t want to leave just yet.
“Just come with me,” the old man said refusing to explain further. He stepped out of the house after that.
Lin Xinyan suddenly remembered that his sister was going to come, and she immediately threw everything down and jumped out of her seat to follow the old man.
There was a door in the back yard leading to the outside world, and it opened to reveal a meandering and uneven road. Vines that lined the path threatened to trip them at every step, but they soon arrived at the main road without much trouble. The main road, however, was just a concrete road that was nowhere as wide as the tarmac road in the city.
Lin Xinyan was most shocked to see a shiny black Rolls-Royce Phantom parked at the back of the humble wooden house, something which she had not seen since she came here.
She looked over in the old man’s direction. “Is this yours?”
The old man shook his head. “No, it belongs to my sister. Let’s get on.”
Lin Xinyan felt apprehensive, but she had decided to follow him anyway.
The car began to move the moment they got on, passing through the narrow concrete path that went deeper and deeper into the mountains. Although winter was coming, there were plenty of evergreens in the forest that blocked out the sunlight. The further they went, the cooler it got.
Their journey lasted for half an hour before they finally pulled over at their destination.
There was a huge, unique and grand courtyard residence before them.
It was a completely different sight from the tiny wooden house they were in just half an hour ago.
Lin Xinyan alighted from the car and looked up at the residence. “Where is this place?”
The old man stood behind her with his hands behind his back as he gazed at the residence as well. “The Cheng family house.”
“Cheng?” Lin Xinyan said. She had been calling him “Master” the whole time, and she didn’t even know what his surname was.
“That’s right. My name is Cheng Yuwen, and my sister is Cheng Yuxiu.”
Boom!
Lin Xinyan could swear that her head exploded at that moment.
Although she had her suspicions, she still couldn’t help but feel shocked by this news.
Yuxiu? Cheng Yuxiu?
Were they the same person?
If they were, then what other secrets could she be hiding?
“Follow me. Let’s not keep her waiting.”
Cheng Yuwen stepped into the house, and Lin Xinyan followed suit after she recovered from her shock.
