Although Aunt Yu was never married herself, she knew about love marks on the bodies of a loving couple. The only thing that she wasn’t aware of, was that some love-making sessions could be aggressive enough to leave bruises on the body.
Everyone shifted their gazes to Lin Xinyan, including Zong Jinghao. “You’re injured? Where did you injure yourself?”
Before Lin Xinyan could speak, Aunt Yu replied on her behalf, “She had slipped in the shower, and there’s a huge bruise on her waist. I saw it when her sweater rolled up during lunchtime. If I didn’t notice that, I’m sure that she wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Should we send you to the hospital then?” Cheng Yuxiu asked in concern.
“No, There’s no need for that. I’m fine.” Lin Xinyan struggled to maintain a casual tone as she spoke.
She was so embarrassed now that she had just wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.
On the other hand, Zong Jinghao sank in deep thought. She had slipped last night?
Why didn’t I notice that?
“Let’s go! We’re going to be late!” Lin Xinyan tried to divert their attention as she helped Lin Xichen into his coat.
Zong Jinghao landed his gaze on her waist and his lashes flickered in understanding.
Cheng Yuxiu was still worried as she whispered beside Lin Xinyan. “Are you sure that you’re alright?’
“Yes, I’m really fine,” Lin Xinyan answered, without lifting her head while tying her son’s shoelace.
Cheng Yuxiu could see that Lin Xinyan did not want to continue the topic.
However, Aunt Yu didn’t catch Lin Xinyan’s obvious avoidance and asked once again, “There are no anti-slip mats for the bathroom upstairs, right? If we don’t install them, it’s easy to slip and fall.”
“We did, actually,” Cheng Yuxiu replied. In fact, they had not only had anti-slip mats. The tiles in the bathroom floor were also made of anti-slip materials of high quality, so it shouldn’t have been possible to slip in the first place. Lin Xinyan’s fall might have merely been an accident.
Cheng Yuxiu did not think of other possibilities when she responded as such.
Currently, Aunt Yu was confused. Hmm? If there are anti-slip mats, then how did our young mistress slip in the bathroom?
“Alright, let’s go,” Zong Qifeng called out.
Everyone put on their coats and headed out of the house. The wind was blowing strongly, as sounds of their crunchy footsteps in the snow joined in, with the whooshing sounds of the wind.
Lin Ruixi finally did not insist on making Lin Xinyan carry her and stayed obediently in Zong Jinghao’s arms.
Perhaps it was due to the reflection of the pristine white snow, their surroundings still appeared pretty bright, despite the night’s darkness.
The cars left the villa one by one.
The snow-covered road was now printed with crisscrossing tire tracks.
The restaurant they were heading to was booked by Zong Qifeng, as it had a private room that could host twenty people. Back to the times when Zong Jinghao did not return to celebrate the New Year, all the maids and drivers would often join the Zong family household for the reunion dinner, as though they were from the same family.
That would make the dinner more cheerful, with so many people to celebrate together.
Compared to the past few years, Zong Qifeng was the happiest that he had ever been this year. He could hardly remember how long had it been since he had last spent the New Year’s Eve with Zong Jinghao.
When everyone took their seats, the waiter came over and asked to serve the dishes.
Before Zong Qifeng could answer him, Lin Ruixi replied impatiently, “Please serve the dishes. I’m hungry!”
The waiter smiled but still turned to Zong Qifeng for confirmation.
“Listen to my granddaughter then,” Zong Qifeng confirmed with a wave of his hand.
“Alright,” the waiter answered and retreated from the room. A while later, a row of waiters started to serve the delicious dishes.
Lin Ruixi salivated at the delicious food before her. “Wow! It smells so good! I want to eat it now!”
She couldn’t wait to taste the food now.
“Before we start eating, I have a few words to say,” Zong Qifeng suddenly spoke and gestured for Cheng Yuxiu to take something out, that he had prepared beforehand.
“For the past six years, I didn’t know that I was already blessed with a pair of grandchildren, and I feel extremely guilty for not giving them the greatest care that they had deserved. I would like to express my gratitude to Lin Xinyan, who has given birth to them and has raised them well for the past few years.”
Zong Qifeng gestured for the waiter to fill their glasses. The waiter immediately caught his meaning and filled Lin Xinyan’s glass with wine.
“For the first toast, I would like to direct it to Xinyan.” Zong Qifeng raised his glass.
Surprised by the gesture, Lin Xinyan immediately stood up with both hands on her glass. “Oh, please don’t say such things. I’m the one who has willingly given birth to my children, raising them myself, and I’m not complaining about that. I’m the junior here; it is only polite for me to toast you and not the other way round.”
Lin Xinyan toasted him and downed her champagne in one go, which burnt her throat as the hard liquor went down her esophagus.
“I’m not good at drinking,” Lin Xinyan uttered while covering her mouth.
“Eat something to clear off the burn.” Zong Jinghao filled her bowl with food.
Zong Qifeng gestured for her to sit down to which Lin Xinyan complied.
She then popped the food that Zong Jinghao had given her into her mouth and munched on it silently.
Zong Qifeng’s mood lifted significantly at the sight. He was very happy with this daughter-in-law of his, as she was the one who had brought Zong Jinghao home and had given birth to his adorable grandchildren.
He then took the two folders that his wife had taken out for him. “These two folders contain my shares in my company. I’ve divided them into half; one is for Xichen, and the other half is for Ruixi.”
Although he had retired and Zong Jinghao was now the one in charge of his company, Zong Qifeng still held a significant amount of shares, which he had now intended to pass on to the twins.
Lin Xinyan stood up once again. “They are still so young! They can’t accept such a grand gift from you.”
Nevertheless, Zong Qifeng was firm in his decision. “I’ve signed the documents already. I know that they are still too young to manage it, so I’m entrusting you to manage it for them.”
Zong Qifeng handed the folders to Lin Xinyan, but she dared not take them from him. “This…”
“Why? Is this too little?” Zong Qifeng pretended to be upset. This was half of Wanyue’s shares, and yet, she was not in the least bit moved by it.
Zong Qifeng nodded internally. He knew that Zong Jinghao’s wife had to be a trustworthy woman who could withstand all sorts of temptations for him to not worry about his son.
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean, the kids are still young and they don’t need any of this. I understand your intention and love behind this gift, but this is too important a gift for me to accept on their behalf.” Lin Xinyan still dared not accept the folders. That was half of Wanyue in it!
If she accepted on the twin’s behalf, then half of Wanyue would be theirs now. Although the shares were under their name, the twins probably had no idea what it had actually meant to them, as they were only six. As their parent and guardian, Lin Xinyan had the duty of managing the shares for them. That meant that she would be indirectly holding half of Wanyue’s shares in her hands.
That was precisely the reason why she couldn’t accept the shares.
However, if the shares were given to the twins when they were adults, of course, she would not stop them. After all, they were descendants of the Zong family.
Seeing how she dared not accept the shares, Zong Jinghao took the folders on her behalf instead. He knew very well that there were not many lines of descendants in the family. For Zong Qifeng’s generation, he only had an older brother who had died in his teenage years. Zong Qifeng’s father also only had a younger brother, namely Zong Qifeng’s uncle. He did badly in the business realm, as two of the company’s branches had gone bankrupt in his hands.
Knowing that he was not a business person, Zong Qifeng’s uncle had since then decided to stop his business endeavors as he resorted to becoming a mere shareholder of Wanyue, with no administrative power.
Later on, he had a son, which was Zong Qifeng’s cousin. By right, he was entitled to half of Wanyue’s shares as well, but he had happened to be sterile. He was born with necrospermia, a condition in which he had a low percentage of living sperms and a high percentage of immotile dead sperms.
The aforementioned cousin had spent a lot of money to treat his illness but it was to no avail. He was still alive; only a few years younger than Zong Qifeng, yet he was a withdrawn man who didn’t like to socialize because of his sterility and he was never in contact with Zong Qifeng at all.
This cousin of Zong Qifeng’s still held twenty percent of the shares, while Zong Qifeng himself held fifty.
As the only male descendant of the family, Zong Jinghao himself held the remaining thirty percent of the shares.
The twenty percent with Zong Qifeng’s cousin was insignificant to the family. It only served to provide his cousin the yearly earnings of the company, in which twenty percent of the earnings would be banked into his account.
Although he had no children of his own, he was still lucky enough to live a rich and luxurious life, especially during his young days. He might not be young anymore, but he still could afford to enjoy the fun that this world had to offer, as he was never short of money for that.
Zong Jinghao filled Lin Xinyan’s plate with food again. “Just take it.”
“Aren’t you scared that I will kick you away from your position?” Lin Xinyan muttered.
Her voice was soft, but Zong Jinghao had heard it, anyway. He leaned in, closer to her and whispered in her ears, “I don’t mind that. I can give it to you if you’d like.”
