She struggled to calm her mind, but it was all in vain. She couldn’t think straight as a storm was forming rapidly in her heart.
Recalling Zhuang Zijin’s words, Lin Xinyan touched the necklace she had worn after all this time, gently rubbing the metal.
After a while, she gave in to her curiosity. She sat up, placing the wet face cloth onto the table. Then, she took off the necklace.
The design of the necklace was simple and without a pendant. She placed it against the light, but she couldn’t see anything special about it.
The only thing she could see was that the necklace was made of platinum with high purity. It glistened against the light brightly, and it didn’t look very old.
When she wanted to put the necklace back on, she noticed small letters on the clasp. However, they were too small to be visible, so she walked over to the window. With the light’s aid, she could finally see the carving clearly. It was ‘hx.08.ZA0102’.
She frowned. What is this? I’ve never seen jewelry of this brand.
What do these letters and numbers mean?
She looked closely at the necklace over and over again. There weren’t any other messages except the one on the clasp. Sighing, she leaned back on the sofa. If Zhuang Zijin was telling the truth, and this necklace really was from my mother, then there should be something meaningful.
After all, she must have something to tell me, right?
Lin Xinyan didn’t feel any tinge of sadness as she had never met her mother. This whole “real parents” affair just seemed absurd to her.
She couldn’t wrap her head around it, so she refused to muddle herself any longer. Walking over to her bed, she searched for a box to keep the necklace. As she opened the drawer on the head of the bed, she saw a contract from Hua Xia Bank. Back then, Zong Qifeng had given her kids some Wanyue shares and a pink diamond her daughter liked. She didn’t have a place to keep them, so she stored them in a safe deposit box in Hua Xia Bank. When the kids had grown up, she would hand over those valuables to them.
The first two acronyms of Hua Xia Bank were “HX.” Is this just a coincidence?
She took out her phone and dialed the service number of Hua Xia Bank.
The call connected instantly. “Hello, this is Hua Xia Bank. How may I help you?” A gentle female voice could be heard coming from the phone.
Lin Xinyan looked at the letters on the necklace and asked, “May I know if there’s a safe deposit box with the code ZA0102?”
“Sorry, but no,” the bank assistant replied.
Lin Xinyan furrowed her brows. Did I guess it wrongly?
“Our safe deposit box all have double digits. There’s none with those digits.”
Double digits.
Lin Xinyan lowered her head to analyze the letters. In the end, she focused on the two digits between the letters. “How about zero-eight?”
“I’ll check.” Shortly after, the bank assistant said, “Yes. There is.”
Lin Xinyan roughly understood the digits on the necklace. It was the eighth safe deposit box of Hua Xia Bank. The last digits must be the password.
“Is there anything else I can be of service?” asked the bank assistant politely.
Lin Xinyan snapped out of her thoughts and pondered. She asked, “Can you help me find out who’s the one that had hired this safe?”
“Sorry, but we can’t. This is the privacy of our customers. It is our policy to keep our customers’ personal information private. I suggest you come here personally for further issues.”
“I understand, thank you.” Sitting on the bed, Lin Xinyan hung up and stared at the necklace.
She was in a daze until Aunt Yu went to her room and called her for lunch.
After recollecting her emotions, she went downstairs. Silence enveloped the huge mansion, making it seem rather empty. Lin Xichen and Lin Ruixi were sitting on the carpet with their legs crossed while stacking toy blocks. The boy was slightly annoyed and it appeared that he was forced to play with his sister.
After all, Lin Ruixi was the only one smiling.
She walked down the stairs and gazed at the children. “Go wash your hands. It’s time to eat.”
As if he had gotten a pardon from a death sentence, Lin Xichen quickly got up and ran all the way toward Lin Xinyan. “Finally. Lunchtime!”
Lin Xinyan pinched his cheeks and said,” You’re her brother. Is accompanying your little sister unfair to you?”
Lin Xichen shook his head and replied, “I’m willing to play with her if it’s something fun. Stacking toy blocks is such an immature game. It’s too boring.”
Lin Ruixi walked toward them slowly. She took a glance at her brother and said, “You can just tell me that you don’t like it. I didn’t force you to play with me. What’s so unfair about it?”
Lin Xichen gazed at his little sister in surprise. When did she learn to speak like this?
“Okay, okay. Go wash your hands and eat your lunch.” Lin Xinyan held their hands as she led them to the sink. Lin Ruixi twisted the water tap and washed her hands herself, without the help of Lin Xinyan. “Mommy, I will take care of myself from now on. You should focus on taking care of the baby.”
Lin Xinyan was stunned for a moment, then she laughed. Look at her. She’s like a different person. I guess she really has grown up.
She leaned against the door, looking at her daughter washing and drying her hands.
During their meal, Aunt Yu asked, “Should we find them a home tutor?”
Back then, Cheng Yuxiu was the one teaching them, so they didn’t need home tutoring. However, now…
Lin Xinyan looked at her kids and asked, “Do you guys want a home tutor?” She chose to respect their opinion.
Both children shook their heads at the same time. “We don’t.”
As if we would like a stranger to look over us when we read or write. To add to it, we aren’t dumb, and we haven’t even enrolled in elementary school yet. Why would we need a home tutor?
Aunt Yu smiled and said, “I don’t have much knowledge, so I’m not sure what to teach them. Mrs. Zong, you’re pregnant, so…”
“Grandma Yu, you don’t have to worry about our studies. We are not that dumb, and we haven’t enrolled in primary school. It’s so unfair to trap us here.” Lin Xichen rejected Aunt Yu’s idea as he despised home tutors.
Lin Ruixi nodded in agreement.
“Okay.” Lin Xinyan urged both of them to eat their lunch. After they finished their food, they returned to their room. They invested time in their own activities respectively as they had no one to play with.
After lunch, Aunt Yu cleared the dining room.
Lin Xinyan was in a dilemma between going to the bank to find out what was in the safe or not.
She believed that Zhuang Zijin’s words were true as there was a message on the necklace.
Sooner or later, she would have to face it. There was no way for her to avoid this forever.
In the end, she decided to uncover the mystery.
This time, she only brought one bodyguard to avoid unwanted attention.
She had become a VIP when she opened a safe at Hua Xia Bank last time. The manager who served her this time was the same person as the last.
“Are you here for your valuables in the safe?” The manager was dressed in formal attire with his tag pinned on his right chest. He led Lin Xinyan toward the reception hall.
Lin Xinyan nodded.
“Please follow me, yours is safe deposit box 11, so it’s in Area B,” said the manager.
“I’m here for safe 08,” declared Lin Xinyan.
The manager was stunned, but he recovered his senses quickly and asked, “You opened two safes?”
Lim Xinyan hummed in reply.
“Safe 08 is in Area C. Please follow me.”
The manager led her to Area C. He scanned his face with the scanner and unlocked the thick metal door. There weren’t any windows, so the entire room was lit up by glaring lights. The walls looked very sturdy and firm.
“I will stop here. Please go ahead.” The manager stood beside the entrance. There was another door inside the room, and the safe was kept behind it.
“You wait here for me,” Lin Xinyan ordered her bodyguard to stay put.
“Very well,” replied the bodyguard.
Lin Xinyan walked into the room alone and found Safe 08 in the deepest chamber.
Before keying in the password, she took a deep breath.
When the last digit was keyed in, the safe was unlocked as expected. Lin Xinyan grabbed the handle and pulled opened the safe.
