After talking with the aged patriarch of the Ye, they headed to the parking lot since there was a place Jiang Li wanted to visit. Ye Xinya followed him and got into his pa.s.senger seat.

While putting on her seatbelt, she said in a soft voice hiding a hint of worry in it, "I saw the files in your office before we took our flight back yesterday. You"re the one who gave me access to your stuff there since years ago so I don"t know if you purposely left it there just so I can read them. But are you finally planning to meet him now?"

Jiang Li indifferently nodded. "He wants to see me. So why not?"

"He only wants to see you because you"ve become very prominent lately."

Her meaning couldn"t be any more obvious. The person they were about to meet up was somebody related to Jiang Li, no, Jing Mo. Yet she already disliked this person despite never having seen him yet. User, and opportunist. Whoever the other party was, it was already set in stone that she would never have a good opinion of him.

To be honest, she preferred for Jiang Li not to ever meet this person. But since she couldn"t stop Jiang Li, her thoughts went to planning how she would deal with that man if ever he did anything excessive or inappropriate to her fiance.

Shrugging his shoulders and placing his right hand on the steering wheel while the other pulled the car door closed, the man responded. "Well. It"s obvious? But hey, I have a very big heart. Maybe if he has a reason for not meeting or stealing me from the Jings before we went abroad, I can forgive him and then have a fresh start with him as his son."

"Lying again." In a scolding tone, she replied. But in her heart she was relieved.

She had been with Jiang Li for five years, a span of time that was already long for an engaged couple. What quirk and expression of his had yet to be imprinted in her photographic memory? 

She knew that if he was being this nonchalant, it meant he didn"t place much importance on his biological father.

His light and joking tone signaled that he was not feeling unusual, emotional or something, upon the thought that finally after five years since discovering his real ident.i.ty, he would be meeting one of his real parents. 

"If you only know. I"m tasked to be honest. Yet honesty to the real Jing Mo means being true to one"s desire. Lols. right now, the Original"s remnant desired to meet that dude. So troublesome."

"What do you think I should do once I see that Long Cheng guy?"

"If I were you, I"d kick him in the b.a.l.l.s!" Paws bared like a tigress", she hissed with a fierce look on. That stayed on her face for three seconds before s.h.i.+fting into a laughing expression.

"I can"t do that, girl." He joined her in laughing. "That"s very lenient." He nearly voiced out.

They stopped talking about it after. She began chatting about the recent events in the country.

From time to time, she would point outside, describing to him the changes she noticed. For example, the convenience store a hundred meters away from the mansion had turned into a clinic. A flyover was constructed on the turn leading to the airport. Two malls belonging to enemy corporations were built on the opposite sides of the huge private school Ye Xinya and Jiang Li attended before they went out of the country.


Night had fallen when they reached their destination, a res...o...b..r at the central district of Ruby City. Ye Xinya became puzzled because instead of going inside immediately, Jiang Li had her stay inside the car while he walked out and looked around for who knows what.

A couple of moments later, she saw him heading towards a group of men in the darker part of the parking lot.

She winced at the next sight, her fiance beating up everyone there except for the youngest-looking man. She didn"t know what they talked about, but when Jiang Li walked back to her, the man who was initially cowering in fear, prostrating in the ground, suddenly stood up and fixed his hair and attire, looking as if he hit the jackpot.

"Weirdo," she commented on the person happily yet meekly following after them.

Jiang Li led the two of them into the res...o...b..r. But while he and Ye Xinya went to the second floor, and only got themselves a drink each before standing near the stairs, the young man went by himself to a table on the first floor near the center.

The two above were leaning on the chest-high bal.u.s.trade, staring at the sight from above.

"I supposed that middle-aged man is Mr. Long." A few minutes later, she asked flatly with her eyes still on the rogue-like man talking to a widely grinning waiter.

"I can guess that you commissioned that guy to do something for you. But what did you ask him to do?"

With a grin, Jiang Li replied, "If you can"t guess-"

"Please don"t tell me to watch and listen to the show because I can"t hear a thing from our location. We"re too far away from there. And the music is too loud." Even though the words were a bit p.r.i.c.kly, she was actually wearing a gorgeous smile on her face.

He coughed then laughed, "Well, I just asked that guy to order three sets of all the dishes on the menu, plus the three most expensive ones."

"Hmm. He didn"t mention it, but that man must have been ordered to pretend to be Jing Mo."

Ye Xinya took a good look at the older guy at that table in the center. The person who did resemble Jiang Li by seventy percent was wearing a tuxedo and a navy blue tie. However, it could be seen from his subtle movements and way of looking around too much that he was not usually at a place like this.

She tilted her head upward a bit to the left, eyes still pinned at Jiang Li"s father. "He must be a normal salaryman, a manager or director level in a company at best. So indeed, he would probably burn a hole through his wallet if he was to shoulder the bill alone. And even if he tries to make his "son" shoulder the bill, he will not get anything because this "son" is not the real one."

For a moment, she thought, she really did well upon advising Jiang Li long ago not to reveal his true face to the media. Now she was glad that it helped him in today"s ordeal, though her original reason for telling him to always wear masks or have somebody act as his proxy in public gatherings was jealousy and insecurity.

All of a sudden, Jiang Li began to explain, "Did you know? Long Cheng is quite the accomplished guy, at least for somebody from a village. He is already a senior department head of a fairly big hardware company at the age of thirty. For that woman who is involved in that kind of business, he is already a very big fish. Yet at that time, this guy was already married to his company"s CEO"s daughter."

The girl nodded, taking small sips of her c.o.c.ktail drink as she listened to his narrative with interest.

Jiang Li gulped down a mouthful of his own liquor before continuing, "The woman fell pregnant and then gave birth to Long Cheng"s son. But since there was no way he would accept him, she chose to fake doc.u.ments to make it appear like the baby was her son born to another lover of hers. It happened to be the father I"d known in the first sixteen years of my life."

She sighed and gingerly replied. "I see. But then it makes sense why he didn"t attempt to get you from the Jings. He is already married. Plus, the house he married into has some sway with the common people and a similar level of industrial power, but not that powerful to go against the city mayor"s family."

"If he appeared before the young Jing Mo and introduced himself as his real father, he wouldn"t have to take his son away. He would be the one to figure out something to escape. Sadly now, Jing Mo is no more."

He saw the slight confusion in the villainess" eyes so he added with a slight smile. "Only Jiang Li remained. And he is the adopted son of James Zuckerberg, a man he had even blackmailed, convinced, to create a Huaxia name for himself."

This was the first time this information made its way into her hears. Ye Xingya was surprised, and then amused.

At that time he was only sixteen. Where the heck did he get the guts to coerce the tenth richest man in the world into doing something like that?

"Hmm. It seems the drama has started when we were not paying attention."

"Whoa! My mistake earlier!" She exclaimed not long after when her eyes wandered around and found that there were many suspicious people on the first and second floors of the building flas.h.i.+ng their cameras from covert corners.

"Long Cheng is actually not really feeling uncomfortable about the place but checking out where the paparazzi are. I think he is the one who arranged for those people tonight."

The person by her side shrugged. "Yeah. And now that the person he thinks is me is making scenes and badmouthing him, his plans are backfiring. For trying to con me, well, this is already a lenient punishment."

While swiveling around the liquid in her wine gla.s.s, Ye Xinya was feeling heavy in her heart, wondering how he felt about the matter.

One time too, he wondered what he would do if the one who tried to do the same was his biological mother instead.

Her gallbladder knocked her out of her dazed state. She smiled wryly, "Excuse me. I have to go to the restroom."

He nodded, sending her off with his eyes and watching her walk towards the hallway to the right side of the counter. But she first left the champagne flute to the waiter she ran into.

Jiang Li returned his attention to the scenario below. However, after some time, he also decided to leave to find a table for them.

The ticking of the wall clock was not very audible since there was loud soulful music coming from the piano performance in front. But not that the sound matters since a single glance at it was enough to know the amount of time that pa.s.sed.

Less than a minute.

In his estimate, the girl would take not less than ten minutes there. An annoying waiter pa.s.sed by carrying a tray full of fragrant dishes. So should he order their dinner, now?

He didn"t have to think for even a second to know the answer. "Pa.s.s. She"ll scold me for being inconsiderate if I order without asking her opinions or waiting for the food together with her."

At the thought of becoming bored from waiting, he crossed his arms above his chest. It was in the second-minute mark of his waiting and fiddling with his phone that somebody with a familiar face pa.s.sed by his table and stopped by upon recognizing him.

"Jing Mo?"                        

When he raised his head and scanned the shocked person on his right side, he also raised a brow at him.

Even if he didn"t have the villainess" superb memory, the face in front was quite memorable due to being the only normal-looking dude at the time the leads barged into the Ye mansion to find him.

"What"s a guy who should be a.s.sisting the male lead in his business empire doing at a faraway city like this? An errand? Or corporate meeting?"

Jiang Li had no idea Han Su had lost contact with this man since five years ago.

"Ooops, apologies. I seemed to have addressed you incorrectly, Mr. Jiang. Do you still remember me? I"m Dong Lan. Your senior from that school."

Jiang Li only nodded, displaying no intention whatsoever to get acquainted with somebody from the male lead"s faction. He even glanced away. But the man with a goofy grin on his face flas.h.i.+ng his white set of teeth did not seem offended.

"I won"t take much of your time. I would just like to apologize for whatever happened five years ago."

"I don"t talk. I"m a mute, go away." That was how Dong Lan interpreted the extremely rich second generation"s silence.

Seeing that, he shrugged his shoulders and understandingly said, "Well, it"s natural that you"d pretend to not know me. After all, I"ve been with those idiot people when you first see me. Just know my apology is sincere. I"ll be going now."

"... Did somebody under the influence of the plot just dare say the darlings of heaven or fate are idiots? Hmm."

"Interesting." That was what Jiang Li thought when the tall but average-looking guy walked away while laughing and entertaining the guests or colleagues accompanying him.

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