Chapter 1355: I Only Want You (53)
The Chen family waited for An Xiaoning for two minutes.
Upon the sight of her arrival, a man and a woman immediately stood up and greeted, “h.e.l.lo, Your Highness.”
They addressed me using an honorific instead of just calling me ‘Ms. An.’ Are they indirectly trying to say that I’m abusing my authority and status to deal with them?
She waved and said, “Have a seat. Auntie Chen, please serve the tea.”
Auntie Chen immediately instructed the servants to serve the tea.
“You guys are…”
The man said, “I’m Chen Bingqi, the eldest grandson of the Chen family. This is my younger sister, Chen Anxin. We’re Chen Anran’s older siblings.”
An Xiaoning lowered her head and grazed her finger against her fingernails. “Seems like your family still doesn’t know how important this matter is. Otherwise, why would your elders send only the two of you?”
“That’s not the case. My family takes the matter very seriously, especially after receiving that voice recording from you. Grandpa had also sent us here to talk to you about this matter and relay his message.”
An Xiaoning looked up and said, “Tell me what your grandfather thinks about this, then.”
“Grandpa hopes for this case to be resolved and closed peacefully without letting Anran face a sentence. We’ll compensate the victim’s family with a reasonable amount of money. After all, we were furious and incredibly upset about this too. It has greatly tainted our reputation.”
An Xiaoning was well aware of the Chen family’s power and status in the nation, and she also wanted to solve the issue simply and without over-complicating things. Thus, she said, “You can keep your reputation untarnished, but there’s something you must compromise. Chen Anran must face her penalty and be punished by the law. Everyone in your family is a figure of status, and I fully understand why you guys decided to sweep this matter under the carpet back then. I remember that the senior Mr. Chen had stood up for the Tuoba family when there was a rebellion. Hence, I’m going to let your family keep your pride and reputation. However, that’s the bottom line. You guys go back and discuss it with your family before giving me an answer. I’m sure you know that we already have sufficient evidence and that status doesn’t matter. I hope this case will finally be resolved after 14 years. Correction, I won’t let it go unresolved.”
The siblings looked at each other and said, “Well… please excuse us while we give my grandfather a call.”
“Go ahead.”
The pair then stood up and left.
Things were much easier to handle than An Xiaoning had imagined. She initially thought the Chen family would ask for a negotiation and an exchange of terms in order to let the matter slide.
The Chen family has been letting Chen Anran fend for herself abroad for so many years. Does this mean that they’re finally deciding to give her up?
Regardless of what it may be, I shall see what answer they give me. As long as they compromise and let Chen Anran be punished by the law, this case would be resolved and I can also make sure their reputation stays clean.
Seeing that the Chen siblings had been outside for a long while, An Xiaoning reckoned that the senior Mr. Chen must be weighing the pros and cons.
They finally returned almost half an hour later.
“What did he say?”
“Grandpa said that you may punish Anran, but on one condition. Anran’s name has already been stripped off of our family’s household register and, technically speaking, she’s no longer a member of our family. Hence, you mustn’t reveal that Chen Anran is a member of our family and her face must not be captured, even during the court trial. We want her to take on a false name. As long as you agree to that, our grandfather is willing to settle the matter, Your Highness.”
She agreed, “Okay, I’ll fulfill your conditions. Good that your family doesn’t want this case to drag on any further too. It’s better for everyone that way. I’ll let this case pa.s.s as quickly as possible. After all, lots of people have been keeping close tabs on this.”
Chen Bingqi stood up and left with his younger sister after hearing her words.
After they left, An Xiaoning called Pan Zhenghui to inform him about the situation, after which Pan Zhenghui continuously praised her to no end. An Xiaoning could not tolerate how overly excited he was; neither could she stand all that bootlicking of his. She said, “I believe that very soon, the Chen family would definitely send Chen Anran to the police station secretly. You guys just proceed accordingly and adhere to their requests. I won’t be coming to the police station for some time.”
Pan Zhenghui agreed gleefully. He finally realized how important it was to possess authority in this world. An Xiaoning managed to settle the case that had been left unresolved for years simply because of her status. The Chen family decided to conceded and give in because they did not want to offend her.
——
“Daddy, we’re home!” Jin Yiheng exclaimed excitedly, after which he realized that Jin Qingyan did not seem to be in a good mood.
Hence, he grew silent and pulled Jin Rongyan along while walking past the couch slowly. Just as they were about to go upstairs, Jin Qingyan said, “We’re about to have lunch soon. Why are you going upstairs?”
“To… to do some homework. Teacher is going to check it tomorrow.”
“Go ahead, then. Come down to eat once you’re done with your homework.”
Despite feeling confused about why Jin Qingyan was in low spirits, he dared not say anything else and headed upstairs with Jin Rongyan.
I wasn’t planning to do homework anyway. All we do in the boot camp is train and attend lessons. Now that we’re finally getting a break, why would I bother doing homework?
Haha!
Jin Yiheng was filled with excitement at the thought of finally getting to rest and relax. As soon as he returned to his room, he took out his game console and started playing some video games, which he had missed dearly.
After watching Jin Yiheng play for a while, Jin Rongyan sat on the bed and began perusing his medical books. Jin Yiheng continued to have a whale of a time.
To his astonishment, Jin Qingyan barged into his bedroom without warning.
Upon the sight of Jin Yiheng playing some video games, Jin Qingyan questioned sternly, “Are you done with your homework?”
“Um… yes.”
Jin Yiheng thought that Jin Qingyan would not probe any further. To his surprise, Jin Qingyan said, “Bring it here and let me check through it.”
Jin Yiheng was no longer in the mood to play his games. He totally did not expect his father to run a spot check out of the blue. I haven’t done my homework yet, what am I supposed to show him…
Seeing that he was remaining silent, Jin Qingyan immediately understood what was going on. However, he continued, “What are you waiting for? Hurry and bring your homework here.”
Jin Yiheng murmured softly, “Daddy… I… haven’t done it…”
“Why did you lie, then?”
“I…” Jin Yiheng was at a loss for words or an excuse.
Jin Rongyan stood beside him and stared at the sullen expression on Jin Qingyan’s face, feeling extremely fearful. He held onto his book and remained silent.
“You what? Why did you lie to me?”
“…”