NOVPUBChapter 374: 360, The so-called offset each other (3) _1
Chapter 374: 360, The so-called offset each other (3) _1
An Zhonghui checked the time and picked up the jacket on the couch, “I have a few meetings to attend today and won’t be back until evening. I hope when I return, the house won’t be in chaos again.”
With that, he left.
Zhou Qi seemed dazed, collapsing onto the couch.
It was all Jian Qing’s fault! Even her husband was no longer on her side.
It was all her fault!
In the empty hallway, footsteps echoed.
Jian Qing kept her head slightly lowered, absorbed in thought.
“Sir!”
Upon seeing the person descending the stairs, Aqiu greeted.
Ripples of emotions flickered in Jian Qing’s eyes, then instantly subsided.
She couldn’t hide her emotional tremors from Quan Jingwu; he tightened his grip on her hand.
Mo Xiao hummed as he looked over Quan Jingwu towards Jian Qing.
Almost simultaneously, Jian Qing looked up and met his gaze, her indifferent eyes were as if she was looking at a stranger.
Mo Xiao felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest, like a fist squeezing his heart. It was uncomfortable.
Behind him, Ning Feng and Xing Sen locked eyes. The same sense of helplessness reflected back from each other’s eyes.
They had anticipated this situation.
Yet, when it actually happened, it was incredibly awkward.
Jian Qing withdrew her gaze and, holding Quan Jingwu’s hand, walked into the study.
Aqiu watched as Jian Qing coldly ignored Mo Xiao throughout this exchange and couldn’t help sighing.
“Sir, let’s go in,” he suggested.
Mo Xiao’s eyelids lowered, casting a shadow over his handsome face. With a stride, he moved towards the study; Ning Feng followed him in.
Their master is always silent. As their subordinates, they need to defend him and create a good impression of him in Jian Qing’s mind.
Their master has been so lonely these past years, they can’t bear to see it continue.
Upon entering the study, they found that An Chong was also present.
Seeing Jian Qing come in, the old man’s face lit up.
“Qing girl!”
Jian Qing’s words still carried a touch of cold indifference, barely managing a curt greeting.
“Old Mr. An!”
Old Mr. An gave a bitter smile.
This girl continues to be stubborn, it seems she’s even angered with him this time.
He sighed, then said, “Please, have a seat.”
Quan Jingwu chose a single seat sofa and guided Jian Qing to sit down.
He crossed his legs, his iron arm looped around her waist. His movements were smooth and domineering, as if he were the master of this place.
“Qing girl, him being here…”
Old Mr. An’s gaze weighed heavily on Quan Jingwu, displeased. They were discussing the affairs of the An Family. What was this young lad doing here butting in?
Seeming to know what he was about to say, Jian Qing interrupted, “Whatever concerns me, Jingwu can know.”
Her cool voice resolutely asserted, every word and phrase full of dependence and trust in Quan Jingwu.
Mo Xiao had just sat down when he heard her words and suddenly felt a pang of jealousy towards Quan Jingwu.
Upon hearing these words, the old Master An, refrained from any further comments.
Uncle Aqiu closed the door after him, then walked over and stood by Master An’s side.
Master An glanced at Mo Xiao, then his gaze finally landed on Jian Qing.
“Miss Qing, I know what happened yesterday must have seemed shocking to you. I didn’t mean to hide it from you, at first, I didn’t even know that you were Azhe’s children.”
Jian Qing didn’t say anything, she just listened silently.
He went on, “In the past, the incident between Yun Xi and Achong was known throughout Beijing. At that time, your mother gave birth prematurely, Zhou Qi and the others had been to the hospital and got a paternity report that proved you weren’t Achong’s children, but what they didn’t expect was I had privately ordered Aqiu to do a paternity test as well. That report showed that there was a familial connection between you and Achong, and what shocked me even more was that your blood type was exactly like Azhe’s. I was completely dumbfounded at the time and decided to go straight to your mother to find out the truth.”
Back then, two completely different paternity reports were in front of him, the only thing it proved was that the paternity report Zhou Qi received had been tampered with.
As to who tampered with it, he had Aqiu look it up for a long time, but no clue was found.
Upon hearing this, An Chong’s face darkened slightly, only he knew clearly, even without that paternity test report, he would never believe that the child Yun Xi was carrying was his.
Simply because he had never even touched her, how could they possibly have a child.
Master An glanced at Jian Qing and noticed that she still had no reaction. He continued saying, “After that, I went to the hospital to find your mother. When she saw the paternity report I handed over, she finally told me the truth. She told me that she had been set up by Zhou Qi, she knew that the person she had a relationship with was Azhe. She didn’t choose to take revenge on Zhou Qi because Achong had saved her life, so it all canceled each other out. She said she didn’t owe Achong anything.”
When the words fell, Jian Qing’s eyes were filled with complex emotions, she suddenly felt that her mother had been too kindly to An Man.
If they had had their way back then, wouldn’t her mother have been violated by the man they found, and be subject to unbearable rumors.
Shock flashed across Mo Xiao’s face, he hadn’t expected that woman to recognise him, as the room was empty when he woke up that morning.
If it weren’t for the smear of blood on the bed, he would have thought that night had been a dream.
Lowering his head, An Chong’s fists clenched and unclenched. At that time, when Yun Xi said that she didn’t owe him anything, he didn’t really know what she meant. So, this was what it really meant by canceling each other out.
“At that time, I asked your mother what she planned to do next, she said she planned to leave Beijing and find a place where no one knew her to bring you and Jian Luo up, but when I saw you and Jian Luo who were still babies, I especially liked you both, maybe because of fate. I told your mother that you had just been born and weren’t suitable for long journeys. I persuaded her to stay with you in a property of mine in the suburbs, until you grew up a little before leaving. Your mother was initially reluctant, but I promised not to let anyone find you guys and since she was in poor health due to the premature birth, she was not in a position to take care of both of you on her own. Taking this into consideration, she agreed to my suggestion and stayed for the time being.”
After Yun Xi’s accident, he had thought in the quiet of the night, if he hadn’t made her stay in Beijing at that time, maybe she wouldn’t have met with disaster.
But, it was too late for any remorse. Time can’t be turned back.
“And then what happened?” Jian Qing looked up at Master An, asking in a hoarse voice.
“Although your mother agreed to stay in Beijing temporarily, she gave me a condition – she didn’t want me to tell anyone that you were Azhe’s children, not even Azhe himself. She said she didn’t want anyone to disturb her and your lives.” Master An continued, “I promised to keep her secret and didn’t tell anyone in our family about this.”
With his words, the study room became quiet.
Jian Qing lowered her eyes, and a pang of heartache for her own mother surged in her heart.
Her mother was the jewel in the palm of her grandparents’ hands, she had never suffered any grievance growing up. What on earth had happened to her mother back then, and why she didn’t go back to the Jian Family?
Thinking about this, she looked up at An Chong, who was sitting across from her, and asked coldly, “How did you meet my mother back then, and what exactly was this life-saving grace you spoke of?”
At this point, An Chong didn’t have much to hide anymore.
“In the past, I went to J City on a business trip. One night, I attended a banquet on a cruise ship. I was planning to leave after the banquet but saw a person drifting in the sea. That person was your mother. I ordered my men to rescue her. The moment I saw her, I was moved. I took her to my place. Doctors came and treated her. She was unconscious for several days before she finally woke up, but she had lost her memory.”
As he spoke slowly, the image of that night, when he first saw her, flashed through his mind.
Despite her injuries, and her tragic state, they could not conceal her stunning beauty.
At that moment, for the first time, he felt his heart being moved.
Although he had already married Zhao Xuan at the time, their marriage was simply an alliance between aristocratic families, with mutual respect. However, his feelings towards Yun Xi were love. It was clear to him at that moment that he needed to win her over.
Jian Qing’s eyes flashed a chilling light, “What did you say? My mother lost her memory?”
Now it all made sense. No wonder her mother didn’t return to the Jian family. She didn’t remember anything.
She remembered her grandfather saying that at the time, her mother had wiped out a rival organization that had always provoked the Jian family, but a few slipped through the net. Her mother did not return to the family for a while in order to capture the leader of that organization.
At that time, her grandparents had no idea that her mother was in trouble until they realized that something was wrong, by then it was already too late to find her.
