Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Wu Yingxun had never been a diligent student, and by thirty, he was still a failure—mooching off his mother’s modest income at home.

That didn’t stop him from landing a beautiful girlfriend. Whenever he took her out, his friends would say he was lucky, giving him plenty of street cred—even though they all whispered behind his back that he’d just gotten lucky. Wu Yingxun didn’t care. They were just jealous.

He’d always believed he was the chosen one. Who knows? Maybe one day he’d have his “Dragon King” moment.

When Du Zhishan came looking for him, Wu Yingxun became even more convinced of it.

After all their sneering, now his chance had come—and those snobs wouldn’t even get scraps of what he was about to receive.

Du Zhishan warned him not to tell anyone.

It was hard to keep quiet, but he knew only by staying silent could he maximize the impact when his true identity finally came out.

Just thinking about it had Wu Yingxun floating on air.

So even Wu Li, his mother, and Rong Anshuang, his girlfriend, were kept in the dark.

He still imagined making a triumphant return, making his ancestors proud.

But now, the reactions around him made that dream feel shaky.

What the hell was happening?

Was Rong Anshuang being here just an accident?

Wu Yingxun instinctively looked to Du Zhishan, certain his half-sister had his back.

But Du Zhishan did intend to speak—just not in Wu Yingxun’s favor.

“What the hell are you saying?” she snapped. “This is your stepmother!”

His blood ran cold. His nails nearly dug into his palms. But he told himself there was still a chance—if he played the coward and ditched his girlfriend—

With a fortune on the line, who cared about a girlfriend?

His face white, he stammered, “I… I mistook her.”

Du Zhishan pressed on, “How do you ‘mistake’ your own girlfriend?”

Wu Yingxun dug in his heels. “I just did. So what?”

“But—”

Du Xiangshan exploded, “Am I invisible here?”

Du Zhishan lowered her head slightly, smiling inwardly. Just as planned.

Du Xiangshan was a philanderer by nature—but that didn’t mean he’d tolerate being made a fool of by his own son.

She hurried forward to support him. “Dad, how could I ever… I’d never… I was just…”

Du Zhishan shot a glance at Rong Anshuang. “I was just too worried. What if someone here has shady intentions?”

Du Yingnan jumped in. “That’s right.”

Du Xiangshan gritted his teeth and said, "Get in here."

But he was staring at Rong Anshuang.

That damn old man was so paranoid. But what infuriated Rong Anshuang the most was Wu Yingxun. She wasn’t stupid enough to buy that this was all just coincidence.

This had to be Du Yingnan and Du Zhishan’s scheme—dragging Wu Yingxun here to screw her over, huh? Well, she’d see who'd end up ruined.

Rong Anshuang followed Du Xiangshan into the lounge.

A short while later, they came out. Du Xiangshan looked like death as he shakily approached Wu Yingxun and slapped him across the face.

At the same time, Rong Anshuang threw Du Zhishan a defiant glare. Bet that caught her off guard—she knew Wu Yingxun couldn't possibly be Du Xiangshan's child.

Du Zhishan had brought this guy here and framed her—but she left it at that. Sure enough, Du Xiangshan was furious.

"Dad, why did you hit me...?"

"Don’t call me Dad. Am I your father?"

"And you," Du Xiangshan pointed at Du Zhishan, "how did you conduct the paternity test? He’s not my child at all!"

"Dad," Du Zhishan said with a hint of grievance, "wasn’t it you who missed Aunt Wu?"

"This is straight out of a soap opera," Lin Tingyue said.

Back then, Wu Li was already married, but Du Xiangshan snatched her up by force. A few years later, he got tired of her and personally kicked her out. Now he’s got nostalgia?

And not just Wu Yingxun—of all these supposed bastards, only two are actually his blood, right?

Lin Jiasi and Bai Yaxin glanced at the group. There were at least ten of them, but only two were his real children?

Then who were the rest…?

"The others are all Du Zhishan and Du Yingnan’s people."

Talk about a rich-family spy thriller.

After the birthday banquet ended, Lin Jiasi deliberately walked up to Lin Hong and tossed out casually, "Seems like marriage isn’t necessarily a good thing, huh, Dad?"

Just seeing Lin Jiasi’s face set him off. Lin Hong banged his cane down hard. "Lin Jiasi, are you—?"

Lin Jiasi tidied her hair mockingly. "You’re about to divorce Mom. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be ‘Xu Jiasi’ soon."

"You—"

A shout rang out from the other side—Grandpa Du had fainted from anger. Meanwhile, Lin Hong wobbled, then hit the deck and was rushed to the hospital.

Lin Rusong came rushing upon receiving the news. Learning that Lin Hong would need to stay hospitalized for a few days, the siblings hashed out hiring a professional caregiver.

Lin Hong wasn’t pleased. "Don’t you all have time?"

Lin Ruzhi persuaded him, "Dad, don’t start. None of us have time lately."

At Lin Ruzhi’s words, Lin Hong actually shut up.

Bai Yaxin noted silently—so *this* was the golden child.

Soon, only Lin Hong and the hired caregiver remained in the hospital.

After leaving the hospital, Lin Jiasi went to pick up Xu Yinan on the way. In the car, Xu Yinan told her that she had found a dance partner.

Lin Jiasi smiled and said, “That’s great, isn’t it? The world doesn’t stop just because Dad’s not around, right?”

Xu Yinan would normally argue with her daughter, but this time, she stayed silent.

If Lin Hong were here, he would pick apart her dance partner and then take it out on her.

But now, Lin Hong had no control over her.

Lin Jiasi asked, “When’s the competition?”

“In a day or two,” Xu Yinan replied hesitantly. “Should I tell your dad?”

After all, they weren’t divorced yet.

“Why tell him? Mom, you’re your own person, not some belonging of his…”

Her daughter went off again. Xu Yinan said, “Okay, okay.”

“Mom, are you annoyed with me?”

“How could I be annoyed? You were always off somewhere, never staying by my side like this, chatting like this.” Xu Yinan chuckled.

Lin Jiasi glanced at her. She had dodged Lin Hong’s matchmaking by always being on the move, sometimes not returning home for three or five years.

When she called Xu Yinan, her mother always told her to do what she wanted and not worry about home.

Lin Jiasi had never considered that Xu Yinan might need companionship too.

In this family, Xu Yinan was closest to her. A wave of guilt hit her. “Mom, let’s go shopping.”

Xu Yinan was surprised. “Shopping? Didn’t you say Yaxin is waiting for us?”

“I’ll let my sister-in-law know. Come on, I’ll buy you some clothes. How about a qipao? You’ll slay on the dance floor.”

Xu Yinan nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I—I’m too old to ‘slay’ anything.”

“Who says you can’t? Done deal.”

Lin Jiasi turned at the next intersection and drove Xu Yinan to the mall.

…

The caregiver was meticulous, but Lin Hong was used to having Xu Yinan by his side. Staring at the empty hospital room, he felt sourer by the minute.

But this wasn’t the first time he and Xu Yinan had fought. Wasn’t she always the one to cave first?

Now that Lin Jiasi was back, was she suddenly brave enough to stand up to him? No way he’d apologize first.

Yet, not only did Xu Yinan not visit during his hospital stay, she didn’t even bother showing up on the day he was discharged.

Lin Jiasi showed up, lingering behind Lin Rusong and Lin Jiaxin.

Seeing Lin Hong glance around, she piped up, “Dad, searching for Mom?”

Lin Hong snapped, "Why would I look for her?"

"I must have misunderstood then. Mom is probably killing it at the dance competition right now."

"What???"

Lin Hong clutched his chest in pain. The Lins scrambled to steady him, waiting for him to recover before helping him into the car.

When they arrived at the old house, Lin Rusong and Lin Jiaxin stayed with him, while Lin Jiasi and Bai Yaxin headed back ahead of them.

Bai Yaxin asked, "When will Auntie be back?"

"Tomorrow, probably. I'll go pick her up then. No need to trouble yourself, sis."

"Alright."

Lin Jiasi suddenly stopped the car. Bai Yaxin, sitting in the passenger seat, looked up and saw that the intersection was jam-packed. She murmured, "What's going on?"

Lin Jiasi said, "Sis, wanna check it out?"

Bai Yaxin nodded. After getting out of the car, they learned that a woman had jumped from the 18th floor holding her child, dying on impact. The woman’s husband and mother were sobbing over their corpses.

The mournful cries made onlookers heartsick, unable to stomach the sight.

"Jesus,"

Lin Jiasi and Bai Yaxin both sighed. Bai Yaxin, a mother herself, knew she would go mad if anything happened to her child.

Bai Yaxin said softly, "I hope they can pull through this."

"Yeah. A tragedy like this can only be left to time. Let's go, sis."

"Alright."

When they got home, they found Lin Tingyue glued to the news report about the incident.

She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice their return.

Bai Yaxin walked over and ruffled her hair. Lin Tingyue lit up, "Mom, Auntie, you're back?"

"Yes. Why are you suddenly watching the news?"

"I landed on it while channel-surfing."

Bai Yaxin sat down beside Lin Tingyue. "God, it's so tragic. Your aunt and I just passed by that place—having lost his wife and child, the father was crying so hard he almost fainted."

"He shoved his own wife and kid off! Why's he even crying???"

Bai Yaxin's face went slack with shock.