"Good evening, ma’am, right this way."
A young man dressed in a black suit greeted Tang Xiaowan with the utmost respect as he ushered her into the clubhouse lobby. He was good-looking, about 25 years old.
"Was it you who notified Old Zhao just now?" Tang Xiaowan suddenly slowed her pace and asked with a smile.
The man was startled for a moment: "Yes."
Lady Tang really is a straight talker! No wonder Brother Zhao said to be more casual, that we don’t have to be too nervous from now on, that both Lady Tang and Mr. Li are very easy to get along with.
Tang Xiaowan glanced at his name tag, which indicated he was the floor manager, not just any security guard.
"You have good eyesight, I see!"
"The roads of Jin City are complex and confusing, and I was worried you might lose your way being new here."
"Hmm, that’s true, they are quite complicated!"
"By the way, ma’am, Mrs. Wang arrived at half-past four, she is grinding coffee right now, said she’d like to taste it with you. The food is also ready; when would you like to start eating?"
"Half-past four? Oh, in ten minutes then."
The floor manager nodded: "Yes."
At the very moment Tang Xiaowan stepped into the private room, Li Zishen burst into Nanjiang Villa.
The business van was being driven at great speed by Chen Xin.
"Brother Shen, to tell you the truth about the lady..." Chen Xin started to speak but then stopped, frowning in concern.
The love of parents worldwide is truly a force! Alas, Lady Tang has really stirred up trouble this time!
Thankfully, Lady Tang was unharmed; otherwise...
If it weren’t for Leng Lingxiao mobilizing six SUVs to head to the suburbs simultaneously, Li Zishen would have had no idea that someone had set a trap to deliberately abduct Tang Xiaowan.
And that person turned out to be his own mother, Yuan Min.
At the moment he received the message from Bai Long, he felt utterly devastated, as if he had fallen into an ice pit, with countless ice daggers piercing his heart.
Xiao Wan couldn’t come to harm, absolutely not.
He had been in a meeting at the group’s headquarters at that time, and the press conference had received a good market reaction, plus the online reviews were favorable. From yesterday afternoon till now, the daily sales of 8028 had far exceeded his expectations.
He hadn’t expected that a single message from Bai Long would completely ruin his good mood.
The senior management meeting was immediately terminated.
Li Zishen, after confirming that Tang Xiaowan was safe, headed straight for Bie Yuan. He was very keen to hear how his mother Yuan Min would justify her actions.
If he didn’t personally step in to stop it, he didn’t dare to imagine what else could happen.
People can do anything on impulse.
"Madam, the young master..."
"You did it, didn’t you?" Li Zishen charged into the study and walked straight up to his mother.
Yuan Min shook her head, signaling for Nanny Wu to leave.
"So, you knew this quickly! I was thinking of surprising you; the news was quite..." Yuan Min paused, then said with a smile, "Actually, there are quite a few benefits to surrogacy, like you can..."
"You’re insane, truly insane!" Li Zishen’s eyes were full of fury, startlingly looking at his mother.
The teacup was slammed to the floor with a thud.
Li Zishen didn’t expect his mother to repeat her old tactics, wanting to exploit a child once more—to hijack a marriage, only this time for his sake.
He had nearly figured out everything about Yi Xiaodan, which indeed involved his mother Yuan Min.
This was already enough to devastate Li Zishen, given that this was his birth mother, and he couldn’t bring himself to utterly cut ties with her. But his mother, unrepentant, had now set her sights on Tang Xiaowan.
He loved her deeply and wanted to marry her, but he would never stoop to such despicable acts.
The egg retrieval surgery, although it only takes a very short time to complete, could still damage the body. How could he bear to watch her suffer?
"Zishen, Mother is only thinking of your best interest!"
"I thought... you wanted to hold Xiao Wan hostage and force her to marry me. I didn’t expect it was for the sake of a child. This will only make Xiao Wan hate me more and more."
With that, Li Zishen shook his head in disappointment.
He had overestimated his mother after all, thinking she had repented and changed her ways after more than a decade of vegetarianism and prayer. It turned out, however, that it’s hard to change one’s innate character.
"Do you not want to be tied to her in any way? Would you rather she stayed in Leng Lingxiao’s arms... enjoying bliss, being doted on, loved, and then bearing him a bunch of children while becoming more and more distant from you, even avoiding you? Xiao Wan could have married you, but it was all Leng Lingxiao’s fault. He stole your happiness. Mother just wanted a child, that’s not too much to ask!"
These words stabbed Li Zishen straight in the heart.
As a mother, Yuan Min certainly knew where her son’s sore spots were, what could persuade him.
"Your plan is really..."
"Don’t worry, before the child is born Mother will arrange everything, Xiao Wan won’t find out. Even if she finds out later, could she bring herself to kill the child? Trust Mother, I’ve been through this. There’s no mother in the world who doesn’t love their child, even if the child is not..."
"But there are no guarantees with such people! Don’t you clearly understand what kind of people they are? They’re desperate outlaws, without feelings, willing to do anything for money..."
"No, nothing will go wrong. Trust Mother, the people I sent know their limits and won’t hurt Xiao Wan."
Li Zishen gave a bitter smile and said, "It failed."
Those three words struck like thunder, and Yuan Min was immediately frozen in place.
"Impossible, the people I hired are..."
"You underestimate Leng Lingxiao. You have no idea how ruthless his men are. Probably none of the people you sent will come back alive, and you might have even angered Leng Lingxiao."
"Impossible! I specifically chose... how could it fail? Those people were meticulously selected, each one... how could they fail?"
Li Zishen’s eyes were bloodshot as he turned and left.
At this moment, he felt he might be insane, even somewhat deranged, for actually thinking his mother’s idea was feasible, at least much better than the house arrest he had considered before.
House arrest could keep Tang Xiaowan by his side, but a child would tie them together more reliably, and that would be their own flesh and blood.
Unfortunately, his mother had not consulted with him beforehand. If they had worked together, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
"Zishen, Zishen, wait for me!"
Yuan Min, unconcerned about her image, hurried out of the study and grabbed Li Zishen’s arm.
"Let go, I have things to do."
"Listen to Mother, this won’t affect you. The people were hired from abroad, Leng Lingxiao won’t find out anything, and certainly won’t be able to trace it."
Li Zishen shook his head, his gaze cold. The source of this content ɪs nοvelfire.net
"Zishen, Mother is doing this for you! As a mother, I can’t stand by and watch you become miserable because of Xiao Wan. If you like her, be bold."
"26 years ago, you thought the same way, right? That’s why you were so cruel... Do you think Dad was happy? Until his dying day, he regretted not protecting... Yi Xiaodan! I think Dad must have discovered the truth before the car accident, so he chose to end his own life... to join Yi Xiaodan."
At these words, Yuan Min was startled, then released Li Zishen’s arm in terror.
"Do you know everything?"
"I don’t know. I don’t know anything. All I know is that Xiao Wan can’t be harmed in any way, otherwise... I will never forgive you for the rest of my life."
Without paying any more attention, Li Zishen walked straight down the stairs and headed for the business van parked at the entrance.
He just wanted to see Tang Xiaowan as soon as possible.
The purpose of his visit to Nanjiang Villa had been achieved, and he was very certain that his mother would not do anything to Tang Xiaowan, at least not daring to in the short term.
He closed the rear car door with a sharp clang, coldly separating himself from his mother.
"Zishen, Mother has more to say."
"Open the door quickly, Zishen!"
Yuan Min tapped on the car window a few times, but seeing no response from inside, she eventually gave up.