Chapter 1347 - Physically and Mentally Exhausted
Yang Chen took a deep breath and held his tears in before opening the envelope. There was nothing on it which signified that Minjuan didn’t dare to write anything on it to avoid arousing suspicion.
Yang Chen glanced through the content of the letter and realised that it was almost the same as what Song Tianxing had told him about Seventeen and Lanlan. He also added two sentences about the Endless Resolve Restoration Scripture to confirm his identity.
“You knew that I am Lanlan’s biological father when you read the letter, so why didn’t you tell me?” Yang Chen questioned her.
Minjuan smiled bitterly, “I couldn’t tell you or pass the letter to you because I knew the truth!”
“Why?” Yang Chen furrowed his brows.
Minjuan sighed, “Mister Yang, I’ve been taking care of Lanlan for a year while serving Master before I met you guys. I treat Lanlan as my daughter but...she’s been hoping to meet her parents. We travelled together, and even though Master cared for her a lot, Lanlan yearned for her parents every time she saw other children with their parents. It pained me to see her like this...Lanlan was unsociable, she was much stronger than the other kids. She was too special. Kids who are as smart and strong as her are lonely. It would’ve been alright if she was in a normal family but she didn’t even have her parents. She couldn’t even experience parental love and she doesn’t even know if her parents are still alive...”
“Mister Yang, do you remember the time when we first met? Lanlan was sneaking glances at Miss Lin while standing by the gate at the orphanage. Do you know how happy she was that night? She told me that she found her mom, but she’s worried that her mom would leave her because she doesn’t like her. She looked so pitiful and it pained me to see her like that. Fortunately, Miss Lin likes Lanlan and she started to think of adopting Lanlan. Lanlan was so thrilled and it was my first time seeing her look so content... I know that Miss Lin may resemble Lanlan’s biological mother, but as a woman I can feel that Miss Lin really cares for Lanlan, she truly loves her and nothing beats that...before Lanlan met Miss Lin, her sleep cycle was a mess. She didn’t like to sleep, but ever since she met Miss Lin, she had been sleeping so well and I think that it’s because she feels at ease to be by her mother’s side.”
Yang Chen’s lips curled into a faint smile when he was reminded of Lanlan’s sleeping face.
It warmed his heart.
Minjuan sniffed, “Mister Yang, I have not been in this family for a long time but I’m truly thankful that you, Miss Lin, Madam Guo, Wang Ma and the other ladies for being nice to me. You guys didn’t look down on me or mistreat me. You guys built my self-esteem and made me feel like I’m part of the family...I can’t stress my gratitude for you guys...but because of this, I really want the best for you guys. If a huge conflict happened because of some things, it might shatter this family and that’ll be devastating for Lanlan. I know Miss Lin isn’t willing to accept the other ladies, but their feelings for you are genuine so they wouldn’t be able to cut ties with you. You’ve been coaxing Miss Lin and I think that you’re trying to stabilize this family and have Miss Lin accept them. I know it’s hard for women to not be attracted to you. Pretty women don’t like weaklings, however modern men who are rich and powerful, they all have lovers...”
Yang Chen almost blushed with shame, she was really direct. Even though she was right, saying it right in his face kind of made him feel embarrassed.
“I’m a nobody and I’m uneducated but all I care about is Lanlan’s wellbeing. I wish for her to grow up well in a happy family. I have selfish thoughts too, I don’t want to go back to the country. My in-laws were a nightmare. I want to stay in this house and be a loyal maid just like Wang Ma...besides, you’re Lanlan’s biological father and this makes you her relative by blood, but what if Lin Ruoxi finds out about this? What if she harbors any ill feelings? Wouldn’t that burden the family?” Minjuan wiped her tears.
Yang Chen roughly understood her underlying meaning. It did make sense now.
The situation wouldn’t be so grave if Lanlan was birthed by another woman but Lanlan was Seventeen child.
Lin Ruoxi was aware that Seventeen was her only true rival. This woman affected Yang Chen’s life the most!
Seventeen had left him forever but with Lanlan’s appearance, it would constantly remind them about Seventeen!
Lin Ruoxi was an emotional person in a relationship. She could never ignore it. She might be able to tolerate him for having many lovers but she would never accept that Yang Chen viewed another woman as his true love!
Yang Chen himself couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t be reminded of Seventeen every time he sees Lanlan. This would be a slap to Lin Ruoxi’s face.
If he had never gotten this letter, he would’ve raised Lanlan as his daughter unaffected.
But now that he knew about Lanlan’s true identity, how could he disappoint Seventeen? How could he not let her daughter know that he was her biological father?!
Even if he couldn’t tell Lin Ruoxi now, it would be worse if she found out about this later and realised that he had kept it hidden from her...
“At that time when you came back from Australia, a month after Master left, I almost told you about this...you even asked me if I had something to say to you, I held it in because I couldn’t bring myself to say it...” Minjuan bewailed.
Yang Chen stood still, remembering that time. He didn’t think much about it then, but now, it felt like a slap to his face.
After some time, Yang Chen motioned Minjuan to get up and he put the items into his space ring.
“Don’t tell anyone about this without my permission.” Yang Chen told her.
Minjuan nodded vigorously, she would never dare to tell anyone.
Yang Chen’s mind was jumbled. He couldn’t think of anything as too many things were at stake. Family, love and conscience were all barriers to this matter.
As he got downstairs, Wang Ma noticed he seemed down and so she came to check on him.
Yang Chen answered her half-heartedly and told her that he would be back after Chinese New Year and that she could contact him if something came up.
Yang Chen’s flight back to Beijing was at night. After some hesitation, Yang Chen decided to not find his other lovers as he didn’t want to vent his emotions on them.
He drove the BMW X6 out of the garage and headed towards Old Li’s place.
On his way there, he made a phone call and Old Li answered it. Old Li chided when he heard Yang Chen’s voice, “Yang Chen, have you forgotten about your father-in-law? It’s already Chinese New Year and you didn’t get us any goods. Do you still want my daughter to be with you?”
Old Li’s life was much better now compared to before, and with Li Jingjing by his side, his discontent towards Yang Chen had lessened.
Yang Chen smiled miserably, “I’m going over to have some drinks with you. Prepare some food, I can buy some if there’s not enough food.”
Old Li didn’t think much about it and he asked his wife to cook some more dishes before ushering Yang Chen to drive faster.
Once Yang Chen arrived at Old Li’s condominium, he was about to get out of the car when he saw something that made him pause in his tracks.