Taking a deep breath, Xu Zixi hardened her heart and continued to fulfill her real purpose for tonight.
"On the night of the welcome dinner for Cui Jiandong, you punched him and tried to kick him out of the Pei Group. Do you remember?"
He was a bit puzzled as to why she brought this up, but he replied, "I remember."
"He was so scared that he knelt in front of me and begged me to let him stay. Later I found out that he was actually a spy planted by the Zhao Group in the Pei Group. He intended to sabotage the Bay Project and 'City of Hope', making all the efforts go to waste, and then annex that piece of land."
"What!" Yan Yincheng was shocked and immediately wanted to stand up, but she pulled him back.
"His real name is not Cui Jiandong. His real name is Fang Ruiyang. He took his mother's surname. He is the illegitimate son of Zhao Quanjing, the person in power of the Zhao Group. His mother was a fisherwoman from a small fishing village. Back then, when she was only eighteen years old, she came to Haicheng from the fishing village to work. Without her knowledge, she was raped by Zhao Quanjing. After he had his way with her, he just abandoned her, almost causing her death. Her life was completely turned upside down from then on."
Yan Yincheng listened attentively, but the more he listened, the more he felt the warmth in his fingertips fading away bit by bit.
"She managed to survive. At first, she and her child lived a life of hiding. But for the sake of livelihood, having no special skills, she had no choice but to become a hostess. If life could just go on peacefully like this, it would be okay. But twenty - five years later, she was diagnosed with a rare disease in the hospital. Their poor family couldn't afford the high medical expenses. So Fang Ruiyang had no choice but to turn to his biological father for help, and his father is a brute."
As she went on, her tone became colder and colder.
"He bought a hospital and took Fang Ruiyang's mother there. He forced Fang Ruiyang to do all kinds of bad things for him with the high medical expenses and his mother's life at stake."
She raised her hand and gently stroked his face. Her fingertips glided across his lifeless eyes, his straight nose bridge, and finally landed on the side of his face.
"Why can't I forgive you? Yan Yincheng, Fang Ruiyang's mother is so much like 'me'. Have you ever thought that if one day 'I' am gone, what Fang Ruiyang is going through today will be the future of Yuan Xiaoxuan and Yuan Xiaoxu?"
From the moment she started talking about Fang Ruiyang's mother's experience, he knew what she was going to say. Indeed, it was so similar. And he knew that what she was talking about had also happened in the previous life, and the two children's endings were very tragic in the end.
"That day will never come." Yan Yincheng said firmly. "You're still here, and I'm here. So the two children won't grow up to be another 'Fang Ruiyang'. I'm different from his brute of a father."
You're still here, and I'm here.
These words had a kind of shocking power when they reached Xu Zixi's ears.
It made her soul burn.
"Of course I know you're different." she said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let the two children get close to you."
"So, what you care about is Fang Ruiyang's mother?" Yan Yincheng got straight to the point. "You think she's like another you in this world, so you want to help her? You want to help Fang Ruiyang?"
Suddenly, he felt like laughing. She was really so cute. Cute in her stupidity and cute in her stubbornness.
Wasn't she just being a Good Samaritan and meddling in other people's business?
Why did she have to beat around the bush with him?
He'd just help her then.
"Shouldn't I help?" Xu Zixi's fingers were reluctant to leave his face and lingered on it. "Do you know that 'I' almost died because of an illness once? Yuan Xiaoxuan and Yuan Xiaoxu almost became children without a mother. So I can't just stand by and watch."
How could he not know? In that dream, he knew all the pain she had gone through...
"I'm sorry. I apologize for making you lose everything overnight four years ago. I also solemnly apologize for not taking the responsibility of taking care of you in these four years and for not fulfilling my responsibility as a father. It's all my fault. I made you and the children suffer a lot. I feel so guilty."
Noticing that she wanted to say something, Yan Yincheng said, "You don't have to respond to my apology right now. Whether you forgive me or continue to hate me, it's up to you, okay? Except that our six - month bet still stands, from now on, whatever you want me to do, I'll do it unconditionally for you. I won't make any more requests of you because I love you. It's my pleasure to give everything for you."
At this point, to be exact, Xu Zixi won this hot - spring trip. She took advantage of his guilt and sense of indebtedness and successfully got out of it unscathed. She knew that no matter what request she made at this moment, he would definitely agree. And she didn't have to pay any price.
However, this "I love you" made it impossible for her to ask him for things unconditionally without a twinge of conscience.
"Then... you can still make three requests of me. But these three requests can't go against my will and can't be too excessive. And it's just three. No more!"
"Okay." Yan Yincheng chuckled softly. He thought for a while and said, "My first request is that the two children call me Dad, and you should bring them to spend at least one day with me every weekend. A father's role is indispensable in the children's growth process. I will definitely teach them well."
This request was not excessive. She couldn't help but look up at him and said, "Okay."
"My second request is that you don't block my phone number. When I call you, don't hang up. Even if you don't say a word, just answer the call." he said.
Actually, she had never blocked his phone number. After his identity was exposed and she tore up the engagement agreement, she kept the five - million - yuan agreement. She had been waiting, waiting for his call, waiting for him to mention this agreement, but it was as if he had forgotten about it.
He didn't even try...
"Okay, I promise you." Xu Zixi said hoarsely. "What's your third request?"
"First tell me how you want me to help Fang Ruiyang's mother?" Yan Yincheng said. "After I hear it, I'll tell you my third request."
Xu Zixi calmed her emotions and said,
"Fang Ruiyang's mother must be transferred to another hospital."
"I don't know what Zhao Quanjing's plan is for buying that hospital. If she stays there, there's no guarantee for her medication and treatment, and her life will always be threatened by Zhao Quanjing. So I plan to fake her death and then transfer her to another hospital. However, the hospital that takes her in can't be affiliated with the Pei Group, and it can't be in Haicheng."
He immediately understood her intention and said,
"I'll contact the hospital, arrange the doctors, and I can even charter a plane to transfer her. I can guarantee that no one will know that this person is still alive in this world."
He stole her thunder, leaving Xu Zixi at a loss for words for a moment. She was silent for a while and then said,
"As long as Fang Ruiyang's mother can leave, Zhao Quanjing will lose the bargaining chip to control Fang Ruiyang. At this time, it will be Zhao Quanjing who has to win him over. A person who knows his secrets but has no weaknesses, he can only make Fang Ruiyang his right - hand man. But Fang Ruiyang will be the most fatal knife stabbing into his heart and uproot the Zhao Group."
"You guys..." Were they actually plotting such a big thing secretly? Uprooting the Zhao Group was something that even he might have to think twice before saying, but she said it so confidently.
Well, it didn't matter. This was actually what he wanted to do too. He would help her. He wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on her "City of Hope", not even in their thoughts.
"Now you can say your third request." Xu Zixi said.
"This request... might go against your will a bit." Yan Yincheng said. "But I'll ask for your opinion."
Xu Zixi's heart skipped a beat for no reason.
"May I kiss you?"