After Jiang Zhirou finished speaking, Si Moshen gave her a long, deep look and said nothing more.
...
The plane sliced through the sky. Jiang Zhirou watched the shrinking cityscape outside the window, and an inexplicable dull ache welled up in her heart.
"Zhi Zhi."
Si Moshen's voice interrupted her train of thought. She adjusted her mood, and when she turned back, there was a smile on her face. "What's up?"
"You must be hungry. Have something to eat."
As he spoke, Si Moshen stuffed a croissant into her hand.
"It was just made. Eat it while it's hot."
The moment Si Moshen finished speaking, Jiang Zhirou was stunned for a moment. It seemed as if something was quickly flashing through her mind.
Seeing that she just held the thing without moving, Si Moshen called out to her again.
"Zhi Zhi?"
Only then did Jiang Zhirou completely come to her senses. "I'm not hungry yet." She stuffed the thing back into Si Moshen's hand. "You're the one who should eat more. Look how thin you've become. And you can't eat anything before the surgery. You should eat more now while you can."
Jiang Zhirou hadn't noticed before, but only now did she realize that Si Moshen had lost a great deal of weight.
This belated realization filled her heart with regret and shame.
If she had paid more attention to Si Moshen, would he have received treatment earlier and recovered his health sooner?
She had no answer.
After almost two days without sleep, a sudden wave of drowsiness swept over her.
She yawned involuntarily.
"Go to sleep, Zhi Zhi. We'll be there when you wake up."
"Okay..."
...
On the other side, Chen Yu'an also successfully arrived at Chen Jingsheng's residence.
This time, he not only wanted to obtain the criminal evidence of what Chen Jingsheng had done to Qing Mian, but also wanted him to disappear from Qing Mian's world forever.
Back then in the orphanage, on Qing Mian's file, it was written in the column of her parents that they were deceased. Since they were already dead, they should stay in the shadows forever.
"Hello, sir. You can't enter here. Please leave."
The guard at the door stopped Chen Yu'an.
He lifted his eyes and looked at the man, saying calmly, "I'm here to see Mr. Chen."
The man hadn't received any news from his master about a visitor today. Just as he was about to refuse, Chen Jingsheng's voice came from behind.
"Let him in."
"Yes, master." The man immediately replied respectfully to the person behind him. Then his gaze fell on Chen Yu'an. "Sir, please follow me." Then he led the way inside.
Chen Yu'an stood right in front of Chen Jingsheng and got straight to the point.
"Why did you send Qing Mian to the orphanage?"
Hearing this, there was no trace of surprise in Chen Jingsheng's eyes. Instead, there was a hint of admiration in his look at Chen Yu'an.
He was indeed the one he had carefully chosen.
"You've matured a lot since I first met you."
Chen Jingsheng said with a faint smile.
The first time Chen Yu'an saw Chen Jingsheng was when he adopted Qing Mian. At that time, Chen Jingsheng was dressed in a black robe, and Chen Yu'an didn't pay much attention to him.
He had no intention of chatting with Chen Jingsheng now. His eyes looking at the man were always cold.
He frowned slightly. "Why did you send Jiang Zhirou to me?"
Hearing this, a glint of excitement flashed across Chen Jingsheng's eyes. He had indeed not misjudged the man.
The next second, Chen Jingsheng stood up from his chair and walked behind Chen Yu'an. "Since you've asked so directly, there's no need for me to keep it from you anymore."
"Do you know why your father, Wei Jianguo, agreed to let you adopt an unrelated child back then?"
Chen Yu'an kept a straight face and didn't answer. There was just a hint more of hostility in his look at Chen Jingsheng.
But Chen Jingsheng became excited and even raised his voice a bit.
"Yes, yes, yes. That's exactly the look I saw in your eyes when you looked at Wei Jianguo that made me choose you! You tell me... How could a son look at his father without even a shred of love in his eyes? I'm so curious. How could someone be so cold - blooded."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yu'an suddenly snorted and sneered, "If we're talking about cold - bloodedness, I'm probably no match for you. After all, how many people in the past twenty years could have done such cruel things to their own daughter?"
Hearing this, the smile on Chen Jingsheng's face suddenly froze. He looked at Chen Yu'an in confusion. "Daughter? What daughter?"
As soon as these words came out, a look of confusion quickly flashed across Chen Yu'an's face. Then he heard Chen Jingsheng suddenly clutching his stomach and laughing loudly.
"You don't really think your dear sister is my daughter, do you? I thought you were much smarter than this."
Chen Jingsheng laughed arrogantly. Meeting Chen Yu'an's complicated gaze, he paused for a while before continuing.
"Since you're brave enough to come here alone, I'll tell you. Jiang Zhirou is not my daughter. I don't have a daughter."
This news was like a bombshell dropping into a calm lake, setting off huge waves.
"Impossible."
Chen Yu'an retorted.
The information they had was enough to prove that he was Jiang Zhirou's biological father.
Chen Jingsheng just shrugged indifferently and then sat back in his chair.
"Since she has nothing to do with you, why did you take her away back then? And why did you keep hypnotizing her?"
Chen Yu'an's hands hanging by his legs tightened into fists. His emotions were obviously more agitated than before. He tried hard to restrain his impulse to rush up and shoot the man.
"Why?"
Chen Jingsheng suddenly sneered, and a hint of cruelty flashed across his eyes.
"It's all because of those two bitches from the Jiang family. One is an old - fashioned, self - righteous snob, and the other is just a person who only knows how to follow the elders' words without any self - thinking ability. How could such people deserve to have so many good things? I just want to destroy them."
Chen Yu'an understood that the two people he was talking about were Jiang Yan and Jiang Yuezhong.
Just as he was feeling confused, Chen Jingsheng's emotions suddenly turned sad, as if he was recalling some past events.
He slumped into the chair dejectedly and said weakly, "She's my elder brother's child."
Chen Yu'an was stunned. "Elder brother? You have an elder brother?"
"Of course you couldn't find out about him." Chen Jingsheng said calmly.
"Our parents divorced when we were very young. He grew up with our father. Our father had a tendency to be violent. He didn't allow my elder brother to contact me. It wasn't until I went to college that my elder brother and I got in touch again."
"During those years with our father, he had a really tough time. Even the tuition for college was earned through his own scholarships and part - time jobs. Back then, my mother originally wanted to take my elder brother away, but I found out that it was my elder brother who secretly switched clothes with me, so my mother couldn't recognize him, and finally took me away."
"Originally, I thought my elder brother and I could live together again from then on, but Jiang Yan suddenly showed up."
"She snatched my elder brother away and even killed him."