Chapter 271: The Matter of Parentage
Zhang Yiqin’s eyes were sinister as she watched Xia Zhengguang walk away.
’So much for being husband and wife. When disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways.’
"Ms. Zhang, we need you to cooperate with our investigation."
Zhang Yiqin had been completely uncooperative, bringing their work to a standstill.
"Fine. I’ll cooperate with the investigation."
Zhang Yiqin relented and followed an officer into the interrogation room.
As a criminal suspect, her treatment was naturally different from that of the victims, like Yun Zijin.
Tang Yu was in the observation room, watching Zhang Yiqin’s interrogation without a trace of sympathy.
’Anyone capable of kidnapping their own daughter should have expected the consequences.’
*
At 2:30 PM, Lu Yunque glanced at the silent break room, set down the file in his hand, and gently opened the door.
But just as the door opened, Yun Zijin’s phone rang.
Yun Zijin, who had been sound asleep, was jolted awake by her alarm.
Lu Yunque stood at the doorway to the break room, not knowing whether to enter or leave.
Sensing someone at the door, Yun Zijin forced her eyes open and saw Lu Yunque standing there, looking awkward.
"It’s two-thirty. You hadn’t stirred, so I came to check on you."
’He hadn’t expected her to set an alarm. How awkward.’
"Please step out. I need to change."
Having just woken up, her voice was still a bit husky, and hearing it made Lu Yunque feel a little flustered.
"Okay."
Lu Yunque left the break room in a fluster, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.
Yun Zijin sat on the bed, staring into space for a good while before her mind finally cleared and began to function.
Remembering the sight of Lu Yunque’s hasty retreat, she blinked. ’I didn’t do anything, did I?’
Deciding not to dwell on things she couldn’t understand, Yun Zijin simply got out of bed, changed back into her clothes, and quickly freshened up before leaving the break room.
"I had someone bring up some tea and pastries. You can have a snack if you’re hungry."
When Yun Zijin came out, Lu Yunque did his best to appear calm, not wanting her to think he had his mind in the gutter.
"Great, I’ll try some."
Yun Zijin’s eyes lit up when she saw the assortment of pastries on the coffee table.
"By the way, Xia Zhengguang has agreed to meet with our people. He must have more or less made up his mind."
’For Xia Zhengguang to change his mind in just a few hours, something must have happened within the Xia Family that they didn’t know about.’
"Since he’s willing to meet, let’s try to get as many shares as possible. It’s a shame Xia Zhiyun hasn’t responded."
’Then again, it could be that Xia Zhiyun doesn’t hold many shares to begin with, so he hasn’t even considered selling.’
"Don’t worry. I’ll always be on your side."
While eating the pastries, Yun Zijin started scrolling through the new arrivals her SAs had sent to her phone.
Buying a little here and a little there, she quickly spent ten million.
But her goal for the week was 180 million, so this was nowhere near enough.
After buying shoes, bags, and clothes, Yun Zijin started looking at watches.
Seeing Yun Zijin engrossed in tapping away on her phone, Lu Yunque quickly returned to his own work.
At 5:00 PM, Yun Zijin’s phone rang.
The caller ID read: Tang Yu.
Seeing Tang Yu’s name, Yun Zijin immediately sat up straight.
’Lawyer Tang is handling my kidnapping case. For him to call, there must be a major development.’
Yun Zijin pressed the answer key.
"Lawyer Tang, good afternoon!"
"Miss Yun, good afternoon!"
When Lu Yunque heard Yun Zijin say "Lawyer Tang" into the phone, his ears immediately perked up.
"Miss Yun, the J Bureau has unearthed something interesting. Would you like to come over and take a look?"
Tang Yu’s voice was cryptic. He didn’t say what they had found, instead telling Yun Zijin to come and see for herself.
Hearing this, Yun Zijin raised an eyebrow. "What sort of interesting thing?"
"Erm... it’s about your parentage, Miss Yun."
’Parentage?’
’But I already did a paternity test with Xia Zhengguang. Our father-daughter relationship was confirmed.’
’Could it be...’
’The problem is with Zhang Yiqin?’
Yun Zijin was speechless. ’Is this cliché, rich-family soap opera not over yet?’
"Can you tell me over the phone? If so, it’ll save me a trip."
’She really didn’t want to see Zhang Yiqin.’
Tang Yu paused for a moment, likely to ask the police officers.
"As the involved party, you have the right to know. We’ve discovered that you may not be Ms. Zhang’s daughter. Your mother was another woman with whom Mr. Xia Zhengguang had a liaison during a social engagement.
"And Ms. Xia Jiajiao... is the child Ms. Zhang had with another man."
In just a few sentences, Tang Yu had laid out everyone’s true relationships, but Yun Zijin found it all utterly absurd.
’No wonder Zhang Yiqin was so hostile toward me, treating Xia Jiajiao—the supposed fake daughter—better than her own husband’s biological child.’
’So, in the end, Xia Jiajiao is her biological daughter, but still the fake heiress of the Xia Family.’
"I see. Who else knows about this?"
’She never expected that sending Zhang Yiqin to jail would unearth so much other dirt.’
’I wonder what Xia Zhengguang’s attitude toward Xia Jiajiao will be once he finds out.’
’Raising another man’s child for over twenty years... that green hat on Xia Zhengguang’s head must be a brilliant shade of emerald.’
"The police haven’t notified anyone else yet."
Tang Yu had been following the case’s progress at the J Bureau, which is why he was the first to get the news.
The lawyer Xia Zhengguang had hired for Zhang Yiqin seemed to throw in the towel the moment he saw that Yun Zijin had retained Tang Yu.
"Then have someone tell them. This is wonderful news. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear it."
However, Yun Zijin was curious about her birth mother’s identity.
Yun Zijin couldn’t even begin to imagine how much gossip and slander a young woman, pregnant out of wedlock over twenty years ago, must have faced.
However, when she thought about being abandoned at an orphanage, Yun Zijin’s sympathy for her birth mother dwindled.
’If you can’t afford to raise a child, you shouldn’t have one. To give birth only to abandon the child is incredibly unfair.’
’If she hadn’t been so resilient, she might not have even survived to adulthood.’
"Understood, Miss Yun."
Tang Yu had a mischievous streak. How could the parties involved not be informed of such wonderful news? They all deserved to know.
After hanging up, Yun Zijin stared into space, lost in thought.
Noticing that something was wrong with Yun Zijin’s mood, Lu Yunque set down his file and walked over to her.
"What’s wrong?" he asked, sitting down beside her.
"You know I grew up in an orphanage, right?"
Lu Yunque nodded. "That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Why are you bringing it up?"
Lu Yunque had never felt that growing up in an orphanage was something to hide. In his view, people who were afraid to speak of it were just insecure, unable to even acknowledge their own past.
"I just found out today that I wasn’t switched at birth. I was abandoned."
Being switched at birth and being abandoned are two entirely different things.