Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Hou Mengqiu was playing mad and acting foolish because Xie Qiyan wasn’t the only one she feared.

Xie An was not Xie Tianqi’s child.

She was afraid of being utterly ruined. Afraid Old Master Xie would not let her off. Afraid that if this got out, Xie An would become the laughingstock of all Beicheng.

Most of all, she was afraid Xie An would hate her once he found out.

She had sent Xie An away to keep him from learning any of this. She would rather pretend to be insane than face it all while clear-headed.

She feared everyone’s condemnation.

But now, not only had she lost her way out…

There was no going back either.

“You were the one who chose to have an affair, and you were the one who chose to give birth to the child. Whatever you did, you have to bear the consequences.” Xia Wanzhi did not say this out of sympathy for her, but for Xie An’s sake.

Xie An was only two years older than Xie Tan. He was well-behaved, obedient, and Xia Wanzhi often brought him along whenever she took Xie Tan out to play.

Xie An was innocent.

Xia Wanzhi could imagine how devastated Xie An would be when he learned he was not a child of the Xie Family.

But that was the truth.

Xia Wanzhi only felt a bleak sadness.

The mistake Hou Mengqiu had made years ago was now something Xie An had to bear with her.

Hou Mengqiu’s gaze was wild and unfocused. When she heard those words, her eyes suddenly locked onto Xie Qiyan. Xia Wanzhi did not give her a chance to speak. She snapped coldly, “What? Do you still think this is my Ayan’s fault? Do you hate him for investigating his mother and uncovering the filthy affair between you and Driver An?”

A sharp pain pierced Hou Mengqiu’s chest. Her gaze shifted left and fixed on Xia Wanzhi. “I never would have imagined that such a delicate little girl could become so sharp-tongued.”

“I wasn’t like this before. I suppose I suddenly saw the world,” Xia Wanzhi said sarcastically. “I never expected Auntie Hou to be this kind of person, so I couldn’t help saying a few extra words.”

The colder Xia Wanzhi was, the more Hou Mengqiu’s heart ached.

Xie An was close with Xie Tan, and he was close with Xia Wanzhi too.

Whatever her son liked, Hou Mengqiu liked as well.

When Xia Wanzhi accused her, it was as though Hou Mengqiu could see Xie An through her, accusing her too.

“But is this my fault?! It was Xie Tianqi! He was the one who couldn’t have children…” Hou Mengqiu broke down in tears and looked away, no longer daring to meet Xia Wanzhi’s eyes. She clutched her chest and choked out, “I only wanted a child…”

Xie Tianqi had fathered Xie Qiyan with Yao Qin, so she had never once suspected that Xie Tianqi was infertile.

When they went to the hospital for tests, the doctor had also declared that she was simply too anxious, saying that the more desperate she was, the harder it would be to conceive.

Later, after Xie Tianqi took over Xie Corporation, he touched her even less.

A man who had abandoned his wife and child had lost interest in her. Back then, Hou Mengqiu thought he must have been sleeping with other women outside.

So she drowned her sorrows in alcohol, and in a muddled haze, she cheated with An Bihua.

Once a bottom line was crossed, with that sort of thing, there would be a first time and then countless times after.

She just had not expected to become pregnant by accident.

To cover up the truth, she had no choice but to go to Xie Tianqi.

That day, she wore a qipao.

Perhaps it stirred Xie Tianqi’s memories of Yao Qin, because that night, he was unusually passionate.

But it was also that very night that Hou Mengqiu discovered he had secretly used medication.

Only then did she realize…

The useless one was him.

Hou Mengqiu wiped away her tears and stared stubbornly at Xia Wanzhi.

She did not think she was in the wrong.

“You can’t have it both ways,” Xia Wanzhi sighed lightly. “You wanted a child, but you also wanted the Xie Family’s possessions. How could every good thing in the world fall into the lap of someone like you?”

“On one hand, you hid the truth of what you did to Auntie Yao back then. On the other, you carefully protected Xie An so he wouldn’t be implicated. Auntie Hou, life in the Mental Hospital wasn’t easy, was it?” Xia Wanzhi lowered her lashes, and her voice faded as well. “If you knew it would come to this, why did you do it in the first place?”

Yu Fei and Huo Yang looked at each other, then at Xie Qiyan, then at Xia Wanzhi.

One was silently praising Xia Wanzhi for being so domineering in protecting her husband. The other felt happy for Xie Qiyan.

The anger on Xie Qiyan’s face had already dispersed the moment Xia Wanzhi spoke up for him.

Starting from the words “my Ayan.”

What Hou Mengqiu wanted, and whose child she had borne, had nothing to do with him.

He only cared about matters related to Yao Qin.

It was true that she had bribed Yang Datong to assault Yao Qin. It was true that she had argued with Yao Qin and caused her to fall into the river.
Xie Qiyan had never once thought of doing anything to Xie An.

But there was no way he would let Hou Mengqiu off.

After leaving the western suburbs villa, Xie Qiyan had Yu Fei release her. Two days later, the news that Hou Mengqiu had cheated with An Bihua, and that Xie An was not the Xie Family’s grandson, spread throughout the entire illustrious family circle.

Family disgrace should not be aired in public.

But this was not his family.

Without evidence, the law could not punish Hou Mengqiu. Then he would punish her himself.

Whatever Hou Mengqiu feared most, he would give her exactly that.

Old Master Xie was so furious over this that he stewed for two days. Since Xie Qiyan would not return to the Xie Family, the Old Master went to find him in person.

The Old Master, back at the company, arrived in a storm of anger. Yu Fei and Huo Yang came downstairs to receive him, standing behind him on either side and exchanging frantic looks.

“Chairman-” When the elevator reached the President’s Office, Yu Fei braced himself and stepped in front of the Old Master.

Old Master Xie gave a cold snort. “What, am I not even allowed to see him now?”

Yu Fei gave a dry laugh. “That’s not what I mean. It’s just that Xia-”

Before he could finish, the office door to the President’s Office stood wide open. Inside, Xie Qiyan was sitting on the sofa, opening his mouth as Xia Wanzhi fed him.

The Old Master’s hurried steps froze on the spot. “…”

Yu Fei rubbed his nose. He had not managed to laugh earlier, but now he was holding back a grin. “Chairman, I was trying to say it wasn’t very convenient.”

It really was not very convenient.

Huo Yang almost failed to hold in his laughter too. He tugged at Yu Fei’s sleeve, and the two of them quickly slipped away.

Their President Xie was truly a master strategist.

Although it was not exactly decent of him to use Xia Wanzhi as a shield, leaving the door open and showing off their affection in front of the Old Master was indeed a good way to calm the old man down.

After all, the Old Master had been looking forward to Xia Wanzhi marrying into the Xie Family for a very long time.

Inside the office, the hand Xia Wanzhi had wrapped around Xie Qiyan’s waist secretly pinched him hard.

He had said he was opening the door for ventilation. Clearly, he had deliberately left it open for people to see.

“I was wondering why you suddenly started acting spoiled and asked me to feed you cherries. You’ve really gotten bold.” Xia Wanzhi had guessed Xie Qiyan’s little scheme. While pinching him, she also played along, pretending to shyly push Xie Qiyan away before standing up awkwardly and calling out, “Grandpa…”

That soft, delicate “Grandpa” made the Old Master’s temper vanish. He almost forgot why he had come. He cleared his throat. “Xiao Wanzi, you’re here too.”

Xia Wanzhi smiled and came over to support him. “Auntie Yao’s fate is still unknown. Ayan isn’t feeling well. I wanted to spend more time with him.”

Once the trump card was laid out-and by Xia Wanzhi, no less-the Old Master tightened his fists. After sitting down, he let out a heavy sigh. “Forget it. Forget it…”

“It’s already spread. What else can I fuss about?” It was not as though the Old Master had not guessed that Xie Qiyan had blown the matter up and disregarded the Xie Family’s reputation in order to take revenge on Hou Mengqiu.

He was angry. Angry that this eldest grandson of his had no place for the Xie Family in his heart. No place for him.

But hearing Xia Wanzhi say that Yao Qin’s fate was still unknown, he also understood that Yao Qin’s disappearance was connected to Hou Mengqiu.

“Grandpa isn’t angry anymore?” Xia Wanzhi poured two cups of tea, one for Xie Qiyan and one for the Old Master.

On the surface, she seemed to be treating both sides equally, but the Old Master could tell that in her heart, she was protecting Xie Qiyan.

More than being angry, the Old Master suddenly felt pleased.

“With you stopping me, how could I be angry?” The Old Master pondered for a long time. In the end, he did not say any of the scolding words he had prepared, only picked the important matters. “On the first day of next month, we will invite out the family genealogy and strike Xie An’s name from it. You are the head of the family. Remember to come back.”

“As for your stepmother, the Xie Family has no room for her. Your father hasn’t woken up, so the divorce can’t be processed, but she doesn’t have the face to come back either. I know you resent me. You resent me for not agreeing to let your mother enter the family back then. But if I had known she had given birth to you, if your father had brought the two of you back, mother and son, I would not have refused to yield…”

But it was already too late.

Xie Tianqi had changed his heart.

The Old Master only hated that his wife had passed away too early, hated that he had focused too much on work and neglected his son’s upbringing. That was how he had raised something even worse than a beast like Xie Tianqi.

He hated himself too. Hated himself for being an old stubborn fool.

If only he had agreed to let Yao Qin enter the family back then…

As if guessing what the Old Master was thinking, Xie Qiyan’s gaze darkened slightly. “He wasn’t worthy of my mother.”

The Old Master looked deeply at him and said nothing more.