Chapter 31 (Part 1)

Despite his lack of great popularity, Zhao Mo was still considered a celebrity. Therefore, it was no surprise that some news agencies posted about him entering the police station. But before Zhao Mo’s manager could finish preparing the emergency measures, the news was suppressed by the Fu family.

After all, the matter involved the Young Master of the Fu family. Although they looked down on a D-list celebrity, they did not want this matter to blow up.

Either way, a huge weight was lifted off Zhao Mo’s manager’s shoulders.

At the hospital, Zhao Mo belatedly realized that he had been blocked by Zhao Mingxi. He was in disbelief. His fox eyes were blown wide, his fingers poking at the phone. He looked at Zhao Zhanhuai in shock. “She blocked me?! What the hell? She blocked me?!”

Zhao Zhanhuai saw that Zhao Mo was still unclear about the situation, but he was too lazy to deal with him, so he asked his assistant to help him clean up Zhao Mo’s things and prepared to leave the hospital.

Zhao Mo softened his look of arrogance. He couldn’t help but say, “Could it be that Zhao Mingxi broke off with our family because of me…? Because I’ve always been bullying her?”

Zhao Zhanhuai thought: You were definitely part of the reason.

Zhao Yuning, who was sitting aside, crossed his arms. When he saw how Zhao Mo was acting, he felt a little relieved. At least Zhao Mingxi hated him more.

Zhao Yuning deliberately said, “Er ge, who else could it be if not you? I’ve always gotten along very well with Mingxi. Da ge and dad are always in the company, so you bullied Mingxi all day when you were at home— Oh, and mom—”

When Zhao Yuning thought of Madam Zhao, he closed his mouth. There was a slightly dejected expression on his face.

As Zhao Zhanhuai listened to Zhao Yuning’s words, he was oddly amused by it. He added with a bitter tone, “Also, Yuning and I were the first to know that Mingxi had severed all ties with our family. You were the last to know. Just by this, you’ll know who Mingxi regards as more important in her heart.”

The expression on Zhao Mo’s face was one of extreme gloom. “Zhao Mingxi doesn’t know what’s good for her.”

The nurse who was watching all this: “…”

What’s there to be compared?!

Zhao Mo was helped out of the bed. As soon as his right foot touched the ground, he hissed in pain, “Slowly! Slowly!”

He touched his earrings that had come off during the fight and couldn’t help but to be annoyed. “If I ever meet those stinky brats led by the red-haired guy again, I’ll beat them to death. As for Zhao Mingxi, if she doesn’t want to come home, let her be. Her attempt to try to cut off contact with our family was probably instigated by that red-haired guy! After a while, her thoughts will be cleared up and she’ll know to return to us!”

“I refuse to believe that a 17 or 18-year-old can pull off such a stunt!”

However, the moment he finished speaking, no one continued the conversation.

Zhao Mo raised his head. He saw how deep in thought and worried Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning were.

He remembered the indifferent look in Zhao Mingxi’s eyes at the library that day. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and couldn’t help but ask, “—It can’t be true, right? Has she really severed all ties with us? Is she this rebellious now?”

“What do you think?” Zhao Zhanhuai raised his eyebrows and said, “Dad was furious with me last night because of this incident. I still don’t know how to deal with it.”

Only then did Zhao Mo’s expression change.

He gave it some thought and sneered, “Hey, this is a big deal. I’m not leaving anymore, I’ll stay and settle this matter.”

Zhao Yuning couldn’t help but say, “Er ge, what can you possibly do? I’m already thankful if you don’t make things worse.”

Zhao Yuning originally wanted to go back to the hotel, but Zhao Zhanhuai said that the family was going to have a meeting because of Zhao Mingxi’s matter.

Hence why he reluctantly got into Zhao Zhanhuai’s car.

As soon as they entered the house, the three brothers felt that the atmosphere at home was particularly solemn.

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Zhanhuai walked over and asked.

Madam Zhao’s eyes were red and swollen, and Mr. Zhao’s face was pale. Zhao Yuan came over and handed him a piece of paper.

Zhao Zhanhuai took a glance at it. His eyelids suddenly twitched. This was a letter from a lawyer asking them to return Miss Zhao Mingxi’s personal belongings— including photos, the household registration book and other items as soon as possible.

It also emphasized that the portrait of Miss Zhao Mingxi was to be removed from group photos.

The inscription was Zhang Yize. He was the lawyer who was next to Young Master Fu when they met at the police station that day.

This lawyer’s letter was like a slap in the face. It hit every single one of them who thought that Zhao Mingxi would not really leave.

“I really didn’t think that Mingxi would actually do this…” Madam Zhao covered her face and cried again. “At that time, when she ran away from home, I scolded her and called her a brat. I thought she was a kid throwing tantrums again. I even felt that she was terribly annoying… but I didn’t think that she would really cut off relations with me. Why is she so decisive? I carried her in my womb for 10 months…”

“Stop crying!” Mr. Zhao could feel an incoming headache after hearing Madam Zhao’s muttering all morning.

Zhao Mo and Zhao Yuning took a look at the lawyer’s letter, their expressions solemn and worried.

After Madam Zhao stopped sobbing, the living room was silent for a while.

Everyone found it difficult to breathe.

Zhao Mo grabbed his silver hair, turned around and sat down on the sofa. “I think all this happened because of that brat with the surname Fu! It’s fine if Zhao Mingxi won’t return now, she will definitely come back one day—”

“Shut up!” Mr. Zhao stopped him. “Don’t you understand the current situation? Your sister, your biological sister, was bullied by you so much that she left!”

“Why are you blaming me for this?” Zhao Mo also got angry. “I just came back, how would I know—”

Mr. Zhao reprimanded, “If you didn’t go to school and ridicule your sister again, would your sister act like this?!”

Zhao Mo got upset and wanted to rebut him, but Zhao Zhanhuai frowned and said, “Enough.”

The Zhao family was practically in shambles.

Instead, Zhao Yuan seemed to be ignored by them.

Zhao Yuan stood in the corner, biting her lower lip. She gradually pinched her nails into the palms of her hands.

She never thought that Zhao Mingxi’s departure would have such a huge impact on the Zhao family.

Yet before Zhao Mingxi came, they belonged to her alone.

She didn’t know when Zhao Mingxi began to occupy the spaces in their hearts.

…

Even for Zhao Mo, he found teasing Zhao Mingxi, who had a bad temper, much more fun than teasing her.

Mingxi left home completely last night. When Zhao Yuan got up this morning, she saw Madam Zhao telling people to move some things.

She thought she was going to empty Zhao Mingxi’s room and restore their life back to how it used to be.

But she didn’t expect Madam Zhao to keep all of Mingxi’s things. She made people put dust-proof cloth on her things, so that when Mingxi came back, these things would not be dusty.

—Even if Zhao Mingxi has made it clear, everyone is still waiting for her to come back.

Madam Zhao also told her to avoid contact with Zhao Mingxi at school so as not to trigger Mingxi.

Zhao Yuan felt as if her heart was being stuffed with something.

She carefully brought up Aunt Zhang, the nanny who had been driven away, to Madam Zhao.

This time, Madam Zhao’s answer was very firm. In fact, she was very annoyed when she mentioned this person. “She bullied Mingxi, so she definitely can’t come back here. Don’t say anything on her behalf anymore.”

…

Zhao Yuan could feel that everything in the family was changing.

And because of the break between Mingxi and Zhao family in front of the police station last night, this change was rapidly exacerbated.

The balance suddenly tilted towards Zhao Mingxi.

…

“Maybe I should leave,” Zhao Yuan suddenly said. Her words broke the deadlock. “It might be because Mingxi hates me, that’s why she doesn’t want to come home.”

She stood there, her tears falling down in huge droplets. She was obviously overwhelmed by their argument.

The Zhao family turned to look at her at the same time.

Mr. Zhao stopped her immediately. “What are you talking about? What are you leaving for? This is none of your business. I promised a long time ago that the Zhao family is not so poor that we can’t even raise another child.”

Madam Zhao looked at Zhao Yuan’s red-rimmed eyes, and she felt a little sad.

…Under normal circumstances, she would have immediately gone and hugged Zhao Yuan.

But last night, Madam Zhao’s mind was filled with all the memories of Zhao Mingxi spending time with her. Somehow, she felt as if she would be sorry to her biological daughter, Zhao Mingxi, if she did so. Suddenly, her heart made a painful squeeze.

So Madam Zhao merely moved her fingertips and did nothing. She just verbally assured her, “Yes, don’t talk such nonsense.”

Zhao Yuan covered her face, tears dripping from her fingers.

Zhao Mo was accustomed to seeing women cry in the entertainment industry, so his eyes suddenly caught something curious when he saw Zhao Yuan.

Saying such things at this time would make her sound very kind, but why—

Why does it feel like something’s not right?

Zhao Mo hadn’t seen Zhao Yuan for a long time. He felt that Zhao Yuan seemed to have changed from what he remembered.

But quickly he wondered if he was being too sensitive. He actually used the way he would look at people in the entertainment industry to look at his sister.

Zhao Yuning’s expression was more obvious. He used to think that Zhao Yuan was always the wronged party, that it was Zhao Mingxi who took her things. But since the last conflict in the Literature Department, he felt that he couldn’t understand Zhao Yuan anymore.

Zhao Yuan might be crying now, but her tears may not necessarily be true.

Maybe she’s pulling some tricks out of her sleeve again.

Zhao Yuning suddenly let out a cold snort of disdain.

Zhao Yuan: “…”

The whole family: “…”

Madam Zhao explained, “Yuning and Yuanyuan had a fight, and they haven’t resolved it yet.”

But at this moment, no one had the mind to care about the conflict between Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan.

Everyone was silent in this gloomy atmosphere.

Zhao Zhanhuai was called to the study by Mr. Zhao. Naturally, he wanted to talk about Zhao Mingxi’s matter.

Only Zhao Mo with his legs crossed, observed Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuan as they went upstairs. He felt around his chin for a moment, and beckoned to Zhao Yuning, “Come here, tell me what happened between you and Zhao Yuan?”

*

As for E Xiaoxia, she spent the whole weekend thinking about what she heard last Friday.

She was puzzled.

She made a special trip to the school information department after school on Friday. She logged into the main website, and checked the student status information of Zhao Mingxi and Zhao Yuan. She saw that it was clearly October 14th.

——So why did Zhao Mingxi tell Fu Yangxi that her birthday was on the 24th of October?

A slip of the tongue?

She didn’t want to receive gifts, so she gave out a random date?

But E Xiaoxia intuitively felt that this matter was not that simple.

She faintly wondered if Zhao Mingxi was actually the adopted or illegitimate daughter of the Zhao family.

But she was not sure.

So on Saturday morning, she couldn’t help but to go to the villa complex where the Zhao family was located.

She used to come here often. After she arrived, she would go to Zhao Yuan’s room to play. The Zhao family’s driver and others knew her. In addition, the nanny of the Zhao family didn’t know what happened between her and Zhao Yuan. She thought that they were still friends, so she let her change her shoes and enter.

As soon as E Xiaoxia entered the Zhao family’s home, she noticed that Madam Zhao was ordering people to cover the things in Zhao Mingxi’s room with dust-proof cloth.

And Madam Zhao was staring at a photo frame of Zhao Mingxi in the corridor in a daze. Then, she covered her face and weeped.

What’s going on?

Is she sad because Zhao Mingxi ran away from home?

E Xiaoxia was a little confused.

Zhao Yuan came downstairs and immediately saw E Xiaoxia sitting in the living room with a glass of water. Her expression changed immediately and she hurriedly walked down. “Who let you in?”

The nanny who was at the side panicked and said quickly, “Miss, I thought she’s your friend.”

Zhao Yuan said, “I don’t have such a snake as a friend. Don’t let her in in the future.”

E Xiaoxia was kicked out just two minutes after she sat down.

But she was not surprised. After all, the original intention of her visit was to assess the situation.

While E Xiaoxia walked out, she turned her head to look inside. She saw Zhao Yuan go up to comfort Madam Zhao, but Madam Zhao gently flicked her hand away. Then, Madam Zhao entered the room, and Zhao Yuan stood outside with an ugly expression.

Seeing that E Xiaoxia was still looking around outside the door, the nanny rushed over to drive her away. “Miss Zhao wants you to leave immediately!”

“Why so fierce?” E Xiaoxia mumbled. She carried her school bag and quickly left.

In her mind, she had a feeling that things in the Zhao family were very messed up.

Zhao Mingxi was only picked up from the country two years ago. If her birthday is not the same as Zhao Yuan’s birthday, it means that one of them must be an illegitimate or adopted daughter.

And judging by Madam Zhao’s attitude—

Madam Zhao’s sudden reluctance to part with Zhao Mingxi; Zhao Zhanhuai’s repeated visits to our school to find Zhao Mingxi; the Zhao family still caring about Zhao Mingxi— This shows that Zhao Mingxi is not the illegitimate daughter.

But Madam Zhao’s attitude towards Zhao Yuan is a little too much, it changed from loving to slight indifference. The same goes to Zhao Zhanhuai, who stopped picking up Zhao Yuan after school during this period— This means that the event that may have led to such a turning point is that the Zhao family discovered that Zhao Yuan is not their biological daughter.

Could it be that Zhao Yuan is the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Zhao?

E Xiaoxia made a lot of speculation. Her instincts told her that she must have guessed something correctly.

It’s just that there was currently no evidence to back her up.

…

She grit her teeth and felt that she shouldn’t just let go of this opportunity. She had to get some information from Zhao Yuan or Zhao Mingxi.