NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26.3: Despicable (3)
It was a long time later before Bai Zhou finally spoke up.
He dropped explosive news right away, “My father has an illegitimate son.”
Ji Fanyin was not too surprised by that, but she still widened her eyes and asked, “What happened? Did you just find out about it today?”
“He isn’t much younger than me,” sneered Bai Zhou. “He does look like the old man. Secretary Li told me that the old man wanted me to meet two people today, so I thought that they were someone important. Turns out they were his mistress and illegitimate son.”
Ji Fanyin: The aristocratic circle sure is complicated.
“He said that I’d remain as the only successor…” Bai Zhou scoffed. “Just his private properties are more than enough for those two to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”
Ji Fanyin wasn’t surprised at all.
When a couple like Bai Zhou’s parents made an agreement to turn a blind eye to each other’s extramarital affairs, the chances were that one of them would eventually end up having an illegitimate child.
It would be a blessing if the illegitimate children had no interest in the family fortune, but most eventually choose to compete for the family fortune. Ji Fanyin had seen plenty of that in her previous world.
“He even brought them over to introduce them to me. Does he expect me to call them ‘mother’ and ‘little brother’?” Bai Zhou gripped the cup tightly. “If he had appeared before me today, I’d have sunk my fist into his face!”
Crime solved. This is the reason why Bai Zhou got into a fight today.
Ji Fanyin sighed in her heart.
Had it been her, she would have long come to terms with his disappointing parents and washed her hands out of their private affairs. It would just be a waste of time and effort anyway.
However, Bai Zhou wasn’t as unfeeling as she was. From a certain perspective, he was actually quite hot-blooded.
“Are you going to have a talk with your father?” she asked gently. “If you aren’t willing to meet those two, why don’t you relay your thoughts to him properly?”
“I don’t want to hear his voice now,” Bai Zhou rejected the suggestion irritatedly.
“Then… what about your mother?” Ji Fanyin decided to approach this problem from another perspective. “She wouldn’t turn a blind eye to it, right?”
Bai Zhou fell silent once again.
Ji Fanyin couldn’t help but notice the increasing grip strength on the glass he was holding. She felt like that innocent glass was going to shatter very soon.
“She already knows,” said Bai Zhou hoarsely. “She also…”
Unable to speak any further, he grabbed his own forehead out of distress and took in a deep breath. His sharp eyebrows furrowed into a pained frown.
Ji Fanyin caught on right away.
The chances were likely that both of Bai Zhou’s parents had an illegitimate child each. Thanks to that, the scales of balance were able to easily reach another equilibrium when they finally came clean with one another.
This was something for their respective factions to rejoice over since they would be spared from unnecessary discord… though the same couldn’t be said about their family members.
Ahhh, the aristocratic circle sure is complicated!
Ji Fanyin gently ruffled Bai Zhou’s hair and said, “What is it that upset you the most? Is it because they are different from how you expected them to be?”
“… No, they were exactly the same as I expected them to be. It was just that I thought that I was already underestimating their shamelessness, but they still managed to exceed my expectations in the end.”
“There’s actually a simple way you can prove to them that they’ve done wrong,” said Ji Fanyin.
Bai Zhou raised his head to look at her. “How?”
Ji Fanyin looked at him with a smile and said, “All you have to do is to make sure that you don’t stoop to their level and do the same things as they did.”
What a pity that you, Bai Zhou, have already stooped down to their level. You have already disrespected your own feelings and others.
The two of them stared at one another for a few seconds, neither of them saying a word at all.
Ji Fanyin maintained her gentle smile whereas Bai Zhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in unease.
This awkwardness was broken by the intercom call coming from downstairs.
“It must be the delivery man,” said Ji Fanyin as she rose to her feet. She patted Bai Zhou’s head lightly as she said, “You must be starving. I’ll go get the ingredients.”