Fate Can Manifest Itself In An Interesting Way
"You are soon going to have two more sisters," Fang JunRong said to her children after she put down her chopsticks.
Fang JunRong made the announcement officially over dinner. Li WangJin expressed that both kids listened to her more and asked Fang JunRong to take on the task of announcing the news.
The slight smile on Li WangJin's face froze. He cast a dubious look in Fang JunRong's direction and asked, "I thought it was just one?" Who else other than Jiang YaGe? How come he didn't know about it?
Fang JunRong gave him a perfect smile, cheerfulness radiated from her eyes and brows, and brought up Zhong Yi to him. "That kid is so pitiful. She had no parents to help her, so I want to." She also briefly talked about Jiang YaGe.
Li ShiZe didn't care too much about it either way. As far as he was concerned, having two more sisters just meant two more mouths to feed. The thought of the inheritance didn't even cross his mind. The way he looked at it, his parents would never leave their estate to any outsiders.
Li XinYun pouted unhappily. "Are they going to be living with us?" She didn't like it that way. She felt that her personal space at home had been intruded.
Li WangJin frowned. "She works at White Crane? What kind of nice girl would work at a place like that?"
There was a hint of distaste in his voice. He looked down upon someone of Zhong Yi's status, but more so than that, he was disgruntled that his wife wanted to adopt another girl without even running it by him first. For a family like theirs, adopting a child was more than adding an extra pair of chopsticks; When they got married, they would have to prepare some dowry.
Fang JunRong chuckled to herself; ah, the world's #1 double standard man, Li WangJin. Didn't Jiang YaGe work at the same place? In his eyes, she was a goddess who would not become corrupted by an environment like that. She was a kind and strong girl. Granted, there was a good chance that he didn't know all about Jiang YaGe's past. As it wasn't something to be proud of, Jiang YaGe most likely did not share it with others.
Fang JunRong suddenly looked forward to the day of Jiang YaGe's arrival.
As much as she was talking shit about Li WangJin, she maintained a tender look. "That kid only works there to pay her grandmother's medical bill. That's why I wanted to offer her an opportunity. Her story is much sadder than that of Jiang YaGe's. Since we are already adopting Jiang YaGe, I don't mind having one more daughter. Besides, I have consulted a master fortune teller. Zhong Yi's birth date will bring fortune to our family." Of course, she just made up that last part on the spot.
There was more that Li WangJin wanted to add, but after hearing about Jiang YaGe, he compromised – after all, Zhong Yi's past did sound worse than that of Jiang YaGe's. He opened his mouth and finally said, "I just don't want you to be fooled. It's not about the money; I simply don't want you to be hurt emotionally. If you like her so much, let's take her too. But I still don't trust the character of a girl from a place like that. I will for sure observe her closely for a while."
His mouth was as smooth as it always was. He didn't want to take in Zhong Yi, but the way he put it, he was just trying to protect Fang JunRong and nothing else. The more time she spent with him, the more she was disgusted by his hypocriticalness.
After that, he shared some stories he had heard in the business world. They more or less summed up to how some girls from the club were manipulative and became the men's mistresses. And the more talented ones forced away their wives and took their spots.
A few stories later, he was able to label everyone from a place like that as "manipulative" and "money-grubbing."
Zhong Yi wasn't even here yet, but judging from the looks of both her son Li ShiZe and her daughter Li XinYun, they already had a poor conception of Zhong Yi. Li WangJin was indirectly face-slapping Fang JunRong, but Fang JunRong wasn't upset at all.
Oh yeah? Go on. Say some more. Everything he said now would turn into slaps that would land on Jiang YaGe when the time came.
Speaking of, the way that Li WangJin loved and protected Jiang YaGe made Fang JunRong wonder if Jiang YaGe was his biological daughter. She did a DNA test behind their back but the result returned negative.
That was another point that she had never figured out.
After Fang JunRong returned to her room, about half an hour later, her precious daughter Li XinYun finally came over. Seeing her unhappy frown, Fang JunRong only felt that she missed that a lot.
Smiling, she said, "You waited half an hour before you came over this time. That's an improvement."
Li XinYun grunted with a slightly prideful look, "When mom has two more precious daughters, I will be worthless."
Fang JunRong shook her head, "You will always be my most precious treasure. Nobody can measure up to that."
"Not even older brother?"
"Of course," said Fang JunRong without any hesitation. Had she transmigrated 20 years earlier, she'd have just aborted that slab of pork directly.
Li XinYun's look mellowed out. A baffled look on her pretty little face, she asked, "What made you suddenly want to adopt daughters, Mom?"
Fang JunRong knew that her daughter wasn't good at playing games. If she found out about the divorce, she might slip up and let something out. Plus, Li WangJin had always played the role of a good father until Jiang YaGe joined them.
She patted her hand and said, "Mom will tell you the truth in six months."
She'd have the divorce taken care of in 6-months' time. Plus, once Jiang YaGe had joined them, XinYun would more or less pick up something.
As she was given such a specific time frame, Li XinYun couldn't help but feel that her mom had her reasons. She had no choice but to accept it.
"Okay. If it's just 6 months. I can wait." She balled her hands up into fists. Her cute look made Fang JunRong laugh. Her biggest purpose after her rebirth was to protect her daughter's smile.
"This is a secret between the two of us, okay?"
"Okay."
After placating her daughter, Fang JunRong freed herself up to take care of other matters. The next few days, most of what she was doing was to purchase stuff and another place to live.
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She had expected Zhong Yi to reach out to her quickly after she had given her her business card. When she hadn't heard from her by Thursday, she was quite surprised.
Fang JunRong thought about it and decided to take a trip to White Crane and talk to Zhong Yi directly. Sure enough, Zhong Yi was at work today. After seeing Fang JunRong, Zhong Yi was stunned for a little while, and then she teared up in the next second and quickly wiped them away.
Choking back her tears, she said, "Boss Fang."
Fang JunRong had a slight smile on her face and said, "I thought you'd be giving me a call."
After she had wiped away her tears, her cherry blossom eyes were even brighter than they were before. She said to her, "I put your business card away the other day, but somehow I couldn't find it again. I have spent so much time looking for it…"
She thought she had lost her chance for good. She never expected Fang JunRong to show up in front of her again, seeking her out herself. She had contemplated whether Fang JunRong had other ulterior motives. But then again, she was just an average girl. What could Fang JunRong possibly get from her?
So she dared not reach out to Fang JunRong without the business card.
Fang JunRong was a little dubious, "I thought you'd save my phone number."
Zhong Yi sniffled and said, "I lost your business card and felt like I had lost the invitation. I didn't dare to contact you…"
Fang JunRong could understand how she was feeling. All in all, Zhong Yi felt too many uncertainties.
She recollected herself and said to her, "There will be a banquet at my place on Sunday night. Why don't you come by then? Give me your address; I will send a chauffeur to pick you up. You can quit your job here now."
"Okay."
She casually mentioned Jiang YaGe, "Oh, right, where's your friend? Is she off today?" She paused a little and added a plausible explanation. "She looked like someone a friend had been looking for her magazine. I thought I could refer her."
Zhong Yi shook her head. "YaGe took the day off. But I will let her know."
Fang JunRong was just asking. Judging from the fact that she had taken the time off, more likely than not, Li WangJin had already told her that he'd be adopting her.
"Did you lose the business card at home?"
Zhong Yi shook her head and said, "No, I had it in the pocket of my uniform. It was gone the next day." She regretted so much not bringing it home with her.
Fang JunRong thought of something. After she had returned home, she called up Ning Qing, the owner of White Crane. Ning Qing and her were acquaintances, and she trusted that security cameras would be in the employee's lounge. The business card couldn't get lost by itself. Perhaps someone didn't want to see Zhong Yi's luck change.
Fang JunRong hung up the phone with Ning Qing after promising to take her to lunch someday.
After that, Fang JunRong waited till Sunday's arrival. Both Li WangJin and the kids would be home that day. Fang JunRong took Li XinYun for a makeover early that morning to make her look glamorous and perfect.
She pulled out a ruby necklace she had purchased a couple of days ago and put it on her daughter. She had been spending a lot of money as of late. Perhaps Li WangJin had a guilty conscience, so as much as he wasn't happy about it, the most he'd do was to prompt that they should save some money for their son to start his business.
Like Fang JunRong cared what he had to say about it.
Li XinYun liked the necklace a lot. Even though she owned a lot of jewelry, a gem this size was still rare. That truly convinced her that her mother loved her the most and helped her remain calm and composed when her two new sisters arrived.
Zhong Yi arrived before Jiang YaGe. When Fang JunRong sent someone to pick her up, she also hired a makeup artist to help doll her up. Zhong Yi had on a fuchsia-colored ball gown and looked as glamorous as a peony in her dress, her being in and of itself was a gorgeous scene. It was obvious that she was a little nervous and was gripping her dress reflexively.
Her look wasn't the type that Li WangJin and Li ShiZe, father and son duo could appreciate. Especially Li WangJin, he had already frowned deeply.
Fang JunRong, on the other hand, was in a good mood. "Come over, Zhong Yi. This is your younger sister XinYun."
Her voice slowly calmed Zhong Yi's nerves. She walked over to Li XinYun and said in a somewhat appeasing tone, "
Li XinYun nicely curved her lips up and replied, "
Li WangJin spoke indifferently, "Now that you have joined the Li's, you must keep in mind your status. You must lose those bad habits you have picked up at those shady establishments."
He wanted to show who the boss was.
Zhong Yi turned a little pale but dared not talk back.
Fang JunRong, on the other hand, wasn't happy about it. She said, "I say Zhong Yi looks pretty good. She is pretty like a flower. Just looking at her is pleasing."
Li WangJin said no more but just looked at the front door. He was waiting for Jiang YaGe to show up.
In his desperate wait, Jiang YaGe finally arrived. She wore a white dress today, and her makeup was that of a young girl: fragile, pure, and attractive. Her lips were the color of cherry blossoms and made her appear especially innocent.
Li WangJin's frown immediately disappeared when he saw Jiang YaGe. His voice couldn't be any more tender, as though he might startle her inadvertently. "YaGe, you are here."
Zhong Yi looked at her in disbelief. She didn't know that her good friend, too, was being adopted by the Li's.
Fang JunRong donned a surprised look and spoke at the right time, "Oh, it's you."
Li WangJin asked, "JunRong, you have met YaGe before?"
Fang JunRong said in a most cheerful tone, "Oh yes. I met her at White Crane. She was working there alongside Zhong Yi. What a coincidence. Fate can manifest itself in such an interesting way."