Chen Xin returned to the country. As soon as the plane landed, he couldn't wait to call Xiao Wan. The phone was quickly answered, and Xiao Wan's tired voice came through, "Hmm… Xiao Guai?"
Hearing her voice, the big stone that had been weighing on Chen Xin's heart instantly fell. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Mm, baby, I'm here."
"Good, it's great that you're here." Xiao Wan's voice sounded hoarse.
Chen Xin couldn't help but laugh, "What happened? It's already noon over there, and you're still sleeping?"
"Mm… I had so much fun yesterday, stayed up too late," Xiao Wan replied, "I'm so sleepy."
"Then keep sleeping," Chen Xin quickly said. "I won't bother you. Call me when you're rested, okay?"
"Mm." Xiao Wan responded, "Xiao Guai, I love you."
These words made Chen Xin's brows soften, and he spoke gently into the phone, "I love you too, baby."
After hanging up, he pushed his luggage out through the VIP passage. He soon heard someone calling his name: "Ming Yang!"
Chen Xin looked up and saw his older brother and sister waiting for him. Not only that, but his older brother, Chen Ming Qun, was holding his son in his arms and waving enthusiastically at him, shouting, "Little uncle!"
The sound of the child's voice made Chen Xin's heart melt. He quickly walked up and took his nephew from his brother's arms, holding him in his own and smiling, "How long has it been? Our Ren Ren has grown so much!"
His nephew tried to flex his little arm muscles and said, "I eat well every day, uncle. I'll definitely grow up to be a strong man!"
"Mm, definitely." Chen Xin smiled and turned to his older brother, "Why did you bring Ren Ren here so late?"
Chen Ming Qun smiled and said, "I couldn't help it. This kid heard you were coming back and insisted on coming to pick you up. He almost turned the house upside down, so I had no choice but to bring him."
Chen Xin feigned a stern expression and looked at his nephew, scolding, "You're not listening again? What did I tell you before I left? Did you forget everything?"
Ren Ren, who was fearless in everything except his gentle uncle, quickly said, "I didn't mean to, I just missed you too much, uncle."
Saying this, he coquettishly hugged Chen Xin's neck. The whole family immediately burst into warm laughter. Chen Xin's sister, Chen Ming Yu, took his luggage and said, "Let's go home. Mom and Dad are waiting for you."
Chen Xin was surprised, "Mom and Dad are still waiting for me? I told you guys I'd be back late, so I asked you not to wait for me."
Chen Ming Yu turned and playfully glared at him, "Don't act like you're being too modest! Mom and Dad know you've been abroad for so long and missed you, so they've been waiting for you, even staying up to see you."
Chen Xin immediately felt guilty, "It's my fault. I promised I'd come back two months ago, but I didn't expect it to take this long."
"Yeah, if Dad hadn't assigned you the task of opening the new company, you probably wouldn't have come back at all," Chen Ming Yu teased him, winking, "Our Ming Yang really changed after falling in love. Is that girl really so captivating to you?"
His older brother also joined in with a teasing tone, "Yeah, Ming Yang, this is your first relationship, right? We see you posting about her love on Instagram all the time, so we know you must really like her. How come you didn't bring her back with you? Mom would love to meet her."
Chen Xin replied, "She… is a bit shy. I'll definitely bring her next time."
"Better hurry up, Mom's already waiting for you to give her another grandson," Chen Ming Yu laughed.
Indeed, Chen Xin's older brother and sister had already settled down with families and children, while Chen Xin was still single. Naturally, his mother had placed all the marriage pressure on her youngest son. She even had Ye Chen introduce several potential matches for him.
So, when Chen Xin's mother heard that her son was in a relationship, she was overjoyed. The Chen family was always open-minded, and after Chen Xin shared Xiao Wan's situation with his family, no one looked down on her unconventional ways. Instead, they really liked her cheerful and lively personality and were eager to meet her in person.
Who would have thought that Chen Xin didn't bring her back this time? His older brother couldn't help but think, "Poor Ming Yang, Mom is definitely going to scold him for this."
On the way home, Ren Ren kept clinging to Chen Xin, telling him stories about things that happened in kindergarten and offering him his favorite chocolates. Seeing this, Chen Ming Qun became a bit jealous and said, "You little rascal, do you even remember I'm your father? This afternoon, I asked you for some chocolate, and you wouldn't give me any. You were saving it for your uncle?"
Ren Ren pouted and said, "Uncle just came back, Dad, you can't steal him from me."
Everyone immediately burst into warm laughter.
Speaking of Ren Ren, he was a much-anticipated child. After Chen Ming Qun and his wife got married, they discovered that his wife was infertile. They went through several rounds of in vitro fertilization before finally conceiving this precious child. Even before he was born, the entire family was already deeply invested in him, and after his birth, he was spoiled beyond measure.
But excessive pampering brought about negative consequences. By the time Ren Ren turned two, he had become a bit unruly. When he started kindergarten, he caused trouble every day. Chen Ming Qun and his wife tried many ways to discipline him, but none of them worked.
Occasionally, they would get complaints from the kindergarten, saying their son was pulling other kids' hair or getting into fights. It drove them crazy. Just as they were thinking of bringing him back home for stricter discipline, one day Chen Xin visited his brother's house, spent the afternoon with the little troublemaker, and to their surprise, the normally hyperactive boy behaved himself the entire afternoon. This shocked Chen Ming Qun and his wife.
The couple hurriedly asked Chen Xin how he managed to get their son under control. Chen Xin smiled and said, "I don't really know; I think it's just that our energies match."
After observing for a while, the couple discovered the truth: because Renren was always mischievous, the adults around him habitually used a scolding tone when speaking to him, creating a vicious cycle. This led to him becoming even more rebellious and troublesome. However, since Chen Xin often traveled abroad and wasn't familiar with this dynamic, combined with his natural fondness for children, he was very gentle with Renren. As a result, the little boy immediately treated him like his best family member and friend.
Since then, Chen Xin began helping to discipline his nephew, and Renren's behavior improved significantly. Last Christmas, when Chen Xin went to the U.S., Renren was so reluctant to see him leave that he cried a lot.
So, this time when Chen Xin finally returned, Renren naturally missed him and couldn't wait to stay close to his little uncle.
After Renren fed him some chocolate, he curiously asked, "Uncle, Dad said you have a girlfriend. What's a girlfriend?"
Chen Xin smiled and replied, "Well… she's someone I'll marry one day. You'll call her 'Auntie,' and we'll have many cute children, just like your mom and dad had you."
"Wow, that's great! Does that mean I'll have little brothers and sisters to play with?" Renren clapped his hands happily. "Uncle, hurry up and get Auntie to have babies for you!"
The laughter of the three siblings filled the car, and Chen Xin said, "Yes, there will definitely be babies. Uncle will work hard for it. Renren, don't rush."
Renren nodded and then asked, "What does Auntie look like?"
Chen Xin took out a photo of Xiaowan from his phone and showed it to him. Renren happily said, "Auntie is so pretty, even prettier than the class flower in our class!"
Everyone burst into laughter, and Chen Mingyu asked, "You're in kindergarten, and there's already a class flower?"
Renren answered seriously, "Yes, yes, Auntie, don't look down on kindergarten."
"Hahahaha…"
The group returned to the Chen family's main residence amidst laughter. Actually, since the three siblings graduated from university and took over the family business, they had moved out and lived in their own villas. So, except for the New Year, the main family villa was usually only occupied by Chen Xin's parents.
As soon as Chen Xin entered the villa's hall, he smelled the delicious food. His mother hurried over, excitedly looking him up and down, and asked, "Where's my daughter-in-law?"
Chen Xin could only reply, "Mom, she didn't come back with me this time."
"What?" Chen Xin's mother immediately widened her eyes in shock and anxiously said, "How can you not bring your wife back? I even had the servants prepare a whole table of dishes for you two! You ungrateful little brat, if you didn't bring her back, don't bother coming home, just leave, leave!"
Chen Xin was speechless, "Mom, I told you before I got on the plane, Xiaowan isn't coming back with me this time."
"I don't care, I want to see my beautiful daughter-in-law!" Chen Xin's mother replied, "You must've made her mad, that's why she didn't come back with you!"
Seeing that Chen Xin was about to be kicked out of the house, his father hurriedly came out to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, alright, the kid's been on a plane for so long, he must be exhausted, stop making it hard for him."
Chen Xin's mother, feeling aggrieved, said, "But I want to see my daughter-in-law…"
"Didn't you already see her photo?" Chen Xin's father comforted her, "If not, let her call you on video. She's probably just shy. Don't scare her away with your excitement."
Thinking about it, Chen Xin's mother realized her son was very picky and had been single for so many years. She was finally happy to hear he was in a relationship, and she didn't want to scare the girl away. Otherwise, her son might stay single for many more years.
So, she stopped complaining, glared at her son, and said, "Go eat, don't stand in my way."
Chen Xin warmly hugged his mother and said, "Thanks for preparing the food so late, Mom."
"That was all for your wife; you're getting lucky this time," Chen Xin's mother snorted, then went to play with her grandson Renren.
Chen Xin was still adjusting to the time difference, so he wasn't very hungry. After eating a little, he washed up and prepared to rest.
His older brother and sister also stayed at the house, planning to have a family gathering the next day after Chen Xin rested.
Back to earlier that day:
After Xiaowan and Leng Qing dropped An Zhou off on the beach, he stumbled out of the water alone. But due to the numerous injuries and severe blood loss, he couldn't walk far and collapsed on the sand.
His face covered in sand, An Zhou looked up at the dark sky, thinking, "Is this really how I'm going to die here? Such a disgraceful and meaningless death. No matter what, I should at least drag that wild child with me to use as a cushion!"
This thought gave An Zhou new strength. With a loud yell, he broke the ropes tying his hands and, now able to use his arms, stood up much more easily.
After wiping the blood from his nose, he was about to move forward when a black car suddenly stopped in front of him.
He squinted his eyes, thinking, "Could it be that wild child is unwilling to let me go and came back to kill me?"
But when the car door opened, and the man stepped out, An Zhou froze in place.
It was his father, An Chengfeng.
Despite the years of worry over his son that had turned his hair gray, An Chengfeng's handsome appearance and poise were still evident. He walked up with a cold face and, without saying a word, slapped An Zhou hard across the face.
An Zhou was knocked down to his knees. He immediately started laughing, "Hahaha, go ahead, hit me! Kill me! After I die, you can kill my mother too, then you can take that little mistress' bastard home and raise him as your son! Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
An Chengfeng angrily raised his hand, wanting to slap this ungrateful son again. But looking at An Zhou's battered body and the hatred in his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He closed his eyes, sighed, and said heavily, "An Zhou, I know I've wronged you and your mother. I know you're angry with me, so for all these years, I've covered up all the bad things you've done because I understood you were just venting. But hasn't that been enough? You can vent at me, but why do you have to hurt Leng Qing? That child is innocent!"
An Zhun slammed his chest hoarsely and said, "Am I not innocent? I was going about my studies, and one day you suddenly tell me that you have another son! You only think about Leng Qing's feelings, have you ever considered mine and my mom's feelings, huh?"
An Chengfeng showed a guilty expression. "Over the years, I've been trying to make up for what happened…"
"Make up for me? By giving him forty million for a car?" An Zhun stood up, his face twisted with sorrow and anger. "An Chengfeng, let me tell you today, even if you never give me your fortune, I won't let it fall into Leng Qing's hands, not a single penny!"
An Chengfeng couldn't help but cover his face with his hand. At that moment, he was no longer the wealthy and powerful businessman, but a sad man who didn't know how to make up for his mistakes to his child and wife.
Finally, he turned to the bodyguards who had been following him and said, "Take him to the car, treat his wounds first."
An Zhun slapped the bodyguards' hands away. "I'm not going with them! I'm going to kill that bastard Leng Qing right now!"
An Chengfeng yelled, heartbroken and angry, "An Zhun, enough! I only have you two sons, are you going to kill him and then take your own life? If you both die, what am I supposed to do? Have you even thought about that?"
An Zhun spat blood in his face and shouted, "Why the hell should I care about you! When you were sleeping with that mistress, did you think about me and my mom?"
An Chengfeng felt an unfamiliar helplessness. He whispered to the bodyguards, "Take him to the car."
Despite An Zhun's constant struggles, the bodyguards quickly put him into the car, and to prevent him from escaping, An Chengfeng had to have him temporarily tied up.
"I'm taking you back to the country now," he said heavily as he sat opposite his son. "We'll treat your injuries on the plane. Once we get back, you can forget about ever coming to America again."
"You're full of shit, you think I'll just stay away because you say so?" An Zhun cursed. "Don't dream. As long as Leng Qing is still alive, I won't let him go!"
"I won't give you this chance again. I know you hate me, but he's my son too, and I can't let him die." An Chengfeng said coldly, "If you have so much hate to vent, then kill me."
An Zhun stared at him for a few seconds, then started laughing. "Hahahaha, An Chengfeng, you really are a hopeless romantic, huh? Willing to die for the child of the woman you love? You want me to write a romantic tragedy about your love story with that mistress?"
"My story with Leng Qing's mother has never been romantic." An Chengfeng said with a weary expression. "I've been deceiving her from the start. Son, I know you don't understand or believe me right now, but I really do love you. I just want you to live well, not in hatred."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear your bullshit!" An Zhun roared angrily. "Stop pretending to be sorry now, thinking I'll forgive you! I hate you, I hate Leng Qing, I hate everyone! Everyone thinks I, An Zhun, have endless money and live happily, but only I know that I'm fucking miserable, completely miserable!"
By the end of his words, his roar was mixed with a hint of sobbing.
An Chengfeng's eyes began to redden as well. He sighed and looked out the window. "So, you're never going to forgive me in this life, are you?"
"As long as you understand." An Zhun turned his head coldly.
An Chengfeng nodded, then told the bodyguards in the front, "Stop the car."
The car immediately stopped, and An Chengfeng instructed the bodyguards, "I have some business to take care of. You take him to the airport. I'll be there shortly. Keep an eye on him, don't let him escape."
"Understood, boss."
An Chengfeng didn't say anything more to his son. He got out of the car and hailed another cab, telling the driver his destination, and left directly.
The place he was heading to was Leng Qing's newly bought villa.
When An Chengfeng arrived there, Leng Qing had just dropped off Xiao Wan. He had just gotten off his motorcycle when he saw a familiar figure standing under a tree on the roadside.
At the same time, it was a figure he didn't welcome at all.
Leng Qing had despised An Chengfeng since he was a child. Back then, when they were still in the country, his mother had raised him alone. At first, the neighbors were nice to them, thinking his mother had divorced her husband. But soon, news spread that his mother was the third party, and Leng Qing was the illegitimate child. This gossip spread to all the neighbors.
Leng Qing was isolated by his peers, which didn't bother him much, but he couldn't stand how the neighbors would gossip about his mother. Not long after, An Chengfeng made his first appearance in his life. Yes, it wasn't until he was six years old that he met his father for the first time.
His mother was furious when she saw An Chengfeng that day, and they had a big fight. It was then that Leng Qing realized his mother had been deceived by this man, who had lied about being single, and that's why she had been with him.
Naturally, he began to hate this man who had hurt his mother. After that, An Chengfeng quietly visited them many times, trying to give them money as compensation, but every time he came, Leng Qing would drive him away with the mop.
After seeing An Chengfeng's true nature, Leng Qing's mother was completely disappointed in him. In order to not affect her son, she moved around with him. Eventually, she couldn't bear the gossip and, one day after work, due to her distracted state, she had a car accident.
When An Chengfeng learned about this, he tried to bring Leng Qing back to live with him, but he was severely rejected by the relatives of Leng Qing's mother's side. To prevent him from finding Leng Qing in the future, they contacted distant relatives in the United States and sent him to study high school there.
However, An Chengfeng didn't give up on his son. Over the years, he visited Leng Qing two to three times every year, but Leng Qing never asked him for anything. He always avoided seeing him whenever possible.
The only thing Leng Qing had asked from him was that Pagani car.
At the time, he was just trying to one-up Chen Xin, and to beat him, he needed a car of equal caliber to his Koenigsegg. Coincidentally, An Chengfeng had contacted him, so Leng Qing asked to borrow the car and even wrote a promissory note.
But now, Leng Qing deeply regretted his impulsive decision. It was because of that car that An Zhun had come to him, and Xiao Wan had been kidnapped, almost assaulted.
So now, why was An Chengfeng showing up? Did he already know what had happened?
Leng Qing slowly walked over and said, "I'll pay you back for the car money by the end of the year."
An Chengfeng hurriedly said, "I didn't come to ask for money, I just… wanted to see you."
"I told you before, I don't need you to see me." Leng Qing said, "By the way, your son kidnapped my beloved woman today, I almost killed him. I think you already know, right?"
An Chengfeng nodded and said in a somber tone, "What happened today was An Zhun's fault. I apologize on his behalf."
"No need. I'll have him apologize to me in person." Leng Qing said coldly, "If that's all, please leave. Don't come back again. I don't need a father."
An Chengfeng's eyes reddened, and with a hoarse voice, he said, "I know I've let you down. Don't worry, I'll take An Zhun back to the country right away, and I'll make sure he never bothers you again. But… I'm also sorry. I won't be able to visit you again. I need to repair my family now."
Leng Qing said calmly, "You shouldn't have come in the first place. Go."
An Chengfeng couldn't hold back his tears, closed his eyes, and said, "I understand," then hurriedly turned and left.
Leng Qing, without hesitation, walked into the villa, never giving this so-called father even a second glance.