CH 116

Zhu Yuan's father, Zhu Jian, slowly walked down the stairs and sat down on the sofa: "You two come and sit down."

Although Li Zongyun and Zhu Yuan both had strong anger in their hearts, they both nodded at Zhu Jian's words and came over to sit on the far left and right of the sofa respectively.

Zhu Jian saw this and sighed heavily: "You both know the situation of the family now. Instead of thinking of how to help each other and tide over the difficulties together, you are arguing here, aren't you letting others see your jokes for nothing?"

Zhu Yuan snorted, "How can a man as selfish and self-serving as he is consider the situation of his family? I think he would like to see something happen to us!"

Li Zongyun immediately chided back, "Do you have any conscience at all, Zhu Yuan? If it wasn't for the sake of the family, would I have stooped so low as to beg that woman, An Mu!"

Zhu Yuan snorted, and said sarcastically, "Who knows what you were thinking when you begged that woman? Maybe this arrangement is just what you want?"

Li Zongyun was infuriated, "You!"

"That's enough!" Zhu Jian shouted sternly, his face tense as he said, "If you want this family to fall now, then keep arguing, otherwise shut up!"

The people sitting on either end of the sofa hastop unhappily stop.

Zhu Jian took a deep breath, and slowed his expression before speaking again, "Zongyun, what did An Mu say?"

Li Zongyun hung his head and said, "She still doesn't agree to let me see An Yan, and told me not to go to her again."

Zhu Jian's brow furrowed, "Could she already know about what's going on over here?"

Li Zongyun shook his head, "I don't think so. She doesn't have a way of knowing my current situation. Judging from her reaction, she is still angry with me but doesn't seem to know anything."

In Li Zongyun's opinion, An Mu was just an ordinary woman with neither brains nor heart.

He had been able to fool her in the beginning, and it was impossible for her to see his true motives now.

As for why An Mu’s towards him was so cold, it was just because she was still blaming him for abandoning her and the child in the first place.

Li Zongyun believed in his heart that An Mu still had feelings for him. Otherwise she would not have chosen to have the baby after he left and still raised him.

Zhu Jian was silent for a moment and spoke in front of his daughter, "Then continue to coax her until she agrees to let you and An Yan meet."

Zhu Yuan's face darkened as she listened, "Dad, why must we let Zong Yun coax that An Mu! Since our goal from the start is An Yan, why can't we just let Zongyun go straight to him!"

Li Zongyun also raised his head and said, "Yes, I am An Yan's real father, he has to help me no matter what."

Zhu Jian's gloomy gaze swept over the two, "Do you think that you are more important than An Mu in An Yan's mind?"

Li Zongyun hung his head once again, "Definitely An Mu, I've never even met that child."

Even now, he had only seen a picture of the other party when he was looking up information.

Zhu Jian asked again, "Then do you think you are more important to An Mu than that child?"

Li Zongyun had even less to say: "It's definitely that child."

Although he was confident that An Mu still had feelings for him, he hadn't seen her for many years, and he had once neglected her. Of course the feelings between them couldn't possibly compare to the child that An Mu had brought up.

Zhu Jian sighed, "So if you go straight to An Yan without An Mu’s consent, what would An Mu and that child think?"

Li Zongyun was completely speechless this time. He had previously thought that was a shortcut, but it seems that path that would just push him further away.

Although this truth had been laid out, Zhu Yuan still found it hard to accept having her husband ask for forgiveness from another woman: "But Dad, Zongyun is my husband. Can I just stand by and watch him go to another woman like this?"

Zhu Jian raised his eyes slightly, "Yuan Yuan, you should believe in Zongyun's sincerity towards you. He is only doing this to get the family out of trouble as soon as possible. You should support him."

Li Zongyun also hurriedly said, "Yes, we have been together for so many years, don't you still understand my feelings for you?"

Zhu Yuan knew that it was useless to complain with her father and she would be reprimanded instead. She could only glare at Li Zongyun and stop speaking.

But she always felt uneasy in her heart. As if she was having a premonition that things would definitely not turn out the way they expected.

Zhu Yuan had not voiced her concerns, and Zhu Jian was hiding his true intentions.

Gaining An Mu’s forgiveness and trust and identifying with An Yan was only the first step.

Zhu Jian's real aim was to get An Yan into the Zhu family and become his grandson. Only then could he maximise the benefits.

Although the Zhu family ran a pharmaceutical company, it was very small. It was considered rich for an ordinary family but they were only considered ordinary when compared to a family with real heritage.

At first, Zhu Jian had no great ambition. He only wanted to run his family's pharmaceutical company properly, and it would have been better if he could expand it slightly.

However, the situation was different from his expectations. Three years ago, a lawsuit was brought against the company for an accidental involving discarded potions. It left the company battered and bruised, and it has been going downhill ever since.

Even with his best efforts, Zhu Jian was unable to prevent the company from reaching the brink of bankruptcy.

Zhu Jian had already planned to give up, after all, no matter how hard he struggled, it would not be possible to change the current situation.

But rumors of a new concept in the pharmaceutical industry suddenly emerged at this time, under which it was possible for even ordinary pharmacists to produce high quality potions.

Of course, just this new idea was obviously not enough to save Zhu Jian's company. After all, everyone knew about the new idea, and everyone would surely seize the opportunity to make use of it.

The real turnaround came with the information after investigation.

Although the new idea would not help his family, Zhu Jian would not have remained idle. He had asked his people to collect relevant information, which naturally included the details of the person who proposed the new idea.

Li Zongyun brought the information to him, and although he did not mention anything about it at the time, Zhu Jian sensed something strange in his attitude.

Later, he finally learnt the truth from Li Zongyun after asking several questions from different angles.

Little did he know that the originator of the new idea, the young man who was only eighteen years old, would be Li Zongyun's son.

Instead of anger, the news brought Zhu Jian a burst of ecstasy.

Although the new idea itself could not save the company, the young man who came up with it was a different story!

Hope got in the midst of despair is the most maddening of all. Zhu Jian is not a man of integrity, so he had a plan in place from the start and he intended to turn this plan into reality step by step.

As for his daughter's happiness, if the Zhu family was really finished, what happiness would she have left to talk about?

And how could matters of children's love compare to the prestige of the Zhu family?

So from the very beginning, Zhu Jian was ready to sacrifice his daughter's happiness. 

However, he knew that with her small-minded character, she would definitely not accept it. It would certainly cause a huge backlash once she found out, so he did not mention his true intentions.

Of course, with such an odd family put together, it was impossible that only the Zhu father and daughter had their own calculations and worries. Li Zongyun had his own plans too.

Although he didn't want to lower himself to please An Mu, he didn't force himself to do it entirely for the sake of the Zhu family; he did it more for himself.

At first he did not realize the importance of the new idea, nor did he consider going to An Mu and acknowledging An Yan as his son.

After all, that kind of thing was ultimately disgraceful, and it would have caused a fuss if the Zhu family found out about it, which might eventually lead to a divorce.

That's why he deliberately hid it at first. However, he didn't disguise it well enough, and Zhu Jian Saw through him. After several side questions, Li Zongyun knew it would be difficult to hide it, so he had to tell the truth.

He thought that what awaited him would be fury or a fist, but Zhu Jian surprisingly did not have a fit. He instead proposed a plan that made him feel incredulous.

He actually asked him to take the initiative to ask An Mu for peace and acknowledge An Yan as his son!

Li Zongyun found it very difficult to understand at that time. No normal person could possibly react that way when their son-in-law has a son older than the grandson.

It was only later that Li Zongyun slowly figured out the key to this matter. Zhu Jian controlling his temper and instead proposing a plan that was so incomprehensible to him showed that this would definitely bring unimaginable benefits to the Zhu family.

It was precisely because he had figured this out that Li Zongyun humbly prayed for An Mu’s forgiveness and reached out to her time and again.

It was also because of this that Li Zongyun actually had another plan.

Since even Zhu Jian had to rely on An Yan to save the Zhu family, he would not have to worry about the future even if he simply left the Zhu family behind if he could reconcile with An Mu and truly gain An Yan’s trust.

However, he was not sure whether this plan would work, so he was plotting in his heart, and secretly making two preparations.