Chapter 129 - That's your only son!

"Dad..." An Xin stood up as she looked at them worriedly. When she looked at Lu Ziyan, he merely shrugged and mouthed silently, "Don't worry."

"Your dad is not a violent man, An Xin. I just want to have a talk with Mr. Lu," Mr. Zhen said and waved his hand nonchalantly as he walked out with Lu Ziyan following behind him.  

They went to the front yard where Mr. Zhen sat down on the bench next to a koi fish pond while Lu Ziyan remained on the paved road. After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhen said, "Mr. Lu, we are both men here, so I'm going to go straight to the point. I trust my daughter's words, that there's nothing between you guys prior to her divorce." 

Lu Ziyan nodded. "Yes, Mr. Zhen. You've raised good daughters. Both of them. So you should know better than anyone else. An Xin is a good woman. Even if I want to, she'd never do that kind of thing that the b*stard accused her of."

"I know..." Mr. Zhen smiled at the thought of his youngest daughter. He then dropped his smile and looked at Lu Ziyan. With a stern voice, he said, "What do you want with my daughter, Mr. Lu?"

"Mr. Zhen?" Lu Ziyan looked at the older man with a surprised expression. 

"Don't act dumb with me. I saw how you were looking at her earlier."

Lu Ziyan stared at him for a few seconds before he chuckled. "Well, you are their father after all..." 

He took a deep breath, and after gathering his thoughts, he continued, "I like your daughter, Mr. Zhen. I think she's a great, intelligent woman. And to be honest, since the first time I met her, I've liked her. And this is a feeling that I've bottled inside because of her status as a married woman. Now that she's a single woman again, I'd like to pursue her."

When Mr. Zhen stared at him, Lu Ziyan met his eyes straight on as he continued, "I've told her about my feelings, Mr. Zhen. So, An Xin knew about my feelings as well. She said she needed some time to deal with the last relationship, and I told her I'll wait for her, for as long as she needs." 

Mr. Zhen stood up and paced around for a short while before he stopped right in front of Lu Ziyan. "Mr. Lu, I'm not sure if you know what I feel toward you, but --"

"I know," Lu Ziyan interrupted him. When Mr. Zhen looked at him, Lu Ziyan added with a sad tone, "I know. As a father, I know that it will be hard for you to forgive a man who hurt your daughter. If I were in your shoe, I doubt I'd be able to forgive a man like me. However..." 

Looking at Mr. Zhen, who seemed like he was about to kill him, Lu Ziyan smiled and said with a determined expression, "I'm not willing to let An Xin go."

"You!" Mr. Zhen glared at Lu Ziyan and snapped, "How dare you!"

Instead of getting riled up, Lu Ziyan continued to say calmly, "No offense, but An Xin is an a.d.u.l.t and she can make her own choice, Mr. Zhen. Neither you or me can help her decide." 

"Do you think that I'll agree to you pursuing my daughter just because you're good with words?"

Lu Ziyan chuckled. He shook his head and raised both hands up as he replied, "No. But you'll agree to it once you see what kind of man I really am..."

Mr. Zhen put his hands behind his back and sighed as he turned his back against Lu Ziyan. He needed to think carefully.

An Xin's ex-husband, Thomas, was supposed to be a good man. He came from a good family, had a good financial standing and status... and yet, he failed to live up to what Mr. Zhen expected of him.

As for Lu Ziyan... He was an orphan and his parents were poor farmers, but he made his way through life. Mr. Zhen felt as if he should not look down on this man. Still, he did not want An Xin to go through any painful memories again, and he was worried that this might be another bad choice. 

Lu Ziyan leaned to the side and saw that Mr. Zhen was deep in thought. Seeing the complex expression on the older man's face, Lu Ziyan then patted the man's hand to get his attention.

When Mr. Zhen glanced at him, Lu Ziyan said with a serious expression, "Mr. Zhen, An Xin is a strong woman. She might be sad for a moment, but she will eventually get out of it. Do you really want her to avoid getting into a relationship just because of a bad past?" 

"Of course not!" 

With his arms wide open, and without any kind of shame in him, Lu Ziyan said loudly, "Then you should support me. At the very least, I won't hurt her."

"That's what that b*stard said..." Mr. Zhen said with a roll of his eyes. He then laughed wryly and scoffed, "But who am I to call him a b*stard. I said the same thing to Qi Yan... In the end, things still happened." 

Lu Ziyan did not say anything. 

After a while, Mr. Zhen sighed and said, "I won't stop you, but I won't encourage her either. You're right. She's no longer my little girl. She's a grown woman now... I'll leave this up to her." 

Lu Ziyan extended his hand and when Mr. Zhen shook it, the former grinned and said, "Future father-in-law, you won't be disappointed in this son-in-law of yours. I might not be able to walk, but anything that a man can do, so can I."

Mr. Zhen sneered, "What son-in-law? Even if I agree with you pursuing my daughter, she might not be interested in you. I'm not going to put in a word for you, just so you know."

"Instead of worrying about our relationship, why don't you start thinking of a name for your future grandson?"

"You!" Mr. Zhen was about to scold him for insinuating something so dirty, but then, he recalled what An Xin told him and his wife earlier. His daughter mentioned that her ex-husband and ex-in-laws were angry at her because she was barren.

Mr. Zhen narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Ziyan with a curious expression, "You don't think... You don't that An Xin is barren... like what that b*stard ex-son-in-law of mine said."

Lu Ziyan smiled and said in a cryptic tone, "I don't know if An Xin is barren or not, but let's just say that... I know the child he's waiting for at the moment is definitely not his."

Mr. Zhen widened his eyes in shock. He wanted to ask why, but he had a feeling that this man before him would not tell him. 

"Oh, there's my ride... Do you mind to open the gate for me, Mr. Zhen?" Lu Ziyan said when he saw Han Ye's car stopping outside the gate. He then looked at Mr. Zhen and grinned, "I mean, future father-in-law." 

"Don't call me that, please." Mr. Zhen shook his head as he took out his set of housekeys to unlock the gate.

"Tell An Xin that I'll see her soon..." 

After Lu Ziyan left, Mr. Zhen stood outside for a long time. He was thinking about something and did not realize that time had passed until his daughter came to call him for dinner. 

"Dad, what are you thinking about?" An Xin asked while they walked back into the house. 

Mr. Zhen shrugged. "About how your older sister managed to gather such scary people around him?"

An Xin frowned slightly. She did not understand her father's words. "Dad, are you talking about President Du or Lu Ziyan?" 

"Both... and all the other men around her." He met with Han Ye and Luo Guangying on numerous occasions as well.

An Xin smiled. "The strong tend to attract other strong people." 

Mr. Zhen smiled and patted her head as he said, "You're a strong woman as well, An Xin. I know that your mother put a lot of pressure on you, but you don't have to compete with your sister. Kai Xin is her, and you are you. Both of you have your own strengths and weaknesses."

"Dad..."

"I mean, look at your brother. He might be smart, but he's not as smart as you and Kai Xin. If you were to compare his high school results with yours and Kai Xin, you would see that his result is the worst."

"Dad!" An Xin laughed. "That's your only son!" 

"So what? That's the truth," Mr. Zhen said with a smile. He then added, "However, even though your brother might not be as smart as you and Kai Xin, do you think that he's useless?"