novelblue
Chapter 204 - 204 204 Who Doesnt Know Who
Chapter 204 - 204 204 Who Doesnt Know Who
?Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Who Doesn’t Know Who? Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Who Doesn’t Know Who? By the time they arrived at the private restaurant, Yu Zihang was already in the private room.
Huo Ye was sitting beside him, seemingly having fully recovered.
“Old Lu, Luo Ning, you’re here!”
Huo Ye said with a smile, “I invited myself along, you guys don’t mind, do you?”
Having been convalescing at home, he was close to growing moldy from boredom.
When he heard that Yu Zihang had made dinner plans with Lu Xun, he decided to tag along.
Lu Xun couldn’t help but smile wryly, “You’re already here, how could we kick you out?”
Luo Ning gave him a smile, “Welcome.”
Afterward, everyone chatted while eating.
As the meal was drawing to a close, Huo Ye asked Luo Ning, “When will you and Old Lu come to pick something out at my company? I’ve been waiting for you guys for a while.”
The original date had been postponed because he was hospitalized after an accident.
Luo Ning thought for a moment, “How about tomorrow?”
She would be busy from the day after onwards, with the final performance and then joining the cast to film the Fantasy Martial Arts Drama.
Huo Ye nodded with a laugh, “Good, I’ll wait for you tomorrow.”
He had always remembered the favor Luo Ning did for him, so he was eager for her to come and pick out more items to ease his conscience.
After the meal, the group went to Yu Zihang’s company.
The rough stones Luo Ning had chosen had not yet been cut, so Yu Zihang called in the stone cutting master to work overtime.
Soon, the rough stones were cut one by one, and each revealed jade.
Not only were they all top-grade jade, but some were even of exceptionally high quality.
Yu Zihang was dumbfounded as it was his first time seeing someone’s purchased rough stones all turn out to be jade.
He whispered to Lu Xun, “Luo Ning’s talent for stone gambling is too formidable, isn’t it?”
Lu Xun’s lips curled up slightly, “Of course.”
“But don’t let this get out, she doesn’t want to draw attention,” he added as a reminder.
If word got out about Luo Ning’s exceptional skill in stone gambling, it could attract unwanted attention.
Lu Xun could guess what Luo Ning was planning to do with the jade, so he didn’t want anyone coveting the jade in her hands or her abilities.
Yu Zihang nodded, “Understood!”
“Next time there’s a public stone gambling event, you can invite Luo Ning to join,” he suggested.
He felt it would be a waste not to utilize Luo Ning’s gift for stone gambling.
Lu Xun nodded with a smile, “Sure, I’ll invite her when the time comes.”
Luo Ning only took a few pieces of the top-grade jade with her, instructing Yu Zihang to deliver the rest to the mountain she had contracted in a few days’ time.
She entrusted some of the middle to high-grade jade to Lu Xun, asking him to help sculpt them.
Once the jade accessories were ready, she would find an auspicious land to nurture them into magical tools or set up an Array for the same purpose.
The next day, Luo Ning and her brother accompanied their mother out to buy groceries.
When they returned, they saw three people standing at the door.
An old man in his sixties leaning on a cane, a well-preserved middle-aged woman, and Gou Zhenmei, whom they had seen before.
Seeing Gou Zhenmei, the identities of the other two didn’t need guessing.
Jiang Xinxin’s brows furrowed involuntarily at the sight of them.
Gou Wenquan looked at Jiang Xinxin, lost in a trance as if he had seen his deceased wife.
He had known from the start that his daughter resembled her mother, but in her rebellious teenage years, only her facial features were similar.
But now, looking at his gentle and intelligent daughter, he realized that even their temperaments had become alike.
He couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
He naturally had liked his ex-wife, otherwise he wouldn’t have married her.
However, after his ex-wife’s early death and his business consuming him, he couldn’t care for his daughter and thus married Bao Baoyu, who had also lost her husband.
His step-wife treated his daughter very well, providing her with the best in food, clothing, and living expenses, and even put her own daughter second.
Unfortunately, his daughter was ungrateful and kept causing chaos at home.
Compared with his step-daughter’s thoughtfulness and obedience, his own daughter’s rebelliousness stood out even more, often infuriating him and leading to his growing disappointment.
But what he had never expected was that, twenty years ago, his daughter would suddenly run away from home and never return.
At first, he was very angry, and Bao Baoyu kept advising him to look for her, but he, in his stubborn anger, refused to search for her.
After more than half a year passed without his daughter returning, he began to worry and finally sent people to find her.
But she was nowhere to be found.
As he grew older, he started thinking about his biological daughter.
No matter what, although he treated his step-daughter as his own, the Gou family’s wealth had to be inherited by his own bloodline.
Otherwise, once he was under the ground, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to his ancestors and his ex-wife.
Which is why, after hearing from his step-daughter last night that his daughter had returned, he had come first thing in the morning.
Jiang Xinxin remained silent, and Gou Wenquan snapped first, “What’s this? You don’t even greet your own father?”
Jiang Xinxin revealed a sarcastic smile, “I wouldn’t dare claim relation to you, otherwise I might end up dead without knowing how.”
Gou Wenquan hadn’t expected that, after more than twenty years of not seeing her, his daughter would still show him such coldness, just as unreasonable as before.
“What are you saying? Don’t forget your surname,” he said unhappily.
Jiang Xinxin replied coolly, “I’ve already changed to my mother’s surname; my surname is now Jiang, so of course, I won’t forget.”
Hearing these words, Gou Wenquan’s face changed, “What? Who allowed you to change to your mother’s surname? Are you trying to anger me to death on purpose?”
Although it had been more than twenty years, he still instinctively treated Jiang Xinxin with the attitude he had in the past.
Seeing this, Bao Baoyu immediately patted his back.
Then she said to Jiang Xinxin with a smile, “Xinxin, your dad has always missed you. Don’t anger him now that you’ve just met; there’s no overnight feud between father and daughter.”
These words appeared conciliatory but only irked Gou Wenquan when he heard them.
After so long, his daughter was still not considerate and deliberately provocative.
Jiang Xinxin glanced at Bao Baoyu, “You don’t need to stir trouble here; everyone knows what you’re like.”
“You can rest assured, I won’t return to that home, and I won’t compete with you for the Gou family, so stop with your pretenses.”
After all, who cares for the Gou wealth when it’s gone?
Bao Baoyu felt a surge of joy upon hearing Jiang Xinxin’s words. Indeed, many years had passed, but this stubborn girl’s temper hadn’t changed.
That was more like it.
She made a show of sadness, “Xinxin, after all these years, you still misunderstand me, I…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Xinxin impatiently cut her off, “Enough, stop acting. Just looking at your old face makes me sick.”
In the past, this woman had behaved just like this, putting on an act in their presence and another behind their backs, causing her father to dislike her increasingly.
Of course, it was also the old man’s own blindness that prevented him from seeing the truth. Even if she told him, he wouldn’t believe her and still thought she was rebellious and ungrateful.
From hope to disappointment, and finally to indifference, she had long ceased to need paternal love, let alone a father.
These harsh words left Bao Baoyu, who had still intended to continue her act, with a stiff face and displeasure in her eyes – the damned girl had actually mocked her for being old.