Chapter 12: Request
“You went to such great lengths to force me to meet you. What exactly is your motive?”
Wen Xubai bent down and gently placed a bouquet of white chrysanthemums before the grave. Turning his head, he noticed another bouquet already resting beside the tombstone—a bunch of Alstroemeria that had clearly been meticulously arranged.
The woman on the tombstone had gentle features and a smile as beautiful as a flower…
Wen Xubai’s gaze slowly swept over the inscription on the tablet before he stood up.
Beloved Wife — Ruan Qing
“Little Young Master, long time no see.”
The person beside him slowly removed their mask, revealing a kind and pleasant face.
It was a middle-aged woman whose hair was already turning gray.
Wen Xubai froze the moment he saw who it was.
“You are…”
Auntie Zhang?
Wen Xubai opened his mouth soundlessly, realizing he couldn’t find his voice.
Zhang Xiu smiled.
“I didn’t expect the Little Young Master to still remember me…”
Zhang Xiu was the first person Wen Xubai had met when he entered the Wen household. She was also… the wife of the driver who had been left in a vegetative state by the car accident eighteen years ago.
“Didn’t you… leave Jiangcheng already?” Wen Xubai asked in astonishment.
After that accident, the Wen family, under the guise of humanitarian aid, had given Zhang Xiu a large sum of money. It allowed her to take her husband and child away from Jiangcheng to the capital, where medical facilities were more advanced, for schooling and treatment.
Yet now, she was back.
“Yes, I’m back…” Zhang Xiu touched the photo of the woman on the tombstone with lingering affection, her gaze suddenly fixing on the bouquet of Alstroemeria…
She murmured to herself, “These were the Madam’s favorite flowers when she was alive…”
“But in all these years, no one has ever brought them to her…”
Zhang Xiu’s eyes swept over the chrysanthemums beside them, a flash of disappointment crossing her gaze…
“You didn’t come back this time just to see her, did you?”
The “her” naturally referred to Ruan Qing.
Zhang Xiu had her back to Wen Xubai. He couldn’t see her expression, but from her hunched back and her rapidly aging appearance, he could tell that she… hadn’t had an easy life these past few years.
“The money the Wen family gave you back then—as long as you didn’t spend it on antiques or jewelry—should have been enough for you and your family to live lavishly for a lifetime, right?”
“Yes… so much money… to buy a human life. In the eyes of those people, it should have been more than enough, right?”
Hearing this, Wen Xubai’s heart jolted.
At this moment, Zhang Xiu supported herself against the tombstone and stood up, trembling.
Her eyes were filled with sorrow and pain…
It made Wen Xubai’s heart palpitate with unease…
“My husband died.”
She said.
“Died?” Wen Xubai was shocked.
Why? Why hadn’t he received any news?
He couldn’t help but grip the phone in his pocket tightly. But in the next second, Zhang Xiu interrupted him:
“Little Young Master, there is no need to be shocked. I… concealed the news of his death. Not just from you, but from those people as well.”
“Why?” Wen Xubai asked.
But Zhang Xiu seemed not to hear him, continuing to speak to herself, “I… I watched with my own eyes as Madam Song and Madam Ruan arrived, and I watched them leave…”
Madam Song was Wen Tingyi’s first wife, Song Yuxin, the eldest daughter of the Song family.
“Madam Song had a strong personality. She was decisive and strict, often putting immense pressure on the family. The Master, especially, was scolded by her quite often. But only us servants knew that Madam… had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”
“Back then, the Wen Group had just been established, and Young Master Yuan had just been born. The Madam had to help her husband manage the business while taking care of Young Master Yuan. It was inevitable that she was under a lot of pressure and had a shorter temper. But although she nagged, she never truly punished anyone. We servants saw it all and had long since gotten used to it…”
“Later, the Wen Group gained a firm foothold in the market, and Young Master Yuan grew up. We all thought life would get better and better, but we never expected…”
She paused.
“We never expected… that the Master would do such a thing. Not only that, but he even brought back the child born to that woman outside and forced the Madam to acknowledge him.”
Wen Xubai lowered his eyes.
Although outsiders didn’t know about this, it was no secret within the Wen family. Everyone knew that the Second Young Master of the Wen family was not the First Madam’s biological son, but an illegitimate child from who knows where.
Wen Tingyi was still young at the time. To avoid any damage to his reputation that might affect the company’s growth, he took advantage of Song Yuxin’s illness to force her to acknowledge the illegitimate child.
Publicly, he was declared to be Song Yuxin’s second son.
Zhang Xiu murmured, “Madam Song was already ill; how could she withstand such a shock? Overcome with grief and indignation, she had a massive argument with the Master. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and not long after… she was gone.”
“Later… came Madam Ruan. Madam Ruan lived up to her name—she had a good character and was gentle. Not only did she have a harmonious relationship with the Master, but she was also kind to us servants. She treated the two young masters who weren’t her own with kindness, and even after she had her own child, that never changed…”
“What a pity…”
There seemed to be tears in Zhang Xiu’s eyes.
Wen Xubai listened silently, not saying a word.
But Zhang Xiu suddenly asked, “Little Young Master, your days in the Wen family haven’t been easy, have they?”
Wen Xubai was stunned. He hadn’t expected her to ask that, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to answer.
Zhang Xiu, however, seemed to know everything. She merely gave a faint smile and took something out of her knitted pocket, stuffing it into Wen Xubai’s hand.
Wen Xubai opened his palm to look:
It was a sleek, black USB drive.
“What is this?” Wen Xubai frowned.
“This is the surveillance footage from the Wen family’s backyard on the day Madam Ruan had her accident.”
Wen Xubai was instantly shocked, his head jerking up to look at the woman before him.
But Zhang Xiu still wore that faint smile, her gaze calm, as if what she had just said wasn’t something earth-shattering, but merely a trivial, everyday matter.
Zhang Xiu walked over slowly. She was getting on in years and her legs weren’t good; she nearly tripped over a branch on the ground. Wen Xubai hurriedly steadied her.
Once they were close, Zhang Xiu slowly reached out to straighten Wen Xubai’s shirt collar, which had turned up at some point, and patted the dust off him. She said with gratification:
“Little Young Master, Young Master Chi… should be about the same age as you now…”
She stated it calmly, her voice flat and without a single ripple of emotion.
But to Wen Xubai’s ears, it sounded like a clap of thunder.
No hypothesis, no question, not even the phrase: “If he were still alive…”
Wen Xubai could no longer control his thoughts. His heart pounded wildly, and his mind went blank in an instant!
Seeing his expression, Zhang Xiu knew he had understood her meaning, and she smiled ever so slightly.
This time, there was a hint of relief in her smile, and it was finally genuine.
“I have hidden this secret for eighteen years. Today… I can finally say it…”
As she spoke, a teardrop slowly rolled down her aged cheek…
Zhang Xiu turned around, walked slowly back to Ruan Qing’s grave, and knelt down, stroking the photo on the tombstone once again…
“Madam, I can finally come to see you with a clear conscience…”
“If you see me one day, I beg you not to blame me. The sins I have committed… I will go to the eighteenth level of hell to repent for them…”
“Why me?” Wen Xubai clutched the item in his hand tight, confused.
“What?”
“Why choose to give it to me? If you gave it to others, you would likely gain far more benefits.”
Wen Xubai pressed his lips together, his lips pale.
Zhang Xiu looked at him, silent for a long while, before slowly speaking, “Little Young Master, do you remember the scene when I first met you?”
Wen Xubai slowly lowered his eyes.
His first meeting with Zhang Xiu was at his parents’ funeral.
The Wen family had forcibly taken him away, dragging him to Ruan Qing’s funeral, completely disregarding his hoarse cries…
“So noisy! Shut his mouth!”
That was the first sentence he heard.
It was spoken by a woman wearing heavy makeup.
He had long forgotten what that woman looked like; he only remembered that her perfume was strong—pungently strong, enough to make him nauseous.
And listening to her words, the others had actually wanted to seal his mouth with tape.
Only Zhang Xiu had rushed to hug him, kneeling before that woman to beg for mercy on his behalf, begging her not to hurt this poor child. And he had finally quieted down in Zhang Xiu’s warm embrace…
Zhang Xiu smiled. “I stayed in the Wen family for nearly ten years, but before I left, you were the only one who rushed over to hug me, begging me not to go…”
“A child who values affection so deeply and has such a kind heart… I thought, he wouldn’t be the kind of person who would harm another’s life for his own selfish desires…”
Word by word, her speech fell slowly into Wen Xubai’s ears. He gripped the USB drive in his hand with unbearable force, as if trying to crush it. He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately suppressing the tumultuous emotions in his heart…
When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to his usual clarity.
“Do you know where he is?” Wen Xubai asked coldly.
“No.” Zhang Xiu shook her head. “But this USB drive might provide you with a clue.”
“What do you want? Money, power? Or a life?”
“No, I don’t want anything. I just want to beg you for one thing.”
Wen Xubai glanced at her. Seeing that her expression wasn’t faked, he finally put away the trace of unease in his heart.
She was right. He had no choice…
He could only choose to trust her.
“What is it?”
“I want to beg you… find that child first. Send him away. Do not let him fall into the hands of those people. Do not… let him sink into this abyss of suffering as well.”
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