Lin Xinyan was just making sure that Bai Yinning hadn’t been lying.
Cheng Yuxiu’s face went deathly pale again the moment she heard Lin Xinyan’s question. She stared straight at Lin Xinyan, feeling as though she had been dropped into an icy pond that froze her from head to toe.
She knew Bai Hongfei?
“You’re not comfortable talking about it?”
Lin Xinyan noticed that she had hesitations.
Cheng Yuxiu immediately denied it. “No.”
Cheng Yuwen had left her with no other choice.
“How did you end up in trouble?” Cheng Yuxiu asked as she was concerned.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Zong Jinghao managed to settle it for me, and I’m fine now. I just want to know more about you. Did Cheng Yuwen have other motives in getting me to learn tea silk weaving?”
Lin Xinyan felt like there was a huge scheme involving her that she had no idea about.
Cheng Yuxiu closed her eyes and made a quick decision.
It’s not like she could do anything to change the situation anyway.
However, she still feared that it would bring trouble to Lin Xinyan. Her cold and clammy hands clasped Lin Xinyan’s hands. “You’re a good girl.”
Her eyes were red and her voice was trembling. “I can tell you everything, but you need to promise me something.”
Since she was the birth mother of Zong Jinghao, then she would definitely want the best for her son. Now that Lin Xinyan had given her two grandchildren, she would most certainly be fond of Lin Xinyan. After all, she had given the family heirloom to Lin Xinyan, which was a sign that she won’t do any harm no matter what.
Lin Xinyan nodded. “Say it.”
“I need you to keep what I have to tell you to yourself. Don’t tell anyone about it, including Jinghao.”
Lin Xinyan lowered her eyelids. The request didn’t come as a surprise to her. If she didn’t mind Zong Jinghao to know about what she was going to say, then she wouldn’t have gone such lengths to conceal them.
She was just confused as to why she wouldn’t even talk to her own son.
The world was full of pain, birth and death, old age and sickness, love and betrayal. However, none of those would compare to not being able to talk to one’s love ones even if they were standing right before you.
Lin Xinyan felt the urge to ask her what was preventing her from talking to her son.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She figured that there must be something holding her back.
Lin Xinyan raised her head and answered, “Yes, I promise.”
Cheng Yuxiu didn’t seem relieved, instead looking more troubled than before. She didn’t want to drag Lin Xinyan into this mess, yet things were getting out of her control.
Involving Lin Xinyan would do her no good.
Cheng Yuxiu went silent for a few moments, unable to muster the courage to speak up.
Lin Xinyan waited patiently.
After a few more minutes, Cheng Yuxiu finally opened her mouth. “My family name is Cheng, and my full name is Cheng Yuxiu. I didn’t dare use my full name after marrying Zong Qifeng, so I just went by Yuxiu…I didn’t even dare to talk about the fact that Jinghao was my child. To the public, he’s the son of the Young Mistress of the Wen family, Wen Xian, and Zong Qifeng, while I’m just a surrogate.”
“I was 20 that year, and my father suddenly died of heart disease. My family used to run a factory…”
She looked up at Lin Xinyan before continuing, “We made tea silk, but we didn’t produce much, since our materials were rather unique. We received a large order shortly before my father died, so when he passed and my brother took over but the order was never completed. The client asked for compensation, and according to the contract, we had to give five times the price of the products for breach of contract. To make things worse, the previous few batches were problematic as well, so we suddenly have to compensate several clients at once.”
“In addition to the original cost, the compensation would make it a huge sum of money.”
“After some investigation, it was revealed that some workers had mixed up the order of the steps in making tea silk, which resulted in a drop of quality in our products which ruined our reputation forever.”
She talked about how she was forced to find Bai Hongfei, who was her first love. The two families had made plans for their marriage already.
All she wanted was to seek comfort from her boyfriend. However, when she arrived at their residence, all she saw was Mrs. Bai, while Bai Hongfei was nowhere in sight.
“Hongfei went overseas for work, so he won’t be back anytime soon,” Mrs. Bai had told her with an impatient look on her face. Her usual smile was nowhere to be seen.
“Cheng Yuxiu, aren’t you asking for too much? You haven’t even become part of our family yet, and you’re already thinking about taking our money?”
Mrs. Bai’s words caught Cheng Yuxiu off guard completely. Mrs. Bai had been very kind to her, yet when her father passed away, Mrs. Bai’s attitude towards her changed immediately. She was no longer the loveable and gentle Mrs. Bai that Cheng Yuxiu knew.
“I just want Hongfei’s help for just once. I’ll return the favor when I can,” Cheng Yuxiu said, standing in the yard.
It had been the peak of summer, and the blazing afternoon sun bathed her in searing heat.
Cheng Yuxiu was sweating all over from the heat, yet Mrs. Bai refused to let her in. “How are you going to return the favor? Your family had already paid out a huge sum of money, so what are you going to do without your father? It’s not that we can’t help you, though. If you give us your tea silk weaving business, then maybe I can consider giving you the money.”
That was something Cheng Yuxiu had never expected. Mrs. Bai was eyeing their family business.
At that moment, she learned that people could be two-faced, and they could change in a second. It could catch one off guard and make one realize how foolish one had been, trusting someone thoroughly when they just wanted to take advantage of you.
“What if I said no?” Cheng Yuxiu asked. The tea silk weaving technology had been passed down from generation to generation within the Cheng family, and only the children of the Cheng‘s’ could learn the skill.
How could she just give up this prized possession of her family so easily? She would never be able to get it back.
She couldn’t just let the skill die off at her generation.
Mrs. Bai huffed. “Suit yourself. You can forget about your marriage with Hongfei too. From today onwards, the Bai‘s’ will not have anything to do with your family anymore!”
Mrs. Bai’s decision made it clear to Cheng Yuxiu that she only allowed her son to date her in order to get hold of the Cheng‘s’’ tea silk weaving technology. Now that the Cheng‘s’ were facing their biggest crisis and Cheng Yuxiu refused to give up their technology, Mrs. Bai’s true colors revealed.
However, Cheng Yuxiu had loved Bai Hongfei with all her heart.
“Only Hongfei can break off our engagement,” Cheng Yuxiu said. Her heart felt like it was getting ripped open from the inside, yet she refused to cry in front of Mrs. Bai.
Mrs. Bai scoffed. “Fine then! It looks like you’re asking for trouble!”
Soon, the verdict came, and it crushed her completely.
The Bai‘s’ unilaterally announced the cancellation of the wedding, which sent yet another blow to the struggling Cheng‘s’. When the clients heard about it, they immediately ran out of patience and started to chase the Cheng‘s’ for the money they owed, threatening to auction their house and stole their technology.
When Cheng Yuxiu was at the brink of desperation, a woman approached her.
